Coral Harbour player realizes hockey dream, signs pro contract

Daniel McKitrick is training in Coral Harbour’s gym five days a week, making sure his cardio is strong.

“Gotta get ready this summer,” he said in an interview.

The work McKitrick, 25, is putting in now has a purpose. He recently signed with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, fulfilling his dream of turning pro in a sport he’s played since he was four years old.

Following years of playing junior and university-level hockey, McKitrick, from Coral Habour, was scouted and signed after participating in the Fred Sasakamoose ‘Chief Thunderstick’ National Hockey Championship, which brings Canada’s best Indigenous hockey players together to compete.

McKitrick’s hockey journey began by playing mini sticks in his front yard at the age of four, then on the ice when he was five.

“I knew right away,” he said of his love for the game.

He was glued to the TV watching National Hockey League games as a kid, with Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins as his favourite player.

McKitrick moved with his family to Thunder Bay when he was in Grade 5. That’s where he was exposed to higher-level hockey. He soon earned a spot on the Thunder Bay Kings AAA team, the highest regional-level minor hockey team there.

“I had to have a really good tryout, because no one knew me,” he said.

After minor hockey, McKitrick played junior hockey with several teams, including the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan (he left the team after the 2016-2017 season, a year before the tragic bus crash that killed 16 team members, including 10 players, and injured 13 others).

He also played for the Cobourg Cougars in Ontario.

After junior, he played for Lakehead University’s hockey team in Thunder Bay.

“It was nice to be on the rink [as a member of the team] when you were watching them as a kid,” McKitrick said.

He describes his playing style as more offensive than defensive, useful on the power play. As a smaller player — the website hockeydb.com puts him at five-foot-seven — he said he’s quick in the corners and good with the puck, adding he relies on his vision, speed and shot to create scoring opportunities.

“But I got to work on my defence, too, if I want to be good in the pros,” McKitrick said.

He said has not been to Missississipi yet, where he’ll playing be in the fall, but he’s excited to go.

“It’s gonna be nice to go down to the rink in shorts in December,” he said.

Even though McKitrick spent most of the year in Thunder Bay while he lived there, he said his family always went back to Coral Harbour in the spring and summer. His father is from Thunder Bay, and his mother is from Coral Harbour.

“Way better food here,” McKitrick said of Coral Harbour.

Since the news got out about him signing to play pro, he said the whole community has been supportive. McKitrick said he has received plenty of congratulatory Facebook messages.

While the community is proud of what he has accomplished so far, he emphasized there is more to come.

“[The] work’s not done yet,” McKitrick said.