Ice man

Kalispell skater leaves home to pursue hockey dream

Kalispell's Colin Brown has gone to some great lengths - or in this case miles - to satisfy his dream of playing Division I hockey.

The high school junior is currently in Colorado Springs, Colo., attending Doherty High School, so he can play on the AAA Midget level with the Colorado Thunderbirds.

Two years ago, his freshman year, Brown went to school in Cranbrook, British Columbia, so he could improve his hockey skills with a Canadian traveling team.

"It was a little bit more challenging (this time)," said Brown in a telephone interview from Colorado.

"I didn't know anybody on the team."

It's also a lot further away.

Colorado Springs is 1,080 miles from Kalispell compared to Cranbrook, which is only 137.

"Kinda tough at times living this far away from home," Brown said of being separated from family and friends.

"It's more of a city here. Cranbrook was only three hours from home."

Brown, a 17-year old forward, scored two goals, the first and last, in a 5-0 Thunderbirds' victory over the Dallas Ice Jets in the Rocky Mountain regional championship game in Phoenix.

"We have four lines, all four lines have started games equally," Brown said.

"It depends on how the coach wants to start the game."

The victory over the Ice Jets earned the team a trip to the USA Hockey National Championships in Rochester, N.Y. The Thunderbirds are 47-15-3 on the season and face the California Wave AAA today in opening-round play.

Prior to the regional, the Thunderbirds competed in regular-season tournaments in San Jose, Calif., Des Moines, Iowa, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Denver.

His parents, Brad and Desi, have traveled to all the tournaments.

"You can see 4-5 games on the weekend," said Brad.

"That makes it worth it."

Still, the separation has made for a difficult and challenging year for the parents.

"It's been a much bigger thing for Desi than me," said Brad.

"Colin is pursuing his dream. As a guy, you can relate to the idea, playing the sport you enjoy. How can it be any better. For mom, it's been a totally different story."

Brad said the situation was a lot easier to deal with when Colin was in Cranbrook.

"This is way harder with him so far away," he said.

"You just don't pick up and go see him on the weekend. In Cranbrook, if he wanted to come home for the weekend, we'd just go get him."

Flathead High School held its prom earlier this month, a function Colin wouldn't have missed if he was living at home.

"He would have loved to have been there," said Brad.

"But he had practices and we just couldn't go get him."

Colin managed to slip home once for a 10-day break over Christmas. He also came home the weekend after Thanksgiving.

"He misses his friends; I don't know about his parents," chuckled Brad.

"But it's a neat thing (he's doing). He's doing well, he's worked very hard. He's with a group of kids who are all pulling in the same direction. It's great to be a part of that."

Brad and Desi will be in New York for the tournament this week along with Colin's grandfather, Louis Dahle.

Colin is one of 20 players from seven states on the Thunderbirds roster. He's also the lone Montanan on the list.

Brown, 5-foot-11, 170-pounds, lives with teammate Cooper Frederick and his mother. The Fredericks are from Tulsa, and like Brown, pursing a hockey dream.

"They (Fredericks) have done this for the last three winters," Brown said.

Brown's typical school day begins at 7:30 a.m. He is taking seven classes this semester - honors math, English, honors biology, honors history, Spanish, marketing and psychology - and has a 3.57 grade point average.

School ends at 3:15, which allows him just enough time to return home for a quick snack before leaving for hockey practice at 4 p.m. The Thunderbirds practice at the Air Force Academy.

"I get home at 8:30 p.m.," he said.

"I kinda wonder at night when I go to bed if it's all worth it; not doing what teenagers do. I come home and sleep or come home and do homework. Sometimes go out for a movie."

But in the end, it's all about hockey.

"Obviously it's very important," he said.

"I have a goal and I wanna reach that goal - to play Division I hockey. I don't care where, wherever I can get a good education and play hockey."

Brown figures to get good exposure playing in the national tournament. Following that he hopes to make it to the National Select Festival, which will take place in St. Cloud, Minn.

"I have to try out for that," he said. "They take the best players in the nation."

Brown has failed in three attempts to reach the festival. He has made the initial cut, on the state level in Montana and Colorado, but has then failed to advance out of districts.

"They take the nine best kids out of 80 (from each district for the festival)," he said.

"It's been kinda hard these last two years. I thought I had it, but I guess I didn't. Hopefully this will be my year."

Brown said it was at those district tryouts in Salt Lake City where he caught the eye of Thunderbirds coaches.

"Before this year, I was a grinder," Brown said.

"Now I'm starting to become a more well-rounded player. I'm better at parts of the game where I was weaker before.

"My stick handling," said Brown of what has improved the most.

"I've never been a scorer, which is a reason why this year is different.

"Americans and Canadians play a little different style of hockey," he continued.

"Less contact here, faster and less rough. Not as much an emphasis taking the body, so I've had to learn how to score goals."

Brown's introduction to hockey came at a tender age - when he was in the third grade.

"As soon as I started playing it, I loved it," he said. "That's what I wanted to do. I kept playing as much as I could."

He dabbled in cross country in high school, but "didn't have a passion for that," he said.

Baseball required "too much coordination," he explained.

"Football is football, short season. Hockey seemed to have the right mixture. It's the fastest game played."

Brown says he'd like to live closer to home for his senior year. To do that he will have to step up to Junior A, which has teams in Helena, Bozeman and Butte.

"The next step (after Junior A) is college," he continued.

"I think it's fine where I'm at. Some kids are playing Junior that are my age, but not very many. I know to achieve my goal is to focus on school and hockey. That's where it is right now."

Three other Flathead Valley hockey players enjoying ice time at a higher level are Ryan Scott, Mike Ortley and Zach Gargasz.

Scott, 18, is a 6-6, 229-pound defenseman with the Indiana Ice in the Junior A League of the United States Hockey Association. Scott, formerly of Whitefish, missed 60 days because of a broken hand, but is back in action as the Ice push for a playoff spot. In 33 games, he has three goals and one assist.

Ortley, 18, is a 5-11, 170 forward with the Butte Rough Riders in the North Pacific Hockey League. In 35 games, he has scored four goals and assisted on two more. Butte finished the season with a 5-39-10 record in the East Division, which also includes Queen City (Helena), Bozeman, Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.

Ortley, of Kalispell, has a couple of upcoming tryouts scheduled for another Junior A team.

Gargasz, 18, 5-10, 210, is from Columbia Falls. He played 17 games with the Rough Riders, scoring two goals and two assists in limited duty.