Kudla's 100 a labour of love

For Perth Thunder defenceman David Kudla, reaching the 100 game mark for the Perth Thunder last weekend against the Melbourne Mustangs at the O’Brien Group Arena was both an honour and something he believed was bound to happen.

Kudla’s journey began when he and his twin brother, Perth Thunder forward Simon Kudla, were approached about playing inline by a friend of the family, and the twins showed a knack for the sport, eventually taking their talents to the ice, and haven’t looked back since.

“While playing inline we met a few guys who were playing ice hockey as well,” Kudla said. “When we went to try ice hockey we ended up liking it even more and slowly started playing both, then we eventually stopped inline and focused solely on ice hockey.”

Little did they know that this decision would see them win a gold medal for their country in the Under 20’s World Championships in 2009/10, travel to parts of the world they had never dreamt of seeing, and for David, play 100 games of hockey for the state’s premier ice hockey organisation.

“I first started off playing for the WA state team, which led to a few national camps which helped me get selected for the Australian team,” Kudla said. “I didn’t travel with the team after that camp, but after that I had another training camp and the guy that was running it was an international coach from Finland who ended up moving over to Perth and coached us for a season when I was 16.

“From there he asked whether Simon and I wanted to go over to Finland and play for the team he was coaching there, so I ended up playing in Finland from when I was 17 to 21.

“Over that time I was selected to the Australian team, again with Simon and we competed in the division three world juniors where we ended up winning a gold medal, so I would say that’s been my biggest achievement so far.”

Kudla’s five year tenure with the Thunder began when he came home from Finland to find out the Thunder organisation was trying to set up an AIHL team, and he has straight away asked to join.

“When we came back to Perth it turned out the Thunder was trying to set up a team in the AIHL, so Stan Scott asked if we were keen to play,” said Kudla. “When they announced the team would be playing in the AIHL I was really excited to get involved with that straight away and I’ve been with the team ever since.

“The Thunder has always had a great fan base, even when we played exhibition games and more people just know about hockey in general, but I think the Canada vs USA series helped that and showed people that and that we do have a market for hockey here in Australia.”

Commenting on his relationship with his twin brother, Kudla says it was their drive and the way they would constantly push each other to reach new heights that helps them through the developmental stages of their careers.

“Unfortunately he [Simon] has had a lot of injuries over the last couple of seasons and he hasn’t really been able to play, but before that when we were overseas we would really push each other because we were both so competitive,” Kudla said reflecting on his Jr. A II-divisioona days in Finland.

“We would really push each other in of ice training, as well as shooting drills with each other and train longer hours off ice. We loved playing together overseas, I ended up moving to defence and we found the chemistry worked well with him at forward because I could set him up on a breakaway, or with a one timer.”

Kudla says while the achievement means so much to him, he always knew playing 100 games with the club was something that was almost bound to happen.

“I’m not really surprised as such that I’ve played by 100th game,” he remarked. “As soon as I joined the team I knew straight away that I would want to be with them for as long as possible, but it really means a huge amount to me.

“I love playing with the guys we have here now, and right now with this core and the young guys we have coming through I'm enjoying my hockey the most I ever have in Perth.

“I think we have a great organisation, and I’ve enjoyed every step of the way to get where we are now and I’m thankful we’ve been given the opportunity to play at such a high level in Australia as well.”

Looking ahead Kudla says he hopes to continue playing in Perth with the Thunder for the foreseeable future.

“I’m planning to play for the Thunder for a while,” he said. “A goal of mine is to play for the Australian team again, so I really want to push for that in the next few years, but for now I’m really happy with where I am.”

You can see David in action by booking your tickets to Perth Thunder home games here.