Noah Legge seen his share of whiteout conditions and slippery, snow-covered roads in his quest to play hockey at the elite level.
The 16-year-old commutes from tiny Cow Head to Corner Brook a couple of times per week to suit up with the Dennis GM Western Kings of the Newfoundland and Labrador Major Midget Hockey League.
“There’s been times when really you shouldn’t be going, but we’re committed so we still go,” Legge said Wednesday of the commitment his parents have made to allow him to play with the Kings.
Legge, who is older sibling to Cow Head’s female hockey and baseball star Hannah Legge, is in his sophomore season with the Kings and has been an offensive force with 10 goals and 13 helpers playing on the top line with league scoring leader Andrew Antle and Jonathan Anderson, who is fifth in league scoring at the Christmas break.
Legge said he fell in love with the game at an early age when shooting pucks around was the thing to do in a tiny community where there was little offered in the way of recreational pursuits in the Cow Head area.
He wanted to play hockey at a competitive level so he was fine with having to travel 90 minutes one way to play with the Kings.
Life is great as a King so he doesn’t think about the commitment level he has to have to keep his spot with the team.
“It’s a lot of kilometres, for sure,” Legge said. “I have to sacrifice a lot more time because I’m always on the road.”
The right winger likes how the Kings have meshed together this season. He said all hands made a commitment to make a run at a championship this year and everything appears to be falling in place so Legge is a happy camper.
Legge played one season with the Kings AAA bantam team before joining the midget ranks so he has a good idea of the compete level in the provincial setup.
Kings coach Mark Robinson wanted Legge to be an offensive contributor in his second season with the team so it appears the coach got what he asked for with Legge listed among the Top 20 scorers in the league.
Robinson, a guy who made a living out of scoring goals himself back in the day, considers Legge a pure goalscorer with a great shot from the right side.
“He can finish when he gets in the slot. That’s what he’s good at and that’s pretty much why we needed him on the team … he provides that little bit of offence,” Robinson said.
The five-foot-11, 160-pound forward is hoping to win a major midget hockey crown before his minor hockey career ends. With only more year left after this season, he hopes the Kings can continue to find the chemistry that has placed them well ahead of the pack at the holiday break.
He just hopes he can continue putting up points on the scoresheet on a more consistent basis.
The Kings will be back in action against the rival second-place St. John’s Maple Leafs for a two-game series — Saturday 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. — at the Corner Brook Civic Centre.
