Former Western Kings defenceman Ryan Gillam is hoping to take his game to another level this winter as a rookie with the St. Stephen’s Aces of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League.
The 18-year-old former Western Kings defenceman is in St. Stephen’s this week trying to crack the roster of the expansion club in the Maritime Junior A Hockey League. He is one of seven defenceman still on the roster and he’s been told he would be spending the season with the Aces while he tackles some on-line courses at Memorial University of Newfoundland over the winter.
Gillam, a six-foot three, 220-pound left-handed defenceman, opted to join the Aces after he was cut from the Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last month.
He’s already played in an exhibition game with the team so he has a better idea of the hockey atmosphere in the area. He believes the Aces boast some of the best fans he’s ever seen and seeing near-capacity crowds in a pre-season game is an indication of the support the team has in its quest to compete for a championship.
“It’s just the talk of the town all the time — it’s crazy. It’s a really good atmosphere,” he said.
He got a good sense of how challenging the hockey gets at the junior level when he attended the Islanders camp so he figured that helped him prepare for his shot at making the Aces.
He worked hard over the summer doing anything he could to help him be quicker on his feet and stronger physically so he could keep up with the grind of playing against bigger and older players.
“Just another whole another level really,” he said of the adjustment. “It’s definitely a lot quicker pace and there’s a lot bigger guys.”
He likes the group of guys he now calls his teammates. It doesn’t hurt that he has former Kings teammates Nathan Ellsworth of Rocky Harbour and Lucas McKay of Deer Lake around for support as he tries to find his groove in his new digs.
The welcome mat was put out for the players by the organization so he’s settling in nicely.
“Up here they treat you like the best there is. Everything you want is there for you and it’s just a really good organization.”
