By Laurence Heinen /
Hometown boys accounted for three-quarters of all the goals the Calgary Hitmen scored in their opening weekend of Western Hockey League action.
Ian Schultz, Brandon Kozun and Jason MacDonald each scored once as the Hitmen beat the Red Deer Rebels 5-3 at the Pengrowth Saddledome on Sept. 19. The next night in Edmonton, Kozun notched two more goals while Schultz also scored during a 4-3 loss to the Oil Kings.
All three members of the Calgary connection grew up playing minor hockey in their hometown and credit their local associations for helping hone their skills.
Schultz started skating at the age of three and began playing at the Tyke level with the Lake Bonavista Hockey Association at five.
His dad John coached him in his early years until he reached the Peewee level.
“He’s pretty old school,” Schultz said of his dad. “He always gave me a chance, but he was pretty hard on me sometimes too.”
Schultz also looked up to his older brother Jeff, a former Hitmen defenceman who now patrols the blueline for the Washington Capitals.
“He was a huge influence,” said the 6-2, 200-pound forward. “He’d be outside playing street hockey with some of his friends and I’d always try and go out and play with them.”
While he started out as a defenceman, Schultz found himself drawn to the action up front as a forward
“I just like scoring goals more and I was just rushing the puck, so I just tried forward and it’s worked out so far,” said Schultz, who was drafted in the third round (87th) overall by the St. Louis Blues last June.
At 13, Schultz cracked the lineup of the Calgary Bisons and played another season at the Bantam AAA level the next year with the Calgary Rangers when he was coached by Joe Mabee. Both Schultz and MacDonald listed Mabee as one of their most influential minor hockey coaches.
Following seasons at the Midget A level with the Calgary Blackhawks and at the Midget AAA level with the Calgary Buffaloes, Schultz cracked the lineup of the Hitmen last year when he put up 15 goals and 15 assists in 67 games.
“I couldn’t be happier staying close to home,” Schultz said. “I still have some of the lifelong friends I had playing in Lake Bonavista or with the Buffaloes. They’ve been huge help and support to me these last couple years.”
While Schultz has always called Calgary home, the same isn’t true for Kozun or MacDonald.
Kozun was born in Los Angeles and started skating at the age of three after watching his older brothers Chris and John playing the game.
“Being at the rink all the time all the time watching them play hockey, it’s kind of a little brothers’ dream when you go there and watch them play,” said Kozun, who eventually moved to Calgary at the age of 10 when his parents enrolled him to play at the Novice level in the Blackfoot Minor Hockey Association.
In his first year of Atom, Kozun played for the Blackfoot Chiefs with MacDonald.
“We actually played on a line together for a while,” said Kozun, who moved away and played his Peewee years and first season of Bantam on teams with the Midnapore Hockey Association. “We had some really good teams there and we had some good players come out of that organization.”
For his second year of Bantam, Kozun attended the Edge School and played for the Mountaineers. The following season Kozun was on the move again, this time to Faribault, Minn., where he attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s and played for the Sabres.
He made his return to Calgary in the 2006/07 season to play for the Calgary Royals in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, but he also suited up for the Hitmen in 11 games and notched one goal and an assist.
Last season, Kozun scored 19 goals and added 34 assists in 69 games during his first full season with the Hitmen.
“It’s always exciting playing in your hometown,” said the 5- 8, 156-pound forward. “One of the major reasons I chose the WHL over college is because I was going to play in my hometown.
There’s nothing like coming to the rink every day and playing in front of people you know and living at home and having your mother cook you meals.”
Kozun listed Rick Alexander as one of his most influential coaches.
“He’s helped me my entire life,” Kozun said. “He’s a big mentor of mine.”
Like Schultz and Kozun, MacDonald also had an older brother playing hockey and that prompted him to start skating at the age of four.
“One day my dad (Scott) decided he was going to come home and enroll my brother Joel to play hockey,” said MacDonald, who started out at the Tyke level the next season with the Blackfoot Hockey Association. “I still keep in touch with a few guys I played with that very first year.”
One of those players is Mitch Kulikowski, who MacDonald played with last season as a member of the Calgary Canucks in the AJHL. While Kulikowski is still with the Canucks, MacDonald is making his return to the WHL where he started playing as a 16-year-old with the Regina Pats after two years with the Calgary Bantam AAA Rangers and a season at the Midget A level with the Calgary Rangers.
MacDonald has also played for the Kelowna Rockets and the Kootenay Ice, but nothing was more special than scoring the game-winning goal for the Hitmen on opening night this season.
“It was nice to finally be able to score in the Saddledome and have the fans cheer for you,” said the 6- 1, 193-pound forward. “I hadn’t scored in this arena yet so it was a good feeling for me.”
Aside from Mabee, MacDonald listed his dad as one of his most influential coaches in minor hockey.
“He kept me honest,” he said. “If I needed a little push, he was always there to make sure I was giving it all I had.”
Like his fellow Calgarian teammates, MacDonald is enjoying playing for his hometown WHL squad after growing up as Hitmen fans.
“It’s a great feeling,” MacDonald said. “I actually had two players (Jordan Krestanovich and Michael Bubnick) that lived on my block in Riverbend so they’d come and play road hockey with us. They’d just come down and shoot the ball with us, so it was always a fun time.” |
