This visitor feels right at home
When it was revealed the Avalon Roebothan McKay Marshall Capitals would host this year's Don Johnson Cup Atlantic junior B championship at the new Conception Bay South Arena, it was added incentive for Mitchell Normore.
Kenn Oliver | Posted: April 27, 2016, midnight | Updated: Sept. 30, 2017, 6:35 a.m. | 5 Min Read
Mitchell Normore (13) may be from Conception Bay South, but the Acadia University chemical engineering student is a valued member of the Valley Maple Leafs, who are representing Nova Scotia at the Don Johnson Cup Atlantic junior B hockey championship this week in C.B.S.
The Seal Cove native, an overage forward for the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League's Valley Maple Leafs, recognized a special opportunity to finish his competitive hockey career where it all began 17 years ago.
"I've spent three years in that league (NSJHL) and my parents have seen, I think, a game each, so I said 'boys, we gotta win this, we gotta get me home,'" recounts Normore, whose Maple Leafs swept the Glace Bay Miners in the Nova Scotia final to punch their ticket to Don Johnson Cup.
"To come back here and play in front of my family and friends, it's really nice."
On Wednesday, Normore had lots of support from the stands and heard plenty of chirping from his former Queen Elizabeth High School classmates during the Maple Leafs' 8-3 win over the C.B.N. MoorFrost Stars.
"It was special coming home," he says "I haven't played in C.B.S. in so long, it's so surreal."
Valley coach Josh Dill says Normore played big part in the team's playoff success that led them to the Atlantics, scoring eight goals and finishing with 20 points in 14 games, eight of which came in the final against the Miners.
"For three or four games he took the team on his back and you could tell he really wanted to come home."
After graduating from in 2012, rather than follow the majority of his peers into Memorial University, Normore opted to attend Acadia University, where he began working towards a degree in chemical engineering.
More than just the opportunity for a quality education led him to the Wolfville. N.S., institution. There are also familial ties to Acadia. His father Roy, a retired RNC officer, briefly attended the school, as did his uncle Glenn Normore, who enjoyed a fine varsity basketball career with the Axemen before returning home to enjoy a provincial Hall of Fame career as an athlete, coach and builder.
While Mitchell Normore played a little bit of high school hoops with the Queen Elizabeth Pioneers, hockey was clearly his sport of choice.
"I'm not a basketball player. Don't have the coordination for that," he says with a chuckle.
In his second year of studies at Acadia, the six-foot-two, 200-pound power forward was spotted playing intramural hockey and it was suggested he drop in on Maple Leafs practice.
"He came out for one practice and more or less I said 'do you want to play tomorrow night?' and he was all for it," recounts Dill, who calls Normore a "heart and soul guy" with "probably the heaviest wrist shot in the junior B league."
In three seasons with the Maple Leafs, Normore has averaged slightly better than point per game, culminating with a 18-goal, 22-assist campaign this season, one that saw him collect a career-high in penalty minutes with 92.
"He has to let up a lot when he hits guys because he takes a lot of penalties …not because he's dirty, he just hits hard because he's bigger and stronger than a lot of the guys," suggests Dill.
Normore says he just plays to his strengths.
"I don't have the dangles like the other guys, so I've always tried to use my size."
Regardless of how the tournament plays out for the Maple Leafs, Normore won't be returning to Nova Scotia with the club on Sunday.
"I've finished all my work terms so I have the summer off and time to work on my golf game."
Twitter: @telykenn