CCHL News

Hurricanes' Sikura Commits to Dartmouth for 2011

Date: Oct 28, 2009

by Dave McCarthy for CCHL/Newmarket Hurricanes

Just over a month ago, the Newmarket Hurricanes secured their first player advancement commitment of the season when Chad Sumsion accepted a scholarship offer from Bowling Green State University beginning in the fall of 2010. Now, still early in the season, newcomer Tyler Sikura, in his first season with the Hurricanes, grew the team's commitment total in 2009/2010 to two when he committed to Dartmouth College to play for the Division I Big Green beginning in 2011.

Since attending some games at Dartmouth College several years ago on a minor hockey trip, the goal of obtaining a Division I NCAA scholarship was at the forefront in Sikura's mind.
"It's something that I really wanted to do forever," said Sikura. "I went down and saw a couple games with my hockey team a few years ago and I just loved the atmosphere and loved the idea of having a good balance between academics and athletics as well. It's something I really began to focus on after that."

On subsequent visits to the College, Sikura explained that the welcoming atmosphere he experienced on his first visit only became more inviting as he met with the coaching staff and some of the current players for the Big Green.

"It just felt right, all the coaches treated me really well and a couple of the guys (players) I met were really nice guys," said Sikura. "They all seemed great. I knew the NCAA was the future I wanted to take and I'm really happy it's with Dartmouth."

The Aurora, Ontario native's path to the NCAA began when he started playing high level hockey at the AAA level in the York Simcoe organization before moving on to play AA hockey in Aurora. His final step in minor hockey took him to Markham where he played for the AAA Midget Waxers. It was from there that he drew the eye of Newmarket Hurricanes' Head Coach Brian Perrin and ultimately decided to make the jump to the Junior A level with the Hurricanes - a decision, he says now, he could not be more pleased with.

"Coach Perrin expressed some interest in me and I went to the camp and at the end, I felt it was a great organization," recalled the seventeen year old Sikura. "I just decided to commit to the Hurricanes and I knew it was going to be a good team. They liked the way I played and my style and they felt that I could contribute a lot to the team. I can't say enough about the organization and how well it's run. It's just been a first class organization and I'm really happy that I chose Newmarket."

With two goals and eight assists in his first fifteen games, recruiters were impressed by Sikura's on-ice vision to create plays and his ability to control the play - skills that are vital to success in the NCAA, a style of play that rewards high level skill and speed before physical toughness and aggressiveness.

"I would say the biggest part of my game is my passing ability and my vision on the ice," suggested Sikura in defining his style of play. "I've been playing with really good linemates right now in Bowman Webster and Bennet MacNeil; we know how to find each other on the ice. I know I haven't been doing it a lot this year but I think I can chip in with a few goals here and there too."

With another year and a half of Junior A hockey ahead of him with the Hurricanes, Sikura plans to work on a number of areas of his game in order to be able to step in and contribute right away when he arrives at Dartmouth College in the fall of 2011.

"I need to get bigger and stronger so I've just been working out, a hard summer of training and training throughout the year as well," said Sikura. "I've got to keep working on my shot as well and my skating. I'll spend a lot of time just fooling around in the basement taking shots too and hopefully when I get to Dartmouth, I'll be ready to contribute."

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