Blake Marvici wound up playing junior hockey last season for the USPHL’s Hampton Roads Whalers in Virginia by way of a connection from back home in Colorado.

This season, the Fort Collins native is back with the Whalers.

“My coach here with Hampton (CJ Sweigart) coached with the Colorado Tigers my first year of 18U,” said Marvici. “He wasn’t my coach during that year; he was with the 16U team. When he left and came over to Hampton, he offered me a spot a few months later and I saw it as a good opportunity to move on to junior hockey from youth hockey and begin that next chapter of my career. The unlimited ice time we have at the rink was a huge deal when I was deciding where to play. Over two hours of practice and tons of open ice we have has been big for my development. The staff we have here has been incredible, too.

“Leaving home for the first time last year was not an easy thing to do. It was a huge adjustment having to figure a lot of things out on my own. My billet family has been great and treated me like I’m a part of their family. That made everything so much easier for me.”

The 2023-24 season was one of adjustments for Marvici.

“Last season was a good year from a team level,” said Marvici. “We took a huge step in the right direction after a pretty rough year before. We ended with a winning record and made playoffs, too. Last year, I personally had a lot of learning curves thrown at me throughout the season. Learning a completely different structure and adjusting to being a top-six forward was new to me.”

Back home, Marvici said he started playing hockey at the age of seven and was instantly hooked.

“My parents started taking me to some learn to plays in Fort Collins and I fell in love with the game then,” Marvici said. “The Avs were always my favorite team growing up and they still are to this day. I’ve idolized some of the players like MacKinnon and Landeskog hoping to be where they are someday. I have moved around quite a few times, but I would consider Fort Collins to be my hometown. That’s where I started to play hockey and have a lot of my favorite memories.”

Marvici played youth hockey for NCYH in his early days and then AAA hockey in Colorado Springs for the Tigers.

“My favorite coach I’ve had was Scott Swanson,” said Marvici. “He was my coach for about four years with NCYH. He made the game fun, but also taught us all important life lessons along the way. I’ll definitely remember all the great people I met and all the friends I’ve made along the way in Colorado. Winning tournaments and traveling the country with my best friends is something I’ll never forget.”

Going forward, Marvici knows improvement and development is the name of the game.

“Within the next year or two, I definitely want to move up to the USPHL Premier level and possibly Tier II by the time my junior career is up,” Marvici said. “I want to see how far hockey will take me in life, whether it be college or pro. Once I’m done with hockey, I want to become an airline pilot. I know that’s something I can start working towards in college to better prepare me for when I am done.”

Photo/Home and Away Photos

— Matt Mackinder

(November 12, 2024)