Boston Leier’s desire to find new challenges led him to the Axemen
Graduated Pats Look Toward New Opportunities
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By Daniel Fink – ReginaPats.com
Regina, Saskatchewan – As the Regina Pats move ever closer to the 2014-15 season, three members of last year’s squad look to take the next steps in their hockey careers. Dyson Stevenson, Boston Leier and Jesse Zgraggen were the Pats’ three overage players in the 2013-14 season. All three continue their hockey careers in the upcoming year, all following different paths. Stevenson plays his first season of professional hockey with the AHL’s Portland Pirates, Leier heads to Acadia University to suit up for the Axemen in the CIS and Zgraggen ventures across the Atlantic to play for Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss Elite League.
For Boston Leier, the decision to head east and play for Acadia while attending school came from a desire to find new challenges and a different environment.
“Me and a friend of mine went on a recruiting trip out there and it’s a pretty exciting place,” said Leier. “Everyone there is a pretty tight knit family and it just seemed like the kind of place I wanted to be. I really wanted to experience something different. It’s not every day something like that comes up and I wanted to take advantage of it while I could.”
Of course it didn’t hurt that Leier’s coach for the 2013-14 season, Malcolm Cameron, is an alumni of the Axemen.
“Malcolm talked about (Acadia) very highly and he was a good influence on (choosing Acadia) too. Obviously I made my own decisions though. I know the athletic director out there pretty well, he’s a good family friend of ours. He said he thought it was a very good fit for me.”
As with anything in life, moving to a new stage of a hockey career presents new challenges. All three players, face different hurdles to overcome on and off the ice with their new teams and leagues.
In Leier’s case, the challenge will come from being in an academic environment balancing studies majoring in Business.
“The challenge is going to be relying on myself to get everything done. I’m going to have to rely on myself to cook and to clean and do my homework, making sure it gets done and not have everyone telling me to do my homework. Working and putting as much time into the schooling as I do the hockey is going to be another big (challenge).”
The opportunity to be a part of a team larger than the one on the ice is very attractive to Leier.
“Something I’m looking forward to is being part of a team at a school where you feel like one big team with the whole school. It’s not just the hockey team that’s the Axemen, but everyone there.”
Pats overagers combined for 73 goals and 102 assists over the 2013-14 season, but the Pats will lose more than those numbers with Dyson Stevenson, Boston Leier and Jesse Zgraggen moving on from the team. The three each brought their own brand of leadership to the team and it will be up to the next group of 20-year olds to fill the gap in their own way for 2014-15.