Latvian puck moving defenseman Markuss Komuls , who gained praise for his vision and passing ability at the NAHL Showcase this fall, has committed to Alaska Fairbanks. A veteran junior player who has come up from the EHL and made his way the the NAHL where he has been the past three seasons.
Markuss started playing hockey at the age of 4. “I think the reason why I wanted to play hockey was because my older brother was also playing hockey, and when I was younger I always wanted to be like him. My parents were very supportive and always took me to practices in my hometown Talsi, Latvia. My earliest memory is when I broke my first hockey stick, I remember being sad about that and getting off the ice to let my dad know.” As Markuss got older he started to play for a team in Ventspils, an hour from his house, and also played in Tukums for a couple years.
Markuss made the move from Latvia to the United States as a 17 year old because of the opportunities USA hockey had. “I made the decision of going overseas and I thought it was the right thing to do because of all the opportunities USA hockey provides. Back home we only have one junior team and at the time I wasn’t good enough to make it.” However, making that move at 17 was not easy and he faces his share of challenges. “At first it was definitely the language barrier but I tried to learn every day and get better at it. It was also hard to move away from my family and friends but I always had my teammates and making friends always helps.”
The first team he played for in the United States was the Vermont Lumberjacks of the EHL in 2014, a tier 3 junior league in the northeastern US. Two seasons later he would get drafted to the NAHL, a tier 2 league in spread throughout the US. “The difference between the EHL and the NAHL was bigger than I thought it would be and it took me a little while to adjust to the game. I am really thankful to my coach Doc DelCastillo who coached me when I was playing in the EHL. He definitely helped develop and helped me move to the next level.” Markuss was drafted by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights as the 85th overall pick. He takes us through his draft day, “I was back home in Latvia and I knew that it was the draft day. I really hoped a team would pick me so I would have a chance to go to the main camp, prove myself, and make the team. It all worked out and Wilkes Barre picked me.”
Currently, Markuss wears the ‘A’ for the Kenai River Brown Bears in Alaska; a team that is off to their best start in years. He tell us about his NCAA recruiting process; “I have been talking to schools since I started playing junior hockey in the United States, but I started talking to more schools when I played my first year for the Brown Bears. I had talked to quite a few schools but I only went to one official visit before I made the decision to commit to the University of Alaska Fairbanks.”
Talking more about his final decision, “I think that Alaska Fairbanks will be the right place for me to develop and grow as a hockey player. The coaching staff in Alaska Fairbanks definitely helped me make the choice to go there, and it also helped to have another Latvian player on the team that talked highly of the program. The cost of the school also played a big role for me and my family.”
So far, Markus has played in 20 games for the Kenai River and collected 15 points. With 4 goals and 11 assists, he is the second leader in points for his team despite being a defenseman. He’ll enroll at Alaska Fairbanks this fall.
Photo credit: Hickling Images
