It's rare that life works out exactly like you plan it.

When Chris Dawn left Whitehorse after graduation a year and a half ago, he was on his way to Lethbridge, Alberta for a tryout with the Western Hockey League's Hurricanes (WHL). The invitation was an unexpected surprise for Dawn, who captained the midget Mustangs at the 2004 Arctic Winter Games.

His original plan after high school was to attend Red Deer College, but then he found out they had folded their hockey team and withdrew his application.

When he didn't quite make the cut in Lethbridge, the former Alberta native, who has been described by nearly everyone who has seen him play hockey as a great and fearless leader, looked elsewhere for a place to play the game he loves.

He wound up with the Fernie Ghostriders in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (B.C. Junior B), where he played a full season.

But education had always been in the back of the young athlete's mind. Even when trying out for the Hurricanes, one of the main attractions for Dawn was the educational scholarships offered by the WHL.

So when he wrapped up the season in Fernie, Dawn applied for a few colleges in Alberta, hoping to be accepted by a school that also had a strong hockey program.

'I'd like to get an education out of it first and foremost,' he stated in an earlier interview. 'And then if anything further happens out of (hockey), great.'

In the end, Dawn chose to play for the Augustana Vikings in Camrose, a college which is affiliated with the University of Alberta. And it looks like he may have finally found a home, at least for the next couple of years. He admits though, it's been somewhat of an adjust on all levels.

'Last year, in Fernie, it was just hockey,' he explained, in an interview from Camrose this morning. 'You would eat, play hockey, go out and hang out with friends. This year, it's about balancing school and hockey, so the social life suffers. We're not allowed to go out really, except for a few times. And even then, you have to be careful.'

Living on campus has proved somewhat difficult as well, because of the meal schedules. Lunch is served at noon, but Dawn has to be on the ice for practice at 12:40.

'So you either go hungry, or shove some food in right before practice,' he said. 'It makes it very difficult to get your head in the game, because everything is so hectic. I have had to find ways to get myself mentally ready for practice.'

The second-youngest player on the team, at 19 years of age, it also took some time for Dawn to adjust to being a rookie on a team laden with veterans. The first team meeting was intimidating, he said. Each veteran was responsible for a rookie, and 'the hugest guy I've ever seen' grabbed Dawn when he entered the room.

'I mean, this guy is just massive, he's an animal. He's actually the nicest guy in the world, but you're a little fresh and then this guy just grabs you, it's obviously a little intimidating.'

But within a month, said Dawn, everyone on the team became buddies. And the coaching, he added, is fantastic. Viking's head coach Dan Peacocke used to be a coach with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. He took over this year from Gary Snydmiller, who is on sabbatical.

Dawn said Peacocke encourages aggressive special teams, fast hockey and three or four different forecheck systems or simply put, 'bang and crash hockey.' Asked if he enjoyed playing that style, Dawn laughed.

'Of course. I'm starting to get more used to it. I've always been a physical player, but I'm just trying to adjust to the strength of this league (the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, or ACAC). It takes a lot more to knock a guy down.'

So far, Dawn said, he hasn't really been an integral part of the team. He's recorded two goals, two assists and six penalty minutes in 12 games, but has seen limited ice time as a rookie.

Still, he believes his hockey skills have come a long way from where they were a year or even six months ago, and he expects the second half of the college hockey season will be more successful for him personally.

'I'll be a lot more up to speed on everything.'

Dawn also believes the second half will be more successful for the Vikings, who started off strong but hit a losing skid heading into the Christmas break. They finished the first half with six wins, six losses and two ties, for 14 points. That put them fifth in the league out of seven teams, but they are only five points out of first place, which is held by SAIT (the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology).

'We got off of our game plan,' explained Dawn, when asked what happened during the last few games. 'Our top scorers started just trying to float and score, and forgot about being defensive. Guys would be showing up late. It was just little things that were really affecting our team chemistry.

'Everybody was just getting frustrated.'

The Vikings pulled off a 3-3 tie with Grant MacEwan in their final game before the break, giving the team a slight infusion of confidence. Then came the annual tradition known as the Viking Cup, a hockey tournament held in Camrose featuring junior teams from Alberta and around the world in one division, and the Vikings against university teams in the other division.

This year, Augustana was up against the University of Guelph and the University of Lethbridge for the Viking Cup title. The Vikings finished first in their pool and faced off against Guelph in gold medal final, with the Ontario team squeaking out a 5-4 win.

Even though they lost the championship, Dawn said the experience was well worth it for the Vikings, producing some much-needed camaraderie.

'At the tournament, we really started to gel as a team, and it brought us a long way toward gelling for the league championship at the end of the season. Going in, we didn't know what to expect. But we definitely realized that the ACAC teams are a lot closer to the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) level than previously thought.

'After the tournament, everybody got on the same page and really started to respect each other as players and teammates again.'

With the league standings so close this year, the Vikings are definitely in a good position to start the second half of the season strong and start fighting their way up the rankings, said Dawn. One good weekend could vault them into first place.

The Vikings will almost certainly finish better than last season, when they ended up with an overall record of 7-13-4, but they're also hoping to go far in the playoffs.

'We just have to be more consistent and start running away with things,' said Dawn. 'We don't want it to be close.'

As for his own game, Dawn is hoping to garner more ice team in the remainder of the season, as well as work on his strength and conditioning something he feels can always use improvement.

'I just want to be a big part of this team, I want to help us win more games.'

The second half of the season gets underway Jan. 13, with a two-game series against Briercrest College. Both games will be hosted at Augustana.

Playoffs begin at the end of February.

Once the school year is out, Dawn plans to return to the Yukon for the summer to work.