Ethan Rose is leaving home next season to continue playing hockey.

The Littleton native recently signed an NCDC tender with the Rock Springs Grizzlies, a team in Wyoming about five hours northwest of Littleton.

“I started talking to the coach (Darren Naylor) not too long after the season ended and not long after, I was offered a tender,” said Rose. “Rock Springs is a new team to the league and the only direction for us to move is up. It’s also not too far away from home.”

This past season, Rose played for the Colorado Thunderbirds’ 18U AAA team, a team he felt underachieved a bit.

“Last season was a little underwhelming on the team level,” Rose said. “I thought it was one of the best teams I’d been on and we just didn’t achieve what we could have. Personally, there’s always room for improvement and I know I could’ve had a better year, but I can’t deny that I did take steps in the right direction.”

Rose said he started skating when he was old enough to stand and was a Pittsburgh Penguins fan growing up.

“I played for Foothills until my first year of Bantam when I went to Superior to play for the RoughRiders, then moving to the Thunderbirds for my first year of 18s,” said Rose. “There are too many coaches to name all of them, but Paul DePuydt, Neil Runbeck and Phil Patenaude are definitely the standouts.

“I will probably remember the success I had with my teammates who are people I will know for my whole life. I made a ton of lifelong friends and many of my closest friends come from hockey.”

Looking ahead, Rose has simple goals that he feels he can achieve if the hard work continues.

“For the short term, I want to obviously officially make the Rock Springs NCDC roster,” Rose said. “Long term, I’m hoping to get a scholarship to play in college and play somewhere with a good athletics department where I can also get a good education.”

Photo/Jill P. Mott

— Matt Mackinder

(June 24, 2024)