Tyler Shattock took advantage of rare opportunity in junior hockey, he got to play for the team he grew up cheering for.
Growing up in Salmon Arm, Shattock cheered for the Blazers and was surprised when he was their first round draft pick in 2005.
“When I was young it was the only team I would watch, I think Kamloops even came to Salmon Arm at one point when I was younger to play a couple of exhibition games so that was the team I cheered for,” he said. “I kind of expected that I would play for the Silverbacks but when Kamloops told me that they were going to take me sixth overall in the bantam draft it was kind of a shock. I was obviously very happy and that made my decision to go there very easy.”
He went on to play four seasons for the club and was named team captain at the beginning of his 20-year-old season.
Each season Shattock played with the Blazers, they lost in the first round of the playoffs, but he enjoyed personal success. He scored 30 goals in each of his last two seasons and was drafted by the St. Louis Blues 108th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
He was traded, along with Jimmy Bubnick and Zak Stebner to the Calgary Hitmen in January 2010 in exchange for Austin Madaisky and Chase Schaber.
“I was really shocked. I was definitely upset, I thought I’d finish my career out as a Blazer, but (General Manager) Craig Bonner sat me down and told me it would be the best thing for me,” Shattock recalled. “It helped me out in my career and it helped the Blazers the next few years down the road.”
Shattock enjoyed success with the Hitmen, scoring 28 points in the final 30 games of the season and helping the club win the WHL Championship. They lost in the semi-final of the Memorial Cup to the host Brandon Wheat Kings.
“It was awesome, we ended up winning the league,” he said. “You only get four years to do something like that so it was definitely a pretty special time.”
Now, Shattock is in his sixth professional season and was named the captain of the East Coast Hockey League’s Kalamazoo Wings. He spent his first four years playing primarily in the American Hockey League, recording between 12 and 20 points each season before becoming nearly a point-per-game player in the ECHL last season.
“It’s been an up and down road, but it’s been good. It’s nice being able to do something that you love for a living for as long as you can,” Shattock said.
He was replaced as Blazers captain by 20-year-old defenceman Ryan Funk following the trade.
Funk was acquired from the Vancouver Giants earlier that season and scored 20 points in 34 games in his time with the Blazers.
The team finished third in the B.C. Division, and for the fourth straight season they lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Funk went on to play five games in the ECHL and three seasons at the University of Saskatchewan.
A History of Blazers Captains:
