For Jackson Weir, it was all about comfort and having confidence in trusting the process.

Next season, the Breckenridge native will play junior hockey with the NA3HL’s New Hampshire Mountain Kings, a situation he said checked all the boxes.

“I started looking for opportunities to continue playing hockey after high school,” said Weir. “I reached out to one of my old coaches, Nick Turcotte. Coach Nick introduced me to a couple of junior coaches, and I had a few calls with those coaches who asked me to come out and skate with their teams. I also started looking at locations I wanted to live in to see if they had junior teams in the area. In February, I took a trip back east to see family and we set up skates with a couple of teams I was interested in. My favorite team was the Mountain Kings. I skated with them for two hours and did an off-ice workout with them. My new coach Clint Cassavaugh offered me a tender right on the spot.

Weir will be joined on the team by his twin brother Luke.

“I skated with a couple of teams that weekend, but the Mountain Kings really stood out for me,” Weir said. “The play was fast-paced and fun. The players were friendly and supportive. It felt like a good team atmosphere. I also really liked Coach Clint. He was intense on the ice, you knew where you stood, but was friendly and easy to talk to off the ice. I am really looking forward to moving to New Hampshire and living on my own. I am familiar with New Hampshire as I have family there and have spent many summers visiting them over the years.”

Growing up, Weir said hockey has been a major part of his life for as long as he can remember.

“I started playing hockey about the time I started walking,” said weir. “My father was a hockey player and encouraged me at an early age. I definitely am an Avs fan and we go to at least a game or two a year. I live in Breckenridge, so it’s always fun to go to Denver for a night of hockey.”

Once he laced up the skates for the first time, Weir said there was no looking back.

“I started down in the Front Range on a team called the Thunder,” remembered Weir. “I was also big into ski racing at the time, so I would practice hockey during the week, drive up to Breckenridge on Friday night, go to ski team practice or race and drive back for Saturday or Sunday games. Finally, we decided to move up to Breckenridge full-time and ski and play hockey there. That did not last long, though. I played down in the Front Range for a summer program with Evolution at Big Bear. After the summer, Coach Sergei Bautin asked me if I would play the season there. So I would drive down four nights a week plus games on the weekends to Denver. I got to get out of school early, so that was fun for me. Coach Sergei was a big part of my hockey development. He was another tough coach with an amazing amount of knowledge. 

“During that time, I also met Coach Nick. I started working skills with him on the side. He later recruited me to play for the Colorado Rampage. I played there for two years and got to play all over the country and play against some of the best players in the nation for my age. Some my favorite times in Colorado hockey would be playing pond hockey in Keystone and making it to the championship game this year to finish out my high school hockey (with Summit). That was a very cool experience.”

Looking ahead, Weir is excited to see where the game of hockey can take him.

“This year, I am looking forward to taking my game to the next level and getting up to speed at the junior level,” said Weir. “I am not sure where I will go with hockey. I am definitely going to work to make a big impact for the Mountain Kings and see if I can get to the next level, the NAHL. From there, if I get recruited to play at the college level, that would be very cool.”

— Matt Mackinder

Photo provided by Jackson Weir

(July 25, 2024)