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academydropout · 03-05-2018, 10:10 AM

It was the night of the SHL Draft. Maurice Picard, defenseman for the Prince George Firebirds, was nowhere to be seen. Unlike the majority of his draft class, Maurice was absent. Not sitting at a table with family and friends, waiting for his name to be called. Instead, he was in eastern France, attending a funeral. "My brother, Guillaume, had passed away the week before the draft," explains George Picard, Maurice's father. "And I remember Maurice had been excited, he had bought us plane tickets to the draft, bought new suits, everything. He was looking forward to his big moment. But he put it all aside in a heartbeat for his 'Uncle Willy', no hesitation."

With Picard out of the country, and unreachable to any and all who sought him, his draft stock suffered. Teams reported a lack of engagement, failure to reply to requests for interviews, and a number of other factors which none could have known the reasoning for. "I wasn't really thinking about hockey at the time," Maurice admits. "I just knew I had to go and be there. Uncle Willy was one of the few members of the family I had been close to, since he moved out to Montreal to help dad run the expansion. So I effectively cut myself off from everything except family. Being there, in La Barre, that was far more important than anything else at that moment."

In his absence, amidst questions over his commitment to the game, and self-discipline... Picard fell down draft boards. From a projected first rounder in some quarters, though the consensus was that the Welshman was a top twenty pick. "Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about where I'd be drafted. I just kinda knew I would be drafted by someone." Picard reflects. "I was doing alright with the Firebirds at the time, so I was confident I'd make it to the pros. But I honestly had no idea where I'd be going, or when, for that matter. Looking back, I can see why a lot of teams swerved me, to be honest. Without explanation, my sudden disappearance looked flaky. Unprofessional at best."

The Los Angeles Panthers front office, however, were not completely deterred. With the twenty-fifth pick of the draft, they selected the steadily improving Prince George defenseman, showing a degree of faith that Picard has made sure to repay. "It mattered a lot to me that they had that belief." He explains. "Because I know how easy it would have been to write me off at that point. Consider me a late flyer, a boom-or-bust pick kind of thing. I get that. But they had enough faith to use a second round pick. That mattered a lot."

Barely back in Canada, after his uncle's funeral, Maurice was flying 1700 miles or so to Los Angeles to meet his new employers for the first time in the flesh. Negotiations lasted a matter of minutes. "I'd decided before I got on the plane, if I'm honest." Picard reveals. "If I had made a list of my favourite teams, the Panthers were number one before I knew anything about them. I liked the branding, and after living in Canada for so long, I was frankly looking forward to something a bit more palatable to my Caribbean blood, climate-wise." Putting pen to paper on a relatively modest contract -- the third lowest paid player on the Panthers roster at just 1.5m for his first season -- Picard finalised the move to the Panthers, where he was already being spoken of as a potential draft steal. "He was developing quickly in the SMJHL and immediately became our number one prospect defensively," recalls Valterri Bottas, the Panthers' assistant general manager, and a key figure in bringing Picard to Los Angeles. "It was too early to call him a steal then, but I felt that he had all the tools to make other GMs regret not selecting him sooner."

With a lot to learn, and better options on the blue line in Los Angeles, Picard was sent back to Prince George immediately after signing his pro contract. "The bosses laid out the plan, told me that it was on me to develop enough to earn a call up the following year. Outlined the path ahead of me and basically said 'its on you now'." Maurice remembers. "It lit a fire under me, I think. Nothing but good words, positive words from Bottas. It was what I needed, and I honestly have no idea if he sensed that or if it's just his M.O. But it worked. It helped." No kidding. Back in Prince George, Picard was about to make history.

Season thirty-eight started well for the Firebirds, and Picard's presence was becoming more and more noticeable. The Brit played with an intensity that underlined his thoughts on his draft position, even if he'd never openly address this in the media. "I loved my time with PGF. We had a really good locker room, some really great guys in there. I wasn't loud, it's not in my nature to be... but I never felt like I was out of place. That second year, it was a time I don't think I'll ever forget." Maurice recollects, "there was a buzz from the start of the season, but nobody dared to say it at first."

Knowing his new employers in Los Angeles were watching, Maurice stepped his game up physically. With a discipline that belied his true degree of experience, and a physicality that was perhaps that of a man twenty or thirty pounds heavier, the Firebirds defenseman set about addressing the biggest perceived flaws in his game from the previous season. Racking up hits and blocked shots, he put himself about, helping the Firebirds to a first round bye in the playoffs. "I think it was after the trade, then when the playoffs started, that we all started to really believe," Maurice says. "It had become a bit of a meme on social media I think, 'Do it for Dildo' and all that. But we were really starting to think it was possible."

It turned out to be possible indeed. Picard played a pivotal role on the blue line for the Firebrids as they ended a thirty year drought, winning the Four Star Cup in dramatic fashion. "Game seven of the finals, oh man..." Maurice sighs and shakes his head in what would seems to be disbelief, "it was the longest game I've ever played. At least it felt that way. But we did it. It was the most amazing feeling, you know? Knowing what it meant to the team, the fans, everything. It was something else. All that talk of curses and droughts, gone. Just like that."

The 4-3 series win in the finals put every member of that Firebirds team on the radar if they weren't already, and some voices started to notice the work put in by the oddly lanky, foreign, biracial kid. The Prince George organisation, knowing he had almost certainly just played his last game in their colours, awarded him the Jack Crasher award in recognition of his consistent performances throughout their historic season. Ending the regular season with a plus/minus of twenty, while playing roughly one third of every game, it was undeniable that Picard's consistency had been a considerably important factor in the team's success. "I don't know about that, I don't really do goals," Maurice laughs when confronted with these stats. "I just keep my head down and do what I'm supposed to do." Those impressive performances got him the call he had been expecting from the Panthers that off-season.

"[Bottas] called me before I went off for the World Juniors I think, and he said to me 'it's up to you, but we have a spot available on our third line'," Picard stares pointedly at this juncture, "like I'm gonna say no to that, right? So I quickly arranged to move my stuff from Prince George to a new apartment in Los Angeles, and then went off to play in the World Juniors. I was a Panther now." At the World Juniors, Picard put himself on display, so to speak. Perhaps a little perturbed by the SMJHL All-Star snub -- he apparently missed out on a place by two points in the voting process -- he played a crucial role in the British Isles team's run to the final, averaging more on-ice minutes than any other player on the roster.

Before he could finalise that move to Los Angeles, Picard was off yet again to compete for the United Kingdom in the IIHF Championship. "This was the point where I really started to believe I'd made it, in some ways." Maurice confesses. "Not in the sense that I was a made man, or a fan sensation, or anything like that. Just that people were taking notice, so I was a factor now, I guess. Not a big one, but one all the same." Team UK would crash out in the quarter finals, but it was a valuable introduction to the quality of play he could expect in the SHL. "I was even more excited to get started, in all honesty. I felt ready. I wasn't going to be a world beater straight away, but I knew at that point, that I could hold my own in the big leagues. Massive confidence boost."

Picard properly arrived in Los Angeles to minimal fanfare, with some in-house promotion and little more. "I remember there was a point made to draw attention to the Firebirds' cup win," Maurice explains, "because that was a major positive in my favour. A sort of 'this guy knows how to win, he did it with Prince George' kind of thing, I think. Which, under different circumstances, might have piled the pressure on, but instead it sort of re-affirmed my sense of belonging. I was ready to fight with these guys. I already loved this team, they already had my back before I'd put skate to ice in their colours."

A year had passed since the death of Uncle Willy, and this time, Maurice missed nothing. His rookie season in the SHL ended well, as he racked up ten assists during the regular season, as well as blocking twenty-nine shots and laying on seventy-two hits, despite averaging just under thirteen and a half minutes per game. "I think it's safe to say I got a lot more physical," Maurice says with a grin. The playoffs beckoned, and after a shocking sweep of Calgary in the first round, the Panthers now lead 3-1 in their series with the heavily favoured Jets, Picard is coy on the Panthers' chances. "We'll see how it goes. We're going all in again, of course. This time I think the line is to 'Win it for Soph' and I can get behind that one hundred percent. But the expectation isn't the same." He tells us. "It's almost better being the underdog though, I think it fires everyone up."

With a cup and another seventeen-hundred miles of travel under his belt, Picard is now seventy-seven-hundred miles down the road of his professional hockey career. What next? "Well I've come too far to stop moving forward." He shrugs.

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White Cornerback · 03-05-2018, 10:25 AM

Stay strong Maurice <3

Wasty · 03-05-2018, 10:54 AM

Gahhh Picard is such a beast and youâ€™re killing it. One of the next great LAP defenseman.

#LAPDance #WinItForSoph

#40 Niclas Wastlund - W - VANCOUVER WHALERS Whalers

/ TORONTO NORTH STARS Stars

academydropout · 03-05-2018, 11:31 AM

Quote:Originally posted by White Cornerback+Mar 5 2018, 02:25 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1' id='QUOTE-WRAP'><tr><td>QUOTE (White Cornerback @ Mar 5 2018, 02:25 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Stay strong Maurice <3[/b]

Thx. Losing my Willy was tough.

<!--QuoteBegin-Wasty@Mar 5 2018, 02:54 PM
Gahhh Picard is such a beast and youâ€™re killing it. One of the next great LAP defenseman.

#LAPDance #WinItForSoph[/quote]
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