Lacrosse, speedskating influence Canada junior hockey star Boris Katchouk
BUFFALO, N.Y. — At only eight years old, Boris Katchouk made an immediate impression on his lacrosse coach Steve MacGregor. It was the summer of 2006 and MacGregor had driven his Kitchener-Waterloo Braves tyke team to Owen Sound, Ont., for the opening game of the rep season.
Katchouk, now a key player on Canada’s world junior hockey team, was playing at the rep level for the first time. Most tyke lacrosse games are low-scoring affairs, but Katchouk had seven goals to lead Kitchener-Waterloo past Owen Sound 11-10.
More than a decade later, MacGregor still can’t believe the feat.
“He was an amazing athlete. A terrific athlete,” MacGregor said from Kitchener, Ont. “If I can recall correctly, he scored 102 goals that year. He was just one of those kinds of athletes that was very, very special. You knew right from then.”