— Roxanne Ryland photo
“You got to take opportunities when you get them,” he said. “You can’t let somebody else go out and do it for you. You got to get up in the morning and do it yourself.”
The 16-year-old Deer Lake native is hoping his decision to play prep school hockey at the Ontario Hockey Academy in Cornwall, Ont. this winter leads him to his goal of cracking a roster in the National Collegiate Athletic Association hockey scene down the road.
His passion for hockey helped him pull up stakes away from the comforts of home with his parents Brian and Marcy in Deer Lake.
He attended a hockey showcase in Prince Edward Island a couple of years ago where representatives from the OHA expressed an interest in recruiting him.
A little too young for the move at the time, Chaulk continued to hone his skills at home. But, this year he kept prodding his parents about his desire to go away this winter and they finally gave him the thumbs up.
Being away from family and friends has been an adjustment, but he knows the environment is right for him to develop into a better hockey player with a daily diet of hockey wrapped up around his studies as a Level 2 student.
“Like any kid you always got that dream sitting in you to play in the NHL, “ he said.
“You got to keep working towards it, but you got to stay realistic too.”
Being on the mainland playing in a hockey program that sees him play upwards of 60 games a season plus five practices a week is something he feels will get him where he wants to be. He wants to make a name for himself so the fact he played in a tournament in Sudbury a few weeks ago with 21 scouts in the stands opened his eyes.
“There’s so much more exposure,” he said of the stage he finds himself on as an OHA newcomer.
It’s been a great ride so far.
He’s getting lots of ice-time and putting up some points on a young team so he knows there are guys in the same boat as him.
Over the past years he’s heard National Hockey League players passing on advice to players with a vision for playing pro hockey.
He constantly hears them tell players to get their education and then focus on hockey so he figures he’s on the right track with his No. 1 goal being recruited to play college hockey in the United States where a sweet deal would be afforded him.
“You’re using hockey to pay for your education,” he said.
He’s a small forward at five-foot-four. He knows size does matter, but he’s not sure he’s going to get his wish of adding some height over the next couple of years.
That dilemma he blames squarely on his dad.
“I’m hoping to make it to five-foot-eight, but with the genetics dad got I don’t think I got much going for me,” he said of his five-foot dad who he razzes from time to time.
