Big Season For Veccia, And Big Things To Come
Zander Veccia celebrates his Alliance championship
Zander Veccia is one of Chatham-Kent’s budding young hockey talents.
The Major Bantam aged forward suited up this season for the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs, helping them win an Alliance Championship.
“I think our team had a reasonable start to the season with a few more losses than usual, but as the season went on we gained momentum each day by coming together more as a team, pushing each other, and working out every week and that helped us in the end with an amazing victory.”
Veccia and the Chiefs eliminated the London Jr. Knights 8-points to 2 in the Alliance final.
The Ridgetown product was a vital part of Elgin-Middlesex’s success this season, and was named to the Alliance All-Star game midseason.
“I think I bring quite a few things to the table, but the skills that I think are the best are my shot, my speed, and my passing ability. For my team game, I think I bring a calm demeanour and respect my teammates.”
He recognizes however, that his team’s winning season has very little to do with individual accomplishments, but more about the collaborative effort.
“Some reasons why our team was so successful this season is because every time we came to workout, practice or play our games we came with our one goal in mind which was to win the Alliance and then go to OHF’s,” he said, also point to former NHLer Jason Williams who is their head coach, as well as assistant Darren Williams as major factors in their group success.
With one championship behind, Veccia and Elgin-Middlesex are now preparing for the OHF championships from April 1-5 in Toronto.
“My goals for the immediate future are to go to OHF’s and perform well there and train during the summer. I’m going to train hard to prepare for my draft year because I would like to go to the OHL, then possibly the NHL after that.”
“I am looking forward to playing at the OHF’s to see how we do against the best hockey players and teams in our Province and I can’t wait for the seasons to come.”