It’s been a whirlwind month for Miguel Marques. The 15 year old was taken 10TH overall by the Lethbridge Hurricanes during the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft on Dec. 9, and just a day later he was tossed into the lineup wearing #14.
“It was a pretty special day, I was at home with my family — I got the chance to go back home — and Lethbridge called me,” said Marques. “I was super excited to get ready, and then they called me telling me I was going to play the next night in Lethbridge. So they flew me down and it was pretty special.”
Despite arriving in the city less than three hours before puck drop, Marques made an immediate impact on the ice during that first career WHL game against the Red Deer Rebels.
“You know he had a lot of chances, a couple breakaways, he had some great moves and one of them could have gone in easily,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio.
“It was impressive to see a kid come in like that after getting drafted, not knowing the night before who he was playing for — or going to get drafted by — fly in that day, getting in late, showing up and playing the way he did. It was pretty special.”
The product of Prince George, B.C. had arguably the most eye-popping stat line of the draft earlier this month, putting up 64 points (27G, 37A) in just 16 Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) games with the Delta Hockey Academy’s U17 Prep program.
Marques says he actually sees himself as more of a playmaker than a goal-scorer, but with an offensive pedigree like that, those around the Hurricanes knew it wouldn’t be long before he got on the scoresheet.
Tuesday night in his third game with the team, he was sprung on a breakaway by Tristan Zandee, and fooled Swift Current Broncos goaltender Isaac Poulter for his first career WHL goal in front of the home crowd.
“It was pretty special to do it in front of the fans,” Marques said. “Zandee made a great play to get the puck up to me, and I went in on a breakaway and just kind of scored.”
Kisio says while he knows Marques is going to score plenty of goals for the Hurricanes in the years to come, the club drafted him based on more than just elite offensive talent.
“The numbers, you never know with the numbers, because they play in different leagues and there’s kids spread all over,” Kisio said. “But we knew he was a special player. We were surprised he was still there and we were pretty excited to get him.”
At 15, Marques can play just five WHL games until his season with Delta concludes, but Kisio says when he eventually joins the lineup full time, it will be as a big part of the club’s future.
“I think Hurricanes fans are in for a real treat,” he said.