Torrie Jung Gets The Call
November 22, 2009 []
Edmonton, AB – It certainly was not a long distance call but it’s a call that every hockey player dreams of. The call to ‘the show’ came for Oil Kings goalie Torrie Jung on Saturday night. The 20-year old netminder from Nanaimo, BC made his NHL debut as a backup to the Oilers Jeff Deslauriers on Hockey Night In Canada against the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Blackhawk and current Oilers starter Nikolai Khabibulin was kept out of the lineup for precautionary reasons as he continues to deal with a sore back. As a result, Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini made that call to Torrie Jung and signed him to an Amateur Try Out contract just to get him into the lineup. Jung was obviously thrilled for the opportunity.
“I think the call was about 1:30 p.m. I actually have a fax machine at my house so that made the signing of the contract a little easier.” described Jung. “I watch these guys on TV all the time and I was a little bit star-struck. I’ll be honest. Obviously it’s a unique situation that doesn’t happen very often and it was a great chance for me to be close to guys that I look up to.”
You listen to the entire Torrie Jung Edmonton Oiler interview by clicking
HERE.
Torrie took warm-up with the Oilers and said that’s when the butterflies really started to kick in. After the game started, he settled in on the bench and had a great seat for the game that saw the Hawks skate away with a 5 – 2 win. It will be an experience he’ll never forget.
“It’s been my goal for a while to make the NHL. Not having signed a full pro contract at this point in my career doesn’t mean that I’ve given up on that dream. It’s just a unique experience that I’m sure all my teammates back in junior will ask me a bunch of questions about it and I’m sure I’ll have to explain a lot of things. It was fun and I was treated really well.”
Jung attended the Edmonton Oilers rookie camp earlier this fall as a free agent invite so he’s seen some NHL calibre shooters before. The WHL overage puck stopper was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and was the Oil Kings Most Valuable Player in the 2008-2009 season.
Expect to see Torrie Jung back with his current team as the Oil Kings host the Prince Albert Raiders Sunday at 5 p.m. Edmonton took the first game of the season series 3 – 2 in Prince Albert back on September 26. Don’t forget, it’s a Signature Sunday so the Oil Kings players will be signing autographs on the concourse after the game. Tickets to the game start at just $15 bucks. You can get yours at Ticketmaster or clicking the tickets link on the home page of oilkings.ca.
