Bombers’ forward Koen Senft recently returned to Flin Flon from representing Canada at the 2024 Junior A World Challenge in Camrose, AB.
Wearing the Canada jersey for the first time was an experience he will never forget and may never fully process.
“It was super surreal,” he says.
“(Wearing the Team Canada jersey) made me almost giddy every time I put it on just because it was something I always dreamed of doing. Walking in every day, seeing the Canada logo and the uniforms hung in the locker room, playing for my country, it hasn’t set in yet, and I don’t know if it ever will.”
Senft, 18, was joined by Bombers’ teammate Luke Lepper, Humboldt Broncos forward Connor Miller, defenceman Jaxon Herchak of the Kindersley Klippers, Broncos’ assistant coach Carter Hansen, and Flin Flon bench boss Mike Reagan in representing the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at the event.
Despite going 0-3 through the group phase, the group rallied to play a Swedish team full of near-future NHL draft picks hard in the semi-final and then defeated Team Canada East 5-2 in the Bronze Medal game to bring some hardware back with him.
Senft, of Regina, saved his best game for the big one. He scored twice and earned Player of the Game honours.
“Our biggest focus was just to continue to get better and build throughout the tournament,”
“We were disappointed with how we played against Canada East in the round robin especially, but after that and the last USA game, we knew we had to hit the reset button because we knew it was a wide-open tournament. We just needed to win the right game or two, and we would get something special from it.
“I thought we really came together after that,” he continues.
“Even though the score wasn’t there in the semis against the Swedes, we played a great game, and then in the bronze medal game, everyone bought in; we played our game and how we wanted to play through the whole tournament, and it was a good feeling to win it and more a relief than anything winning that game.”
Senft had the added honour of playing for the man he plays for regularly in Reagan, who was also Canada West’s head coach.
Reagan and the Bombers picked the Regina native in the first round, eighth overall in the 2022 SJHL Draft, out of his hometown Pat Canadians U18AAA.
A cerebral playmaker, the 2006-born Senft had 42 points in 39 games as a 16-year-old for the Pat C’s and could have taken all sorts of other playing options, including attempting to make the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League, who picked him in their draft that same year.
For Koen, his heart was always in Flin Flon.
“(Playing for the Bombers) is just super special,” he says, “and something you don’t want to take for granted.
“I don’t think this organization’s remarkable legacy and history is something you realize until you get into town, but I don’t think many people realize how many legends have worn the same jersey as I get to. Especially those home games, Friday or Saturday nights at the Whitney Forum, where it’s rocking; it’s definitely something I miss when it’s the summer or I’m not playing.”
“It’s so cool.”
Between AAA in Regina and northeastern Manitoba, Senft has received some of the best developmental coaching a prairie kid could receive.
Darrin McKechnie, who coached him with the Pat C’s, is a legend with well over 10 years of experience at the youth levels. Reagan’s resume speaks for itself, and the reigning Canadian Junior Hockey League Coach of the Year has well over 300 career victories in the SJHL.
The privilege to have been tutored by those two, among others, is not lost on Senft.
“I have been very fortunate to have great coaching over my career so far,” he says.
“Who the coach is is something that I have always looked for if I am choosing to go to a program, and I have been helped, transformed, improved, and prepared by those guys for whatever the next level looks like.
“They always stressed the importance of doing the little things right,” he adds.
“I think that’s been a huge reason I feel like I have the relatively complete and consistent game compared to most 18-year-olds.”
Koen was allegedly named after Adam Brody’s character ‘Seth Cohen from the television show ‘The O.C., which ran from 2003 to 2007, by his mother Cheri, who works at Farm Credit Canada.
Trent, his dad, is a technical expert at The Co-Operators. He has a 16-year-old brother and a 12-year-old sister.
Regina might be 700 kilometres from Flin Flon, but the Senfts go there as often as possible to watch their kid become the total package at the Junior A level.
“Koen has good hockey IQ and poise with the puck,” says his head coach Reagan, “that makes him a dangerous player offensively.
“At the same time, he is responsible on the defensive side, making him a reliable 200-foot player.”
Reagan put his money where his mouth was, naming Senft an assistant captain on his Canada West team. Senft was the only one to wear a letter younger than 19.
Senft is one of many bright talents on a Flin Flon team looking to make four straight SJHL final appearances. As another elite talent out of Regina, he is definitely one of Saskatchewan’s Finest.
