Selkirk Steelers forward, Owen Warnick, has announced his commitment to play NCAA Division 1 hockey at Northern Michigan University.
“I feel like it’s the perfect fit”, Owen Warnick on committing to Northern Michigan. Warnick is still on cloud 9 after announcing his commitment to Northern Michigan earlier in the week.
The 18-year-old stand-out says the process was pretty smooth and he knew right away it would be a good fit. “Their coaches and scouts would come to our games, we’d chat after the games which showed me they had a pretty big interest in me. It was kind of a quick process, it might have been over the course of a week. They came to see our game against Waywayseecappo and from that point, it was just keeping in contact with the coaches, texting with the head coach a bit then it came down to negotiating. At the end of the day, it all came together, and I couldn’t be more excited.”
A big reason why Warnick wanted to make this decision so early was because of the history between Selkirk and Head Coach of Northern Michigan, Dave Shyiak. “He actually recruited Hudson Friesen when he was playing with the Steelers. It means that he’s from Manitoba. He’s a great coach and it is just the right fit. It feels like the place to go.”
While putting up an impressive 17 points in 12 games with Selkirk so far this year, Warnick says knowing he was being closely watched could have made for more pressure, but it didn’t. “I pretty much tried to focus on helping our team win and if I could do that, the rest would take care of itself. I focused on playing a team game and winning. It’s very nice to have it done and completed, though (he says with a laugh). It’s nice to have it done.”
This commitment is big for Warnick but also the Selkirk Steelers program and having the whole team together to find out the news meant a lot to Warnick. “The coaches announced it at practice, which I thought was really cool. We all got to celebrate together. The guys were so great, it was really awesome.”
A couple of other MJHL’ers have already announced their plans to go to Northern Michigan and Warnick says he’s looking forward to the future but also the present when going up against them. “I trained with them, Brody Green and Avery Laliberte, in the summer. So, kind of knowing them has already made it super fun to play against them and now with this, it’s going to be even better, even more competitive.”
With this commitment in his back pocket, Warnick is focused on working now for the future. “It’s about developing my 200-foot game, keep pushing at practice to get better every day. For me, I’m an offensive player but the defensive side and physical side is where I need work. I’m putting in the work every day to get just that little bit better.”
It’s not just the hockey that excites Warnick, he’s looking forward to being in the classroom. “I’m going to be taking courses in business. The educational side of it played a huge factor in me deciding to go to Norther Michigan.”
Having gone through the process and making his decision, Warnick says any advice he could give teammates or others is to not rush, soak it all in and enjoy the moment. “Try not to let things take over your game, you got to enjoy it. It’s so much fun being in the position of being wanted. Enjoy the process but remember you need to be consistent and produce. Try to enjoy it, not over think it.”
The next time the name Owen Warnick is put in a game program, there could be a Northern Michigan logo next to it, something he is thrilled about. “It’s going to be awesome to see that. I’m really, really excited for it.”
