On this edition of 鈥楳OJ on Sports鈥�, host Bob Marjanovich talks with Josh Gorges who played for his hometown Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 2000 to 2004.
The Rockets, with Gorges as team captain won the Memorial Cup in 2004 when Kelowna hosted the event.
鈥業 kept thinking to myself, what a way to go out, what a way to finish my junior career, to be able to win a Memorial Cup in my home city for my hometown team as the captain, and then go on to hopefully play pro hockey after that,鈥� says Gorges. 鈥楽o, it was a pretty remarkable time. One of the biggest highlights of my career. Something that I鈥檒l never forget. It was amazing.鈥�
After going undrafted in 2002, Gorges signed as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks.
He is best known for his time with the Montreal Canadiens, where he played from 2007 to 2014.
Gorges tells Marjanovich that he refused a trade from the Montreal Canadiens to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
鈥榃hen my agent called me and told me that I thought he was joking the first time. I said, they鈥檙e not going to trade me to Toronto. That鈥檚 one of our biggest rivals, that they don鈥檛 make trades with each other. But then when I found out it was real, I just kept thinking, how could I go be the same player that I鈥檝e been from Montreal, a heart and soul type guy? How could I do that for a team that I鈥檝e hated for seven plus years? It was Toronto and Boston. You just couldn鈥檛 imagine yourself playing for those teams after being in Montreal that long.鈥�
In addition to the Sharks and Canadiens, Gorges also played for the Buffalo Sabres, where he served as an alternate captain during his time there.
He retired from professional hockey in 2019.
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