Biccum earns Rookie of the Year

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

Former UFA Bison and Strathmore native, Brayden Biccum, has had a stellar first season with the Canmore Eagles, so much so that the team honoured him with the Rookie of the Year.
He admits that there were some adjustments coming straight from midget triple-A.
“It all has been a learning experience so far. I’ve been lucky, there’s quite a few veterans on the backend in Canmore that really know what they’re doing and have been around for awhile and I learned a lot from them,” said Biccum. “The biggest thing is it’s a lot of hockey and you got to do the little things right, your diet has to be good, your fitness level has to be up high, lots of little things that you have to take care of to perform.”
The difference he has noticed between the Bisons and the Eagles is that there is a more structural component in junior-A.
“I think there is a lot more structural things you have to take care of and there is a lot of systems in place that you have to be sharp on,” said Biccum.
He accredits his award to the strategies that were taught by his former Bison coaches and playing on a veteran Eagles blue line.
“I learned a lot from Dan MacDonald, Sandy Henry and Doug Raycroft,” said Biccum. “They were able to teach me quite a few things, but coming to Canmore we had quite a few injuries on the backend so I started to play more and get my confidence up and earn the trust of the coaches.
“I’ve been counted on to make it hard for the other team to play against and just bringing physicality and some defensive play to the table.”
The award surprised Biccum as he thought he had some competition for the award, but he was fortunate to beat out those couple of other guys.
He is currently getting his first taste of AJHL playoffs as the Eagles are battling the Okotoks Oilers in the first round. The Oilers led the series 2-0 as of press time.