DUBUQUE, Iowa — Stephen Halliday grew up in Canada where it's easy to find yourself surrounded by hockey.
"My dad actually introduced it to me because he played when he was a kid," Halliday said.
"It was definitely a family oriented introduction to hockey and I kind of just took off with it. I really liked it from a young age so it kind of just followed me the whole way up," he added.
When Halliday's father first showed him the game, one can imagine he didn't expect his son to have as much success as he's seen this season in the USHL. As of March 9, Halliday leads the league in scoring with 27 goals, is the point leader with 70, and is second in the league in assists with 43. One of the factors to the success behind these stats is the coaching.
"Coach (Greg) Brown would help me with my shooting after practices and really harp on me in practices to shoot in practice to score," Halliday said.
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"I've already surpassed my goals total from the last three years so it's just been really helpful to have a guy like that always in your corner and always trying to help you get better."
Brown also had nothing but compliments for Halliday's game.
"He's a big kid which allows him to protect pucks very well, so he can extend plays because his puck protection is so good," Brown said.
"He has great vision to see his teammates if they get open, he's a great passer and he's got a good shot as well. There aren't a lot of holes in his game offensively and that allows him to create a lot of chances for us." he added.
After this season Halliday will be moving on to play college hockey for Ohio State, but for right now he has his focus on the task at hand.
"This being my fourth year I really want to make a run in the playoffs, that's something I really want to do and this team I feel like we have a really great team," Halliday said.
The Fighting Saints currently sit atop the Eastern Conference in points, and have the second best record in the league right behind the Tri-City Storm.
Profile
Age: 19
Hometown: Ajax, ON, CAN
Position: Forward (LW)
Height: 6-4
Weight: 234 pounds
Current team: Dubuque Fighting Saints
College: Ohio State University
NHL Rights: Eligible for the 2022 NHL Draft
Elite Prospects Profile
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