His dad was ecstatic, his mom was ecstatic, and the rest of his family alongside all of his friends had a smile on their faces from ear to ear.
Kyan Grouette was coming home and this time, he was staying put in his hometown and he was going to suit up for his hometown junior hockey team, a team that he grew up watching. For Grouette, it was like a dream come true.
From Dauphin, Kyan has spent the past couple of years with the Everett Silvertips organization of the Western Hockey League. During this time, Grouette suited up in 78 regular season games, scoring five times and adding one assist. He also played five playoff games for one of the most storied franchises in the WHL.
"Everett is a first-class organization, they take care of their players very well," said Grouette. "I enjoyed the opportunity, I always wanted to play in the WHL."
While Kyan was thrilled to be given the opportunity to play at the Major Junior level, it brought on frustration. Having huge belief in himself and for good reason, Grouette wasn't getting the playing time that he believed he deserved and that so many believed he deserved.
When he was on the ice, Grouette wasn't seeing the ice time that he wanted and ultimately, it was time to leave Everett.
"It was very frustrating, to be honest," said Grouette. "I don't feel that I could have done anything more out there. I was giving it everything I had on and off the ice, it kind of felt like I couldn't do anything right. I was fed up with it, it was just time to pull the plug."
Over the past two years, Kyan has been used to coming back home for Christmas before heading right back to Everett right after December 25. This year, he came home for Christmas and has not left. Grouette made his Kings debut on January 5 when Dauphin downed the Winnipeg Freeze, 3-0. It was a game that Kyan will never forget.
"It's been great, I love it, I love every second of every day here," said Grouette. "I think this is where I was meant to be and really wanted to be this entire time. I love getting up every day and going to the rink and hanging out with the guys and battling on the ice."
(Pederson Photographic)
Two of Kyan's biggest supporters since day one have been his dad Ken and mom Jamie. Travelling thousands of kilometres over the years to watch his son play, Ken and Jamie won't have to travel nearly as much now, especially because they will get to see their son play right at home at Credit Union Place. The team's next game is Saturday against Portage.
"I think this is what I needed, I needed to come home and play in front of my family," offered Grouette. "It's been awesome, I love having them in the stands every night."
Grouette has now played three games with Dauphin and the team has been perfect. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Dauphin has won three straight games, scoring 11 times while giving up just two goals.
As he is back home, Kyan also has some pretty big praise for Tyler Carefoot, head coach of the Parkland U18 Rangers for helping him get where he is today.
"He has always looked after me and made sure I was doing well," said Grouette. "Even to this day, he always reaches out to me to see how things are going, he has been an inspiration to me."
On the ice, Kyan is a part of an all Dauphin line playing alongside Madden Murray and Carter Zalischuk. The three Dauphin stars grew up playing for each other and now, they're suiting up on the same line in the top junior league in the province.
"Right away we just clicked and we all just feel the chemistry on the ice," ended Grouette. "We're also very tight off the ice, so all is good between us three."
Kyan Grouette is back where he wants to be and you can see him in action along with the rest of the team on Saturday night when Portage is in town. The game also marks the return of Aidan Brook to town after he was dealt to the Terriers at the trade deadline. The puck drops between the Kings and Terriers at 7:30.
