An honor and a privilege… That’s what Brendan McGuire
says it feels like to be the latest member of the NAHL's Amarillo Bulls
to secure an NCAA College Commitment. McGuire announced that he is
heading to West Point, joining five other Amarillo Bulls Alumni who are
already there. The Dallas, Texas native becomes the 7th Bulls player on
the 2013-14 team to announce NCAA plans.
“Amarillo does a tremendous job moving players on to the next
level,” McGuire said. “It’s a huge honor to be part of that list and to
add on to the success that the Bulls have had.”
McGuire will join forwards Joe Kozlak, Clint Carlisle and Kyle
Plageman as well as defensemen Luke Jenkins and his good friend Garrett
Peterson who are already playing for Army.
“I had lunch with Garrett when I went to West Point for a visit,”
said McGuire. “He told me about all of the day-to-day activities that
have been challenging, but at the same time very rewarding. “It’s a huge
honor to be another hockey player from the State of Texas to go play at
Army. It’s great to know that all of my hard work over the years is
paying off.”
Bulls Head Coach Dennis Williams said McGuire’s excitement about
wanting to attend Army says a lot about his character and the type of
person that is. “Much of our success as a program is due to the fact
that we have had guys on our team like Brendan, with his team first
mentality,” Williams said. “Brendan has the mind set of making sure
everyone else is okay before he is. He’s a team guy concerned about
blocking pucks on the ice and getting pucks out of his own end. He does
all of those other little things.”
Williams said that his size, strength, and skating ability will
help Army. “To be able to go into the corners and protect the puck like
he does now, will help the Army program next season,” he said.
The 6-5, 210-pound power forward, who is in his first season with
the Bulls, has two goals and seven assists for nine points 22 games. He
has 28 shots on goal and 52 penalty minutes. McGuire said playing for
the Bulls is preparing him for the next stage in his life. “Coach
Williams runs a Division I program here at the junior level in
Amarillo,” said McGuire. “It will make my adjustment easier going into
Army, and the situations I will encounter up there. You have your good
days and your bad days here just like you would at Army.”
Going to West Point is a huge decision for a young man and McGuire
said his parents had some reservations at the start. “Once they had a
chance to visit West Point, it completely changed their minds,” he said.
“They are happy that I made this decision.”
McGuire said the world-class education that students receive at
Army is hard to pass up. “Army offers a great education there that will
set you up for your future after hockey,” said McGuire. “It’s a pretty
easy decision with all of the benefits that you get in obtaining an
education from Army.”
Brendan McGuire joins Roman Ammirato (Union College), Joe Grabowski
(Princeton), Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris University), Tim Moore
(Robert Morris University), Collin Delia (Merrimack College) and Paul
Berrafato (Holy Cross University) as members of the 2013-14 Amarillo
Bulls to announce their NCAA College Commitments.
(Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)
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