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Looking back: Owen Sillinger

Photo credit: Mark Brett/Penticton Western News

Owen Sillinger almost never played for Penticton. After being drafted and subsequently dropped by the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, he was listed by the Portland Winterhawks in December of his final year of midget in Saskatchewan and was ready to sign a WHL contract.

“I didn’t really even get recruited by Penticton until the Telus Cup,” Sillinger said. “I had my mind set that I was going to be going to be a WHL player in Portland if they offered me a contract. I had a great Telus Cup with the Pat Canadians and that’s when Fred called me.”

It wasn’t until then Sillinger even considered playing Junior ‘A’ with the intentions of acquiring an NCAA scholarship. He was named the Telus Cup MVP with 17 points in just seven games as the Regina Pat Canadians picked up a bronze medal at the Midget AAA National Championship. The summer of 2015 is when Sillinger’s hockey future would change, as he was contacted by Vees players like Tyson Jost, Dante Fabbro and Scott Conway about what the NCAA route entails.

Considering Sillinger’s father, Mike, played four seasons in the WHL with his hometown Regina Pats racking up a staggering 419 points in 266 games, it would have been easy for Owen to take the same route.

“It was a very difficult decision,” Sillinger admitted. “My dad played in the WHL at 16, was a first-round pick and that’s how he made it to the NHL. I remember that summer talking to my family and Jaden Schwartz who’s from here. He went to Colorado College so I asked what the best opportunity for myself was and I’m happy to say it was coming to Penticton and choosing the college route.”

Finishing fifth in league scoring his final year of midget, and captaining his team to a third-place finish in the country, Sillinger knew he was ready for the next step, even though he wasn’t completely sure what to expect coming to a new province.

“I just wanted to keep myself in the lineup,” Sillinger said. “I remember being a little starstruck when you see the rink and meeting the two big-name guys in Jost and Fabbro, I was just a little overwhelmed.”

As with any athlete, getting on the ice and performing helped Sillinger settle in quickly.

“I remember our first exhibition game against Brooks I had the game-winning goal in overtime,” he reminisced. “As soon as you start playing hockey that’s when you get to meet all the guys and you start to become closer.”

Sillinger performed admirably in his first year in Penticton with 45 points in 58 games, while the Vees as a team cruised to a 50-7-0-1 record en route to a first-place finish in the BCHL standings. While the team wasn’t able to achieve their goal of winning the Fred Page Cup, Sillinger says the things he learned from that year helped him move forward into his second year in which he was named an alternate captain.

The 2016-17 season for the Vees isn’t one anyone who follows the team will forget any time soon. With three straight game sevens in the post season contributing to the Vees 32 playoff games in 65 days, the grind took its toll on the players.

“I’ve never had a roller coaster year like I did my second year in Penticton,” Sillinger said. “I remember every single guy and what they brought to the team and who they were as a person. To play three game sevens and three more elimination games at the Western Canada Cup and finally making to the RBC Cup, you take away goals and skills from every year and looking back that’s definitely the most memorable year I’ve had.”

Sillinger was named co-captain of the Vees alongside Grant Cruikshank for the 2017-18 campaign, before taking over full-time captaincy following Cruikshank’s season-ending injury in early December. Without the things he learned over the previous two seasons, Sillinger says he couldn’t have taken on that role.

“Even heading into my first year I wanted to be a leader and a guy my teammates could depend on,” Sillinger said. “Getting named an alternate captain I remember how proud and honoured I was to perform for my teammates. Last summer when Fred called me and told me I’d be co-captain with Grant I was excited and humbled. You learn different things from being a rookie to alternate captain to captain. You just want to be the best you can be for your teammates and that’s what I’ll take away from this year.”

Sillinger certainly led by example last season, blowing his previous career highs out of the water with 33 goals and 34 assists finishing sixth in league scoring with 67 points. He was the key cog in the Vees offensive attack this season that was depleted by injuries, with a 20 point gap between himself and the next highest scoring player.

While the offence took a big leap from year two to year three, the leadership qualities had always been there for Sillinger, and were magnified by the things he learned from the previous two Vees captains Tyson Jost and Nick Jones.

“Nick and Tyson are both great people and great hockey players but they’re also the most competitive people I know,” Sillinger said. “It didn’t matter if they were up 9-1 or down 9-1, they always wanted to win. They never let off the gas pedal and that’s something I took away from them.”

Much like his first season with the Vees, a championship wasn’t the end result for Sillinger and his teammates following the disappointing second-round exit to the Trail Smoke Eaters. While the pain of losing is difficult to overcome, the amount of good memories Sillinger made in Penticton will easily offset it.

“All three years that I spend here were magnificent and when that final buzzer went and we saluted the crowd, I really soaked it in and took my time just realizing how lucky I was to play here,” Sillinger said. “Penticton will always have a place in my heart. You come in as a 17 year old and you don’t really know what to expect but the things I’ve learned in Penticton I’ll take with me wherever I go for the rest of my life.”

Like he did three years ago, Sillinger now prepares to transition into the next level of hockey as he attends Bemidji State University in Minnesota. While he’ll have his hands full juggling a high level of hockey and a university level course load, Sillinger says he’ll always have time to keep up with the Penticton Vees.

“They’re going to be really strong up front again next year with the recruits they’ve got coming in,” Sillinger said. “They’re going to have a strong leadership group on the backend as well. The team recruits hard and they work even harder so I’m excited to see what they have.”

Sillinger says he’s prepared to work for everything at Bemidji State and knows nothing will be given to him based on what he’s done in the past, but considering the strides he’s made and the leadership he’s shown throughout his hockey career, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see more of the same south of the border.