Evan Waldie is November's Mountain FM Canmore Eagles Player of the Month

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ROB MURRAY: Canmore Eagles player Evan Waldie is joining me on the program. I just wanted to call to congratulate you – we’ve named you the Mountain FM Player of the Month for the Eagles for November. That’s pretty awesome!

EVAN WALDIE: It is pretty awesome. Our team’s been playing pretty well lately. I feel like we’ve been figuring everything out, working harder, and coming together as a team here before the Christmas break.

RM: In the month of November you had three goals, four assists, and was named Star of the Game for the Eagles twice. You’re actually pretty new to the team. I believe you just came here mid to late October, is that correct?

EW: Yeah. I was up in Winnipeg for their camp and I was in their bubble last year. Now I’m with the Eagles this year. Pretty excited to be here though. The guys are all pretty good and welcomed me with open arms. It’s been a pretty good start to the month or month and a half that I’ve been here.

RM: You came from the WHL. What’s the pace of play like between the WHL and the AJHL here?

EW: It’s faster there, but, it’s not that much faster. It’s still pretty good hockey down here in the AJHL. It’s really physical here in the AJHL. That’s one thing that I’ve really noticed – the physicality of everyone has really ramped up.

RM: People who have come to the Canmore Eagles that I’ve talked to and are fairly new to the team are sometimes a little surprised by the family atmosphere that’s in the dressing room. Have you felt that kind of camaraderie amongst your teammates already?

EW: Yeah. There’s been a lot of billet kids in the dressing room and hanging out with the team. We have a good group of guys in the room where we kind of feel like all 20 guys are a group of family, so I kind of feel it already in the dressing room and I think it’s only going to get better as we progress and start being more successful as a team.

RM: Not only are you a successful ice hockey player, but you’ve found success with ball hockey as well. A couple of years ago, you were part of the gold medal team in the World Junior Ball Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic. Is that a sport you still have an opportunity to play as well?

EW: Yup, I play that every summer. I go back to Edmonton in the summer and I work out and skate, but on the side I like to play ball hockey with all of my buddies. It’s a good way to go out and get your cardio but still have fun with your buddies, so I really enjoy it.

RM: What are your future goals? Where do you hope to go after the AJHL?

EW: I always strive for the NHL, but if that doesn’t work out I’d love to go over to Europe and play, or maybe get a university deal somewhere, like to the UofA or UofC or something like that.

RM: You still have a couple of years before you have to make those decisions, right? You’re 18, is that correct?

EW: Yeah, I’m 18. I have a couple of years just to kind of chill out and try and win the championship here at the team, and then focus on myself in a couple of years.

RM: What do you think of Canmore in general?

EW: It’s awesome. My family and I had been down here for a couple of vacations before I decided to commit here. I like how the town is really close. Everyone knows who you are and everyone’s kind of close like that. I really enjoy that, having that small town feel of everyone kind of being connected.

RM: What are your hockey goals for this season?

EW: To try and put up the best numbers I can this year and help the guys to win a championship in the AJHL.

RM: The Canmore Eagles are taking on the Camrose Kodiaks Sunday afternoon at 4:00. You just played them in Camrose this week and that was a 4-1 loss. Is there anything you learned from that game you’re going to apply to this Sunday?

EW: Camrose attacks with speed. They like to come through the neutral zone low and slow and then attack the blue line with a lot of speed. I think we need to counter that and be really disciplined in the neutral zone, create some turnovers, and try and create some offense off that, off their aggressiveness off the rush.