亚洲天堂 Lake Timbermen blueliner Aaron Johnson has been lighting it up, so far in the young hockey season, and not just for the Timbermen.
The Greater Metro Junior Hockey League allows players to move seamlessly between franchises on loan agreements. Johnson is a regular defender for the Timbermen but he has also been loaned to the franchise in Kitimat, the Kitimat Saax, for games they recently played in Mackenzie and Tumbler Ridge.
The loan agreements give players like Johnson a chance to get extra ice time and to learn hockey from a different set of coaches, for a few nights. Johnson was excited to get to work for Saax coach Kevin Hopfner.
鈥淗e coached in High Prairie last year and they have a crazy record,鈥� Johnson said. The High Prairie Red Wings have only lost four times in the past two seasons. 鈥淭hey won back to back championships.鈥�
Putting on another team鈥檚 uniform temporarily is fun, but there鈥檚 nothing like home cookin鈥� for Johnson. He said he鈥檒l never forget the crowd at the Timbermen home opener at the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena.
鈥淥h, it was pretty loud,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was pretty exciting. Just about full. It was crazy.鈥�
Home cookin鈥� is only a slight stretch because although Johnson is one of the players the team imported to the community, he didn鈥檛 travel far. His mom Teresa was born and raised in 亚洲天堂 Lake and now lives in Houston, his father David is from Fraser Lake where he still resides. Aaron is splitting the distance while staying with grandparents Jim and Marjorie Goertzen. He鈥檚 pleased with a billet arrangement like that.
鈥淚t worked out well. My grandparents are great. They feed me. Take me places. They pick me up at school if it鈥檚 too cold and drive me to the rink,鈥� he said.
He is grateful that a Junior-A league was available so close to home. Otherwise he would have had to either close off his hockey aspirations, or move a considerable distance to pursue it. He appreciates that he gets to be in a league that supplies some of the gear, has gym privileges, a physiotherapist, encourages healthy nutrition and urges academic attention.
School wasn鈥檛 a difficult transition because 鈥淚鈥檇 be here in the summer lots, so I knew most of them (the people he hangs out with at LDSS), that was pretty easy to get adapted.鈥�
Johnson wears No. 6 for the Timberman. He鈥檚 hard to miss. Even though he鈥檚 the youngest defender on the team at 15 years old, he stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 160 pounds. Adding some weight is one of his goals for the year, along with honing his hitting technique.
The best thing about 亚洲天堂 Lake, he said, now that he鈥檚 a full-time resident, is 鈥渢he community is pretty good. Everyone helps each other out lots, I鈥檝e noticed. People are nice.鈥�
Especially when the Timbermen score on home ice. Johnson had a two-goal game against that Kitimat Saax team a couple of weeks ago, so he looks to be a crowd favourite for years to come.
