University of Vermont Clear Choice for Stacey
November 18, 2009

Recently, NativeHockey.com had the opportunity to speak with Wahsontiio Stacey, a young man who decided on a career in NCAA college hockey program at the University of Vermont. Wahs, as he is known by his coaches and teammates, is from the community of Khanawake, Quebec and is in his junior year at the University of Vermont. Prior to coming to the University of Vermont, he attended the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, a well known prep school in Saskatchewan.

The University of Vermont advanced to the semi-final round of the Frozen Four, college hockey’s National Championship tournament in the spring of 2009. U of V is also the alma mater of Martin St.Louis, winner of the Hart Memorial and Lester B Pearson, NHL awards, as well as Vezina winning goaltender Tim Thomas.

My thanks to both Wahsontiio Stacey, for taking time out of his busy schedule as a student-athlete, as well as the Athletic Communications Assistant Director and contact for the Men’s Ice Hockey team, Chris Wojcik, for granting my interview request.

NH: In Jr hockey you often have different options when deciding on how to pursue your career. Why did you decide to play US college hockey?

WS: I was drafted and thought about the major junior route, but once I was introduced to NCAA college hockey when I was peewee aged, around 12 or 13yrs old, and it just grasped my right in. I wanted to go to college, and I wanted to play college hockey. It’s so uncommon back home, I’m the first college hockey player, and there are a couple of college golf players that came from our reservation, but major junior is so popular where I’m from. I wanted to be different, and I wanted to pursue school. You know everyone says to stay in school and I really took that to heart. If I could go to school, and if I had a chance doing what I love doing, playing hockey, and get an education out of it, I could bring that stuff back to my heritage, I can’t have a better option you know? Being at Notre Dame, it was like a college atmosphere, and I wanted more of that. And that drove me even more to pursue a college hockey career and to get a scholarship to play hockey, which in the end is what I did.

NH: How did your time at Notre Dame prepare you for life as a student-athlete at the University of Vermont?

WS: I played 2 years of midget and 2 yrs of junior A hockey at Notre Dame. The Notre Dame experience was great for me. I learned how to live on my own, be more independent and helped me to grow up. First and foremost it is a hockey factory. But more importantly, Notre Dame also produces men. You go in there as a boy and you come out as a man. It helped prepare me for college. Some kids get to college and it’s there first time away from home and it’s some trouble for them. But I feel like I was like a veteran because of being at Notre Dame, and that’s another benefit of going there.

NH: Did anyone help you reach this decision, and if so, who?

WS: People at Notre Dame were really good about it. The staff, teachers, coaches, and obviously my family was very encouraging about going the college route. Also there were lots of people in the hockey community giving me straight up advice. But I really took it upon myself to make the decision to go to Vermont. Being an hour and 45 minutes from home my family was close, and when I stepped onto the campus of the University of Vermont, I knew I wanted to spend the next four years of my life here. Obviously those were big parts of my decision, as well as the coaching staff here at Vermont. From day one I knew they would help me become a better player and would be fair and upfront with me. It turned out that everything worked out the way I planned.

NH: What are the positives of playing at the University of Vermont?

WS: Being a college hockey player for Vermont, really we’re a “whole state of Vermont” team. We all take up the task and challenge of representing not only the school but the whole state. We have great fans support, close to 4000, we sell out almost every game. In the community we do all kinds of charity events, and go to the local hospital to see the little kids. It’s an absolute big deal to these little kids when we come visit them. When we as players have the ability to brighten up the day for these kids, that’s something I take very seriously.

NH: Away from hockey, how do you like the college experience?

WS: It’s a great city, great college city, not too big. We have great outdoor things here, Lake Champlain. I’m all about the outdoors. Great places downtown were we can go for dinner and all kinds of stuff. Overall a good college town, just being here is great. To be honest I like everything about it.

NH: Did you have any trouble adjusting to college life?

WS: Not really trouble at all. It wasn’t an obstacle and I felt like I fit in from day 1. I think having gone to Notre Dame really prepared me for college.

NH: How do you balance your studies with the demands of playing hockey?

WS: It’s definitely tough. It’s a tough demanding schedule. We have morning classes, meet during the day for a couple hours, go to the rink for about four hours. By the time we get out and grab a bite it’s around 8pm. Then if you’ve got homework you take care of that, and then it’s about time for bed. So you know it’s tough, but I find that as long as you stay on top of it, as long as you prepare yourself, have good time management, it’s not hard at all. You’ve just got to be on top of things. You’ve got to be accountable, and then there’s no trouble at all. In the long run after this you’ll be prepared for the real world.

NH: Last year the University of Vermont advanced all the way to the NCAA Frozen Four, ultimately losing in a close battle to the eventual NCAA Champions, Boston University. How was that experience from the beginning of the NCAA tournament and on into the Frozen Four?

WS: I don’t even know where to begin. It was a great experience. First of all we made a great run, and overall it was a very exciting time for the University of Vermont, for the state of Vermont, for our families and friends. And for me, the exciting part is that I got to represent the University, I got to represent the state, and most importantly I got to represent my community, which I found the most special, and personally was the most excited about. The entire community watched the games on ESPN and I can’t even tell you how many text messages I got from people back home. So that was the most exciting part for me, getting to represent my community back home. It was a great experience.

NH: How did you prepare yourself for this upcoming hockey season?

WS: I spent the off season working very hard on strength and conditioning, because it was one of the things I had to work on to become an elite player in my league and one of the top players on my team. During the season I eat lots of rice, pasta and chicken. Some vegetables, but not much. I’m not a big fan of veggies.

NH: You are not too far from home, is that an advantage for you? Do you often get visitors from home to watch your games?

WS: Every home game the guys are allowed 4 tickets for the games and I end up having to find tickets for the 20 – 25 people come down to watch me play, with sometimes even more that are buying their own tickets. I can’t complain one bit about the support I get from home. I worked at the youth community center back home, and we’ve even had busloads of kids come down here for games. The kids get to see the school and the games, and maybe, hopefully that plants a little bug in their heads, and they see something that they might want to do.

NH: For every young, aspiring Native player that has the talent to succeed as a hockey player, at least to the junior or college level if not farther, why do you think so few actually make it as far as they should or could?

WS: I think a lot of kids are really scared to leave home. They’re not sure what’s out there, and they’re not exposed to what school has to offer out there. They’re buried in this little nutshell, and it’s hard and obviously, I don’t want to say the racism, but it’s hard being a Native kid and going out there. It’s just one of those things where the kid is not sure, and maybe they don’t want to put out the effort and deal with the demands, scared that they can’t keep up with things, stuff like that. They just have to get out there and experience what there is, and what they’re options are. They’re not familiar with the options of maybe being a college hockey player or going to college, not even necessarily to play a sport, but just to go to college. And these are some of the things I want to bring back to my community and show the kids that it is possible, that there are options out there if they are willing to put out the effort. I think the main thing is that people are afraid to leave home and see what’s out there.

NH: What are your overall goals in your hockey career, and after hockey?

WS: I want to play as long as possible. There are a lot of opportunities out there. After hockey I want to open my own small business.

NH: Who was your biggest role model when you were growing up, not necessarily having to be a hockey player?

WS: Growing up I didn’t have any one specific person who was a role model for me. I looked up to a lot of people, a lot of family, a lot of friends. They all taught me something that I’ve carried on in my life.

NH: Did you have a favorite hockey player growing up?

WS: I was an Eric Lindros fan for a while there, but really I was a Mario Lemieux fan growing up. And then when Jordin Tootoo came up through Juniors, and he had such a great story behind him, and then I saw him play, that’s when I really started to admire and look up to him.

NH: What kind of advice would you give to those up and coming native players who have the talent to go far in hockey?

WS: Often I say this to kids back home, you can’t be afraid to leave home. Get out there, do well in school, meet people and make connections. You have to do well in school, you have to dedicate yourself in the classroom or else you simply won’t play when it comes time to getting a scholarship. You have to get good grades in school or you won’t be going anywhere. And the last thing I tell kids is, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. It’s there to obtain for any kid if they put their mind to it.

The second weekend of October featured the matchup between #1 ranked the University of Denver Pioneers, at home against #14 ranked University of Vermont Catamounts. The Pioneers took the first game, in a come from behind effort, 5 – 4. Wahs Stacey scored one goal and had an assist in the first game. Vermont came back to win the second game on Saturday night, with Wahs having another solid performance, and doing plenty of work killing penalties.

Wahsontiio Stacy is the son of Glenn Stacey and Mary Ann Rice of Kahnawake, Quebec. He is oldest sibling in his family, having two younger brothers, Kaheraien and Kahrha’toton, and a young sister, Milly. He is majoring in Community Entrepreneurship at the University of Vermont, currently in his junior year.