Headrick helping Thunderbirds with playoff run
Owen Headrick is focussed on helping his current hockey team have a lengthy playoff run.
But the 17-year-old defenceman from the Garden River First Nation is also rather excited thinking of what lies ahead in his future.
Headrick is now starring with the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds, a Junior A squad that competes in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
In their opening round of the playoffs the T-Birds swept the Blind River Beavers 4-0 in their best-of-seven series. Headrick and his teammates will now face the Elliot Lake Wildcats in the league’s West Division semi-final series, which begins on Thursday in Sault Ste. Marie.
Looking ahead, Headrick has accepted a full scholarship offer from the Michigan-based Lake Superior State Lakers. The university is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, about a 20-minute drive from his home.
Headrick, who was selected as the NOJHL’s top rookie last season, is thrilled he will continue his career at the closest American university.
“It actually means a lot to me,” said Headrick, who is planning to study Criminology at Lake Superior State. “I like knowing all of my family and friends can come watch all of my games at home.”
It remains to be seen, however, whether Headrick will actually join the Lakers for the 2015-16 season. That was the original plan. But this line of thinking had to be revisited since Headrick missed a good chunk of the regular season while recovering from shoulder surgery this past October.
Headrick only appeared in 11 regular season contests with the T-Birds. Thus, the Lakers’ brass and Headrick must decide in the next few months whether he should join the team for next season or whether he would benefit from playing junior hockey for another year.
“They want me to come in and play a lot,” Headrick said. “I think I’m ready to step in for next year. But it is still being considered. At the end of this season we’ll talk to the coach and see what they want me to do and what is best for me.”
If Headrick does end up playing another season of junior hockey it will not necessarily be with the T-Birds.
The Michigan-based Soo Eagles, members of the North American Hockey League, own his playing rights for that league. Or Headrick might end up playing for a squad in the higher calibre United States Hockey League.
For now though, he’s going to concentrate his efforts on helping the T-Birds win the NOJHL crown.
“We have a really good team,” said Headrick, who scored six goals in his team’s first four playoff matches. “I think we can win our league for sure and hopefully do well at the Dudley Hewitt Cup.”
The Dudley Hewitt Cup, which will begin in late April in Fort Frances, is a qualifying event for the national Junior A championships, the RBC Cup tournament. This year’s Canadian tourney will be staged in May in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.