Former Battlefords North Stars, and most recently a member of the Wilkie Outlaws senior team, Troy Watt, is off to school.
Watt was given a scholarship to Portage College in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference to start the second half of the season. Earlier this week, he left the Battlefords with his new teammates, Richard Cameron of the Battlefords and former North Stars' defeceman Cody Folstad.
Watt says Cameron brought up his name to the coaches at Portage College and since the athletic director knew Watt from coaching in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Watt had an inside track despite not perusing hockey after his junior career.
Watt said he regretted not following hockey after he was done with the North Stars, and looks forward to practising every day, living with his teammates and playing a more competitive level of hockey once again.
Watt turns 23 Sunday and will be on his first road trip with the Voyageurs, as they play Thompson River and Okanagan College this weekend.
Watt fully expects his ice time to decrease some from what it was with the Outlaws, but he has the attitude that if he works hard and does well in his role of a three-line energy guy he has the potential to earn more ice time and find a comfortable spot on the roster.
For now, he is prepared to be thrown into the fire with Portage, as he will have just two practices before the weekend games, but he will have some help. Watt grew up with Cameron in the Battlefords, as they are just over a year apart in age, he played with both Folstad and Kyle Birch as North Stars and was a teammate of Kyle Peden during his time in the AJHL with Drayton Valley.
Watt expects it to be good hockey because many top players he is familiar with from the SJHL and AJHL are spread throughout the ACAC.
"I guess it just goes to show if you work hard and stay in shape anything can happen," said Watt, who has developed a reputation as the hardest working player on the ice and an exciting teammate.
The year Watt graduated from the North Stars, following the 2010-11 season, he was named the team's most inspirational player, won the Mr. Hustle Award and also won the fan's choice award.
Portage is fifth in the ACAC with a 4-10-1-1 record and has 14 league games and two exhibition games remaining on their schedule.
Along with the hockey, Watt is looking forward to the school part as well. He will be taking classes to become an EMT and joked once he gets over his little problem of looking at blood he should be good to go.
