Every collegiate athlete has hopes of being the best, hopes of garnering awards for their athletic accolades and hopes of making it to the top and accomplishing that main goal: the opportunity to go pro.

Recent Cyclone hockey alum Pete Majkozak has accomplished just that.

“Cyclone hockey gave me the opportunity to continue to play [hockey],” Majkozak said. “The coaches demanded a lot out of me and constantly pushed me to do my best on and off the ice. That’s what helped lead me to this next step I am trying to take in my hockey career.”

Majkozak earned numerous personal awards in his four years at Iowa State and helped lead the team to the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s National Championships and runner-up honors in the 2009-2010 season. He finished his career with a total of 176 points, four team, conference and league awards and two league all-star game appearances.

Josh Rahme, teammate of Majkozak’s for the past two seasons, agreed that Majkozak played a fundamental role on the ISU squad.

“Pete was a vital personality in the locker room,” Rahme said. “He’s been go-to player all season long, especially in the Cyclones’ runner-up finish last season.”

Majkozak saw not only success at Iowa State with the hockey club, but continued to see it rise to other levels. What he thought would be the top highlight of his career — donning the team USA jersey in the World University Games in Harbin, China in 2009 — proved to be just a stepping stone in his already impressive hockey career.

“Nothing will ever top wearing the USA jersey,” Majkozak said, “but playing professionally will come very close.”

Majkozak began his road to professional hockey dreams last June when traveled north to Vancouver, Canada — home of the recent 2010 Winter Olympics and “God’s hockey country” — just to see how far his skills and success could take him.

“I had always dreamed about this opportunity, like anyone really does,” Majkozak said. “I just didn’t really expect it to actually happen I guess … although [Cyclone hockey] coach [Al] Murdoch always said I could go far.”

Murdoch had reason to predict Majkozak’s success at the next level, having connections throughout the hockey world in order to help his players take that next step.

Murdoch called up an old friend, Guido Lombardi, a coach in the Royal Belgian Ice Hockey Federation. Lombardi met Majkozak in Canada where he had his first skate in a professional tryout.

“I think the tryout went really well, I was definitely well prepared,” Majkozak said.

And Rahme has no doubt Majkozak will be successful in the European league.

“His outside speed would make him a valuable asset to any professional team in Europe,” Rahme said.

But with the tryout comes the waiting game, as Majkozak waits to hear whether or not he actually made the team.

And while Majkozak appreciates the opportunity, it’s the uncertainty of what is next that makes it tough.

“Training camps start at the end of August, so rosters will be finalized in about a month. So as a ‘Rookie Import’ I have nothing to do but wait,” Majkozak said. “As Tom Petty says, ‘waiting is the hardest part.'”