James Sanchez and Willie Knierim were 8-year-olds playing together for the Chicago Mission AAA hockey program.
Playing together in juniors and at the NCAA level was something the two Illinois natives could only talk and dream about. However, their words and thoughts spoke it into existence. 13 years later, they are junior forwards and teammates at Arizona State.
“We have pretty much been playing with each other or against each other our whole lives,” Sanchez said. “It’s weird. When we were younger, we’d talk about if we were ever going to play in juniors or college together.