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jlutz14 · 09-11-2022, 02:19 AM

Thursday, September 8th
One day before the S67 SMJHL Entry Draft: Following the daily life of a youth hockey prospect.

Tired from a long day of training in the gym and in the rink, James retired to his family home living room and plopped down on the large, gray sofa. Beads of sweat ran down his face and there was a noticeable fatigue to his presence. Lying flat across the couch, he blankly stared at the ceiling, taking a pause from the chaotic world of training and from the stress of the life of a top hockey prospect. “You just never stop, do you?” remarked James’ father, who walked in from the kitchen. James turned and looked at the giant grandfather clock, which read 11:17 PM.

Returning his gaze toward the ceiling, he quietly replied, “I guess so,” and quickly let out a huge, wide-jawed yawn. Life as a player in the USNTDP is very, very hectic. In addition to completing the regular schooling of an average high schooler, players in the program are constantly working at their craft, seeking to improve their prospect status and build their overall game. The day had been filled from start to finish with many diverse priorities – weights, mobility, skating, shooting, school, nutrition, and quiet time for study and prayer. The day started sharply at 6am with a screeching alarm clock and a loud grumble. After stumbling out of bed, freshening up, and giving thanks in prayer for the day, - James grabbed two warm slices of peanut butter toast and a banana and quickly headed outside his garage, stuffing his face. Whipping open the door, he slipped into the sleek, silver Chevy, an old family car with countless miles, but well-kept considering the number of times it was used for out-of-state tournaments, tryouts, and practices. A brief drive later, he walked into his local gym for day four of his workout schedule: leg day. A lighter leg day, James’ focus blended strength and conditioning, with reps set for endurance and not maxing out on sets. Beginning with a long run on the treadmill for warmup and conditioning, Lutz moved to a brief core workout before focusing in on leg exercises. After a grueling round of hack squats followed by Romanian deadlifts, he also worked in some calf raises, elevated split-leg squats, and leg press before finishing up with some stretching and mobility work.

After all these things, the clock only read 7:45 AM, but it was time for James to head back to his house to prepare for the school day. After taking a protein shake, showering, and changing into his uniform he hopped back into his car and sped down the street toward his local private high school academy. Under special permissions by the USNTDP, he was able to take classes at his local high school and play for their hockey club, but also train and appear in games with the program. With this irregularity, Lutz was able to play hockey year-round to maximize his experience, representing his school and gaining experience playing with and against the best youth players in the world on the development program schedule. He also received special accommodations with his courses so that he could still complete his work while he was attending development program tournaments and sticking to their focused practice schedule. Today was a school club day, so James worked through his class schedule for the day before heading to a team practice shortly after school at a local rink. After the shorter pre-season practice, the young forward stayed around for another hour to continue to touch up his skating, improving his puck handling, and enhance his shooting. When it was finally time for him to leave the ice, the day had continued to bleed on, as the clock now read 6:34.

Famished from the day’s activities, James drove home and enjoyed a well-prepared, high calorie meal to account for the large amount of activity from the day. Alongside another protein shake, the menu consisted of a large serving of pan-seared salmon, seasoned with lemon pepper, salt, and onion powder, and marinated in minced garlic and butter. Alongside the protein was a large helping of roasted red potatoes and asparagus, with fresh strawberries for dessert. For a high schooler, nutrition is often overlooked, but by formulating a strong meal plan with the help of a nutritionist, players who get into the habit of sticking to a routine can gain an upper hand. Not only does good nutrition make a player feel better, but it also helps them to gain boosts in energy, which often can also improve performance on the ice. Particularly, many professional players have shared their experience with tight, strict diets and the positive impacts they have had on their performance. This was largely the reason why the USNTDP decided to encourage their prospects to start implementing a regimen as a part of their training.

After finishing up dinner, James headed to the spare bedroom in his house, which was being used as an office, to work on homework. With his ambitious, hard-working nature, James decided to take a full course load, with many honors and advanced level courses instead of settling for the minimum, lower-level courses required simply to graduate. As a top hockey prospect, many of his peers called him insane, as the classes combined with everything else would lead to an incredibly packed schedule and a highly competitive, stressful environment. While these courses were an extra effort, they were quite worth it in the end, as they were enjoyable and were not overly challenging in most cases. After a few hours spent studying and completing daily assignments, Lutz took some time to take a break from the constant action. Closing his eyes, he took again to prayer to give thanks for everything that had happened in the day and for the blessings of life. Free from the chaos and work, the silence was a great comfort and the best part of the day. As important as everything else was to him, these moments of prayer and faith were the most important aspects of his life. After this, Lutz headed outside to finish up the day with a bit more shooting practice. Setting up the makeshift artificial ice and the rusty net on the back porch in the dark night, the teenage prospect worked on picking the top corners of the net, firing puck after puck before eventually heading back into the family living room.

All these things in mind, James was honestly exhausted, but his hard work was about to pay off. The SMJHL entry draft was the following day, and he would soon begin his transition from the development program into a junior hockey league, from which he would have a clear path to the SHL. The young American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania would’ve never expected to be on the path to professional hockey at a young age. But, after exposure to the game and a growing love for the game, the rookie quickly set in his mind a specific goal: to one day be drafted into the SHL. From that day forward, his ascent toward stardom was rapid, and it is only set to continue going up from here on out. James could sleep well, knowing everything was going to turn out well the following evening. After getting ready for the night, he retired to his room for the night, turned out the light, hopped in bed, and shut his eyes, ready for what was about to come.

1260 words

***Anthique*** · 09-11-2022, 03:03 PM

Good luck in Kelowna, great bunch of rookie you got this year.

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