Claimed:Markus King Autobiography

[Kendrick 4,741]

 

Markus King

Goaltender

Regina Pats

Victoria, B.C.

 

 

Born in Victoria, British Columbia; Markus King was no stranger to the sport of hockey from a young age. Like any player he started as a skater and quickly fell in love with the pace and strategy of the sport. However, it was very early on in his life that his parents sensed he wanted to be the one to deny goals instead of scoring them. AT the age of 8 his parents bought him his first set of goalie pads and he fell in love with the position. A very small kid who didn't cover much of the net regardless of how big it was, King still fell in love. He was always a talkative kid and that made his job easier from the get go. When he was 10 years old his parents bought him his own custom mask and that put him over the moon in excitement.

 

Markus was headed into double digits in age and he had it all figured out. Unfortunately the Victoria area didn't quite have anything figured out on their end. Many of the young players were forced to go to nearby areas to play hockey as the greater Victoria community saw two local areas shut down. No sweat for Markus though as he found a home with the Saanich Braves minor hockey association. It is there where he grew his game even more and got the chance to play his is older brother Devin. Devin went on to play in the WHL not long after for the Prince Albert Raiders, but Markus was left to command his position in Saanich. Luckily Markus had joined a program that allowed players to work their way up through the age brackets from the age of 8-16 until they became junior hockey players eligible for WHL and BCJHL picking.

 

 

 

Markus was fortunate enough to catch on with the Regina Pats after they selected him in the WHL bantam draft. Regina had a starting goaltender at the time and Markus was pretty much a backup for the first two seasons of his WHL career. He only ever saw 12 games in his first two campaigns but he learnt so much from Major Junior coaches that it allowed his game to grow and receive a ton of praise. After originally be vouched for by Jordie and Jamie Benn in the Victoria area, he was making strides in the Saskatchewan city. At the age of seventeen, Markus saw his first legitimate role being defined with the Pats. Seeing action in 24 games that season he got noticed by league and national scouts and was on the short list of U-18 Team Canada roster positions. Unfortunately they took a different direction and he was left off the final roster.

 

Not letting it bother him though, Markus carried on in Regina and starred for a squad platooning King and Tyler Brown. King took ownership over the position and started to assert himself as a young player with a huge future.

 

Season 1 (Reg. Season): 5 GP, 2W- 2L - 1OTL, .907%, 2.45 GAA

 

Season 2 (Reg. Season): 7 GP, 3W - 4L - 0 OTL, .909%, 2.22 GAA

 

During the off-season between his second and third season Markus goes back to Victoria to help out with charity and take part in the Benn Brothers open invitational Hockey challenge. The event is put on by Jordie and Jamie who invite local high level players and NHL calibre stars to participate. The winners see all proceeds go towards a local charity of their choosing. King's team has won twice already with him in between the pipes and he even hand delivered the check to the charity administration. Trevor Lewis of the Los Angeles Kings and Drew Doughty (also from the Kings) have also participated in years past. The charity event is sponsored by Overwaitea Foods and Jim Pattison.

 

Season 3 (Reg. Season): 24 GP, 16W - 5L - 3 OTL, .919%, 2.01 GAA

 

The Regina Pats were never good enough to make the playoffs in Markus' first three seasons and thus his playoff statistics are a no-show. Luckily for Markus he is a young goalie and his track record looks to pave his way. Currently in his fourth season in the Western Hockey league with Regina, he is putting up solid numbers. Recently he declared eligible for the VHLM's and will make the jump as soon as his current WHL campaign is finished. If he remains on the path he is currently, he could see himself thrusted into the National spotlight and make up for his exclusion from the U-18 Team Canada squad. No Victoria born hockey player has ever started a game for Team Canada at any level and Markus has the tools to do that one day. King is on the list of players Team Canada scouts are supposed to keep their eyes on. With his current play and some further exposure from the pending VHLM career, we could see him fronting Canada soon enough. 

 

Season 4 (Reg. Season): 20 GP, 17W - 2L - 1 OTL, .941%, 1.71 GAA

 

 

Although he developed his skill from a young age, Markus hasn't ran dry with moments. At times goaltenders who start out very young in net, develop feelings of distaste for the position and a feeling of boredom. Markus takes pride in stopping the puck and in his Saanich career he loved being up as one of the clubs career leaders in Wins, Save Percentage and Goals Against Average. His tenure with the Regina Pats has been glorious as they've keep him around his entire WHL career and groomed him into an even better goaltender. His size and intelligence separate him and make him a diamond in the rough from the big western city of Victoria. We see him having huge strides in the VHLM and hopefully one day sees VHL action along the way. We can't for sure predict whether he is a franchise goaltender or not but he has the skill and the direction to see that title develop beside his name.

 

NHL Comparison: Cam Ward/Braden Holtby

[Jericho 917]

Claimed