Professional hockey didn’t seem to be in the cards this season – then the phone rang.
“It was totally out of the blue. I was just doing schoolwork,” said Dakota Krebs, a first-year University of Calgary Dinos student athlete from Okotoks. “I would have loved to go after some pro opportunities after I first finished my WHL career (in 2020), but of course COVID happened and didn’t really get that opportunity.
“I was just having lunch and my agent (Kevin Epp) called and said there was an opportunity for me to come out and practice and play with the Toronto Marlies and I just jumped at it.”
With the signing of the amateur tryout contract with the Marlies, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Krebs does not lose out on eligibility to return to U Sports hockey next season with the U of C Dinos, with this university season cancelled.
The 21-year-old joined the Marlies for their western road trip in Calgary on Feb. 19, skating at his first practice with the team the following day.
“I hadn’t skated in a while so it was a little bit of getting my bearings back,” he said. “With U of C we got shutdown in November so there was a bit of a break there, but I was able to skate here and there and I’ve been working out continually the past few months so I was in pretty good shape.
“But it’s just the fundamental, bare minimum skills of playing hockey you kind of lose sometimes when you’re not on the ice a lot so you ease your way into it. I have been playing and practising against a lot of good players in the summer so it wasn’t a massive step, but it’s a faster pace, bigger players, stronger players.
“It’s cool to be out there and learn from these coaches that are right at that next level.”
The 6-foot-4, 212-pound Krebs joins a talented defence corps on one of the top AHL programs. The Marlies boast first-round Leafs picks Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin on the back-end along with the likes of NHL veteran Calle Rosen.
“I think it was mostly out of necessity, they were down some defencemen and also it’s harder to bring up guys due to COVID and I was available,” Krebs said. “And it’s harder to find guys just in general, junior guys are playing now and are ineligible (later) and (ECHL) and other older guys aren’t able to come.
“It’s huge, I was pretty fired up to be honest with you, it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs, a pretty massive team in Canada. Just to be able to go and compete against some guys that either have played with the Maple Leafs or are right at that next step to the NHL is pretty cool.
“I’ve just been working hard in practice and enjoying every bit of it.”
Fortunately, the Okotokian has a proven record of exceeding expectations and making an impression.
Despite not being drafted into the WHL, Krebs played five full seasons in the Dub, registering 62 points over 308 games split between the Tri-City Americans and Calgary Hitmen.
“Right now I’m on the outside looking in a little bit, they have a lot of great defencemen here,” he added. “I think they’re a super skilled back-end for sure, but it’s cool to be around these guys and just see how they play and how they practice.
“As of right now, I’m just being that guy that can step in if they need it.”
The AHL boasts five teams in the Canadian Division this season, playing exclusively north of the 49th parallel due to the pandemic, with the Calgary Flames’ affiliate Stockton Heat playing out of the Saddledome, along with the Belleville Senators, Manitoba Moose, Laval Rocket and the Marlies.
The schedule is structured heavily by three and four-game sets in each locale.
“It’s kind of cool because there’s a little rivalry that’s created in those four games,” he said.
If Krebs gets in the lineup he will be the second member of his family to play in the AHL this season with younger brother Peyton, a first-round draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, starting the 2021 campaign with Henderson Silver Knights in Nevada prior to re-joining the WHL’s Winnipeg ICE.
