Journeymen: Jayson Shaugaby — How Warroad Shaped My Love for Hockey

ProStockHockey.com proudly presents Journeymen, our ongoing blog series — a raw, unfiltered look into the lives of elite players at various stages of their individual hockey journey, told entirely in their own words. This series isn’t about stats or headlines — it’s about the miles, the grind, and the road that shaped them. Each story dives deep into the successes and failures, the setbacks and celebrations, and those moments when walking away might have been easier — but they didn’t. Through honesty and reflection, these players share what kept them moving forward and what they want young, aspiring players to know from their own experiences as they chase their own hockey dreams.

I grew up in Warroad, Minnesota. If you know Warroad, you know hockey. Hockey isn’t just something people do there, it's part of everyday life. In the winter especially, the rink is where everyone ends up. It’s where families spend their time, where kids grow up, and where friendships are made. For me, the rink has always felt like home.

I was on the ice as soon as I could walk. Skating and playing hockey was just normal. I didn’t grow up thinking about college hockey or the NHL. I wasn’t worried about where hockey might take me someday. I just liked playing. I liked skating, being competitive, and hanging out with my friends. Hockey was fun, and that’s all that mattered to me at the time.

More Than Just a Game

As I got older, that started to change. During my Peewee and Bantam years, I slowly realized that hockey was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Hockey had always been a big part of my life, but around the time I was about ten years old, it really hit me that this was more than just a game. This was something I loved and something I wanted to take seriously. Growing up in Warroad made that easy. Hockey was everywhere, and it was easy to dream big when everyone around you cared about the game as much as you did.

Playing for the Warroad High School team was always my dream. Ever since I was little, I wanted to wear that jersey and play with the guys I grew up with. That’s why I decided to stay my senior year and play high school hockey instead of leaving early. I wanted to play with my best friends and try to win a state championship for my school. Looking back, high school hockey was the most fun I’ve ever had playing the game. We had no real responsibilities other than school and hockey. We were just kids having fun, competing every day, and enjoying every moment. It really was the perfect life.

The Draft Was Just the Beginning

After my senior year, everything changed quickly. I was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft. Getting drafted was a surreal experience, and something I had dreamed about for a long time. I am extremely grateful for my family, friends, teammates, and coaches who helped me get there. None of it happens without them. The season and that summer before the draft was stressful. There were a lot of meetings with NHL scouts and there were scouts at just about every game I played in, which you can imagine was always in the back of my head and definitely was a cool, but also scary, feeling. When it got to draft day, I was lucky enough to be at the draft in Nashville with a group of family and friends, which was an unreal experience in itself. The day after I got drafted they flew me and the other draft picks to Tampa Bay and it was so cool to meet some of the staff and be a part of an NHL organization. The coolest part of my first development camp was being around some of the NHL guys that were there, like Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

But getting drafted didn’t mean everything was easy from there. In a lot of ways, that’s when things got harder.

Pressure, Perspective, and Progress

My first full season in juniors with the Green Bay Gamblers was challenging. I felt a lot of pressure going into that year. I felt like I needed to prove myself right away. I felt like I needed to be just as good as I was in high school, even though the level was completely different. I compared myself to other players a lot and worried about where I stood. That mindset made things harder than they needed to be.

Mentally, it was tough. I wasn’t playing as well as I wanted to, and that bothered me. There were days where I didn’t feel confident, and it was hard to deal with that. But instead of letting it beat me, I tried to go back to why I started playing hockey in the first place. I reminded myself that I loved the game. I focused on enjoying being at the rink, working hard, and keeping a smile on my face. Over time, things started to turn around. My game came back, and I finished the season strong.

Even with the challenges, my time in Green Bay was an amazing experience. I had great teammates, a great coaching staff, and billet parents who made being away from home a lot easier. Living with billet families taught me responsibility and helped me grow as a person, not just as a hockey player. I learned how important it is to have good people around you.

Learning to Trust My Own Path

After my year in juniors, I went to the University of Minnesota Duluth to play college hockey. The move from juniors to college was a lot of fun. Actually, the teammates I have here at Duluth have made it very fun and a little easier to make the jump off and on the ice. The hardest part for me making the jump is balancing school and hockey at the same time can be mentally draining but it’s also a blessing that I get schooling while playing the best game in the world. I’m now in the middle of my sophomore year, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the path that brought me here. I’ve been lucky to have so many great people in my life, and I truly believe God has blessed me with the opportunities and support I’ve had along the way.

Looking back, one thing I would tell my younger self is to stop comparing myself to others. I spent too much time worrying about what other players were doing and how I measured up. That kind of thinking only brought me down. Everyone’s journey is different, and comparing yourself to others doesn’t help you grow. I wish I had learned that earlier.

Grateful for the Journey

What really helped my development wasn’t anything complicated. It was simply loving the game and working hard every day. I never felt like I was forcing myself to train or improve. I genuinely enjoyed it. I loved being on the ice, getting better, and competing. Because of that, it never felt like work. It just felt like what I was meant to be doing.

If there’s one thing I’d want younger players to understand, it’s that you don’t need to have everything figured out right away. Enjoy the game. Have fun with your teammates. Work hard because you love it, not because you feel pressured to be better than everyone else. If you keep your passion for the game, everything else has a way of working itself out.

Hockey has given me so many friendships, lessons, opportunities, and memories I’ll never forget. I’m grateful for where I came from, the people who helped me along the way, and the journey I’m still on. No matter where hockey takes me next, I’ll always be proud to say I grew up playing the game in Warroad, Minnesota.