At 17, Miles Cowboy wants to give a professional hockey career a shot. The “Baie Comeau Drakkar” hockey club (QMJHL) invited Cowboy to its training camp last summer. “The overall experience in Baie Comeau was very interesting. Skating was so fast and the style of play was pretty new to me, but at the same time I found it so challenging,” Snowboy says. “I had to adapt very fast and I took all the ‘hits.’”

And in the middle of the training camp, Cowboy met with the Drakkar organization and was told his potential was interesting, but he should concentrate on developing his upper body if he wants to pursue a higher hockey level.

Right after this camp, Cowboy moved to North Bay to register at College. Then he got invited to going the “Comètes d’Amos,” in the Juvenile League, Abitibi-Témiscamingue. “Right at first practice, I felt like I belong to that league,” he says. But, the same night, Cowboy took the decision to head back to North Bay where his newborn son lives, and where he thought he would get more exposure.

Miles now has an option to play in two different hockey leagues in North Bay: the Midget AA and Inter-College leagues. The exposure to professional hockey is also to be considered out there, as if Cowboy joins the Inter-College league he may get noticed by scouts who travel across Canada to look for future prospects in the American University Hockey League.

Cowboy also says: “I’ve learned a great deal in hockey from this experience in Baie Comeau. And I know what I have to work on.”

Miles Cowboy’s short-term goal is to be invited back to the QMJHL this summer. His long-term goal is to pursue his education, get a degree in Recreation and Leisure, and move back to Waskaganish where he can work with children of his community.

Here’s a young man with a clear vision of his future and a promising career…for the benefit of Waskaganish. Good luck, Cowboy!

Profile

Name Miles CowboyDate of birth 1981-05-22 (17 years old)

Height 5’11″

Weight 168

Education. North Bay College (1st year).

Favourite MusicDance hits

Fetish animalwolf

Favourite wild foodMoose meat

Sports idolPavel Bure

Where did you play hockeyin 97/98Favourite sport besides hockey

softball

Best hockey memory

Winning “Amanda Shecapio” Award last spring in Rouyn

Othor hockey news

Jonathan Cheechoo, still property of the San Jose Sharks, has been recently sent back to the minors, joining the Belleville Bulls, Ontario Hockey League. Cheechoo played a few exhibition games and then began the season accumulating four goals and three assists in his first four regular games. He stands as the 2nd top scorer of his team behind Justin Papineau.

Amy Diamond, from Waskaganish, is also working on her own goal: play for an Elite girls’ hockey team. She has joined the Toronto Red Wings Bantam AA girls’ team in Willowdale, Ontario, and will be playing there this coming season.

Ernie Trapper from Mistissini and Johnny Cooper from Waswanipi are in the process of joining the Comètes d’Amos in the Juvenile league. The Comètes need these two talented players on their roster as they face a struggling season from the beginning. Ernie will register in the regular sector, secondary, at Polyvalente La Foret, in French. Johnny is still looking for either a job in Amos or correspondence studies as the Juvenile hockey rules do not allow their hockey players to stay inactive during the day.

Hockey for now!