Bay City is the latest stop for Thomas Chaulk in the quest for a United States college hockey scholarship.
Chaulk, a 19-year-old Deer Lake native, is a rookie with the Tri-City IceHawks junior A team in the United States Premier Hockey League.
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Chaulk joined the IceHawks this season after spending last season honing his skillset in with the Brockville Tikis of the Central Canada Hockey League 2.
It’s been a period of adjustment for the stocky five-foot seven, 155-pound forward who has collected seven points in 14 games as the IceHawks sport a 4-10 record in the early going.
He is in a new country in a new community where everybody is a stranger so he’s trying to settle in as fast as he can.
He’s confident he made the right decision by heading to the United States this winter. The hockey isn’t as rough and tumble as it was last season in Canada, but the speed of the game is quick and players are really skilled as the style of play follows more the European style than the Canadian brand of hockey he was exposed to before he went down to Michigan.
“Sometimes you just got to throw the dice and hopefully it works out for you,” Chaulk said. “I think in the long run it’s really going to pay off for me.”
It may be a different style of hockey in an unfamiliar part of the world, but he’s glad he made the decision to join the IceHawks when the opportunity was presented to him and he’s very impressed with how he’s been playing.
The league features a lot of skilled players who are on the radar of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 teams so it’s a great place to be scouted and already Chaulk has been contacted by college Division 1 teams interested in recruiting him for next season.
“I’ve talked to a couple of schools so I’m definitely making an impression,” he said.
