Finishing their season 21-4, and capping off their impressive run with a state championship win, the Blue Devils hockey team dominated New Jersey high school hockey this past season. However, despite having some of the top hockey players in the state, committing to college for hockey is deemed rare and has been unseen in recent years at WHS.
People do not realize that playing hockey at the collegiate level may not be as simple as it sounds. Although many colleges across the country have a hockey team, whether that’s division I, II, or III, most hockey recruits do not begin playing right out of high school. Instead, many must begin their post-high school hockey career playing for a junior hockey team.
This past month, senior assistant captain Aidan Wilson committed to play for the Pontiacs, a junior team out of Bonnyville, Alberta. This team is a part of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and this past season they were ranked sixth in the North Division. Wilson said, “I have always had a dream of playing college hockey so I guess I have always had the dream of playing junior hockey after high school since they almost go hand in hand.”
Wilson has been playing hockey for almost 15 years. For most of his career, he has been a part of the Rockets Hockey Club, a club hockey program based out of Bridgewater, New Jersey. Wilson said, “Club hockey gave me this opportunity to play junior hockey since these types of programs only look at club hockey with exception to a few high school programs. But without club hockey I wouldn’t be the player I am today.”
As for Wilson’s recent high school season, he scored an impressive 23 goals and had 28 assists while leading the Blue Devils to victory in many high-stakes games. Not only did Westfield win the Group 4 State Championship against Ridgewood, but they also managed to clutch the McInnis cup against Livingston and bring home the Union County Title by beating Governor Livingston.
Playing for the Pontiacs is only the start of Wilson’s hockey career. Wilson said, “Junior hockey acts as a stepping stone to play collegiate hockey. Almost all division I and division III hockey players have gone through junior hockey.” Adding to that, he said, “My overall dream is to play Division I college hockey after my junior hockey career is over.”
