A junior hockey player’s career can seemingly go by in an instant. It seems like you just attended your first training camp. The nervous energy. The hopes of making the team. The eventual reward of the all the hard work and efforts it took for you to get there. And then, your chosen. You’ve made it. Four or five years, of what can ultimately be the biggest part of young hockey players life is realized. And then, as fast as it came, it’s gone. You’re an adult and it’s time to go on. Your career. Your life.

Like so many who play this game, no matter what level of junior hockey, there’s a short timeline and for Essex 73’s Captain, William Stadder, he to is feeling all these realities, as he begins to wind down on a fantastic journey over the past five years with the renowned junior franchise.

“The memories are too many to comprehend at times and how really how fast this has gone by,” says Stadder.

“When I think back, when I arrived here and now today, as we are in the playoffs, just how soon this is going to eventually end. Its bitter sweet for sure.”

Stadder was born in Windsor, Ontario December 26, 1993 to Doug and Jayne Stadder and shares the sibling roster with sisters Rachel, 25, Emily,22, and Kelly, 12 and younger brother Nolan, 17.

Hockey for Stadder had humble beginnings, like most, skating on a backyard rink when he was just 3 years old.

“That’s where I fell in love with this crazy game I guess” admits the veteran center.

He spent the majority of his minor hockey following the path through the Windsor Minor Association from Atoms through to Midget Major AA.

It was during his 2nd year of Midget Major, while participating in an All-Star competition held at the old Essex arena, formerly known as the ‘Barn’, that Stadder had the opportunity to make his first impression on the Essex 73’s.

“I remember Scott Miller, and Gil [Langlois] were there and something about me must have caught their eye, I guess. Next thing I know I’m signed as an alternate player,” says the former Massey high School graduate.

He would eventual make the 73’s as full-time player in 2014-15 and soon took off earning his reputation for great skating, playmaking and most importantly putting the puck in the net. Something all teams are on the lookout for in young talent.

It wouldn’t take long to gain the respect of not only his team mates and coaches, but the other players, especially opposing goaltenders throughout the league knowing Stadders abilities every time he took to the ice.

After five years of dawning the famed orange and black which has become inbred in his DNA Stadder’s mind is filled with so many great memories making it almost impossible to nail one down. However, if he was asked to pin point one in particular, he’ s quick to state.

“Probably 2014-15, my rookie season. I was 17-years old. Still in awe of making the team then winning a Schmaltz All-Ontario Cup all in one year. That’s probably the one.”

Since that time, along with so many fun times shared with a host of teammates along the journey, Stadder considers many of his current teammates and past one’s friends for life.

A productive career from day one of his first training camp, Stadders stats reads like a proven perennial performer that every player strives to achieve.

In 183 regular season games, he has amassed 108 goals and 107 assists for a total 215 points over his five-year career with Essex. Couple that with another 74 points in 80 playoff appearances, not including this years current run, as a 73.

Fast forward to 2018-19.

The last season and yet another milestone attained, being named team captain back in September by his teammates which was an honor he still cherishes but is quick to humbly admit could have gone to many other players well deserving of the responsibility.

“This team has so many good veteran players that could have easily taken that C and had I sown to their jersey. To be considered in the same class and have their trust and given the chance to do this is truly an honor for me. And to be captain of a great team like the 73’s is probably one of the personal highlights and accomplishments of my junior career,

Becoming captain carries with it not only the distinction, but the immense responsibility of keep the team in check in and outside of the dressing room.

You have to stand up for your team on and off the ice. You have to be a big brother to some, a leader and role model to many and have that ability to communicate not only to the players, but represent the players when it comes to expressing concerns or ideas to the coaching staff “says the University of Windsor student currently working toward a degree in Human Kinetics.

Now in the midst of another yearly 73’s playoff run and not knowing but realizing sometime in the next two-three months he’ll lace up his skates for one final time before moving out of his locker room stall for good, Stadder is content with his hockey achievements but more so looking forward to switching his concentration fully to his current career path of earning his degree and eventually becoming a Professor and teach at the university level one day.

“This is a passion I have to remain somehow in a sports related field. This course and career path allow me to do this.

Stadder does not ever see a time where he’ll ever totally hanging up the blades. There will always be a league of some sort to play the game he loves. His talent will certainly be welcomed no matter the skill level either in a late-night pickup league or on a backyard rink of his own one day.