Photo credit: Damon James
Devon Mussio has been on skates as long as he can remember. The 19-year-old defenceman from Vancouver has been playing hockey for the last 16 years all thanks to his dad who put him on skates when he was just two years old.
“My dad used to play in Trail and then later at the University of British Columbia,” Mussio explained. “My dad played against Ray Ferraro and his uncle played against the Niedermayer’s, so it’s kind of funny that Jackson Niedermayer is going to be on the Vees this year.”
Mussio also played soccer and was a speed skater as a child too but gravitated more towards hockey as he got older.
In a big city like Vancouver, Junior ‘A’ hockey can take a back seat to the National Hockey League. It wasn’t until later in life that Mussio discovered the BCHL and wanted to be a part of it.
“When my friends and I were young we would play the NHL video games and, and they had the Western Hockey League teams in them,” Mussio explained. “We used to all want to play in the WHL. I was lucky enough to not have to move away from home for hockey and when I got into high school, I was getting really good marks because St. George’s was so focused on academics. I knew I was a late bloomer and the BCHL would be the best way for me to grow my game.”
As a 16-year-old, Mussio made the jump to junior hockey with the Delta Ice Hawks of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. After attending a plethora of camps leading up to the season, Mussio said he felt more prepared to become a full-time junior player.
That year he also affiliated with the Surrey Eagles for two games. The first one just so happened to be in a special place for his family.
“I thought my first game was going to be in Salmon Arm, but my AP card didn’t go through,” Mussio explained. “I didn’t find out until like five minutes before the game. So my first game ended up being in Trail, which was really cool because that’s where my dad grew up and my grandparents are from there. My family all came to watch that game so that was pretty special.”
For the 2016-17 season Mussio was able to make the jump to the BCHL, playing in 55 of the Coqutilam Express’s 58 games. He recorded seven assists over the year and says while the team didn’t have a ton of success, it was a big change for him.
“We started off the year pretty well, right around .500 for the first 20 games,” Mussio recalled. “Hanging out with all the older players and going on long road trips, playing in front of rinks with big crowds, it was a lot of fun. We came to Penticton that year with like seven AP’s, but we were all excited for that game because of the huge crowd. We lost 5-2 but we were honestly pretty happy with that result.”
After not recording a goal through his first 96 BCHL games, the milestone moment finally came January 17 of last season. Though it wasn’t exactly how Mussio thought it would go.
“We were beating up on Surrey pretty badly that game,” he said. “We got a power play late, and I never really played on the power play, so our coach put me and my defence partner at forward. Off the faceoff he got the puck and took a shot, and it went off my skate and into the net.”
Going so long in between goals, regardless of position, is something that undoubtedly comes with friendly banter from teammates. It was no different for Mussio and the Express.
“I had such bad puck luck that year and they were getting on my case pretty good,” he said with a laugh. “They all kept telling me a puck was going to have to go off my ass and into the net for me to get one.”
Mussio finished the season with a goal and 11 assists in 56 games.
The Express showed a huge improvement after the hiring of Jason Fortier as their new head coach, making the Fred Page Cup playoffs and setting up a first-round matchup against the Vees. Despite going in as massive underdogs, Mussio says he and his teammates couldn’t wait for that series.
“The crowd fires up the home team, but I think it also gets the away team going a little bit,” Mussio said. “We only lost the first game 2-1. We were really excited because it gave us a chance to play in front of a really big crowd that wanted to watch.”
The Vees went on to sweep the series, ending Mussio’s season.
Mid July it was announced the Vees were bringing Mussio on board for the 2018-19 season. It’s a situation that Mussio still has trouble believing is actually happening.
“It’s surreal, it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “I think once I get there and kind of look around I’ll realize that I’m actually there. It just feels like a really good dream right now.”
Mussio can now quickly get used to seeing huge crowds regularly, and not just when he’s on the road.
