A determined 20-year-old Okotokian finally found a college home after a rollercoaster Junior hockey career with stops in four leagues on nine different teams over four seasons.
Okotoks native Sam Prpich’s dream of playing college hockey finally came true when he committed to attend the University of Wisconsin-Superior to play NCAA Division III hockey with the Yelllowbacks, beginning in the fall of 2012.
It looked as though it would be a dream unfulfilled as the Okotoks forward bounced around four provinces playing Junior hockey in search of a college scholarship.
Prpich started the 2011-12 season, his final at the Junior level, with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s (SJHL) Battleford North Stars still without a scholarship offer. After 13 games he was traded to Manitoba’s Neepawa Natives.
Fate turned when he was the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Calgary Canucks picked him up in January. A return to his home province and a prolonged playoff run provided Prpich his final shot of reaching his goal.
He said his final months in Canucks blue propelled his pursuit of a college hockey scholarship.
“I think it was huge,” Prpich said of landing in Calgary. “I got a lot of exposure by getting the chance to play playoffs because a lot of those schools were at our games and just getting back to Calgary is where a lot of those schools fly into.
“It was a lot more exposure than being out in Manitoba so I think it helped a lot.”
The right-winger appreciated his important, albeit brief, 21-game tenure with the Canucks organization and to have his Junior career start and end in his home province.
“They helped me out a lot,” Prpich said. “At times I had some struggles with my game, but they kept pushing me and it paid off in the end.”
Prpich began his Junior career with a cup of coffee with the Okotoks Oilers in 2008-09 before embarking on a whirlwind tour of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. He plied his trade in the SJHL with the Estevan Bruins and Kindersley Klippers and the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Golden Rockets during the following season. In 2010-11, Prpich joined the Yorkton Terriers before heading to Manitoba to finish off his season with the Swan Valley Stampeders. Given his exhaustive Junior career, it’s no surprise Prpich faced some ups-and-downs in his search for a college home.
“When I was going through a rough patch during the year I was thinking ‘Am I going to get a scholarship?’” Prpich said. “The goal going into my Junior career was to get a Division I scholarship, but when I got the opportunity to go to a top Division III program it was a no-brainer to take it.”
Prpich along with Canuck teammate and fellow Okotokian Cory Kapeller went on a few campus visits at the end of March, with the former checking out St. Olaf and St. Scholastica before deciding on his school of choice.
“I went down south to visit a couple schools down there and Superior seemed like the best fit for me,” Prpich said. “They have a great hockey team, they’ve won the nationals twice. After I met with the coach it seemed like a great fit and I felt really comfortable after meeting with him and checking out the school.”
The Yellowjackets, based out of Superior, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior, compete in the West region of the NCAA’s Division III.
Prpich said he also received some positive feedback about the Yellowjackets from friend and former Okotoks Oiler Andy Singerhouse and Wisconsin-Superior alumni Tyler Fletcher.
“They both loved it and said great things about it,” Prpich said. “It’s kind of a smaller school, only 3,000 people so for classes it’s easy to get one-on-one help and being in that area of Duluth there’s a lot of college hockey around.”
Prpich said the proximity of the school to the Twin Cities was also enticing.
“It’s only two and half hours from Minneapolis so it’s easy for my parents to get there and come watch me play,” Prpich said. “And one my best friends, Joel Paiement, is only 10 minutes away (at St. Scholastica) and another buddy Dave Williams goes there too.”
Academics weighed heavily into Prpich’s decision as well.
The affable Holy Trinity Academy graduate plans to undertake a double major at Wisconsin-Superior, a public Catholic liberal arts school, in economics and business management with a focus on transportation logistics.
