Midget winger finds new home in P.G.
P
aul Hauk is unique among his Cariboo Cougars major midget hockey teammates, the only Okanagan kid in the bunch.
His home was in Kelowna until he clinched a spot with the defending B.C. Hockey Major Midget League champions for the 2017-18 season.
The 16-year-old right winger was too good to ignore when the Cougars’ coaching staff saw him playing in the league’s spring prospects camp in Vancouver and they decided then and there they would give him a chance to make the team and invited him back to Prince George.
Having played last year for the Okanagan Rockets midget Tier 1 team, Hauk was already familiar with a few of the Cougars who played last season for the Prince George Coast Inn of the North Tier 1 team that won its second straight provincial championship.
“I came out of the prospects camp and I really liked the program and thought it would be a good place to start a new beginning,” Hauk said. “They’ve always had a great team and a great program.
“I’m from Williams Lake so I know a lot of these guys here. There’s a lot of young players and it’s been really great so far, we’ve had a great start and hopefully we can keep it going. I’m hoping I can contribute to the team and get us some wins this year. There’s lots of skill here and hopefully I can jump in and make an impact on the penalty kill and on the power play and score some goals.”
Hauk and the Cougars were nearly spotless in the preseason and opened the season with a weekend doubleheader at Kin 1 Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning against the Langley/Surrey-based Valley West Hawks. Playing the right side on a line with centre Brandon Rowley of Dawson Creek and left winger Lane Goodwin of Fort St. James, Hauk was held without a point in his Cougar debut Saturday, a 5-2 loss to the Hawks.
Nolan Krogfoss and Arshdeep Bains each scored a pair for the Hawks and Jackson Crooke also scored. Justin Sourdif picked up three assists for the visitors. Rowley and Grady Thomas were the Cougar goalscorers. The Cougars, with Marcus Allen in net, were outshot 41-23.
Sunday’s game ended 5-3 in favour of the Hawks.
Hauk lived in Williams Lake until he moved to Kelowna in 2012. His cousin Lorne is a teacher at Prince George secondary school where Hauk attends Grade 11 classes, and Lorne also helps teach the PGSS hockey academy program. Hauk’s uncle, Craig Jones, also lives in Prince George so he’ll have lots of family watching him play home games.
Hauk stands a half-inch shy of six feet and weighs 180 pounds and is one of the bigger Cougar forwards. He loves physical play and using his size to get pucks free from the boards and the Cougars intend to give him every opportunity to develop those skills playing in the province’s top midget league.
“He plays the game like a northern kid, he moves well and listens well and there’s no problems off the ice as well,” said Cougars head coach Tyer Brough. “He’s a kid that I trust and I believe in and he’s willing to put the work in to be here and play the way we play.
“He’s a kid who is going to see plenty of PK time and maybe stand in front of the net on power plays. We’re going to be a fourline team and he’s definitely going to contribute up front. He uses his big body well, something we were blessed with last year, but we’re not this year. He is that big body we can lean on to win battles along the wall and give us some net-front presence.”
Hauk was called up for eight BCHMML games with the Okanagan Rockets last season and picked up one assist.
“He’s sneaky-fast and he has good hands and some skill too,” said Brough. “If he can chip in five-on-five and score here and there, he’s doing his job.”