Tui Sova - Junior Review

[v.2 1,406]

Age: 19

Position: D

Height: 75 in.

Weight: 210 lbs.

Birthplace: Fiji 

 

 

Early Life:

          Born in Lautoka, Fiji, Sova’s home turf is the second largest city in Fiji.  Famous for its sugar cane belts, Lautoka is often referred to as the “Sugar City”.  Sova’s father was a Canadian working abroad in the tourism industry, and his mother was a local Fijian teacher.  Before Tui’s first birthday the Sova family decided to move back to his fathers native country, Canada.

          As the Sova family settled in Canada and Tui began to grow up, like any Canadian boy his love interest with the sport of hockey began to blossom.  Sova was enrolled in minor hockey at the age of 5, and as he aged his obsessive personality helped him excel in almost every aspect of the game.  One of Sova’s most memorable moments came in high school during an easter tournament in Calgary,  he scored 4 goals from the point (all slappers) during a championship game.  At this point, he had full on attention from college scouts.

 

 

Junior:

          After high school, despite garnering attention from scouts in Canada, Tui Sova decided to take his talents abroad.  His goal was to see other parts of the world and hopefully excel development by playing in the Swiss Junior Elite League (Jr. A).  Sova’s first year went smooth despite the team missing the playoffs.  Sova spent time on the team’s second D pairing but managed to finish the year strong as a top 2 defenceman.

          His second year however, didn’t end up as planned after being sidelined early on in the season with a nagging left ankle injury.  Sova was forced to miss almost all of his second year of junior, spending most of his time with Swiss doctors and ankle specialists attempting to rehab his foot.  Despite the setback, by late offseason and after a summer spent home in Canada, Sova was ready to step back into a leadership role on his team in Switzerland and resume his career.

          Tui knew he had to prove himself and make up for lost time in this final year of junior, as his main goal was to prepare for the VHLM and the VHL draft.  His ankle injury was clearly a thing of the past as he was able to lead the league in minutes played with his club, and ranked among the top 5 defencemen in the league.  The team missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season, but Sova was still able to retain his stock for VHLM scouts and finish the season strong.

 

 

VHLM:

          Sova went back to Canada for another offseason where his agent took calls from VHLM teams.  One team in particular was able to promise top pairing minutes, and seemed to have many pieces of exciting talent heading into the season.  Tui Sova’s reality of becoming a VHL player has drawn closer this week as he just signed a free agent contract with the Mexico City Kings. The goal now is simple for Sova; improve his skating and puck handling abilities, and develop into a bonafide two-way defenceman.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by v.2