Stone Rolston, who grew up in a family immersed in hockey, will be skating at The Q Centre next season in the B.C. Hockey League following a trade this week that brought him across the strait from the Chilliwack Chiefs in exchange for goaltender Owen Bresson.
Dad Brian Rolston played 1,256 games in the NHL, won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils and represented the U.S. in three Olympics, winning silver at Salt Lake City in 2002. Brother Ryder Rolston was selected in the 2020 NHL draft out of the U.S. national Under-18 team by the Colorado Avalanche, traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, and played last season in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. Another brother, Ron Rolston, has coached in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and is associate head coach in NCAA Div 1 with Providence College.
The six-foot-three winger Stone Rolston is 19-years-old and had 13 goals and 17 points in 49 regular-season games and a goal and assist in six playoff games last season with the Chiefs. A product of the Little Caesars Triple-A youth program in Michigan, Stone recorded 25 goals and 55 points in 61 games with the U.S. Under-18 national team in 2022-23 before coming to Chilliwack.
“It was an opportunity to add a big forward who has put up numbers and scored in this league,” said Grizzlies head coach and GM Rylan Ferster.
With the Grizzlies returning starting goaltender and NCAA Div. 1 Colgate-committed Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, the Nova Scotia-native Bresson was looking at another season as a back-up in Victoria. He stepped in last season when Auyeung-Ashton was out for a long stretch with injury and went 14-11 with a 2.70 goals-against-average and .914 save percentage.
“With Oliver [2022-23 BCHL rookie-of-the-year Auyeung-Ashton] coming back, Owen [Bresson] wanted more of an opportunity to play,” said Ferster.
“And Stone [Rolston] was looking for a new opportunity, so this is one of those trades that looks like it will work out well and be really good for both teams.”
ICE CHIPS: The Grizzlies announced their 2024-25 BCHL season home opener will be Sept. 27 at The Q Centre against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. … Two-time Stanley Cup-champion Scott Gomez, who played 1,079 games in the NHL, has been named head coach of the Surrey Eagles, replacing the departing Cam Keith. Gomez played as a junior with the Eagles and was assistant coach to Keith last season, helping lead Surrey to the BCHL championship before losing to the Brooks Bandits in the Rocky Mountain Challenge.
