Going from training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs to skating with the UBC Thunderbirds over one weekend makes for quite a step down. Even if UBC is “a pretty sweet school,” according to Mike Liambas, “it was just weird, the whole transition. In about 24 hours I went from the top of the hockey world to­—I don’t want to demean it, but the CIS isn’t the top.”

Liambas has been through quite a lot. His journey to a professional hockey career was derailed two years ago when he was suspended for a season by the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for a hit which seriously injured an opponent. Many in the hockey world have stood up for the Woodbridge, Ontario native, saying that it was a clean, legal hit and that the suspension was an injustice. Others have vilified him as a symbol of what is wrong with the game. It’s ground that Liambas, who said he suffered a great deal of guilt and remorse over the incident, understandably doesn’t want to retreat.

“It is what it is, whatever happens, happens, and that’s done right now,” he said.

Neither was the controversy a problem for UBC. “He persevered and worked through it, he had a ton of support from his family. It was not an issue for us at all,” said Thunderbirds head coach Milan Dragicevic, who said he was looking for “high academic, attitude, character and work ethic” qualities when he was working to bring Liambas to UBC over the summer. “He has fit in very well, works hard on and off the ice, he’s been a team player, truly loves the game and wants to get better.”

“When I first got here I had a bit of a negative attitude,” Liambas admitted. “I was a bit upset about the way things had worked out with Toronto.” Concerns over scholarship funds played a part in him taking up UBC’s offer rather than heading to the minor leagues. But the former left wing for the OHL’s Erie Otters is welcoming the opportunity to focus on developing his  game and rebuilding his hockey career.

“After everything I’ve been through, the best route for my life right now is for some mental stability and just settling it down for a bit. I’m getting my school done and paid for and I’m still playing hockey. I’ll be able to work on the offensive side of my game, instead of worrying about fighting.”

Academics were also an adjustment he had to make when he added a full course load in Human Kinetics to playing hockey. “It’s been four years since I’ve been in high school. Time management was the hardest part but I’ve got it down pretty good right now.”

Liambas is still looking towards a professional hockey career. “I still have that as my end goal, that’s what I’m working towards every day. My outlook is, this is where I need to be right now to learn some things before I can move onto the next step. I’m good at school, just because whatever anyone does, you try to do the best you can, but I’ve never really thought of doing anything else other than playing hockey. That’s still my goal. This might be a little setback but it’s happening for a reason.”

And while he doesn’t enjoy being a symbol of the debate occurring in the sport right now, as someone whose life has been profoundly affected by it, he’s concerned about the direction hockey is going and thinks all players have to take more responsibility for protecting each other and protecting themselves as well.

“Nowadays, the guy that’s making the hit has to protect the guy he’s hitting. There’s hardworking guys who have to straddle that line, obviously sometimes you’re going to slip up. The main thing is to make sure you learn from it and you don’t let it happen again.

“It is the best sport in the world, you’ve got to be agile, you gotta have great endurance, power and strength, and it is a violent sport but you’re the one who’s signed up for it. With any contact sport sometimes guys are going to cross the line, but in the big scheme of things, when you’re skating that fast on the ice…it’s hockey, it’s a sport, injuries are going to happen.”

Did the 21-year-old, who had started as a defenceman and was only moved into forward while at Erie, find himself typecast as an enforcer or a goon in the junior and minor leagues?

“I don’t know if I fit myself into it or my coaches did, but I’m the type of guy where your hockey team are your brothers, your family, and you’re going make sure you protect them.” By the time he’d ended up with Bloomington in the OHL after his suspension, that was the kind of player he was known as.

“The decision to come here was, I got the opportunity, not to re-create myself­­—I still have all those traits; that toughness, I think, is something built into you—but being here I won’t need to worry about that as much and can focus more on the offensive side of the game. I’ve seen a big difference in myself confidence-wise, being able to do more things with the puck.”

Liambas also feels he’s fulfilling the coaching staff’s desire to bring more leadership into the team. “I was kind of in a leadership role in junior. I don’t know what it is, I don’t have to think about it, it just comes, just speaking up on the bench, and it’s just leadership through working hard in practice.”

And as Liambas is making progress, so is the team. “I can’t come out and guarantee we’re going to win the nationals or anything,” he said, when asked about the team’s prospects for the season, “but really the main goal right now is to make the playoffs and I think that’s attainable and very realistic.”

“We’ve got a good group of guys in the team,” he added. “Every week we’re getting better and it’s showing in the games.”

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