COCHRANE—Cochrane Generals goalie Erik Garber is preparing to take the next step in his competitive hockey career.
The Kirkland, Washington native was recently recruited into the Western Collegiate Hockey League by the Arizona State University Sun Devils.
“I’m definitely very excited to be heading down to Arizona. You can’t complain about living in a place like that and on top of that getting to play college hockey, it’s definitely very exciting for myself and my family,” Garber said.
Garber’s offer came in near the beginning of February. He had been researching potential schools with hockey programs and saw the Sun Devils had some potential spots open for the goalie position.
Garber reached out to the head coach, Tait Green, to introduce himself and indicate his interest in the team.
In mid-January Garber sent some game footage to Green and the contact information of General's head coach, Kurtis Jones.
About a week after that, Garber said, he got the call indicating a position with the Sun Devils was his for the taking.
“Tait called me and said that he had talked to Kurtis and watched the video, and based on that stuff he would be offering me a spot on the team,” Garber said.
“Kurtis helped me out a ton. The conversation that I had with Tait when he offered me a spot, he said that Kurtis had nothing but good things to say about myself,” he said. “Kurtis put in a really good word for me. I couldn’t be more thankful to have him as a coach the last two years.”
Regardless of his recruitment, this would have been Garber’s last year in the Heritage Junior Hockey League. The 21-year-old has hit the age limit and is no longer eligible to play on the Generals or any other Heritage roster.
“With how everything ended last year, all of a sudden our playoffs got shut down due to COVID, and everything being so up in the air this year with the season, I just didn’t want my last year of hockey to end like this,” he said. “I’ve been playing the game since I was three-and-a-half years old, that would just be a crappy way to end it. I’m definitely glad I found a spot to play.”
Garber said that the last few months have been difficult to deal with, and the good news he received from Arizona State was much needed.
While he is happy to be taking to the ice next season, he is also excited about the academic opportunities at Arizona State University. Garber will be enrolling in the Parks and Recreation Management,
“I was super excited, super happy. It’s obviously been tough not playing the last few months. Just hearing great news like that— It just made it even better, and Arizona State being one of my top schools, I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
