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November
2006
Gates Welcomed
Cranston, R.I. native Bobby Gates is enjoying
the friendly confines of Memphis as he tries to make a name for
himself in the CHL.
By Bill Keefe
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From 
Things were going so well for Bobby Gates last month down south,
he already had someone answering his calls.
When New England Hockey Journal dialed the Cranston,
R.I., native and defenseman, the voice on the receiving end was
the other “Maineiac in Memphis” Sheldon Wenzel, Gates’
former Lewiston teammate from the QMJHL. It was Wenzel who enjoyed
his time last year with the CHL’s Memphis RiverKings so much,
he told Gates he should check it out.
“He told me a lot of good things about the
coach (former Edmonton Oilers player Kevin McClelland),” said
Gates. “He said the fan support was good, it was a good town.
He made the decision pretty easy. We’re living together now.
I haven’t seen him in a year. We’ve kept in touch though.
We had a good time in Lewiston together; to play pro together now
is even better.”
Gates played both of his major junior seasons,
2003-04 and 2004-05, with Wenzel after leaving the Junior Bruins.
A steady, smooth-skating defensive defenseman, Gates played in 64
games each season with the Maineiacs totaling six goals and 16 assists.
“He’s always been a fantastic skater,”
said Lewiston assistant coach and assistant general manager Ed Harding.
“That’s how he got by in this league. He played against
other teams’ top lines. He played a lot against (Sidney) Crosby.
Bobby would take that role and relish it and he did pretty good
because he’s a good skater.”
Gates started his pro career last year having
“the most fun I ever had playing hockey” when he attended
training camp with the Boston Bruins.
“It was amazing,” Gates said, “being
at the rink every day with those NHL guys. It was unreal. I couldn’t
ask for anything else. I was on the ice with Joe Thornton, wow,
that was nuts. Brian Leetch – we were partners a few times
in drills. It was cool.”
While there was some natural disappointment in being sent to Providence,
for a kid from Rhode Island it was pretty exciting. And when there
were two kids from Rhode Island – Narragansett native, former
Quebec Rempart and friend Evan Shaw was there too – well,
“that was crazy.”
“Even back in the Quebec League, two kids
from Rhode Island playing major junior in another country,”
Gates said. “Then we went to the NHL and AHL together. We
played an exhibition game in Kingston at URI and me and Shaw started
the game together.”
After being released from Providence, Gates signed
with Danbury of the United Hockey League. Things didn’t work
out there and it was Providence coach Scott Gordon who hooked Gates
up with the Elmira Jackals of the U-Haul. Gates played 35 games
with 2-8-10 numbers.
In the early going, Gates said he felt the CHL
was a couple steps ahead of the UHL. He worked out hard in the offseason
to add 10 pounds of muscle, now carrying 197 pounds on his 6-foot
frame. The work was paying off as he was being paired with the RiverKings’
veteran No. 1 defenseman and taking a regular shift.
He was also impressed with the McClelland, who
played on four Stanley Cup winners with the Oilers during a stretch
when Wayne Gretzky posted three straight 200-point seasons.
“It’s been great,” Gates
said. “The way he gets along with the team. He knows what
he’s talking about. He has a lot of experience and I’m
taking it all in.”
Bill Keefe can be reached at feedback@hockeyjournal.com.
This article appears in the November issue
of New England Hockey Journal. Click
here to subscribe to the magazine.
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