"I certainly didn’t know, when I started on this, what it was going to lead to.”
That’s the opening narration in the film “Icarus.” The Academy Award-winning film received a lot of plaudits for shedding light on the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Olympics. However, it can be easy to forget that it started out as a documentary about an amateur bike race. It’s a quote that can be applied to aspects of almost any person’s life. So, in that sense, Cam Spiro is not much different.
His hockey upbringing in Massachusetts was similar to one you might hear from many players his age. Spiro played in the Metro league as a kid before eventually suiting up for Hingham High School. He might have been a key figure in helping the Harbormen win the Super 8 in 2010, but instead he decided to bring his talents to Tabor. While it might have cost him a high school championship, his parents had encouraged the move in order to get Spiro to improve his grades. “I was just not focusing on my studies,” Spiro admitted. “Tabor really turned it around for me.” The esteemed academy in Marion, Mass., pushed Spiro to put as much effort into his classroom work as he did on the ice. So while he might have missed out on high school glory, that choice did help him accomplish another dream — playing for the Boston College Eagles.
The Eagles weren’t pushing Spiro to make a junior detour, a factor that also helped his decision. Though drafted into the USHL, Spiro preferred to jump right into the college scene. As a freshman, Spiro would dress in only one game. He spent most of the season learning how to adjust to the college game. He might not have received a payoff in ice time, but Spiro still would earn the distinction of being an NCAA champion.
The next season opened the door for Spiro to play. He certainly wasn’t going to take over a top-line spot from the likes of Johnny Gaudreau or Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), so the former high school standout accepted his new assignment as a role player. Just as he was getting comfortable being a college regular, a few new recruits his junior year pushed him back down the depth chart and, usually, out of the lineup. It was a challenge that might have prompted many to transfer or maybe give up on their hockey career, but Spiro kept a positive attitude, telling himself that he still was participating in a realized dream. He kept plugging, and, as a senior, he played in all 38 games, setting career highs in scoring.
His roller-coaster college career hadn’t quelled his passion for hockey. He wasn’t interested in the minor-league life in America, but the possibility of playing in Europe intrigued him. As a Division 1 collegiate player, Spiro had a respectable résumé to work with. Whether you’ve scored 10 points or 100 points, if you’ve played at that level, you command a degree of respect. However, if you’ve scored 100 points, the German DEL, Swiss NLA, maybe even the KHL, might field your calls. For Spiro, it was mostly between the Danish first division or the English league.
At the time, a close friend of Spiro, Julian Fialkow, was planning to play in Denmark. Spiro figured it was an ideal situation for breaking into European hockey, so he chose the Danish route. That relationship also allowed Spiro to engage in some off-ice distraction. The pair did some side work for that film, “Icarus,” with Spiro assisting in a research capacity. It gave Spiro a chance to see what other professional options might be out there, but it was becoming evident that a career in hockey wasn’t out of the question.
Maybe the carefree life of living with a buddy in Europe helped keep Spiro at ease, because he sure had little trouble adjusting to the European game. Spiro did not deny that the Danish league was a step down, in caliber, from college hockey. “The league is sort of a mixture of young kids trying to develop and older guys. It wasn’t what I expected.”
Nevertheless, it might have been just what he needed to reset after a demanding college tenure. “It was nice to be a guy that was looked to to produce and score goals,” he said. “It maybe gave me some of my confidence back. Maybe it helped me get my poise back.”
With Gladsaxe, Spiro was no longer battling to keep a spot in the lineup. He had resumed his position as a top-line player.
Since he led the league in both goals and points, naturally, he drew interest from teams in the Metal Ligaen, Denmark’s top tier. A northern suburb of Cophenhagen, Gentofte was only a few miles east of his previous home in Gladsaxe. He didn’t have to make much of an environmental adjustment, and, on the ice, the adjustments would be minimal. He again led his new team in goals, and he finished second in points. He would be equally as formidable in the playoffs, helping carry the Stars to the finals.
Things didn’t work out for Spiro to return to Gentofte, so the next season, he found himself on Denmark’s northern tip, playing for Frederikshavn. The organization, which has produced Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen and current WHL leading scorer Joachim Blichfeld, had just missed the finals the year before and saw Spiro as a player who could help it recapture a title it hadn’t won since 2000. Having missed the first 13 games because of a brief stint in Utah of the ECHL, Spiro relinquished his place as top goal scorer. He finished with the third highest total in that category and played a strong role in the team’s success.
That success would not include a deep playoff run, but Spiro was back in autumn to have another go. This season, he seems more confident than ever. In the port city from day one, he leads the team in both goals and points. Those totals also have him in the top 10 leaguewide. He clearly has established himself as an elite player in the Metal Ligaen, and now he’s looking to finally turn that personal prowess into team success.
“I think we definitely have the team to make the run,” he confidently stated. “We’re just having some trouble closing out, let’s say, the last 10 minutes of the third period. It’s something that can be fixed. We have a pretty dangerous team.”
It’s a team that seems assured to grab one of the top four playoff spots. In the Danish league, the top teams get to choose their first-round opponent, so the higher the White Hawks finish, the more say they will have in what opponent they open the postseason with.
“I could have been 21 years old … and I was still not going to be a Tour de France champion,” laments Bryan Fogel, the director of “Icarus.” In his four years at Boston College, Spiro played with eight players who have now become recognizable NHLers, including aforementioned, current MVP candidate Gaudreau. Perhaps, at that age, comparing himself to his peers, it dawned on him that the NHL might be out of reach. Yet he never lost his will, and now, just like those eight (and more), he is getting paid to play professional hockey. Better still, with his performances in Denmark, he seems to be setting himself up for a European ascent.
“I got into playing in Europe to try and progress my career. Bigger leagues come to (playoff) games,” Spiro noted. It almost sounded like a warning as the postseason nears. He showed a couple of seasons ago that his game doesn’t wilt when it matters. He sounds determined to show it, again. Surely, his name has already started to float around European hockey circles, and helping push the White Hawks as high as they can fly will generate only more interest.
The former Eagle is finally getting his time in the sun.
