The Campbell River Storm has re-signed a valuable goal-scorer if Junior A hockey opportunities don’t lure him away. Quinn Messer will be joining the Junior B squad in its quest for a Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) Championship next season, Head Coach and General Manager Lee Stone said last week.
“Quinn is ready to take a major step forward offensively this season if he doesn’t make the BCHL,” said Stone.
The five-foot-seven, 165-pound forward joined his older brother, Pearce Messer on the Storm last season.
In 44 regular season games, the younger Messer logged 17 points (eight goals and nine assists) and added another point (an assist) in two playoff games against the Nanaimo Buccaneers.
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Coach Stone said that of his eight goals last season, seven were “goal-scorer’s goals.”
He also said that Messer improved his defensive game last season.
“[He] was a key piece in making our transition game as good as it was. During the season, his zone exit numbers were the best we had; we exited our zone with control 90 per cent of the time it was on Q’s stick,” said Stone. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this young man. The sky really is the limit and I look forward to seeing him make the jump to the next level.”
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Messer was originally recruited from his hometown Delta Hockey Academy’s Elite 15 team, where he played in the 2018/19 season. He was the squad’s top-scorer with 34 points (28 goals and six assists) over 34 games.
The Storm said Messer has made it clear he wants to advance to a Junior A team this year.
He is expected to be at the Storm’s main camp in mid-August, but the team said he is weighing out Junior A opportunities.
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