Luca McLaren '21 Recruiting Profile

Hi my name is Luca McLaren, and I am a grade 10 student at Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School. I finished my minor midget year playing for the Niagara North Stars in the SCTA.  Our team finished second place to Halton in Regular season and advanced to the playoff round.  After a successful round robin playoff, our team advanced to the OMHA semi finals and lost a tough 6 game series to Guelph.  We earned a wild card birth into the OHL cup and lost 4-3 in Overtime to Mississauga Senators.  I earned the Player of the game in the OT loss.  My dreams continue in hopes of hockey at a higher level, and I have challenged myself to one day play in the OHL, USHL,  or NCAA.  At the same time I want to finish school, and get an education, which is what the NCAA offers. I love that the NCAA offers a quality education, combined with a high caliber of hockey.  I'd like the opportunity to live out my dream, and I am prepared to work hard to achieve this, to ensure options for my future.  It would be a dream come true if I could win a National Championship with a school that I could possibly be a member of. 

There are a lot of reasons why I think I'm a good candidate for any team. The first reason is that I am a very highly skilled player, and I think that I have a lot to offer. I am a big body, with good hands, and I have a good shot, with great hockey IQ. I think that I see the ice very well and consider myself a play maker. My skating ability is also good,  I pride myself on face-offs, and I am a 200 foot center man that can dominate in both ends of the ice.  Another reason why I think I'm a good candidate is because of the leadership role I willingly accept. In 2015, I was the Captain of my Major Peewee hockey team, where we won the OMHA title and I received MVP.  In 2016 and 2017, I joined the Niagara North Stars AAA team, where in my first year I received the "Most Improved Player Award", and in my second year I was given the Assistant Captain role, and received the "Heart and Desire Award".  I take my leadership role seriously, and focus on getting my teammates prepared for game time.  Ultimately the reason I think that I am a good candidate for collegiate hockey is because of my behavior.  I am a well behaved student/athlete,  very respectful to everyone, and I am responsible on and off the ice. 

What makes me different from all the other recruits, is my determination, my hockey IQ, actions, talent/skill and my personality. I am very determined to play division 1 hockey and anything that will get me to that stage,  and I'll do what ever it takes to get to that level. My grades are very good, and I am very focused on academics.  Thus far in Grade 10 I am sitting on about an 85 average.  I think my actions speak a lot about me because I am a well behaved player on the ice and student in the classroom. I am also very respectful and always listen to any orders I am given. I think my skill and hard work separates me from many players,  because I have the talent, but I don't just rely on that.  My determination and hard work never waivers at any practice, game, shift, etc. I should also note, that I am a multi-sport athlete,  and I am also playing soccer at an elite level.  At my grade 8 graduation I was awarded  'Athlete of the Year' ,  as well as the 'Geography award'.  Now in my second year of High School, I have led the school cross country team to their first ever OFSSA appearance, I played on both the Senior and Junior hockey team in grade nine and only the junior team in grade ten as it was very demanding playing rep and high school during my draft year.   Although the draft didn't go well for me, it gives me more motivation to get to the next level through more hard work and determination knowing that my goals are achievable if I really want them.  

Overall I think that I could be a great addition to any team and hope to display the type of talent and work ethic if given the chance.