With seemingly a smorgasbord to choose from, Pittsburgh Penguins fan Noah Blanchard somehow doesn’t have a favourite NHL player.
Maybe it’s too hard to pick just one on a roster that deep, or perhaps he’s too busy concentrating on his own play with the Western AAA Peewee Kings this season.
The season could already be considered somewhat of a success as, after struggling through the past two seasons with one win to their name, the team hung a pair of Ws on the opposition in the provincial AAA peewee league’s kickoff tournament back in late-September.
Even though Blanchard wasn’t a part of those rosters that felt their way through the dark times, he said there was still a sense of achievement in the locker room following the two wins.
“It felt good,” he said. “It felt like a really big accomplishment.”
The 12-year-old son of Stephenville’s Eddie Blanchard and Dot Caines is currently attending Grade 7 at Stephenville Middle School. He’s a first-year centre with the club, but has been playing hockey for “six or seven” years now.
“My dad was doing it, so I wanted to do it too,” he uses as his reason for starting with the sport.
He’s competitive, sure, but that’s not the only benefit to suiting up with the Kings this year.
“I love spending time with my friends,” he said of his main enjoyment from the game.
The Kings host the Tri Pen Ice this weekend at the Gros Morne Arena in Rocky Harbour, which is the home base for the peewee AAA squad after they were unable to secure ice time at the Corner Brook Civic Centre.
Of those two victories earlier this season, one of them came against Tri Pen, by a 5-4 score.
Blanchard said the key to the win was outskating them and passing the puck cleanly.
“I’m just going to try and do the same thing,” he said of the weekend rematches.
The Kings entertain the Ice 11 a.m. today, 4 p.m. today, and 9 a.m. Sunday in Rocky Harbour.
