He first set foot on the ice at Brennan Park at the tender age of four, and now Squamish鈥檚 Brock Leach-Moore is set to take a big step.
The Grade 12 Howe Sound Secondary School student is manning the nets for the North Vancouver Wolf Pack this fall and said he鈥檚 thrilled to be joining the defending Pacific Junior Hockey League champions.
Leach-Moore isn鈥檛 exactly a stranger to the organization, as he suited up two games in the blue, white and silver last season. His numbers were solid, posting a win, a .922 save percentage and only allowing four goals in the pair of appearances.
He said it felt good backstopping the Pack last season.
鈥淚 thought it went pretty good,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y first game was against Port Moody and they came out pretty strong but I thought I played well. I鈥檓 just super excited because it鈥檚 a great organization and a good group of guys on the team.鈥�
Leach-Moore spent most of last season playing on the North Vancouver midget rep team and the connection to the Wolf Pack grew from that experience.
鈥淚 had a goalie coach named Troy Newport when I came to North Vancouver and he really helped me out and gave me the opportunity to work with the Wolf Pack,鈥� he said.聽
鈥淚 went to about 20 practices with the team last year and got to know the coaching staff pretty well, and it just went from there.鈥�
His hockey life has been a winding journey with stops all over the province but it began in Squamish.
鈥淚 played with 麻豆社国产when I was like four years old all the way first year Bantam,鈥� he said.聽
鈥淚t was so great to play with my friends and the coaches, especially Bob Versluis was awesome. Versluis was an inspiration and always put everyone on the team before himself.鈥�
He then headed to the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna and followed in the footsteps of other 麻豆社国产hockey products like the Thrower brothers and Bret Higham.
鈥淭hat was life-changing for me, just living on my own for two years,鈥� he said, noting he moved at 14 years old. 鈥淚 learned a lot about hockey and became a better goalie but also became a better person.鈥�
After his time at POE, Leach-Moore took part in the U16 BC Cup and was ranked as one of the top goalies in the province for his age group.聽
He also attended a rookie try-out camp for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League in 2013.
Leach-Moore, who now stands 6鈥�1 and weighs 165 pounds, said he has a unique style of goaltending.
鈥淚鈥檓 definitely not normal,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty fast but not as huge as some of the other goalies.鈥�
He admitted that his family didn鈥檛 want him to play goalie but he loved the position. His ultimate goal is to catch on with a Junior A team next year and gain a scholarship in the process.
鈥淚 went to Trail [Smoke Eaters] camp in the past and they were looking at me but anywhere I can have hockey as a back-up plan and go to school would be great,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to go to Boston College.鈥�
Leach-Moore said so much about goaltending is mental, and practice makes perfect between the pipes.聽
鈥淭here are always lows but there are always eventually highs,鈥� he said.
