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Dave Wilejto - Hockey Pro
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by Diana Roberts
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Can you imagine retiring from your first profession at the age of 25? That's what Burns Lake's very own Dave Wilejto did. After playing 5 years of Junior Hockey in various towns around BC, Wilejto played another 4 years of Pro Hockey in the US, before he retired.
Dave first started playing hockey at the age of 6. His dad took him to a mini-mite practice and as he watched them, he knew that he had to play hockey. As Dave grew up, he was in mini-mites, pups, peewees then bantam 'til the age of 15. At 16, Dave knew it was time to move on. He went to Trail to play his first year of Junior Hockey.
It was not an easy thing for Dave's mom to let him go, but she did, for his sake. Dave said it wasn't as hard for his dad, at first. But as time went on, his dad realized how much he missed Dave.
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Dave Wilejto
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| In the years he played Junior Hockey, Dave lived with billet families. He really enjoyed living in Trail. He shared the basement, in a billet family's home, with another boy. They did their own thing, but still had rules to live by. Dave played hockey from September to April or May, depending on the play-offs. When hockey was done, Dave would come home and finish the school year here in Burns Lake, whenever possible.
Dave spent his 2nd and 3rd year of Junior Hockey in Ft. St. John. He couldn't switch schools as easily, because of the semester system. So he took correnspondence those two years, in order to be able to come home after playoffs.
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Dave, an enthusiastic player
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In his 4th year of Junior Hockey, Dave was in Langley. From here he was traded to Williams Lake, but Dave didn't report there, as the team was 0-11 (11 losses, no wins). So Williams Lake traded him to Prince George. Dave was thrilled, as that was where his younger brother, Steve, was playing his first year of Junior Hockey. As happy as Dave was to be able to play with his brother, what really topped off the year was that Steve scored the winning goal in overtime, to clinch the league title.
Dave explained that there are 2 leagues in BC. After winning their league title, they went on to play against the southern league, but lost to Vernon for the BC champs.
(Steve played 5 years of Junior Hockey and is now at UBC)
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