- 2016 Highlights
Personal Statement
Hello coaches!
This season, I am playing for the Carleton Place Canadians CCHL2 JR. B franchise and am in my Grade 12 academic year at Notre Dame Secondary School in Carleton Place, Ontario. My team is associated with CCHL JR A Carleton Place Canadians, which year after is one of the highest ranked JR A teams in Canada. I am also grateful to be billeting with yet another great family for this season.
Last season I made the jump to Junior hockey at just 16 years old, playing in the CCHL2 Junior B league which is made up mostly of players 17 to 20 years old. My goal is to develop and move up the Carleton Place Canadians CCHL JR A team which has won the league championship four years straight and is known as one of the top JR A franchises in Canada. Their program is intense with on ice and/or off ice practice every day.
I spent the previous two seasons at the the CIH Academy in Rockland, Ontario where I attended school, lived in a dorm and played AAA Midget hockey for a great coach. I concluded my time there with our winning our division championship.
I would describe myself as a fast, puck moving defenseman with good feet with an excellent hockey IQ and great awareness of gap control and space. Along with my speed, I bring an edge to my game and work hard along the boards to make plays and make solid defensive decisions. Offensively, I have a good shot from the point and excel at distributing the puck from the point and making plays with my vision. This past I also spent some time playing left wing and have a good understanding of the roles of that position now also.
The league also has a 52 game schedule which, playing at the age of 16, prepared me well for the future steps of further Junior and college hockey.
We completed a successful season, winning our division and a playoff run that ended with us losing in the Barkley Cup Championship (Eastern Ontario Jr Finals).
I just played in the Pre Draft Showcase in Boston in May 2018 for the Canada West Elite (Red Prospects), where we won four straight before losing in OT to an older team. We finished in the top 12 out of 56 teams there.
Over the past summer I attended the Carleton Place Canadians Main Camp and then the College Hockey Combine also in Carleton Place, Ontario, where there were many NCCA D1 and D3 coaches in attendance.
I will continue to workout with my personal trainer who is working with me to continue to gain strength and muscles mass. With my tall frame, I still have lots of room to get bigger and stronger. My personal goals this season are to continue to get bigger and stronger to my 6'2 167lb frame by working regularly with our team strength coach. I also want to be the go-to defenseman on our team that can be counted on to lead no mater what the situation. For team goals, I want us to grow and develop with the new faces on the team this season and pick up where we left off last year. Compete to be in the Championship once again and finish the job.
My life goals are clear. I want to continue to play hockey at the highest level and also acquire a high level of education in the USA.
Being part of a team is what I have done since I first stepped on the ice. From the age of 4 hockey has been my passion and I am continually looking for ways to keep getting better both on the ice and in the classroom. I have always been a great teammate and have served as Captain on previous teams.
I am looking forward to going through this process and meeting a lot of scouts and coaches!
Thank you for taking the time to read my profile! Please contact me at your convenience.
Andrew Vanderklei
