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monochroma · 05-29-2021, 02:04 PM

A Young Latvian's Tale
by Leons Briedis

(2x first article bonus)

    Hey. I’m Leons Briedis. Now, you’re probably thinking “Who?”, as you almost certainly have no idea who the fuck I am - unless you’re an SMJHL scout, in which case you might have heard my name somewhere once or twice. But that’s why I’m writing this. I figured that, with the draft coming up, it’d be a good idea to write a little article about myself. Get my name out there, y’know. So, I’ll reintroduce myself.

    Hey. I’m Leons Briedis. I’m 18 years old, from Latvia (though you could probably tell from my name), I’m a defenseman, and I’ve just moved over to North America to turn the sport that I have loved for many years into my actual job. I was born in Riga, a city that breathes hockey. My parents are both massive hockey fans, my grandparents are all massive hockey fans, everyone I know loves the sport.

    One of my earliest memories from my childhood is when I was four years old - that year, the IIHF World Championship was in Riga. My parents actually took me to see a team Latvia game live in person! I don’t really remember who we were playing against, or what the final result was (though I think we might have lost). It was a blast though, I remember absolutely screaming my lungs out with the rest of the crowd. After the game, I begged my parents to buy me a souvenir puck from the merch store. They obliged, and I got myself a lovely little replica game puck. I loved that thing - I even slept with it, like a very small, hard and circular teddy bear.

    My first time getting on the ice was a couple months later. You see, my dad, Jēkabs Briedis, actually used to be a professional hockey player himself, he was a goalie. He played two seasons with Dinamo Riga back in the 80s, in the Soviet Hockey Championship. He even played in the league finals, in 1988 - though they ended up losing pretty hard. He was the one who, when he saw me begging him to buy that puck, when he saw me sleeping with it in my hands every night, decided that it was time, that I should try to follow in his footsteps.

    He took me to the rink that he himself had spent many hours practicing at, both when he was a kid and a professional player, rented me a pair of skates and told me to give it a shot. As is the case with most people who end up going pro, I got the hang of it quickly. Within seconds, I figured out how to keep my balance and start very slowly moving forward. My dad got me one of those support penguin things that you hold on to to help you learn to skate (I don’t know what they’re called, but I’m sure you understand what I’m talking about), and it did help me quite a bit. After a couple pointers from my dad on how I should move my feet, I was on the move. Only problem was, I didn’t know how to stop being on the move, so the only way for me to stop was to either fall or crash into the boards. Being four years old and still highly uncoordinated, I somehow managed to do both at the same time.

    Later that day, he got me my first stick. It wasn’t anything fancy - actually, it wasn’t even a proper stick, it was a toy made of plastic. I absolutely loved it though, and the stick and puck became my favorite toy. I would set up goals anywhere - between two chairs, between the legs of a table, I could turn anything into a goal and then try to score into it. The puck didn’t want to slide too much, so my mom actually knitted a little cover for it so it would slide better on the hardwood floors of our home. It worked like a charm. Sometimes, one of my parents would join me and play goalie. They weren’t any good at it. Well, now that I think about it… Yeah, they were just letting me score. I somehow only realised that now, while writing this.

    My first time playing with other kids in a more organised setting that wasn’t just a random pick-up game was a few years later, at the age of 7, when I enrolled into the Dinamo hockey academy, which, as the name suggests, is run by the same club my father used to play for (well, it’s not actually the same club, but it shares a name with the old one). At first, we didn’t really have positions. We would rotate around, so one day I was a center, one day I was a winger, one day a defenseman, one day a goalie. The coach wanted to see who excelled most where, as we didn’t really know what position we wanted to play. One day, after practice, he took me aside and said “Hey, so I think you should consider staying as a defenseman. I think it fits you the best, it’s the role that you seem most comfortable in.” Mind you, we were 7, so it was no-contact, meaning it would take me a few more years to discover my love for slamming opposing players into the boards. Nevertheless, I went with it, and the coach put me on the academy’s youth team as a first pairing defenceman.

    I would say that my greatest attribute as a defenseman is my willingness to do whatever it takes to stop that puck from reaching the net. In a way, I’m almost like a goalie, the main difference being that I’m also allowed to make other players eat glass. Even in these early years, I had a knack for blocking shots, throwing myself in front of the puck. I found it really satisfying to shut down the enemy’s attack before they even reached the goalie, it was a feeling that I enjoyed even more than scoring goals - so I chased that feeling. I learned to play smarter, to read what the enemy was doing. As the years went on and I got older, we were allowed to get a bit more physical - and that’s exactly what I did. I was a little taller and a little stronger than most of the other kids, so I could push them off the puck without too much trouble.

    One day, when I was about 12, I was in the middle of a league game. It was near the end of the season, and we were playing against one of our biggest rivals, so the stakes were high and everyone was super amped up. Suddenly, one of the enemy team’s forwards made it past the rest of my team - I was the only thing between him and a potential scoring chance. My instincts took over. I accelerated, and I smashed into him, like a raging bull. When he went down, I felt a thrill like I have never felt before, and I LOVED IT. The referees didn’t love it though and I got sent to the locker room, though I guess that’s to be expected. That’s the moment where I realised that yes, being a defenseman really is the perfect role for me.

    I continued on in the Dinamo system for several more years. In that time span, we won four national titles. I was named MVP for three of those wins. But that actually wasn’t the moment where I realised that I could make it. That moment came about a year and a half ago. I had just turned 17 a few days earlier, when I received a phone call from my coach. He told me that the Latvian U18 national team’s coach wanted to meet with me. Naturally, I said yes.

   The bus ride to the rink, where the meeting was being held, was the most nerve-wracking moment I had ever experienced in my life up until that point. I had high hopes, but didn’t want to get them too high to avoid potential heartbreak. My coach was waiting for me in the lobby. He smiled at me - a very rare occurrence given how stern and stone cold he usually was - and led me to the office where the national team coach was waiting for me. I opened the door, and there he was. I sat down, took a deep breath and we started talking. It was only a 20 minute or so meeting, but it felt like I was there for hours.

    It went very well though - and, that very same evening, I received a call from him saying that I was on the team. Man, at that moment I felt like I had fucking ascended. I felt like a god damn superhero. It was my dream to represent my country at an international tournament, and it was time for that dream to come to life. I was ready for Worlds.

    The U18 World Championship that year took place in Philadelphia. It was actually my first time traveling outside of Europe - and I was going to be thousands of kilometers away from home, with an ocean standing between me and my country of origin, for almost a month. There were a lot of firsts for me at that tournament, actually. First time so far from home, first time in a Latvia jersey, first time playing with some of the guys on the team who were already playing in foreign leagues (though a couple of my Dinamo teammates also made the cut, so I wasn’t all alone or anything) and… first time lifting an international trophy.

    Yep. We actually won. Every year, before the World Championship, analysts predict that Latvia probably isn’t going to do well. They’re usually right. But we had to prove them wrong this time. Most of us were new to the World Championships, so I suppose the low expectations were reasonable. I actually didn’t mind the low expectations though, it meant that when we eventually persevered it was so much sweeter.

    The game that sticks out to me the most is, unsurprisingly, the final. We were up against the USA - they’d won the last three titles and were expecting a fourth, especially when facing such a “weak” opponent in the finals. We did not let up though, and for all 60 minutes we were going at it, giving everything we had in us, every last drop of gasoline in our bodies. I was on the first pairing, so I ended up getting a ton of ice time - that, combined with the nerves of being in the finals, meant that I could barely even feel my legs, but I kept ‘em moving. Our goalie absolutely stood on his head - the Americans were crazy fast on the offense and could find good chances to shoot from practically anywhere on the ice, but somehow none of those shots went in. I ended up with a good few bruises as well, I think I blocked 5? shots that game. I remember waking up the next morning looking like a fuckin panda… But, pain is temporary, trophies are forever. And at the end of the game? It was 1-0. I was one of the first to lift the trophy, but I had to hand it off to the goalie. I mean, with a performance like that? Crazy. Almost convinced me to give goalkeeping a shot as well. But, goalies don’t get to hit people, so I figured that I should probably stick to what I know.

    I’d been loosely following the SHL for years. I’d often watch the highlight clips that they showed on TV during the sports news segments every evening and be amazed at how good all of the players were, how they could move the puck so beautifully yet so effortlessly, how they could skate at nearly the speed of light, how hard they could shoot. I couldn’t really watch the games live though, because, well, they’re in the middle of the night in Latvia. God, I fucking hate timezones. After that Worlds win though, we decided to visit New York City to celebrate - and the highlight of that trip was definitely getting to see a Manhattan Rage game live at Madison Square Garden. One of the most famous arenas in the world, the biggest hockey league in the world, and me and my friends were all there, watching from the stands. Hopefully one day I’ll get to play there instead of just watching. Maybe not as a member of the Rage, but hopefully I’ll get to play there.

    After winning Worlds, I went back home, back to Dinamo, and kept on training with the team there. However, it was at this point that I realised: I could make it in North America. I could stay in Europe, sure, I would almost certainly be able to land a spot on the Dinamo main team roster and have a good career in the KHL. But I realised that no, I wanted more. I wanted to play with the best of the best, I wanted to go to the SHL. It was a really tough decision for me to make though. You see, I would describe myself as a fairly loyal person. Once I have joined a team, I will stay with that fucking team. Well, maybe not always, but generally, I will stay with that team. At that point, I had been with Dinamo for about 11 years - well over half of my life. I’m sure you can imagine how difficult it was for me to leave. I was leaving behind the team I had been with for over a decade, the teammates, many of whom I had literally known since we were little kids - though I do still talk to them, we’re still good friends, of course - the coach, who was like an uncle to me. I was leaving behind the arena, whose ice I had gotten to know very well over the years, the city, where I had lived all my life, the country where I was born and raised (and which I do still represent). I was leaving behind my family, whom I likely won’t see for a good while. But, when faced with an opportunity as great as this one… well, I couldn’t say no. Once I get into the SHL though, I’m flying out my family, my Dinamo teammates, my coach, everyone, so they can come and see me playing on the biggest stage of all. Everyone was supportive of my decision and I was showered with nothing but love from all sides, as well as Latvian fans on social media who were excited to potentially have another Latvian in the SHL.

    And, well, here we are now. Right now I’m in Ottawa - I’m staying there until the SMJHL Entry Draft. That’s still weeks away though. Hopefully my time in Latvia, my performance at Worlds and maybe even this article is enough to catch the scouts’ attention. I’m super hyped for the draft though. I’ve never experienced what it’s like, to have your name called out by a team’s general manager, saying that they pick YOU to wear their jersey and represent their city. I really wish it could come sooner.

    I don’t really care too much about which SMJHL team I end up at though. No matter where I go, I will for sure try to make the most of it. The most important thing for me is a good team atmosphere. I don’t want to feel like my teammates are my co-workers, I want it to feel like they’re my friends. Fighting side to side with a friend is always more fun - and at the end of the day, hockey is just a game (why you heff to be mad?). It’s a game that we’re getting paid to play, and we’re insanely lucky to be able to do so, but it is still just that - a game. I do want to win a Four Star Cup though. The feeling of lifting a trophy, which I’ve already experienced once after the U18 World Championship, is absolutely unforgettable, and I will do anything in my power to get to live that feeling again, and for all of my teammates to get to experience that feeling too. Most players only spend a couple seasons in the juniors, so if I want to win, I’ll have to start strong right out of the gate. I’m confident in my abilities though, it’s just a matter of whether or not the stars align.

   The SHL is, of course, the dream. For me, and for many others just like me. Will I make it? I suppose I can’t really say for sure. I certainly think I will. The future is uncertain, it is not up to us to try to predict it - but I can and I will try my hardest to shape mine. As for what I want to do when I get to the SHL - cup. I want the cup. Of course I do, everyone does. But also, I want to find myself a team where I can stay for the long haul. I want to find a team that feels like home. I mentioned earlier that I’m a loyal person, and that is no different here. Any GM that drafts me, SHL or SMJHL, can be assured that I’m going to be staying around for years to come. I don’t want to be moving all around the continent every year, I want to find a city and a team where I can spend many, many seasons. Wherever I get drafted, that’s where I’m staying, unless I get traded (which, I mean, it’s not really something I can control, but the GM’s gotta do their job so if I do ever get traded I can’t really get mad about it). I will say, I am a total bitch when it comes to hot weather. So I suppose I would slightly prefer to go somewhere colder. I’d be happy anywhere though, as long as I get to play in the SHL.

    Also, I really like the idea of joining an expansion team in its early days. I think it would be really cool to either be drafted by or join one of the two new teams, either Montreal or Philadelphia, and be there for almost all of the team’s early history - being there at the start, when the team is being built from ground up, and getting to watch as the team slowly rises up the rankings and eventually becomes a cup contender - and you can be fucking certain that I’ll be helping the team win as best as I can. Plus, I have a bit of a special connection to both of those cities. I speak decent French, so I imagine I would fit right in at Montreal - albeit my French is a little scuffed, but Canadian French is just as scuffed so I’m sure that no one will even notice. And, as for Philadelphia, as I have already mentioned too many god damn times in this article, it’s the city where I won the U18 World Championship. I promise, that’s the last time I’ll bring that up… probably.

    Okay, that was a lie. Let’s talk about the World Championship some more. My first memory of hockey is watching Latvia play live at the WC, I’ve already won the U18 title, now it’s time to move on to an even bigger stage. My hope is that I can become one of very few players to win a U18 Worlds title, a WJC title and the World Championship. Honestly? I think the Junior championship will be the harder of the two for me to win. As for why I think so, it’s because I won’t have nearly as many chances at the WJC. I only have a few tries before I’m too old to participate and that dream crumbles into dust. With the World Championship, even though it is harder to win - the players are stronger, faster and more experienced, and there’s also more teams to compete with for the title - I will hopefully have many chances to win it throughout my career. Though who knows, maybe now that I’ve said that the injury demons will come for me and I’ll be retired in 5 seasons. That’s actually why my dad had to retire, he fucked up his knees and had to stop playing regularly. He still plays pickup hockey sometimes, and honestly, he’s still a pretty solid goalie, despite not even being able to do a butterfly anymore. Hopefully the knee issues are not hereditary, because that’s not going to end well for a player as physical as me if they are.

    Speaking of which, I suppose I should talk a bit more about what kind of player I am. So, as I’ve already mentioned earlier in this article, I’m a defenseman. And I’m not the kind of Scooby-Doo defenseman who is really just a forward in disguise, I’m a proper defensive defenseman. I can tell you right now, I’m not going to be the guy burying pucks in the net every game. That’s just not how I play - after all, that’s what forwards are for, right? Of course, if I get a really nice opportunity for a juicy one-timer, I’m not just going to pass it up, but most of the time, instead of taking the shot myself, I’ll just hand it off to someone else who is better at shooting than I am. I am not going to be the guy that has the flashy highlight goals, the guy with the amazing statlines and a goal per game. I am going to be the guy who gets an assist on the flashy highlight goals, the guy who takes the puck from the opponent and gives it to the playmakers, the guy who boosts the statlines of his linemates. I always put the team first over myself.

    My number one priority, my prime directive every time I step out on the ice is to stop the opposing team from scoring. I will do whatever I can to make sure that the puck does not go into our net. I always play with no fear, I will put myself in the line of fire any day of the week, I would much rather lose a tooth than lose a game. I don’t care about bruises, I don’t care about blood. As I said: Pain is temporary, victory is forever. And you can be sure that if I have to body check a guy into the boards to get him off the puck, I can and I will go for it. Getting physical is my favorite part of the game because of the adrenaline rush it provides, it’s like doing a line of coke except less uncomfortable and it doesn’t drip down your throat afterwards.

    The best part of a good body check though, is the fact that, even though it looks quite brutish at first, in reality, it is an art form. To get the result you want without injuring the guy that you’re going for, you need to have the technique down pat. Shoulder to shoulder, be careful where you put your elbow, stay away from the head at all costs. You need to know how to deliver a good blow and be able to execute it. It needs to be in your muscle memory so that, even when you’re running entirely on instinct and the blood is pumping, you can still pull it off. A good body check is violent, yet somehow beautiful at the same time. Don’t get me wrong though. I’m a physical player, but I’m not a goon. When I go for a hit on someone, it’s because I think that it’s the play that I need to make to help my team win the game. I’m not going to go for pointless hits, I’m not going to go for dirty hits, and I’m definitely not going to go drop the gloves. I mean, alright, I’ll drop them if I get a bad hit on someone and one of their guys goes after me and wants to go - that’s part of the game, y’know. It’s a gentleman’s agreement - you fuck up a guy, you gotta pay up. I can respect that. You’re almost never going to see me be the guy that’s initiating the fight though. I understand what my role on the team is. I know that I’m far more valuable on the ice than I am sitting in the penalty box, I’ll just let one of my teammates handle it. I’m not the kind of person who lets his emotions get the better of him - we Latvians are known for being a bit on the quieter, calmer side, and I’d like to think that I fit that bill quite accurately.

    So. Now you know all about where I’ve come from, how I’ve ended up where I am today, what my hopes, dreams and future aspirations are, and what kind of player I am. But, I figure it might be a good idea for me to also tell you all a little bit more about Leons Briedis the person, not just Leons Briedis the hockey player. Well, to be honest… I’m a big fuckin nerd. I’m sure that’s not all that surprising to hear though, a lot of young players nowadays are. Hockey used to be, and to some extent, still is a very “macho” activity, in the sense that a lot of the players think of themselves as big strong manly men who have no time for nerd shit like video games, but that’s slowly changing.

    In my free time, I do play a lot of video games. I play… pretty much whatever the hell I feel like playing, I’m not one of those people who just sticks to one genre. I play League of Legends, Animal Crossing, Valorant, Team Fortress 2 (yes, that game does still exist), all kinds of games. My PC kinda sucks though - you can bet your ass I’m using my first SMJHL paycheck to buy myself a much better one. Another interest that I have, which is… sort of a guilty pleasure of mine, is Eurovision. Y’know, the song contest. I fucking love it, I watch every year. Sadly the Latvian entries have been pretty shit the past few years. It’s fun as hell though, and every year I end up finding some new songs and artists to put on my playlist. It’s one of those things that is a massive rabbit hole and it sucks you in. Another rabbit hole that I’ve fallen into in the past couple of years is Formula One. It’s just.. really fun to watch really fast cars go really fast. The drama that comes with every race is great too, the tension is the only thing for me that comes close to a hockey game. I hope to go to a race someday - and, just saying, the Canadian GP just so happens to take place in Montreal every year. Maybe, if I get drafted there, I’ll be able to go.

    Eventually, I will have to take off my skates and head off into retirement. I know that people always love to ask pro athletes “What are you going to do after you retire?”, so I figure I’ll get that question out of the way now. I have actually thought about this quite a bit, so I do have a decent plan in my head. When I retire, I’m gonna donate a large part of my money to charity - I’m not planning to live super lavishly, just… comfortably, so most of what I earn will just go into my savings every year, so by the end of my career I’ll hopefully have a good few millions saved up. I have no qualms about giving it away - after all, what the fuck am I going to do with that much money? One person has no need for tens of millions of euros just… sitting in their bank account. I’ll keep enough money for myself to live comfortably and for my kids to have something left over as well, and then I’ll probably just move to the mountains in Switzerland or something. I do love mountains, they’re just.. so nice to look at. I would love to have that kind of view when I wake up every morning. Maybe I’ll play some hockey every now and again with the kids across the street, it would be great to spread the love of the sport to more and more people across the world.

    One fun (well, not that fun) story I have from my time playing youth hockey is from when I was 15. One of the enemy wingers managed to get the puck past me, getting himself a breakaway. I’m right on his tail though, chasing him as we both barrel towards my team’s goal. Suddenly though, he trips - no one touched him, he just kinda fell on his own - and his left leg goes into the air and his skate blade cuts me right in the neck. For a moment I almost started panicking, thinking that he might have severed an artery or something and that I was about to bleed out and die. I took my glove off so I could feel the wound, and, luckily enough, it wasn’t quite that deep. There was a bit of blood, but nothing more. Gave me a bit of a scare, for sure, but I was back on the ice a few minutes later. I feel like that story is a good reminder of how dangerous a sport where every player has knives on their feet can be, as well as a reminder of why goalies should wear neck guards. It’s never fun being a centimeter away from death, but luck was on my side that day. Well, it wasn’t all that much on my side, because the referee thought I’d tripped the guy with my stick and put me in the box for 2 minutes. Blind asshole.

    So yeah, that’s pretty much who I am. I hope that this article puts me a bit more into the spotlight, because I do want to get my name out there as much as I can. I really hope you enjoyed reading this - I’m a hockey player, not a writer, so my writing skills aren’t great, but at least you know that it’s from the heart. Also, pineapple absolutely does not belong on pizza. That is all.

(5570 words, according to the word counter)

monochroma · 05-29-2021, 02:07 PM

hopefully i did this right

english isn't my first language, so forgive me if i fucked up the grammar or spelling anywhere

had to milk that 2x bonus as much as i could tho

steveoiscool · 05-29-2021, 04:57 PM

05-29-2021, 02:07 PMmonochroma Wrote: hopefully i did this right

english isn't my first language, so forgive me if i fucked up the grammar or spelling anywhere

had to milk that 2x bonus as much as i could tho

english is my first language and i don't write this well

monochroma · 05-29-2021, 05:18 PM

05-29-2021, 04:57 PMsteveoiscool Wrote:
05-29-2021, 02:07 PMmonochroma Wrote: hopefully i did this right

english isn't my first language, so forgive me if i fucked up the grammar or spelling anywhere

had to milk that 2x bonus as much as i could tho
english is my first language and i don't write this well

it did take me a good few hours to write so i guess the work paid off

**The__Y-man__100** · 05-29-2021, 06:29 PM

A star is born! Greatness awaits you Latvia

First ever Yukon Malamute draft pick (1st overall S65)

zaynzk · 05-29-2021, 06:40 PM

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