Fort St. John Huskies goaltender Tyler McArthur can’t quite remember when he put skates on for the first time — “probably, when I was three or four” — but for the 20-year-old netminder, he likely knew at an early age, like most kids in the north, that he wanted to play hockey.
“My dad and his dad, and everyone, were hockey players so I grew up with hockey around me.”
For McArthur, who will age out this spring with the Huskies, it wasn’t as a goalie right from the start. It was his brother, in fact, who tried out for the position first.
“My brother, actually, was a goalie for one year and he hated it,” McArthur says with a smile as he tells the story.
With a set of goalie pads in the house, a young Tyler thought he might want to try it out for himself.
Although, he wasn’t able to crack the line-up as a goalie on his first time out, McArthur says he’s been between the pipes ever since as a peewee Flyer, a bantam and midget Tracker and, now, as a Husky.
Team captain Cayden Frenette describes McArthur as a great teammate.
“If there’s a breakaway or a big moment, you know Mac is going to come through," Frenette says.
With almost two full seasons with the Huskies under his belt, McArthur is hoping to continue hockey with a university or college.
“Todd and Jeremy (coach Todd Alexander and general manager Jeremy Clothier) have some great connections out there," he says.
It would, however, be hard not to notice the long-time Fort St. John product’s .914 save percentage and league-leading 16 wins in the 18 games he’s started, if someone were looking.
Email reporter Dave Lueneberg at sports@ahnfsj.ca
