Jackson Hill: Hometown Kid

There is an old adage in sports… you never know who is watching you. One of the first things I did when I moved to Casper was go to the rink to check out the facility to see the ice, the locker room, the offices, and meet the staff of the facility on a day to day basis. When I arrived, there was a stick and puck session going on with a few local players training. One of these players was rangy defenseman Jackson Hill (a 07 birthyear from the Colorado Rampage 16uAAA program). I immediately began asking around about him after he left just wondering who he was and what his plans were for the future. 

Jackson is a born and raised Wyoming native who lives about 30 minutes from the Casper Ice Arena that we call our home. He skates multiple times a week there to prepare for the upcoming season. The next time I was at the rink and saw Jackson I made sure to go over and introduce myself and I was just as impressed with him off the ice as I was on the ice. He was very respectful, and I could tell how much his future in hockey meant to him. 

With the NCDC entry draft coming up in a couple weeks I came up with the plan that we would be drafting Jackson, making him the first local Casper player to be drafted to the prestigious NCDC but also making him part of our first draft class in history. When the draft came around we waited one round but knew that we did not want anyone else to take our pick and so we drafted Jackson in the 2nd round. The call with him after was nothing short of special. 

Although he still has to make the final roster for the upcoming season we know that Jackson is going to be a big and bright part of our future here in Casper. It simply means more to him than anyone else and that is not something that can be recreated. Jackson couldn’t be more excited to be a Warbird and I couldn’t be more excited to help him chase his dreams while seeing him create something special for his hometown.