Bright future for young hockey player

Page 17

It's about a six-and-a-half hour drive from Siksika First Nation near Calgary to Regina. Sixteen-year-old Robin Big Snake made the drive with his dad, Carlin, in mid August for his second Western Hockey League training camp with the Regina Pats. Now, it looks like Regina will be Big Snake's home for the rest of the hockey season.

After attending his first WHL camp with the Pats as a 15-year-old last season, Big Snake made a impression on the organization's brass. They listed him and he returned home to Siksika. The 6'1, 197 lbs, left-winger played Triple A Bantam hockey with the Airdrie Xtreme in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. Airdrie is about an hour-and-a-half from Siksika and Big Snake and his family made the trip up to four times a week for games and practices.

When he wasn't on the ice with the Xtreme, he was out at the new rink on Siksika, practicing with everyone from the pre-novice to the senior men's team.

"I was known as a rink rat," Big Snake says with a smile, "but I guess there are worse things to be known for. It got me this far."

During his season with the Xtreme, Big Snake posted some respectable numbers. He scored 12 goals, added 23 assists for 35 points in 34 games. He also amassed 103 minutes in penalties. The Xtreme also had a great season. With Big Snake as one of the team's leaders, they won the provincial championship in Alberta and went on to the win the Western Canada Triple A championship.

When Big Snake went into Regina for his second camp, he had high expectations. In fact, Pats general manager Brent Parker told him to bring all of his things from home-a big step for a young guy who's lived all of his 16 years on the reserve.

"He had a really good year camp last year and just continued to improve throughout the whole season. He's impressed us," said Parker.

Big Snake started in with the rest of the rookies and quickly gained a reputation as a hard working player. He plays a tough style of game. He's hard to knock off the puck, has great instinct, and he is solid in the corners. He also showed great playmaking ability...and he was not afraid to drop the gloves. He had a couple of tussles during camp, quickly making a name for himself as 'the guy you don't want to fight.'

"I'll never back down from a fight, but I don't go out to start any trouble. It just happens. It's part of the game," Big Snake said of the tough stuff.

Going into main camp, Big Snake was up against a lot of competition. Pats' veteran players and a number of others were competing for the few roster spots open. He continued his gritty style of play and did well against others who had been in the league for a couple of seasons.

He made it past the first few rounds of cuts, and in a preseason road game versus the Brandon Wheatkings in early September, Big Snake made his debut in a Pats' uniform, though the team had yet to put the names on the back of the jerseys. Still, it was his first opportunity to play against guys who weren't his own teammates. He got into a fight in the first period and spent the rest of the game in the stands. The Pats went on to lose the game, but Big Snake said he learned a lot from that experience.

"It's a big jump from Bantam to Major Junior, but I'm adjusting quickly," he said.

Throughout the rest of the preseason, Big Snake continued to play his tough style of hockey. He got a lot of ice time in a WHL tournament in Red Deer. And since the tournament was in Alberta, his parents were able to watch him play.

When the regular season rolled around near the end of September, Big Snake was back in Brandon at the Keystone Centre for the Wheatkings' regular season home opener. He took the pregame skate with his name and the number 36 on his back for the first time. And although he didn't dress for the game, he had a great time watching the action, and chatting with Wheatkings fans.

"I must have signed about 50 autographs during the game. People just kept coming up to me," h said. Not ba for a kid who didn't have his name on the back of his sweater on the last trip through town.

Big Snake's first chance to lace up as a member of the Pats came on Sept. 27 at the Regina Agridome versus the Prince Albert Raiders. He got into a second period fight when the Pats were down 3-1. Big Snake took a five-minute penalty and his Pats went on to win the game 6-3.

"Somebody's got to step up and get the team on the right track and I had to do it today," he said after his Western Hockey League debut.

Although Big Snake's parents Carlin and Lisa, and his younger brothers Catlin, 10 and Cote, 9, were back home on Siksika, Big Snake did have a lot of family in the stands. His mom is originally from Ochapowace First Nation, about an hour-and-a-half south east of Regina. He had aunts and uncles as well as his grandparents come out to watch him. He says that having family around makes it a bit easier to be away from home.

Big Snake played one more game with the Pats versus the Medicine Hat Tigers before being assigned to the Pats' affiliate team in the Saskatchewan Midget 'AAA' League, the Regina Pat Canadians. He managed to stick with the team long enough to make his Western Hockey League debut, and even more importantly, long enough to let the Pats organization know that this is a player that they will want to keep around for seasons to come.

GM Brent Parker said of Big Snake's assignment, "We felt that it was important for Robin to play a lot this season, and we were not sure if we could commit to giving him the ice time he needs to continue his development. Having him here with the Pat Canadians gives us a chance to monitor him and allow him to practice and play some games with us."

Even though Big Snake will not see regular action this season with the Regina Pats, he has still made a big impression on the team's management.

"He's a real tenacious hockey player. He plays the game hard. He's one of those kids who always has a smile on his fac. Everyone in our rganization likes him. I think he'll be a guy who'll be a real fan favorite here. He will be a big part of our team in the future," said Parker.