It's no surprise to those that played with him and coached him with the Merritt Centennials but Brent Fletcher is wearing the 'C' at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) this season.

A heart-and-soul player in Merritt for three seasons, Fletcher produced 18 goals and 28 assists while recording 110 penalty minutes in 158 games with the Cents.

His tenure with the club saw them go from a BCHL Interior Division also-ran to a formidable force. It's no coincidence his time in Merritt coincided with their turnaround.

"He was the guy that you really try to find inside your dressing room," said Merrit Centennials head coach Joe Martin, who was an assistant coach under Luke Pierce when Fletcher was a BCHL rookie. "He has qualities you wish all people would have. Even things like being with his billet family, in the community, volunteering.

"Luke's approach was to get as many guys like Brent as you can. You don't worry about them off the ice and you know what you're going to get on the ice every night. Brent wasn't trying to do it all on his own, but he made Merritt a place where players wanted to be."

UAH will be hoping for the same thing - and it's already started happening. A pair of Fletcher's teammates from Merritt are with him in college. Forwards Chad Brears and Regan Soquila are a senior and junior respectively. Other BCHLers on the Chargers roster include Hunter Anderson (Langley), Anderson White (Chilliwack) and Kurt Gosselin (Alberni Valley).

Fletcher isn't the type of player to lead the team in scoring but his commitment to his role and leadership example were invaluable to the Centennials and will be for the Chargers.

"He played against most teams' top lines for us," said Martin. "His approach to top-line guys was effective - he hit them.

"UAH came and saw him play for us in the playoffs (in 2013) and fell in love with him because of what he brings to the game. He's a person you'd be proud to call a teammate."

That's still the case at UAH and folks at the NCAA's southern-most Division I hockey program hope it becomes a destination of choice for more top players in the future.