CdnSailor
08-30-2011, 11:32 PM
Fans attending tonight’s Victoria Royals intra-squad game can be excused if they experience a few Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre flashbacks. Don’t worry, there’s nothing in the popcorn.
Short in stature but not tenacity, Brandon Magee is poised to become for the Royals what Darrell Lloyd was to the former Victoria Salmon Kings. Minus, however, Lloyd’s unruly but defining shock of golden hair tumbling out from under the helmet. Magee has short-cropped hair, which seems about the only difference apart obviously from age.
It seems plucky, undersized pinball forwards with non-stop motors always turn out to be fan favourites. That Magee became one so quickly in the Western Hockey League — last season as a 16-year-old rookie when the Royals were based in Chilliwack and known as the Bruins — took everybody aback.
“I was a little surprised to make the team at 16,” he admitted.
“Not many midgets out of [his hometown] Edmonton region made it to the WHL last season as 16-year-olds, so I was very proud to accomplish that,” added the five-foot-seven, 160-pound dynamo.
Not only was Magee a rarity as a 16-year-old in the WHL, but he made an instant impact — on opposition bodies with 78 penalty minutes and also on the scoresheet with 12 goals and 29 points in 65 games.
“I’m a hard-working guy but I’ve got good ice vision and can put the puck in the net when needed,” said the sophomore of Filipino-Irish descent.
“And I’m not afraid to stir it up. I try to do it all.”
To good effect, it seems.
As for role models, Magee lists Martin St. Louis because “he’s a little guy like me.”
But that analogy only goes so far.
“Maybe I hit a little more,” said Magee, with a mischievous smile.
Hockey has been Magee’s passion since he can remember.
“I’ve always had a stick in my hand,” he said.
“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I would even play minor-pro for as long as I can, as long as I was making enough money to get by,” added Magee, a member of the bronze-medallist Team Pacific in the 2011 World Under-17 Challenge.
Whether he makes it to the Show like St. Louis, or becomes a minor-league lifer like Lloyd did after graduating major junior from the OHL Windsor Spitfires, remains to be seen. There is honour in both.
It’s that career uncertainty which gives junior hockey much of its appeal. These are largely empty pages skating around the ice in Royals training camp at the Memorial Centre. The stories on those pages have yet to be written.
As Magee crafts his, he will almost certainly accumulate a fan following in the process at the Memorial Centre. He’s that kind of energetic and feisty player who seems to naturally attract a supporter base by just being himself.
The intra-squad game tonight commences at 7 p.m. with admission by donation and proceeds to Free the Children.
Tonight represents the last chance for most of the 112 players skating in camp as the Royals will cut down to between 30 and 35 players to take on the road to open the exhibition campaign Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna.
WHL teams are allowed to protect 50 players, of which 25 can be on the active roster, although most WHL teams carry 23.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sparkplug+extraordinaire/5330849/story.html#ixzz1Wa8IviEk
Short in stature but not tenacity, Brandon Magee is poised to become for the Royals what Darrell Lloyd was to the former Victoria Salmon Kings. Minus, however, Lloyd’s unruly but defining shock of golden hair tumbling out from under the helmet. Magee has short-cropped hair, which seems about the only difference apart obviously from age.
It seems plucky, undersized pinball forwards with non-stop motors always turn out to be fan favourites. That Magee became one so quickly in the Western Hockey League — last season as a 16-year-old rookie when the Royals were based in Chilliwack and known as the Bruins — took everybody aback.
“I was a little surprised to make the team at 16,” he admitted.
“Not many midgets out of [his hometown] Edmonton region made it to the WHL last season as 16-year-olds, so I was very proud to accomplish that,” added the five-foot-seven, 160-pound dynamo.
Not only was Magee a rarity as a 16-year-old in the WHL, but he made an instant impact — on opposition bodies with 78 penalty minutes and also on the scoresheet with 12 goals and 29 points in 65 games.
“I’m a hard-working guy but I’ve got good ice vision and can put the puck in the net when needed,” said the sophomore of Filipino-Irish descent.
“And I’m not afraid to stir it up. I try to do it all.”
To good effect, it seems.
As for role models, Magee lists Martin St. Louis because “he’s a little guy like me.”
But that analogy only goes so far.
“Maybe I hit a little more,” said Magee, with a mischievous smile.
Hockey has been Magee’s passion since he can remember.
“I’ve always had a stick in my hand,” he said.
“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I would even play minor-pro for as long as I can, as long as I was making enough money to get by,” added Magee, a member of the bronze-medallist Team Pacific in the 2011 World Under-17 Challenge.
Whether he makes it to the Show like St. Louis, or becomes a minor-league lifer like Lloyd did after graduating major junior from the OHL Windsor Spitfires, remains to be seen. There is honour in both.
It’s that career uncertainty which gives junior hockey much of its appeal. These are largely empty pages skating around the ice in Royals training camp at the Memorial Centre. The stories on those pages have yet to be written.
As Magee crafts his, he will almost certainly accumulate a fan following in the process at the Memorial Centre. He’s that kind of energetic and feisty player who seems to naturally attract a supporter base by just being himself.
The intra-squad game tonight commences at 7 p.m. with admission by donation and proceeds to Free the Children.
Tonight represents the last chance for most of the 112 players skating in camp as the Royals will cut down to between 30 and 35 players to take on the road to open the exhibition campaign Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna.
WHL teams are allowed to protect 50 players, of which 25 can be on the active roster, although most WHL teams carry 23.
Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/sparkplug+extraordinaire/5330849/story.html#ixzz1Wa8IviEk