Myles Mattilla is trying not to speculate what's in store for his hockey future next Thursday.
Sure, he would love to get a phone call that day from a Western Hockey League team telling him he's been picked in the bantam draft, but he's not counting on it.
By that time, the 15-year-old forward will already have his hockey gear packed and ready for the drive from Prince George to Salmon Arm, where he's been invited to play in the Silverbacks spring tryout camp, his second audition this year with a BCHL team.
"It's not the end of the world if I don't get drafted," said Mattila. "Teams still look at you if you don't get drafted. At the U-16s [BC Cup tournament] they explained lots of guys from Team Canada that won the Olympics didn't make their U-16 team and now they're playing in the NHL."
Mattilla will find out next Sunday if he's made the list of 40 players invited to the third stage of the B.C. High Performance U-16 team tryout process, a camp that starts in early July on Vancouver Island. He's vying for one of only 12 forward positions on B.C's team for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
"That's my goal, I really want to represent Prince George and B.C. on the U-16 team and I'll do what I can to make that team," said Mattila. "It's going to be a challenge but I'm going to push myself this summer."
Having grown up playing Tier 3 rep hockey in Quesnel, Mattilla made the decision last year to move to Prince George to play for the Farr Fabricating bantam Tier 1 Cougars, which turned out better than he could have imagined. Named the captain of the team, Mattilla was one of the Cougars' leading scorers and his relentless power-forward approach drew plenty of stares from WHL scouts, many of whom made the trek to Prince George to watch the Cougars as host team of the Tier 1 bantam provincial championship at Kin 1.
"That was a fantastic experience, it was just nice playing in Prince George in front of family and our fans," said Mattila. "It wasn't the result we wanted but I felt we played really hard. The scouts didn't expect a Prince George team to play Burnaby to a 2-1 [loss]. We hit a few posts that game and should have won.
"It was hard leaving my friends and family but I want to fulfill my goal of playing at the highest level I can and that's what Prince George has offered me."
Mattila, the only northern B.C. player nominated for HockeyNow's B.C. minor hockey player of the year, was one of only three 1999-born players at the Spruce Kings' spring camp a few weeks ago and thought he made a good impression. He played eight games this past season for the Cariboo Cougars major midget team and will try to crack that roster this fall. Failing that, he plans to remain in Prince George to play for the midget Tier 1 team.
Cariboo Cougars general manager Trevor Sprague said the five-foot-nine, 166-pound Mattila handled himself well at the major midget level, facing off against players as much as four years older than him. Mattila's hard-nosed approach to the game reminds Sprague of Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic. At 15, Mattila carries himself with a high level of maturity and that could bode well with him earning a full-time position next season in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
"His intensity to play the game and his work ethic are second to none," said Sprague. "He's got a nose for being a good team guy and he's a hard guy to play against and showed that in provincials. He'll get some consideration in the draft because there aren't a lot of guys out there who play his style of hockey. Right now he could be a third or fourth-line guy playing as a 16- or 17-year-old in the WHL.
"He just needs to work on his skating and if he works on it this summer and plays in major midget he should have no trouble making it to the next level."
Hockey was one of Mattila's credited subjects at Prince George secondary school, where he thrived in the program taught by Renzo Berra.
"Myles is the most skilled bantam player in Prince George and he is the best, most attentive, Grade 9 student that I have ever worked with," wrote Berra in a letter of reference. "Myles took every opportunity to improve on what was being taught, and he was also the hardest worker in the class. In 25 years of teaching Myles is one of the top students that I have had the privilege to work with.
"The PGSS hockey program strives for excellence on the ice and in the community. The goal of the program is to improve hockey skills while mentoring young men and women to become positive role models and good citizens. At the age of 15 Myles has already superseded all expectations. He is the epitome of what the PGSS hockey program represents."
