Cody Ikkala – A Zest For Life (and food)

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Cody Ikkala – a zest for life (and food)

by viper staff Added 2009-05-27

Everyone is worried that Cody Ikkala will waste away when he goes to boot camp in July. The undisputed king of the buffet table, Cody can ingest prodigious amounts of food.

The enthusiastic native of Colorado who now calls Philadelphia home has accepted a scholarship to the West Point Military Academy where he will play hockey for the Army Black Knights. Prior to his freshman year, he will report for basic training on July 1. Rumours about skimpy food portions at boot camp lead to concerns that the rigours of army life and Cody’s high-gear metabolism might make him a very, very hungry soldier.

Cody’s hunger for success as a hockey player brought him to Vernon from the Marquette Rangers of the North American Hockey League in the fall of 2007. A severe high ankle sprain and a bout of mononucleosis restricted him to just 38 games that season, but he turned heads with his physical play. At 6’1’’ and 205 pounds, Cody has issued some thumping body checks. (See the above photo of Cody’s hit on Summerside’s Nathan Desroches.)

A stay-at-home defenceman, Cody stayed healthy this year, partly as a result of working extra hard during the summer of 2008. He missed just two regular season games and played in every post-season contest. The season-long pairing of Cody and rookie Adam Thompson produced a very effective partnership. Cody focused more on the physical play while Adam moved the puck and took a lot more shots. However, as the season wore on, Cody became more and more proficient in getting his point shots on net, through traffic. His nifty move at the blue line and shot on net led to the Mike Collins goal that tied the contest against Victoria in a key match up in the RBC round robin. Brother Cole completed the Viper comeback with an overtime goal.

The role of hard-nosed defender is exactly what the Army coaching staff is looking for in Cody, in order to replace a bruising Black Night defender who graduates from West Point this year. That role suits Cody just fine: “basically my job is to help keep the puck out of the net and throw a few guys around, and not get too fancy with the puck. I just try to keep it simple.”

Cody will attend West Point for four years and then fulfill his five-year military commitment. He doesn’t yet know what direction his military career will take, but he has a hankering to fly helicopters. He’s not worried about being sent overseas: “it’s an honour to serve your country. I’ll just do it the Ikky Way – keep it simple.”

In Vernon, he has been anything but warlike, as he has been very active in the community, reading at schools, helping at charity functions, and many other public events. His favourite volunteer activity has been helping foreign students at Okanagan College understand and adjust to local cultural activities and customs. The Viper coaching staff recognized these contributions with the Community Service Award at the team’s awards banquet at the end of February.

Cody Ikkala sums up his two years in Vernon as “the best place I’ve ever played hockey. The fans support the team so well; it’s a beautiful area to live in; the rink’s great; the organization’s great. That’s why I wanted Cole to come here. Plus, it’s been an excellent experience playing at this level with my brother.”

“Two years have gone really fast, and now it’s time to move on, I guess,” he says. Although always positive and optimistic, Cody is a little concerned about getting enough to eat in the army: “With my high metabolism, I could eat 24 hours a day. I’m a little worried that I might pass out in a ditch. I’m sure that they have no idea about how much I need to eat!” So, Viper fans, be prepared to send care packages to Cody Ikkala.

NOTE: watch for a 7-part series called "Departing Heroes", which started last week on the Vipers website. The series will profile graduating players Chris Crowell, Cody Ikkala, Cam Brodie, Mike Leidl, Ryan Santana, and Andrew Hammond. James Kerr, who will play and study ay Princeton University next year, will also be profiled.