It has been one of the more interesting stories that I've followed over the years. Back in January of 2003, the goaltending trio of Alain Valiquette, Tyler Beskorowany and Shawn Sirman all cracked the rosters of local “AAA” Bantam teams, despite all three being minor bantam age.
Valiquette and Sirman spent two years as teammates with Sudbury, while Beskorowany, a Valley East native, backstopped the Onaping Falls Huskies. Amidst plenty of excitement, the troika was watched closely as their individual careers took a variety of twists and turns...and it would be foolish to expect that to change over the next few years.
While Valiquette and Beskorowany worked their way through to the OHL ranks, Sirman ventured a different route, one that was perhaps less noticed than the Major Junior “A” tandem he considers close friends to this day.
Perhaps less noticed, until this most recent hockey campaign. Earlier this spring, Sirman accepted a full scholarship offer from the University of Maine, capping off a three year stretch of junior hockey experience that he would not trade for anything.
To get a little more perspective, we take you back some 16 years now when Shawn Sirman first stepped on to the ice in Wawa, a defenseman by trade in those days (as much as any three year old can refer to hockey as a "trade").
The cross-over to goaltending by age seven, trying out for the Valley East Rebels following the family’s move to the area, was only natural, according to the Blezard Valley resident. “I was much better as a goalie than I was as a player”, he explained.
The youngest of two children in the family, Sirman spent the next five years as a member of the Rebels, stepping up to the “AAA” ranks at the Minor Bantam level, as noted at the outset.
Of course, accomplishments in the Northern Ontario Bantam “AAA” Hockey League mean precious little when it comes to your “draft year” and for Sirman and Beskorowany, the stars clearly did not align. “It was one of my worst years of hockey, because we really weren’t very good” notes Sirman of the 2005-06 season with the Valley East Cobras.
Despite surrendering only 14 goals less than the woeful Kapuskasing Flyers, the Cobras goaltending duo still managed the somewhat unthinkable, both selected in the late rounds of the OHL Entry Draft – Sirman going to the Oshawa Generals, Beskorowany to the Owen Sound Attack.
With his Valley East goaltending partner opting to return for a second year of Great North Midget League experience, Sirman decided to take a different direction in his hockey career.
The 5’11” goalie signed on with the Blind River Beavers of the NOJHL, a gutsy move considering the fact that junior teams seldom anoint 16 year old rookies as their # 1 netminder.
Thankfully for Sirman, playing time did not prove to be an issue as the youngster helped lead the Beavers through an outsanding seven game playoff series with the Soo Thunderbirds.
By this point, he was now attracting interest from south of the border and it was time to make a decision. “Our family advisor suggested the Quinte West Pac”, said Sirman. “The team was not going to be great, but I would get a lot of shots and plenty of exposure.”
Time to notify Oshawa head coach and GM Brad Sellwood, and a meeting for Sirman that definitely solidified his mindset that steered him towards the NCAA option. “I wanted to tell him face to face, so he sat in his office for half hour or forty minutes and yelled at me. Then I get a phone call halfway through the year asking me if I want to come to Oshawa”, Sirman smiles.
With his goaltending resume expanding nicely, Sirman catches a break – one of those “right spots at the right time” opportunities that really helps out. An acquaintaince of Kingston Voyageurs’ goalie coach Kory Cooper, Sirman receives a call from the former Belleville Bulls and Sudbury Wolves goaltender last summer.
“He tells me that they’re going to try and win it all in Kingston this year (2008-09)”, Sirman says. “They have a brand new facility (Invista Centre) and he wants to know if I would come if he got me there.”
To suggest this past season was a memorable one for Sirman would qualify as a severe understatement. He opens the season on a 6-0 run, winning 21 of the 29 games he played in leading the Voyageurs to a first place finish in the Ruddock Division of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
His save percentage of .926 and goals against average of 2.36 attracts even more attention as Sirman is selected as a member of the Team Canada East roster that would compete in Camrose (Alberta) at the World Junior “A” Hockey Challenge.
He had clearly taken his game to the next level and, interestingly enough, it’s above the shoulders where he credits the biggest development in his game. “My mental toughness has improved so much. When I was younger, I would let in a bad goal a game, just from lack of focus”, he admits.
His mental toughness would be put to the test big time this spring as Sirman played every minute of every post-season game as the Voyageurs rode the back of the hot goaltender in capturing the OJHL title and Dudley Hewitt Cup, earning a berth at the Royal Bank Cup.
Yet it wasn’t until early in their league final facing Oakville that Sirman could finally rest easy, at least when it came to finalizing an ultimate destination for the 2009-2010 hockey season.
Mind you, kicking out 77 of the 84 shots directed your way and helping your team to a pair of one goal victories can only help seal the deal. The next evening, Sirman and family received the word they so anxiously hoped for – a full athletic scholarship await the local product as a member of the University of Maine Black Bears.
Once again, Shawn Sirman is taking a road away from the local spotlight. But he’s OK with that. “It’s turned out pretty good for all three of us”, he says. And there’s still more to come.
