Blog

Position: Defense     Gender: Male    League: SJHL (Junior A)

 

Passport stamped, a truck filled with clothes, a hockey bag and a couple of sticks with a number engraved with a black sharpie. So began my journey to Weyburn, SK to play for the legendary program: The Weyburn Redwings, coached by Dwight McMillan.

 

Playing hockey in Canada was something that was more than what I had in mind. I showed up in this medium size farming community town with a main strip of local restaurants, a rink that was filled with legend's names on the wall and banners that covered every space in the rafters; you could feel the intensity just standing there. Not knowing what to expect when I stepped on the ice, I made it through training camp but it was a battle; harder than any other junior camp in the states. It was a dogfight every time you stepped on to the ice. I mean chills would run down my back every time I stepped on the ice, you had be tough, real tough and that’s what it is all about up there.

 

The home opener is something that I will never forget. A rink packed with fans and your name being called just jacked you up even more. Hockey up there was a meat and potato's pace of play and in my case that fit my style of play. Hockey in Canada taught me more about the love of the game, time spent with the boys, film, team meetings and long bus trips. It was your family for 8 months and you stood there side by side everyday and everyone bought into the same system.

 

I wouldn’t want to play my junior career anywhere else. I am happy that I went to Canada to play my junior level hockey. Up there, I think the system focuses more on the game itself. There were not politics like in the States, in the States there is that focus more so on the last name of players and where you were from. In Canada, the focus is on how you played the game and what you did different than everybody else. They gave me a shot up there and I took it. I am fortunate to have been apart of something that means so much to the entire country of Canada: hockey.