Bowey gets rousing hometown welcome

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This article was published 06/01/2015 (4113 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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One day after Madison Bowey and his Team Canada teammates clinched world junior hockey championship gold, the weight of the win had yet to sink in.

Well, maybe the hero’s welcome that awaited him at home helped to make it feel a little bit more real.

“It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid,” Bowey said, after arriving from Toronto on Tuesday evening. “To win gold is definitely a surreal feeling. It hasn’t sunk in quite yet, but it’s awesome to be here and share it with a bunch of fans, and great support here in Winnipeg. I love it.”

The 19-year-old Kelowna Rockets defenceman landed at the Winnipeg airport just after 5 p.m., deplaning into a modest throng of media, family and fans.

Among them was a cluster of kids from the Starbuck Hockey Academy, where Bowey himself once honed his skills.

“Hopefully, these guys can be in the same spot I am one day,” he said, before signing autographs for the group.

It was a beautiful moment — perhaps most of all for Bowey’s mother, Pam.

She was in Montreal for some of the tournament and watched Canada’s 5-4 win at home Monday night.

Hockey Canada treated the parents “like gold” during the tournament, she said, but the greatest gift came when Kelowna Rockets owner Bruce Hamilton told her Madisoin could come home for a couple of days.

“I’m so excited to see him,” said Pam Bowey while she waited for Madison’s plane to come in, recalling how he called her from the arena’s family lounge right after Canada’s golden win. “I had a house full of people… and he just says ‘Hi mom, we did it.’ He always says this is a dream come true, and it is.”

Though Bowey has a few days to savour the euphoria of the moment, it’ll soon be time to get back to work. The Rockets are rocking the WHL this year and poised to make a deep Memorial Cup run. They team is loading up for it too, grabbing two powerhouses in trades from the Prince Albert Raiders.

One is blazing centre Leon Draisaitl, who was recently returned to junior after playing 37 games with the Edmonton Oilers.

The other is Winnipeg Jets prospect Josh Morrissey, who was Bowey’s Team Canada defence partner.

The chance to reunite with Morrissey in Kelowna is a tantalizing prospect.

“We gained a lot of confidence and a lot of chemistry these past two weeks,” said Bowey, who was a second-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2013. “Him and I are pretty similar players, and we definitely think the game the same way. So I think for us to get the chance to play together this tournament, could benefit us a lot down the road this season.”

By the way, only one thing was conspicuously absent from Bowey’s airport arrival: Canada’s first IIHF men’s world junior medal since 2009. “It’s actually in my bag,” said Bowey with a laugh while the luggage carousels spun around. “I packed it safe away so I couldn’t lose it.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca