Jesse Makaj was only nine days old when his parents introduced him to hockey, a swaddled newborn in the stands to see one of his three brothers on the ice.
His first memories at the rink are seeing his oldest brother Josiah play for a B.C. championship with 麻豆传媒映画Minor 鈥� and win.
鈥淭hat was really an inspiration for me,鈥� said Makaj, who was selected 23rd overall by the Kootenay Ice in the WHL Bantam Draft in Calgary May 5.
Years later, Josiah strapped his oversized goalie pads onto his kid brother and taught Makaj all his moves. 鈥淲hatever he would say to me, I would do it,鈥� he said..
Makaj, a 15-year-old who played with 麻豆传媒映画Minor until he relocated from East Van to play with the North Shore Winter Club this past season, was the top B.C. goaltender selected in the 2016 draft, the first pick of the second round. (The Portland Winterhawks were forced to forfeit their ninth-overall pick, meaning only 22, not 23 players went in the first round.)
The head scout for the Kootenay club, Garnet Kazuik, said six-foot-two Makaj offers the Ice the double serving of size and speed.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a big goalie and he improved as the year went on,鈥� he said over the phone from Calgary, noting how Makaj impressed at the B.C. Cup in Salmon Arm last month. 鈥淗e is highly athletic, stopped lots of pucks and that is what attracted us to him.鈥�
The Ice do not have a 2000-born goaltender, which opens up more possibilities for Makaj, who will be eligible to play a limited number of games in the WHL next year as a 2001-born player.
He had 1.71 goals against average this season with the North Shore Winterhawks on the A1 bantam team that won silver at the B.C. championship in Coquitlam. The previous seaon with 聽Makaj and 麻豆传媒映画Minor won gold at the Tier 2 B.C. championship in Cranbrook.
A pitcher and shortstop with the North Shore Twins, Makaj will hang up his baseball glove to focus exclusively on hockey.
The family received numerous calls from other teams, said Makaj鈥檚 father Steve, and they anticipated he might be called up sooner than the second round. Two Alberta goalies went in the first round, one 10th overall to Prince George, and the 麻豆传媒映画Giants picked up another 20th overall.
Left winger Peyton Krebs was the No. 1 draft pick, and a potential teammate for Makaj with the Kootenay Ice. Both are invited to training camp in the fall.
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