STELLARTON – Just over eight months ago, Stellarton’s Trevor Boardway had to play the waiting game.
Boardway found out he had made the ACHA D-3 Selects, made up of the top ACHA Division 3 players in the nation, which would travel to Europe to play five games over the 2012-13 holidays.
Having returned from the trip last week, Boardway said it was worth the wait.
“I’ve never been to Europe before, so I’d say a lot of the tours were really fun,” said Boardway. “There was another day we went up a ski lift and came down on something like a single person roller coaster, which winded us down the hills and gave us some amazing views. On the bus going through Austria and into Slovenia we were able to see the Swiss Alps and just picturesque views of the mountains in the background was just gorgeous seeing that.”
Although those were amazing off-ice memories for Boardway in his first trip to Europe, the main focus was competing on-ice in five games. Arriving Dec. 28 in Munich, the team’s first game was the next day against SPG Oberstorf/ERC Sonthofen. He was getting the start.
“What I did was when we got to Munich we had a city tour and then we had three or four hours off so I napped before practice,” said Boardway. “After practice we had the choice to go out to see the town, but I opted to stay back at the hotel because I didn’t want to be tired during the trip, so I quickly adjusted to time change. The next day when we had our game I was refreshed and ready to go and felt like a normal game day.”
Boardway would pick up the 7-3 win to open the team’s trip. The team would go 5-0 over their 10 days in Europe. He said the team was told Oberstorf/ERC Sonthofen was one of the best teams the Selects had played in past trips.
“Expected it to be a hard fought game and to be close with them,” he said. “It wasn’t as big of a blowout as it seemed because we were up 1-0, but then they tied it 1-1, but we bounced back with three goals. We were up 5-2 through two and it wasn’t a bad game, but at the same time our style of game opened up how we controlled the game.”
This was his only full game as he shared time with the other goaltenders on the Selects. Boardway also played in the third period of the team’s third game.
He came into the game with the team down 6-3. The Selects went onto a 7-3 shootout victory, with Boardway turning aside two shots in the shootout. He would also play one more period in the team’s two remaining games.
“Seeing as it was our best players throughout the country that play Division 3, I knew they would all be good,” said Boardway. “Seeing how they worked together in practice and how they moved the puck it was fun to watch as well as to play in. They were stretching out the defence, their passes were precise and in our first game we might have had two or three passes that were really bad. Not having a lot of time to generate chemistry between the players it was impressive how fast we came together.
“The level of play we had was amazing and it made the trip even more fun.”
Now back at Calvin College, where he’s in his third year with the men’s hockey team, Boardway said the trip to Europe will help improve his game with his college team.
“I felt after being over there and watching play develop and since we played on Olympic size ice you could see where the play was going to go and I found it easier to read as time went on,” he said. “I think that’s really going to benefit me coming back to play with my college team because I’ll be able to better picture where the shot or pass is going to go and be more aggressive to cut down more angles.
“My overall quickness from getting across the crease improved as well because over there the passing for those teams was precise as well.”
Looking back at the 10-day trip Boardway said it seems like somewhat of a blur. He said seeing the different cultures, trying different foods and visiting a concentration camp in Germany really opened his eyes. He said one of the coolest parts of the trips was practising on the outdoor rink in Ottobrunn.
“Growing up on the pond and always wanting to play outside it was great to finally be able to practise and participate in a game that was played outdoors was exciting,” he said “I know it might be an old thing now but I remember when José Théodore wore his tuque on his helmet, so when I was over there I did that too. The guys thought that was kind of cool and we had fun with it.”
Boardway’s stats
100 minutes
3 GA
53 shots
Save percentage: 0.943
