Amston freezes out doubters
"I really feel we've played as bad as we could, and it can only get better."
So far this season, the nine-time national champions have only had two back-to-back wins — both times against fifth-placed Canterbury Red Devils.
Yet, the Stampede are still second on the table, with just two rounds left in the regular season, including this weekend's Battle of the Titans in Auckland, against top-of-the-table Botany Swarm.
Amston, 31, Queenstown council's facilities and fleet manager, is in his 10th season for the Stampede, initially intending to play just one.
He and his sister, former Wakatipu Wild women's ice hockey player Kimberley Helmersson, were both born in Christchurch, though his dad's from Sweden and his mum's from the UK.
His parents met backpacking in Australia, went back to Sweden, and applied for residency to Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
"Whoever replied first they went to — which was NZ."
When Amston was about 6 the family relocated to Sweden — he'd already had his first crack at skating by then, but wasn't a fan.
"There is a video of me crying, profusely, on skates when I'm, like, 3, and [I] pretty much say, 'take them off'," he laughs.
In Sweden, though, he frothed for it, and played for about 16 years, including for a Division 1 pro team the year before he moved to Queenstown, at 21, just three months after meeting his now-wife, Felicia.
"The intention was always to move back at some stage, and it just got expedited when I met her.
"I thought she took a right gamble on me, but it worked out."
As to why they picked Queenstown, it came down to Amston's desire to play that 'one' season of hockey.
Wanting to play for the best team, he Googled who won the 2015 NZIHL championship, "and it just happened to be the Stampede".
"So I emailed Ross Burns — he actually declined me to come and play until I told him I was a NZ citizen," he laughs.
"I came down here, really loved it, and just stuck around."
Despite the rocky road to the finals so far, Amston believes the Stampede has a great chance of lifting the Birgel Cup for the 10th time.
He notes between injuries, illness, the birth of some future Stampede players, work and personal commitments, "I don't think we've actually played with a full team a single weekend".
"We still have a great chance.
"I'd be surprised if we weren't the top contender this year as well and, hopefully, we'll show that this weekend — that we can actually play quite well, and we do deserve to be the no.1 seed."
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