Login

Kingslayerlh · 07-31-2019, 03:48 AM

(1,880 words) (2x draft week bonus?)

Ever since the age of 5 Lee has known he wanted to play hockey for the rest of his life. Ever since his uncle took his family to salt lake city to watch one hockey game. Little did the samson family know it was the gold medal game of the 2002 Olympics, something that they would never have expected.

This was Lees first experience with hockey, but it was certainly not the last. Seeing great players such as Chris Pronger, Paul Kariya, Scott Niedermayer. It Didnt take him long to fall in love with the sport. although there was one player that stood out to him more than anyone else. Mario Lemieux. Every time he was on the ice Lee found himself staring at him.

As the game went on Lee found himself cheering every time a player had the puck, hoping that they would score. Not realizing that he should only rooting for one team to win. 3 hours pass and Lee has pretty much lost his voice. And although his country might have lost. He wouldnt have wanted a single thing to be different.

The next day, back at his house with his parents, Lee expresses his love for hockey, telling them that he wants to start learning about hockey and playing it immediately. With a over protective mother who wouldnt want her only child to get hurt, And a father who already has his sons career lined up in the family business they told him no, days go by with him asking over and over again to let him play. But his parents dont budge even the slightest. Until one day Lee had a idea. He went up to his parents and asked them for just a hockey stick and a puck. Saying that he couldnt get hurt if he never skates. His parents buy into the idea and decide to buy him his first stick. Whether it was because they believed him or just wanted to have him stop asking no one knows.

2 years go by and Lee is still practicing like it was his very first day. Playing with his friends whenever he could. But he kept on noticing something. he would never become a real hockey player if he never learns how to skate. So he goes back to his parents just like the first time and begs them for skates. Telling them that he is bigger now, he wouldnt get hurt. But this time they didnt by it. Weeks pass but they just get more annoyed with him asking before finally telling him that it was their fault for letting him get into hockey in the first place and that they made a mistake. Resulting in them taking his stick away. Lee was devastated for days thinking that this was an early end to his hockey future. But then he realized this was just the first challenge he had to get past. He had the idea of going to play with his friends and just borrowing a stick whenever they were around.

A few more years go by and Lee is noticing he is falling further and further behind his friends. They were getting taught by teachers while he only had a few hours to practice his stick skills a day if he was lucky. This simply will not do. So he decided to try again. Now at 10 years old Lee was bigger than most kids his age, so he decided to try asking his parents again while trying to keep his secret of practicing. Unfortunately this turned out a lot worse than he ever expected, since his parents figured out that he has been hiding the fact from his parents for years. They told him that he wasnt allowed to be around hockey what so ever, not even being around any of his friends that played.

Months go by without shooting a puck, cheering with his friends, even touching a stick. Lee felt like a part of himself was missing. He knew better than anyone that he had to do something about it, he couldnt just sit around being sad about it any longer. Then he realized this was the second challenge he had to conquer. He had to figure out the perfect plan. Then it clicked. He told his parents that he is going to start learning a musical instrument and that would mean he would have to stay late after school to practice with the band.

Easily enough they bought into the idea and let him do his thing. But instead of staying at his school he went to a local skating rink and started to watch games there. trying to study how to play the game at a skilled level. Trying to learn everything he could without actually playing, He began to learn certain aspects of the game. Where players needed to be on the ice, what do to with the puck if there wasnt a player to pass to. Things that he didnt know at the time, but would later help him become a elite defenseman.

He kept watching game after game at the same rinks, until one day a coach called out to him after a practice session, noticing that no matter what he was always there. He asked Lee what he was doing and why he wasnt playing instead of always watching. And after giving a short background of his situation the coach gave some sympathy. Telling him to go back to the locker room and grab some gear and come out to practice with him. Smiling like a butchers dog Lee sprinted back to the lockers, found the perfect stick, some gloves and some skates.

Before realizing his problem. How can he go out there if he still has no clue how to skate. Sadness begins to overwhelm him as he starts thinking that this is the end for him. He finally got the chance he was looking for and now he blew it. He tried his best to remain calm and push forward, grabbing the best fitting skates he could find and tying them up the best he could. He tried to stand up and immediately fell to the ground. Not letting this stop him he slowly stood up and got back on his skates taking one step before he fell right back down, This time hurting his spirits just as bad as his arm. He stared at the ground and began to hit his hand into the locker room floor. Until he realized that he cant give up, not yet. he stood back up not with the nervousness as before, but with anger and stubbornness that he had never felt before, he took one step, and another, and another before he started to feel as if he was falling down. But before he let that happen he grabbed onto the wall and walked himself out of the tunnels, up until there was just one more step until he was on the ice then he stopped. The coach noticed this and joked that the ice isnt going to bite, and to do a few laps to warm up. Smiling nervously Lee nodded and took his first step onto the ice. So far so good he thought, maybe skating isnt that hard, maybe its just like walking. This hopeful idea quickly revealed the truth, as Lee fell straight down to the ice.

It felt like Lee was down on the ice for hours despite it only being a minute. he did his best to stand back up and noticed now that the coaches eyes were staring straight at him. He managed to stand back up and try to hunch over, using his body to try to go forward, going about 2 feet before falling on his back. Now staring up in pain at the rafters he sees the coach skate over in front of his face. The coach looked down and asked if Lee knew how to skate. Tears began to swell in Lee's eyes as he nodded back and forth confirming that he had no idea. The coach sighed and told him to put his gear back and come back when he learns how to skate and how to stop wasting his time. The words rung in his ears as just stared at the ceiling, This was the only way he was going to learn how to skate and he knew it. He couldnt let this stop him, He began to stand back up and tried to take a stride, quickly falling down to the ice, but this time he didnt hesitate before standing back up in his feet and trying to take another stride. The coach seeing this says with frustration for the kid to give up and go home, he wont learn how to skate in 5 minutes of practice. Lee tuned out his voice and pushed forward trying his best to keep his balance, and made it the smallest amount further than before until he fell right down like many times before. But now he can feel the pain from falling building up. Making just another reason why he should give up and just go home.

He stood back up ignoring the pain and tried again, and again, with the coach just watching him with a plain expression. Lee didnt let anything stop him until he took the biggest stride yet feeling like he was getting the hang of this. until he fell backwards with some speed and hit his head off the ice causing him to yelp in pain. His vision was slightly blurry and his head was pounding in pain. Then he saw the coach reach his hand out to help him up. Lee chose to take his hand and was helped up. The coach started skate back to the locker room and off the ice with him. Once Lee noticed what he was doing he tried to stop saying that he wasnt done yet, he was just starting to understand how to skate. The coach just smirked and shook his head, Telling him to go home and rest. That he's going to need all the energy for tomorrow. Before Lee could say anything the coach told him to be here after the teams practice, and not to be late. Stunned by the words he just heard, He never even noticed the biggest smile of his life take over his face. Lee felt happier than ever before, Like his dream can actually come true.

Years pass with Lee working every day trying to become better than he was the day before. he works on his skating more than anything, but never misses out on any lessons his coach would give him. After some time he became part of his coaches team and started practicing with them, learning how to play defense as part of a team. Then one day word was spreading around that some scouts from the SMJHL were going to be at one of his games. He knew this was his shot to get drafted. But he is going to try harder than he ever has before to get noticed.

(TL:DR : i shouldnt have started writing this at 1 am)

DeletedAtUserRequest · 07-31-2019, 07:43 AM

this is great stuff. enjoyed the back story. Cheers

Keep an eye out for this one.

|

|

|

|

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us