David Hejduk is on a roll.

Over the summer, the 2004-born Parker native committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at Harvard University.

He has followed that up with a solid first half of the 2020-21 season on the blue line with the Colorado Thunderbirds’ 16U AAA team.

And just last week, Hejduk signed with the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild to begin his junior hockey career starting with the 2021-22 season.

The 2020-21 season for the Wild was canceled due to the global pandemic, but Hejduk is excited to look ahead to next season.

“Wenatchee was watching many of my games and after some time, we made contact and started making decisions,” said Hejduk. “I really love the development potential Wenatchee offers to young players like me. It’s also a great league where I can learn, get better, and have fun.”

“We are very excited to add David to our group,” added Wild head coach Chris Clark. “He is an extremely smart player with a real competitive nature. The Colorado Thunderbirds have done an excellent job helping develop David, and our staff looks forward to continuing in helping him develop and prepare for college hockey at Harvard.”

Hejduk has been a part of the Thunderbirds for six seasons, starting at 11U level and progressing from there.

“The Colorado Thunderbirds is a great program that I will credit a lot to my development,” said Hejduk. “This year we have a great team, as well as great coaching, and we have the chance to do something special.”

In addition to Clark, other members of the Wild brass have certainly noticed the yearly improvement out of Hejduk.

“David has made nice progress the last few years,” said Wenatchee GM Bliss Littler. “We feel he will be able to step into the BCHL and contribute right away. We look forward to working with him the next few years before he moves on to Harvard.”

“We are very excited to have David join the organization,” added Wild associate head coach Leigh Mendelson. “We’ve had the opportunity to watch him develop over the past few seasons with the Colorado Thunderbirds and feel as though he is ready to make the jump to junior hockey. David has a very good combination of physical tools, strength, competitiveness, and hockey sense. As he has already committed to Harvard, we are looking forward to helping David prepare to be an impact freshman when he steps on campus.”

Hejduk, who committed to Harvard with his brother, Marek, who is playing for USA Hockey’s NTDP this season, said he is looking at majoring in Business and Economics in college.

Until then, Hejduk wants to have a successful second half with the Thunderbirds and rounding out his game to be ready for the rigors of junior hockey.

“Signing with Wenatchee is awesome, and I can’t wait for next year, but until then, I still have to work my hardest to become a better player,” said Hejduk. “My goal for the new year is to improve exponentially, even more than this past year.”

— Matt Mackinder

(Dec. 30, 2020)