California dreaming
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Updated: October 15, 2009 1:27 PM
No question about it, Langley has by far been the best stop of Marcus Watson’s junior career weather-wise.
He first played major junior with Moncton in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Then there was some time with Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League.
Two stops and lots of snow.
While that may not mean much to most Canadians, Watson hails from San Jose, Calif. which isn’t exactly known as a cold-weather spot.
Needless to say, the 20-year-old is loving the Lower Mainland weather — at least until the rain hit earlier this week — as a member of the Langley Chiefs.
“Probably the biggest adjustment was the weather,” the 20-year-old admits.
“I went to Moncton first and it was freezing cold, then I went to Prince George and it was cold there, too.
“I like the weather here.”
And for Watson, there is no better place to play hockey than in Canada.
For one thing, back home, he would watch ESPN’s Sportscenter, but was always upset by the lack of hockey highlights. That is not a problem now that he is in Langley.
Like many players his age, Watson is a product of the Gretzky effect.
When the Edmonton Oilers traded superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the game saw a surge in popularity in the U.S. and especially California.
In 1991, the San Jose Sharks entered the league.
“I went to a Sharks game one day, and (after that) I wanted to try skating,” Watson explained about his introduction to the game.
“So my dad took me down to the rink and I just started skating.”
The game stuck and Watson has been playing ever since.
“I think (the Gretzky trade) was a huge part of it,” Watson said about the rise of popularity in the game.
Not only did it increase the game’s presence in California, but it also spawned a future generation of players.
Watson said back home in San Jose there are four ice rinks in one complex, and the demand is so great, more are in the works.
Watson spent his winters playing hockey, and then a few years ago, decided to get serious.
He tried out for Moncton, and while he didn’t stick with the team right away, Watson returned home a better player.
“I was tearing up the league,” he said about his return to San Jose.
“Playing against better players makes you a better player.”
The next season, he caught on in the WHL, with the Cougars.
Over the course of the next two years, he played 60 games the first year and then 43 last season, with five games with Langley sprinkled in.
His numbers in the WHL were modest — 10 goals and 17 assists in 103 games — but he seems to have found his stride in the B.C. Hockey League as a top six forward.
Through his first dozen games, Watson leads Langley in goals (seven) and points (14).
He has actually been on the Chiefs radar for a few years now, after associate head coach Barry Wolff met Watson at a hockey school the coach was running in California a few years back.
“He has got an offensive flair,” said Chiefs coach Harvey Smyl. “Lots of offensive upside.”
And Smyl says with the competition for local players so fierce — whether it is the BCHL or WHL — successful teams need to broaden their recruiting landscape and Watson is the perfect example of this.
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