With the object of getting a college scholarship deal now in his equipment bag, Morgan Hackman has a new goal to work toward.
The 16-year-old Vernon hockey player, who suits up for the Nanaimo Clippers of the B.C. Hockey League, has agreed to a scholarship with the NCAA's Div. 1 Minnesota State Mavericks in Mankato, a city of nearly 45,000 people located 90 minutes south of Minneapolis.
The fact that the bursary is expected to start in possibly three years, maybe earlier, is pushing Hackman to up his work ethic.
"They (Mavericks) told me that the scholarship would likely go into effect in the fall of 2027, which would be in three years, and I'd be 18 turning 19," said Hackman. "I'm looking at the roster, and there could be some guys moving up to the NHL or if I develop really well, they said I could be coming into play with them in the fall of 2026.
"It's a good motivator because now I have something to think about and work for every day. I can't let my foot off the pedal. I have to try and make their roster as soon as I can."
Hackman spent the last two seasons 30 minutes from home down Highway 97 with the Rink Hockey Academy's U18 prep team in Kelowna in the Canada School Sport Hockey League. He scored 10 goals and added 23 assists in 29 regular-season games in 2023-24, then collected four assists in four post-season contests. He was coached by Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla.
He has suited up for 16 of the Clippers' first 21 games and is still looking to register his first BCHL point.
It's been a big adjustment for the 6-foot-3, 215-pound forward. Not necessarily going up against bigger players, as Hackman, himself, is not exactly petite on skates. Nor is it playing against guys who are four years older.
"My role has obviously changed a lot (on the Clippers), like going from a bigger role at Rink Academy, where I was a second-year midget (U18) player that had been there for a while and the coach had some good trust in me," said Hackman. "Going to junior on the Clippers, I'm a rookie, second-youngest player on the team, having to play that fourth-line grinding-like role.
"I'm still kind of finding my way. My role is so much different. I'm getting less minutes. The way my coach (Colin Birkas) wants me to play is a little different, but the style of game is a lot different. Like how you want to attack and get into the offensive zone. There's a lot more dump-ins and clears of the puck, rather than passing. The speed and skill level is a pretty big step."
The Mavericks brought him in for a fly-down visit to the campus and Hackman knew, right away, he'd found his next hockey home.
"They got great facilities but the biggest thing was they have a great coaching staff," he said. "They were saying how they will develop me, and in talking with my family, we felt there might be no better option, even if another school came to talk to me. This is the place I want to be. Such a good organization."
Hackman is the youngest of Tim and Janet Hackman's three kids, and the baby of the trio is following in his sisters' footsteps. Oldest sister Abby had a track scholarship at the University of Ottawa, while sister Maddy is in Wilmington, Delaware, playing college basketball for Div. 2's Goldey-Beacom College Lightning. He is leaning toward possibly studying business and sports management at Minnesota State.
"They helped when it came to making my decision," said Hackman of his sisters (dad Tim, by the way, is a former draft pick of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers). "They were telling me what university is like and the school side of things."
Hackman comes from a historic Vernon hockey family.
Mom Janet is the youngest of three daughters of former Vernon Lakers owner, president, and general manager Mel Lis. He purchased the team in 1986, then sold to the late Duncan Wray in 1992.
Between 1987 and 1992, the Lakers won four BCHL titles in five years, went to four straight Centennial Cup national tournaments from 1989-92, and won back-to-back national titles in 1990 (at home, as hosts, over the BCHL champion New Westminster Royals 6-5 in overtime before an overflow crowd at the Vernon Civic Arena, and a nationally televised audience on TSN, the first Canadian Junior A title game to be televised) and 1991.
It was Lis' oldest daughter, Nancy, who helped her nephew find a home in Nanaimo with billets Keith and Val Black.
"Really nice people, great cooks," laughed Hackman. "My auntie Nancy knows their neighbour, Kirk, who shares a driveway with the Blacks, goes walking on the Sea Walk every Wednesday with them. When I signed with the Clippers, Nancy called Kirk and told him. Kirk let Keith and Val know. I guess they had wanted to be billets for a few years. That's how I got here."
With a meal of perhaps the best spaghetti and meatballs he's ever had courtesy of the Blacks, or maybe chicken with rice and peppers, Hackman hopes to register his first BCHL point Friday, Nov. 29, when the Clippers host his hometown team, the Vernon Vipers.
"I've been looking forward to this game for a long time," smiled Hackman, friends with the Vipers' Erik Pastro and Shea Busch (Reporter's note: Busch left the Vipers Friday morning, Nov. 29, for the Western Hockey League's Everett Silvertips after his playing rights were traded to Everett by the Lethbridge Hurricanes).
The Vipers are coming off a 7-1 win Wednesday, Nov. 27, in Coquitlam against the Expres to kick off a three-game road trip.
The Clippers have back-to-back games against the Interior Conference. They will host the Penticton Vees Saturday, Nov. 30.
