At home in Thorold
Ben Varga has finally found a home.
The 20-year-old Burlington native bounced around the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Maritime Junior A Hockey League the last couple of seasons looking to establish himself with an organization.
Varga found playing time hard to come by and last season landed with the Thorold Blackhawks for a couple of games while he was looking for another team in the OJHL to hook up with.
Tired of being a hockey nomad, Varga committed to the Blackhawks this season and couldn’t be happier with his decision.
“I’ve known Barnsey (Thorold coach Scott Barnes) for a long time and it was awesome,” Varga said. “I got to know him really well and then last year I got into a bad situation and Barnsey kind of bailed me out and said I could come and play here for the time being because I was talking to a couple of junior A teams.
“This year I talked to him over the summer and it’s worked out.”
Barnes coached Varga in midget and knew he exactly what he was getting.
“I told him to come here and get the ice time and put up some good numbers and get your confidence back rather than fighting and scratching for ice time at a higher level,” Barnes said. “I think it’s turned out well. I think he’s got his love for the game back. I got a nice text last week from his dad for getting him going again.”
Varga loves everything about playing in Thorold.
“I had an opportunity to play at a lower tier junior A team and I thought as a 20-year-old I want a lot of ice and to have fun with the boys,” he said. “I love the feeling with the boys. We have a great group. They make it fun.”
Varga, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound defenceman, has a goal and 13 points in 26 games this season and has provided the Blackhawks with a veteran presence on the blueline.
“He’s a very skilled defenceman,” Barnes said. “He is offensive minded first but when he’s playing his game he’s in the right spots and picking off pucks and not really being in the defensive zone too much.
“I’ve been working with him for a few years to move the puck at the right time and not hanging on to it too long. He likes to have the puck in his hands. When he is playing it simple and making a good first pass, and just getting pucks on the net, that’s when he’s at his best.”
Vargas’ experience has also come in handy.
“We knew we were losing half our D core so to get an experienced guy was very helpful for us. He was there to lean on,” Barnes said.
Varga’s level of play and increased ice time have him hopeful of landing a spot at a D3 university south of the border next season. He’s already had a few nibbles and is going on a couple of visits next month.
“There are a few other guys on the team thinking the same route and the exposure is there and we’ve got off to a good start,” Varga said.
The Blackhawks, 14-9-2-1, have a big week with a home game Thursday versus the Niagara Falls Canucks and a meeting in Caledonia with the league-leading Corvairs Saturday.
“You know they (Caledonia, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls) are going to be solid every year,” Varga said. “It’s a little bit of an underdog position so you have to feed off it. I like it. The start we’ve had, everybody is happy with it and we’re just trying to build off it.”
When he is not playing hockey, Varga works part time at a robotics plant in Burlington.
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