Just over a year ago, Nick Noren’s junior hockey career seemed over.
The now 19-year-old was dutifully attending to his studies in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in early 2023 when the itch to play again began to take over.
“I was living with the captain of the Richmond Sockeyes, Dakoda Miller,” Noren told The Morning Star. “My first year, I was staying with them and there was always talk of me going to practice with the team until the end of the year.”
The Sockeyes play in the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL), a Junior A league similar to the KIJHL, where the North Okanagan Knights compete.
Noren, born and raised in Vernon, had been an impressive minor hockey player with Okanagan based teams, including the vaunted Okanagan Rockets AAA under-18 squad in the 2021-22 season. He posted six goals and 14 assists in 36 games for the team in his final minor hockey league season.
After the year, Noren “wasn’t sure if I could pursue both school and hockey at the same time,” he said. “That’s what I have done my whole life but with university, it is obviously a step up with how much time you have to commit to school so I was a little hesitant to sign up for both. It’s pretty expensive as well, both for tuition and hockey.
“I was picking between heading to Alberta to play for a junior A team or go to school to start setting myself up for life outside of hockey.”
He chose school, and was accepted into UBC and moved to the Lower Mainland.
But, the load of constant studying and lectures began to wear on Noren. So much so that, after a few practices with the Sockeyes, he was named as an Alternate Player (AP) for the rest of the PJHL season for Richmond, and was hooked to compete again at a high level.
“I actually like the reset hockey gives me from school,” Noren explained. “Last year, I didn’t have an outlet to distract myself, but this year, when I’m at the rink, it gives my brain time to rest and have some fun with my teammates. My schedule has worked out ideally so I can play and study.”
After getting into six games in 2022-23, Noren has torn up the league this year, finishing second in team scoring with 70 points (36 goals, 34 assists), which is seventh in the league as the Sockeyes completed an extraordinary regular season with a 45-1-0-2 record, far and away the best in the PJHL.
In just five games so far this postseason, Noren has seven points. He rattled home two goals in game one of the seven-game Conference Finals against the Delta Ice Hawks on Monday, March 4, a 7-5 Sockeyes victory.
“They (Delta) are a good team and we gotta respect them but everyone wants it so bad in this room that I think we will come out on top,” said Noren, who is now an assistant captain for Richmond. “I’ll say things when I need to but for me mostly, working hard every time I get the opportunity to is how I lead. Just bringing that hard work and positivity to the locker room.”
While the season isn’t over yet for Noren, he already has his eyes set on playing another season, his final in junior A, with Richmond.
“I knew that there was no point in stopping yet while I’m still eligible to play hockey and if I can keep playing the game I love then that’s something I want to keep doing for as long as I can.”
The Sockeyes full schedule for the rest of the postseason can be found at richmondsockeyes.com
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