WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Owner of The Goal skating hard in Maritimes
Bronson Maschmeyer’s name will resonate with this generation’s Kamloops Blazer fans for years to come.
His goal last season to force Game 7 in a second-round WHL playoff series with the Portland Winterhawks almost sent the Interior Savings Centre roof to Juniper.
He rode off into the sunset after the Blazers were defeated in Game 7, so where is the 21-year-old blue-liner today?
The farm boy from Bruderheim, Alta., is way out east in Antigonish, N.S., playing for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports ranks.
Sometimes, though, it feels like he never left the Tournament Capital.
“It’s in the past but, when I watch highlights, it brings it all right back,” said Maschmeyer, whose X-Men are 9-5-2 this season in the CIS’s Atlantic University Sport Conference.
“I get that feeling again, where it’s like, ‘I want to be back there.’
“Some of my teammates are like, ‘Take the sweater off already. You play for the X-Men now.’”
In truth, Maschmeyer is enjoying the new chapter of his life at university, balancing schoolwork with hockey and with fun.
He is pursuing a business degree but, like many students, his career path is not set in stone.
“The family farm, eventually,” Maschmeyer said of his eventual destination.
“It would be nice to help my dad out with that.
“But, I’d like to do something first before the farm.
“Everybody says it’s tough in high school to decide what they want to do,” Maschmeyer said.
“Now I’m 21 and I still have no idea.”
For now, he is living in a building full of hockey players, many of them graduates of the Western Hockey League, including former Blazer Cole Grbavac.
“The place we live at, it’s right above M&M Meats, so we call it the Meat Shop,” Maschmeyer said.
“It’s a lot of fun but, when the season picks up, it’s pretty focused. We have a rule — the 72-hour rule.”
No partying that will affect on-ice performance.
“The boys force it upon themselves,” Maschmeyer said.
The hockey gene is more than prevalent in the Maschmeyer family.
His sister, Emerance, won gold playing between the pipes for Team Canada at the 2012 world women’s under-18 championship.
The puck-moving D-man still keeps in touch with his former Blazer teammates, mostly through text messaging and social media, although he did meet up with Brendan Ranford and Colin Smith — both Alberta products — in Edmonton earlier this month.
If his former mates were to win a WHL championship and advance to the Memorial Cup this season, Maschmeyer will have been a year too late.
That’s OK with him.
“If they did, I would wish I was 20 again, but I’d be happy for all of them,” he said.
“I’d be super-jacked for them.”
As for The Goal, it’s likely Maschmeyer will never experience anything like that again.
He’s just fine with that, too.
“That one is going to be a tough one to beat,” Maschmeyer said.
“You never know what could be in front of you and you hope you get that feeling again.
“If not, I’ll be happy with that one.”
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.