Pueblo County hockey and Zeke Phillips grow up on the ice

Pueblo County's Zeke Phillips can't remember a time when hockey wasn't a big part of his life.

“I've been playing hockey for a long time, since I was 4, I think,” Phillips said. “I've been playing at a pretty high level, and recently in the past couple of years I've started refereeing and advancing really high in that as well.”

Now a high school sophomore, Phillips has earned a starting spot on a young Hornets roster that has dealt with its share of growing pains.

“This team is pretty much all sophomores,” Phillips said. “We’ve got a couple of juniors and a couple of seniors and a couple of freshmen, and last year it was all freshmen, but as we get older, we get bigger and we can get stronger and we're coming out for other teams. We're coming out for state.”

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That physical growth may be key for a Hornets roster that's getting accustomed to a rougher style of hockey than they've played at the youth level.

“Before 14 years, you can't check, and I'm a smaller guy so once it gets physical up there, I have to level up my game,” Phillips said. “I can stick with it and stay physical, but it was pretty hard for me to overcome.”

Phillips said watching hockey and learning from other players has made him into the player he is today. Every time he steps out on the ice, he tries to incorporate something he’s learned from his favorite NHL player, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

“I'm trying to come out here and play like him, trying to try to be an impact on offense and defense for my team,” Phillips said. “You always got to watch the pros ... because everyone has something that they do well, so you just got to watch it and learn from it and see what all you can take.”

Phillips is tied for second on the team with five goals on the season coming from his defensive spot on the ice. This is a huge help to a team that saw its fair share of offensive struggles last season.

Now Phillips and the Hornets are poised to try and make a run at the playoffs a season earlier than anticipated.

“We want to go on a winning streak, and we want to get as many wins as we can. We want to make the playoffs,” Phillips said. “I think we're close to the playoffs, but we want to make it there. It's been our goal all season to make it to playoffs, and hopefully we do.”

Phillips understands that while this team may not be at that point just yet, it gets better by playing better competition.

“We just have to play as a team, we have to stick together and we have to not get selfish out there,” Phillips said. “These programs are maybe a little bit higher skill set or whatever, but you know it's tough competition week in and week out. We're always going to face teams that are harder."

If he isn’t on the ice practicing his skills or watching hockey on TV, Phillips can often be found playing hockey video games for stress relief while still working on his hand-eye coordination.

“I love video games. Video games always help your mind,” Phillips said. “It helps you be in the right position and ... you got to tell your hand and fingers what to do, so it helps with coordination.”

Phillips is just happy to be able to play the sport he loves and give back to it by starting to referee games. He said it's fun to be able to give back to the game that has brought him so much joy.

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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter @chowebacca

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County hockey and Zeke Phillips grow up on the ice