The Chilliwack Chiefs welcomed a new player to the lineup Friday night in Langley as Alexander Marrocco made his BCHL debut.
The younger brother of PJ Marrocco, a forward from last spring’s RBC Cup championship team, the 18 year old blueliner made a great first impression, scoring a goal in a 4-2 win over the Rivermen.
He added an assist the following night in Chilliwack’s home opener victory versus Langley, impressing head coach Brian Maloney.
“He hasn’t been able to play any games lately, so it was nice that we were able to chuck him into the fire right away and he was really good,” the coach noted.
It wasn’t easy getting Marrocco on the roster.
Maloney had to cut through a mile of red tape to get the Edmonton native to Chilliwack.
“We started scouting Alex right around the same time we started scouting PJ, maybe even a little bit earlier because we thought he would be a good addition to our team this year,” Maloney said. “He’s been in our plans for quite some time, but we had a hiccup getting him here because of some Hockey Canada registry problems.
“It took quite a bit of back and forth to get it done.”
Marrocco spent the last two seasons as a full-time player for the Knights of Columbus Pats, a midget AAA team in the Alberta Midget Hockey League.
He posted six goals, 35 points and 58 penalty minutes in 47 regular season and playoff outings in 2017-18 and played one junior A game with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
Standing five-foot-ten and weighing 185 pounds (according to eliteprospects.com), Marrocco has sufficient size to survive in the BCHL.
“He gives us that puck moving defenceman that we need back there,” Maloney said. “He’s really good offensively, getting pucks through to the net, and just like any other young player, we’re working on the defensive side of his game.”
