I coached Troy in both the U-16 Western Challenge Cup and the U-17 World Championships with Team Pacific. This is one of the best write ups I have read about Troy. He will be a pro player one day his drive, commitment to being better, his coach-ability and his fantastic game awareness will be to much to ignore! Well done Troy and good luck this year!
Here is the write up from WHL From Above!
There aren't too many players that can realistically be compared to Zach
Parise of the New Jersey Devils, but Troy Bourke is one of them.
The Prince George winger stands at 5'10 and weighs only 170 pounds, but he plays much bigger.
Bourke (pronounced BURKE) is an excellent skater with a good first step
and solid explosiveness. His low center of gravity allows him to have
solid edgework and good agility all over the ice.
He's got an excellent wrist shot that features a very quick and hard
release. He's not afraid to fire the puck from all areas of the ice,
often resulting in a goal. In fact, he scored 19 as a 16 year old
rookie last season in for the Cougars.
Away from the puck, Bourke is also a kid that makes things happen. He
competes hard in all three zones, backchecks and even lets his physical
play do the talking. In a game I watched on October 4th, Bourke
flattened Jesse Knowler of the Prince Albert Raiders along the boards.
Tyler Vanscourt stepped in to defend Knowler and Bourke landed the first
few punches in the scrap and earned the take down. It's that type of
showing that makes scouts really open their eyes to the drive and desire
a player like Bourke might just have.
The only true concern I have with Bourke as an NHL prospect is in
regards to his size or lack there of. And even with that being said,
he's not exactly overly tiny. Plenty of teams aren't afraid to draft
forwards who are under 5'11 and I have a feeling that many NHL teams
will be paying close attention to this Cougar who hails from Onoway,
Alberta.
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