Marco Myatovic won’t get to see his son Nico reach his ultimate goal to play in the NHL, but his spirit will be there every step of the way.
Marco died suddenly at age 58 on Aug, 15 at his Prince George home, less than two months after he watched his youngest son walk up to the stage June 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas after he was chosen by the Anaheim Ducks with the first pick of the second round of the NHL draft.
This past spring, in his third season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, the 18-year-old Nico was a key ingredient in the T-birds’ run to the Western Hockey League championship and subsequent push to the Memorial Cup national championship final.
Marco was a proud papa during the playoffs, especially when the powerhouse T-birds completed a four-game sweep of the Prince George Cougars in the second round, which brought all the Myatovic clan to the two games at CN Centre.
Marco’ and his ex-wife Karen Little had two sons, Nico and 21-year-old Markus, who both became junior hockey players, and both parents were active in organizing minor hockey tournaments that involved their boys and they helped manage their sons’ rep teams.
Marco’s older brother Joe is godfather to Nico and Markus, and he says Nico will use the memory of his father to inspire him on the ice this season in Seattle and when he attends his first NHL camp in Anaheim next month.
“The sad part is he’s on his next step to the majors and his dad’s not there to watch him,” said Joe. “I did tell Nico the other day to go out and play hard and every time you score a goal say, ‘This is for you Dad,’”
Raised on the family farm off Northwood Pulpmill Road as the seventh in a line of eight kids, Marco Myatovic learned at very young age what it meant to put in a hard day’s labour.
His father Nicola and mother Matija brought that work ethic with them when they then immigrated to Prince George from Yugoslavia (now Croatia), bringing their five oldest kids with them in 1956. Marco was born in Prince George eight years later.
The family was actively involved in establishing Canada’s first Croatian cultural centre in Prince George on Old Cariboo Highway. Marco used his organizational skills to put together a project to build a chapel on the site of the Croatian Hall in 2018.
At the time of his death, Marco worked as a regional manager for Domcor Health, Safety & Security. Prior to that he put his managerial skills to work with All Points Waste Disposal, after several years as a financial planner for Cannaccord Genuity.
Marco attended school at Shady Valley and Hart Highway elementaries and Kelly Road secondary and studied computer programming at the College of New Caledonia.
“He was a great guy, a sociable guy who had a lot of friends,” said Joe.
Markus says his dad’s exceptional communication skills and good-natured personality were an attractive combination and since his death the family has received a strong outpouring of support from those whose lives he touched. He says he’ll always remember the support he got from his dad to further his own hockey career and how he reacted to seeing Nico playing as well as he did in the two playoff games at CN Centre.
“That really brought the family together there those couple nights and he couldn’t be more proud of both of us,” said Markus. “That’s another thing everyone’s been saying the last week, that he was our Number 1 fan.”
Marco was predeceased by his father in 1997 and brothers Mike and Jerry. He’s survived by his 99 1/2-year-old mother Matija, his brothers Philip and Joe, sisters Nada, Shirley and Anna and their spouses.
A funeral service is planned for a yet-to-be-determined date at the Croatian Hall.
