Photo Credit – Pederson Photographic
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Throughout his junior career, Jovan Malay has been all over Canada. Making his junior debut with the Campbell River Storm in the VIJHL, Jovan has also played in the PIJHL, KIJHL, SJHL, AJHL, OJHL, and the Central Canada Hockey League. The CCHL is the league that features the Ottawa Jr. Senators, the same team Dauphin beat in their first game at the Centennial Cup last season.
Well travelled, Jovan is now in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League as he plays his final campaign as a junior with the Dauphin Kings. It’s Jovan’s eighth junior league over the past few years and he’s happy to be here.
“It’s been tough at times, jumping from team to team,” said Malay. “I’m happy to be here in Dauphin now. It’s a great place to be and there is no place that I would rather be. I’m starting to find my stride and the team is getting the job done, it’s great to be a part of.”
Jovan dominated in 16 games with the Chilliwack Jets last season, scoring seven times in 16 regular season games and he had 23 points. It was Jovan’s career high in points at the junior level and with 12 games under his belt in Dauphin, Malay is well on his way to notching a new career high. Finding his stride offensively, Malay has three goals and five assists this season. That included a one-goal, one-assist performance in the team’s win against Selkirk on Saturday.
“I’m just shooting the puck now. It’s something we work on a lot in practice,” said Malay. “I have to give a lot of the credit to my linemates, they’re helping me and pushing me.”
After somewhat of a slow start to the season, the Kings have caught fire as of late. The team’s offence is moving in the right direction and they have won four of their past six games which included a weekend sweep against Selkirk and a big win against Steinbach. Now the team will play a home-and-home against the Virden Oil Capitals this weekend. Friday’s game is in Virden before returning to Dauphin for Saturday’s weekend finale.
“We’re bonding as a team a lot and that chemistry continues to build,” said Malay. “We’re getting shots and creating chances and our goalies are making some big saves. It’s great that we’re bearing down on our chances and we’re looking to keep that going this weekend.”
Get to know Malay:
What is your favourite moment as a King? I would have to say the home opener against Neepawa, the atmosphere was electric and it was great to get the win in front of our home fans
What is your favourite childhood memory? We would have big roller hockey games with like 10 to 15 people, it was always a ton of fun
Other than hockey, what are some of your hobbies? I love playing basketball, I’m a big Golden State Warriors fan and I hope they can go back-to-back
What are your go-to meals? For pregame, I like pasta, just keep it simple. If I want to get fancy, I love a nice rib eye with some nice spices on there
Malay is living at Ernie Rizok’s house alongside his teammates Riley Borody and Jonathon Wong and he admits to Borody cooking a great steak.