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Hard work and determination pay off for SAC’s Foegele

April 30, 2014   ·   1 Comments

By Jeff Doner

Over the past year, St. Andrews College student and hockey player, Warren Foegele, has created some buzz with his play on the ice.

Last week, his hard work and determination paid off when he signed a National Letter of intent to join the University of New Hampshire Wildcats to play NCAA Division 1 hockey.

“I’m really excited for my future and going to the University of New Hampshire (UNH),” Foegele said at the signing last week. “It’s been a long career and a good journey, that’s for sure. I have no regrets. I’m really happy about how things have panned out for myself.”

Hailing from Markham, Foegele has attended SAC since grade six. Throughout his hockey career and up until the end of the 2013-14 season, Foegele continued to improve his skills and gain attention from those in hockey circles.

For his success over the past couple of years, Foegele gave praise to the SAC program and his coach David Manning.

“It has helped me huge. These last two years have been very big on my play and as a person,” he said. “Coach Manning has done a lot for the team and for me personally, giving me lots of confidence, pulling me aside and telling me what I need to work on and always letting us do extra stuff during practice to help us get to the next level and work on our skills.”

The 18-year-old finished the season with 17 goals and 23 points in 14 games. He went undrafted in his OHL draft year, but fought his way back into the mix to find his name on this year’s NHL Draft List, which was news he said he will just take in stride.

“I have the NHL combine that’s a month away. I think when I go there I’ll have a better idea of how things will pan out, but as for now I’m just training for it and looking forward to it. It’s a once in a lifetime experience, so I’ll just try to take it in and enjoy it.”

His hockey coach at SAC, David Manning, isn’t surprised of Foegele’s career trajectory, referring to the big forward as an amazing player.
“He’s always been a talented player and I think that a couple of the attributes that come naturally to him, in terms of being really coachable and working hard, have served him well and he has improved a ton over the last couple of years,” Manning said.

“All of this is a credit to his determination and hard work and his coachability to continue to grow and learn to continue to be the best player he can be. He has been great to have as part of our program.”

Manning likened Foegele’s career path to that of current NHL prospect, Mark Jankowski, who went undrafted in the OHL, but was taken in the first round of the NHL draft by the Calgary Flames.

“There is not a ton of people that this has happened to, but you’re right, I think it definitely could show kids there are multiple ways and there is no cookie-cutter way to achieve success,” Manning said. “If you continue to work hard and put yourself in an environment where you’re going to be supported and pushed, I think anything can happen.”

However, Foegele said he wouldn’t change a thing about the way things have gone, and couldn’t be happier to head to UNH.

“It’s got a great business program, which is something I want to do, it’s got a great hockey program and it’s not too far away from my home. But at the end of it, I just fell in love with the coaches and the facilities. They really made me feel comfortable coming to the University of New Hampshire and that was the final part of my decision.

“As a freshman, I’m expecting it to be tough, but I’m up to the challenge. I’ve just got to continue to focus on my game, work hard and go from there.”

         

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