Working out in the gym every day.
Skating with his new teammates every day.
Playing against players who are bigger and older.
Being in an environment that provides a neat educational and hockey experience for young hockey minds.
That’s what Spencer Caines found when he decided to move to Cornwall, Ont. to pursue an elite hockey future at the Ontario Hockey Academy as one of the new Mavericks.
Caines, an Ontario native who grew up in Roddickton, moved to Humber Village with his parents Shane and Joan two years ago when the right-winger decided to play with the Western Kings in the provincial AAA peewee hockey league.
He’s had a week to get adjusted to his new surroundings and new teammates and he likes how things have been going in the early going.
He went away to find a good place to develop as a player and pursue a keener educational experience and he believes he’s found it in Cornwall.
“We were only having one practice a week at home and that’s not enough,” Caines said when asked why he wanted to go away to pursue the game at a higher level.
The Ontario Hockey Academy boasts a lot of good players who have skill and speed on their side and that’s the challenge Caines is hoping to embrace.
“It’s a lot faster and it’s high calibre players,” he said.
Caines got some good news earlier this week that boosted his confidence. He was the only player from the west coast of the province to earn a spot on the Newfoundland and Labrador 14U male hockey team that will be competing in the Atlantic Challenge Cup in October.
It’s all about working hard and doing the things that successful hockey players do at this point in the game.
A daily diet of hockey is what he envisoned and it sounds like he found it.
He thinks life will be good with the Mavericks so he’s going to appreciate the opportunity to impress the right people.
