Blaze Ebbinghaus spent his youth hockey career with the Summit program before skating for the high school team.

His game caught the eye of junior teams and this season, the Breckenridge native is developing his talents with the USPHL’s Rogue Valley Royals, a team based in Oregon.

“The opportunity arose from a coach from back home (JR Engelbert) that had a connection with my coach now (Chris Miller),” Ebbinghaus said. “What made me come here in the first place was that my coach told us we were going to be a family, and we are. The league is a great development league for the level of play and players. Billeting is awesome and my billets are like my home away from home.

“My team is a very young team with a lot of first-year players, including myself, so it’s hard to fully understand what it means to the guys that this is the last year of their junior career. From a personal and development perspective, I’m definitely in the right place for developing and being around good people.”

Ebbinghaus said that “Oregon is a beautiful place with lots of beautiful views and great people.”

“Also, not much snow, so a plus and a minus,” he quipped.

With Summit, Ebbinghaus said all the coaches he played for were great and that it was a very well-organized program.

Going forward, Ebbinghaus said he has reachable goals in mind.

“For hockey, I would love to play it for as long as I can and continue on the path that I’m on right now to hopefully make it to play college somewhere,” Ebbinghaus said. “Short-term goals would be finishing the season with at least 15 points, and long term would be ending my junior years with 50 points.”

Photo/Duke Jones

— Matt Mackinder

(November 23, 2022)