Already hardened to the business of hockey, Shane Bowers still trying to enjoy his ascent with Avalanche

IRVINE, Calif. – Nobody needs to tell Shane Bowers “It’s a business.”

Drafted into the NHL at age 17, Bowers had his rights traded before he got to play with that team – the Ottawa Senators – at age 18.

“Well, it’s not like I played for the team, so it’s not like I had to move houses and I (didn’t have my) own family, or anything like that. But it was definitely a different experience. It’s just weird,” Bowers said Sunday afternoon here at the Great Park Fivepoint Arena, where he and the rest of his fellow Colorado Avalanche prospects fell 6-1 to the Los Angeles Kings. “I was at their development camp, and two months later, or whatever it was, I was traded. I took my fair share of chirps from my teammates. They were calling me “Suitcase” and things like that.”