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SewingWithNancy · 10-06-2020, 05:49 PM

Denver Star Tribune

A Rookie Finally Scores

by James Kawnwalder

11-2-22

It's early in the game, and a kid fresh out of college is about to shut up the screaming people of Quebec City.

Both teams, the Maine Timber and the home standing Citadelles, are putting up a fight. The puck clacks against the stick of Timber rookie defenseman Sean Gatez. A rookie who has yet to find purchase on the point card. A rookie who is skating on the top lines but has been struggling in the new league.

Boos rain from the fiercely partisan Quebec City crowd. Citadelle fans are notorious for razzing talented visiting players. Deafening fury encircles the 6-foot-4, 21-year-old Gatez as he crosses the center ice in long strides.

Most of his teammates have gone off for a line change. Conventional wisdom says Gatez will slide the puck deep and go off for a rest himself. Why not? With four Citadelles between the youngster and the net, no one would blame him.

But Gatez sees an opportunity with his line mate Calvin Hobbs. He stutter-steps, leaving one Citadelle flat-footed. Soon the opposing team is closing the gaps. Gatez passes it over to Calvin Hobbs who is now behind the Citadelle goal and Gatez promptly sets himself in front of Tyler Ward. With the line change complete, he has a full complement of teammates now. Franz Zipfel is joining the attack. Calvin snaps it over to Franz who quickly dishes it right back to Calvin who in turn knocks it to Gatez still in perfect position to deflect the puck.
Now the puck is whistling through and pockets the net, the red light is on, signaling a goal. And now, in hockey-mad Quebec City, the boos are quiet and the raucous Citadelle crowd sits dumbfounded. Their silence is broken only by a sharp "Woooooo!"
It may well have come from Gatez himself.

What started without incident — or frankly, much interest — 185 feet away ends with a highlight goal: a young rookie taking on an entire team, defenders falling away like dead trees in an ice storm. He might as well have just yelled TIMBER!!!

Skating back to the bench he is met with high fives, hugs, and smiles. “Our bambi got his first big boy point” says Rikard Bjerg the veteran defenseman with a huge grin.

"I dont really know what happened," Gatez would say later. "I didn't plan it, I just kind of blacked out” with a huge grin on his face. “I guess I got lucky”
Sean Gatez uses that phrase a lot — "I dont really know what happened". But we know how it happened. Late nights after practice, hard work, and listening to coaches.
Will luck, drive, and sharp decisions make Gatez a generational talent, the rare athlete who transcends his sport? Or will he be a fondly remembered footnote? Nobody has a clue how his story will turn out. But we know how it began: in a small Maine town where more people care about lobster than hockey ... before now.

How did he find this wonderful sport? "It just kind of happened that way," Sean remembers. "I lived in Colorado and went to a lot of Raptors games. We were all pretty interested in the game. We started skating at the same time and decided we wanted to try it out."

His Dad put him into skating lessons as soon as he asked, and his family became the stereotype “hockey family” with early morning practices before school. Road trips with youth teams. And spending every weekend at a rink. “We never expected him to be as big as he is now”, said his father Peter.

His DU coaches commented, "He has the kind of poise you don't often see in a defenseman his age, which speaks well to his future since he's only going to get better. And you can't teach 6-foot-4. That kind of size and skating can make up for mistakes in a hurry."

Gatez recognizes it too. With an awareness not always present in young athletes, he sees the game changing in ways that fit his strengths. Especially his skating ability.
Gatez, gifted as he is, knows he has lots of things to learn. “Im just trying to listen to everyone on the team right now. Both the coaches and the veteral players have something to teach me.” “Its nice to have such veteran defensemen to learn from, both Rikard and Adrik have really been spending extra time with me.”

"One of the things I have to learn, especially when I am not playing well ... the less the puck is on the stick, the better you're going to play," he says. "I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that concept."

Sometimes, though, as on that special night in Quebec City where he finally notched his first point, he's the guy you want carrying the play. Who knows? Maybe he'll be the guy to carry the puck for USA Hockey — literally and metaphorically — for the next decade or two. Maybe he'll be the one who lights the fuse, who shatters the provincial walls of hockey and takes the game to neighborhoods where it's never made headway.

But of course, there's no way to plan for any of that.

"I dont know really how it will happen"

Word Count - 1205

Timber

Jorec · 10-06-2020, 06:08 PM

Nice! You always remember your first.

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