KVOA

Posted: Oct 5, 2009 10:16 PM
Updated: Oct 6, 2009 7:39 AM

CORPUS CHRISTI - 28 players hit the rink Monday morning for the first day of IceRays training camp, however, few are as intriguing as forward Maxime Boisclair.

The 24-year-old's country of origin is interesting, but his arrival as a top-notch pro scorer is what the IceRays like best.

His heritage is a rare one in hockey circles. Boisclair, 24, was born in Haiti before moving to Canada at age three, where he found his love of hockey. 

"People have been talking a lot about that in me, and it's OK. I'm proud of where I'm from," Boisclair said.

Boisclair has played portions of three pro seasons, bouncing between eight different teams. He's scored 60 goals in that span, but hasn't reached the explosive levels of his junior days, highlighted by 70 goals during the '05-'06 season.

"I know it was a good season, but you've got to move on. I couldn't show up the way I did in juniors, in the pros so far. I'm just going to try to work my way up and do my best here," Boisclair said.

"You just don't drop 70 goals in the net for no reason. He's got a talent and whether we can find him the right guys to work with here, that he can produce a lot of goals. We obviously don't expect him to score 70 goals in the Central Hockey League. But, definitely, 40 would be a mark for him," Head Coach Brent Hughes said.

Scoring potential aside, Boisclair isn't all flash.

"He's a skill guy that likes to go to the net. He's not afraid to get dirty and go out there to the net and collect the rebounds and the deflections in there," Hughes said.

"I can skate, I can shoot and I can hit. I think I'm going to bring all the package to try to mix it up a bit and see what's going to happen," Boisclair said.

Online Reporter: Sean Horejs