Colorado College turned out to be a
pretty good second choice.
First, however, after his 2009-10
season with the Blues, he was selected
in the seventh round (199th overall)
of the National Hockey League entry
draft by the Atlanta Thrashers (now
Winnipeg Jets), a rare occurrence
when an MJHL player is taken in the
NHL draft.
“It was an exciting time and yes,
not many players are selected out
of the MJHL by NHL teams,” said
Stoykewych. “I was also the very last
player the Thrashers ever took before
the team moved to Winnipeg and the
Jets had the next draft. So, yeah, it was
a pretty exciting time.”
He had already accepted a
scholarship offer with the Colorado
College Tigers (his brother Paul plays
for another Manitoban, Andy Murray,
at Western Michigan), so in order to
prepare for NCAA Division 1 hockey,
he played his 18-year-old year with
the Des Moines Buccaneers of the
United States Hockey League.
“That was a great experience and
it’s where I really got a lot of exposure
and started to learn how to play pro
hockey,” he said. “It really prepared
me to play four years at the Division 1
level of the NCAA.”
Stoykewych, now 23, blossomed
at Des Moines but became a star at
Colorado College. In his final season
with the Tigers, he had three goals and
eight assists in 34 games and finished
his college career with six goals and
28 assists in 139 games. A solid puckmoving defenseman, he was a rock
in his own zone and always made the
players around him better.
“Being a Winnipeg kid, you always
dream about having the opportunity
to play in your home town,” he said.
“I’ll have a chance to be on that
stage this year and I’m excited about
it. I can’t ever imagine that I could
possibly say anything bad about
playing hockey in Winnipeg. We have
great fans and it’s a great city to play
in. I’m excited about the upcoming
season, really excited.” l
Peter Stoykewych, Colorado College
at last year’s Jets prospects camp
(Editor’s Note: Portions of this feature
were originally published in the
2015-16 Preview edition of Game On
Magazine)
sportslife / 19