Christmas is now less than 100 days away but the 麻豆社国产Wolfpack received an early gift last week.
After several years playing high-level junior hockey throughout the province, local kid Konrad Sander has chosen to come back home and play his final year of junior hockey in his hometown.
The news came as a pleasant surprise to Wolfpack head coach Matt Samson.
"I've known Konrad for a couple of years now and I made it clear to him that he has a place to play here," he said. "He called me up and basically said he's thinking about asking for his release from Coquitlam and I told him my offer still stands."
According to Samson, Sander's decision to join the Wolfpack will help the team greatly.
"We're really happy to have him," he said. "In the BCHL I think he was put in a third line role but he's going to be a top six forward for us. He's got a great wrist shot, drives the net hard and will be getting a lot of ice time for us."
Sander has had an interesting journey playing the sport he loves. He played most of his minor hockey in Squamish, noting that in Pee Wee his team reached the provincials.
"It was great playing minor hockey in Squamish," he said. "I had lots of good memories that I'll never forget."
For his grade 10 and 11 years, Sander attended the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. Notre Dame has a renowned hockey program and Sander said he learned a great deal from his coaches in the program.
He decided to come back to 麻豆社国产for grade 12, citing a desire to graduate with his friends and then attended a training camp for the Vancouver Giants that summer. The Giants quickly snatched his rights up but then traded those rights to the Kootenay Ice.
Sander played 15 games for the Ice in 2007-08 but then decided to join the Langley Chiefs of the BCHL for the next season.
It was with Langley that Sander helped develop his game even further and he enjoyed his experience with the Chiefs.
"It was a great organization to play for," he said. "It was a privilege to put on that jersey and I have nothing but good to say about my time in Langley."
Sander suited up for 44 games for the Chiefs in the 08-09 season, picking up three goals and three assists, but that summer was traded to the Burnaby Express.
He spent the entire 2009-10 season with the Express, notching three goals and six assists in 42 games. He was slotted to make the team again this year before deciding to join the Wolfpack.
According to Sander, the decision stems from other opportunities outside of hockey opening up.
"It was a hard decision to come play Junior B," he said. "I'm in an electrical apprenticeship program and also planning to attend a firefighters program in May so for my last year I decided I just wanted to have fun and be close to home."
He also thinks that he can contribute a lot more than he was allowed to in Junior A.
"I was kind of stuck in power forward or checking line roles," he said. "I can bring the offence and I don't think I ever really got an opportunity in Junior A to show that."
The Wolfpack's goal from the start of the season has been to make the post-season and Sander is on board with that objective.
"We want to make the playoffs," he said. "That's the biggest thing and for my last year I would love to make a run."
Sander has already made an impact on the team, scoring three points in his first two games with the team.
For more information on the Wolfpack, visit www.squamishwolfpack.com
