We have seen a few new young men join the Seattle Thunderbirds this week for the 2016 Bantam Draft. One of these young men, Eric Fawkes, was chosen during the second round of draft selections. Fawkes was the 40^th selection overall from the Draft. Fawkes hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He stands at 6’1 and weighs 181 pounds. He is a forward who played for the Winnipeg Monarchs this past season. His stats so far include 31 goals and 37 assists for 68 points in 34 games.

If his name is any indication, he will be an excellent addition to the team. As any Harry Potter fan knows, the powerful phoenix in the book is named Fawkes! You have to wonder how many times people have made that association with Eric Fawkes. T-Birds Manitoba Scout Mark Romas confirms that Fawkes is an excellent player, saying, “Eric is a big, strong, power forward with excellent vision who can score. He led the Monarchs in scoring this season.”

Fawkes shoots left and was born on March 13, 2001. During the 2015 to 2016 season, Fawkes was a WBAAA Champion. You can see his total career stats here. Fawkes is a student who attends Linden Meadows and led his league in scoring last year with 25 goals, 36 assists and 61 points. Those are pretty impressive stats for an eighth grade student. When interviewed about his prowess on the ice, Fawkes seemed modest. “It's very exciting to hear all the names of the other players who played in this, but I've still got a long way to go. I love to play hockey, though.” And it’s a good thing, too!

Fawkes’ statement was made just before he appeared in an all-star game. Could he have known that just over a year later he would be selected during the 2016 Bantam Draft to play for the Seattle Thunderbirds, starting what could be a promising career toward the NHL? Did he know that his future career could, in fact, be in the sport? Plenty of athletes dream of the chance and now Fawkes may be among those who make it big after he plays for the T-Birds in the junior league.

And with the T-Birds making it so far this year, the champions (don’t you just love that word? It never gets old) will surely have much to teach to their rookies during the season to come.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia