Rockford IceHogs forwards Gavin Hayes and Samuel Savoie have to work together on the ice, but the roommates also had to reach an off-ice accord on a very important subject: food.
“Everything’s like grass-fed right now,” Hayes told the Tribune. “You feel better when you eat healthier. We’re eating a lot of fruits right now.
“Me and Savvy do the cooking and Kev (roommate Kevin Korchinski, currently with the Chicago Blackhawks) kind of just eats.”
“I disagree,” Korchinski smirked. “Well, he cooks, we all cook, but I wouldn’t say he’s like the main cook. Recently, I feel like I’ve been cooking the most.
“So I’ll just put it like that.”
All three roommates have had their share of difficulties in the last year — Korchinski, 20, working his way back to the NHL after a challenging rookie season; Savoie, 21, working his way back from leg surgery in October 2023; and Hayes, 20, suffering a midseason right shoulder injury — but they’ve taken turns supporting each other, texting or talking daily.
Most recently, it has been Hayes who most needed it.
“Whenever you see any one of your friends go through it, it really sucks to see,” Korchinski said. “Savvy, especially, he had that (broken right femur) injury last year, so he was really there for Hayesy, just because he missed almost a full year of hockey and was able to come back this year and have a really good season.
“So just being in the same house as Hayesy, I knew that life would go on and come back and be the same player, if not better, when he came back, so he’s done that.”
Hayes suffered a right shoulder sprain on Dec. 28 when he took a hard hit into the boards from Iowa Wild forward Gavin Hain.
“It was an awkward one,” Hayes said. “But right away, I kind of knew something was wrong. And that was the first time I ever had an injury like that.”
Hayes missed more than two months with the injury — he returned Feb. 28 against the Tucson Roadrunners — and the time away took its toll mentally.
“It was pretty hard on the mind,” he said. “Being away from the team, everything is tough. But I took that time to just get better at certain things, on the ice and off the ice, getting a little stronger and working on my skating a little bit.”
Last season, Hayes had a stellar final year in the OHL between the Flint Firebirds and the Soo Greyhounds, and he won gold as part of the United States team in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The Hawks have held the 2022 third-round pick (No. 66 overall) in high regard, but the injury in December became a roadblock on Hayes’ path to Chicago.
“Kind of set me back a little bit,” Hayes said.
It took some time for Hayes to get his game all the way back, but in two recent games, he has posted a goal and an assist against both the Manitoba Moose and Grand Rapids Griffins.
Savoie said Hayes came to the rink focused on his game and not his misfortune — and became faster and stronger.
Savoie added that having Korchinski as a friend and roommate, someone with NHL and AHL experience, has also been a godsend and a place he and Hayes can turn to as first-year pros.
“Kev became, like, my best friend, like a brother to me,” Savoie said. “So we’re really close, and I’m happy for him” ...
