After 228 games played in the AJHL, Fort McMurray Oil Barons defenceman and alternate captain Brock Maschmeyer has his division I scholarship.
Maschmeyer has committed to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), based in Marquette, MI.
“The feeling inside, you can’t describe it,” he said. “Once you’ve played in the league for four years, it’s just “come on, I want this,” and when you get it, your heart just stops for that one second.”
“It’s a great feeling.”
Maschmeyer is one of the highest scoring defencemen in the league with 42 points in 57 games played.
He was recently named as one of four nominees for the top defenceman award in the AJHL.
The affable blueliner says settling the school issue will leave only the upcoming playoffs as a point of concern this year.
“It allows me to focus a lot more, just because that monkey’s right off my back,” he said. “Now I can breathe and play even better from now on.”
His commitment continues his family’s strong hockey lineage; his brother Bronson is an overage defenceman for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, his sister Emerance plays for the Lloydminster Bobcats and recently won gold at the world under-18s with Team Canada, and his older sister Brittany played division I hockey at St. Lawrence and Syracuse University.
NMU first expressed interest in the rearguard a month ago, and scouts were present at the final home weekend of the year.
“They saw what my brother could do, and they went and checked me out and I could do the exact same,” he said. “I know a few guys that went to the school like [ex-Oil Baron] Tyler Gron; things like that all added up, and them offering it just felt right.”
Maschmeyer has one year of junior eligibility left and could still return for a final season with the Oil Barons before heading south.
Published February 15, 2012
