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*Flowseidon* · 07-11-2018, 02:57 PM

It took a while worth of waiting, but in that moment, everything changed. It took a while for it to set in really, but everything has been moving at a breakneck pace since the Montreal Militia called my name as the 51st overall pick in the SMJHL entry draft.

The first reaction of course was a mixture of excitement and relief. I’m beyond happy to be getting a chance to prove myself at the level that I have been working so hard to get to. For that, I just have to say thanks to the brass of the Militia organization for taking a chance on me. I promise that it will payoff.

Second, anxiety. I’ve visited Montreal before, it’s a great city and my mom is from the West Island of Montreal, however, it’s a long ways from home. Gone will be the home cooked meals, the loving support (and sometimes frustration) of being so close with my family. The only times I’ll get to see them are on breaks and our roadies out to Halifax, which they promised they would come to.

The distractions in Montreal are countless. Clubs, music, amusement parks, festivals, absolutely anything you could want and it’s around. I haven’t taken any of it in yet, but it’s there, and I’m doing my best to avoid getting sucked down into being a detriment to my team.

Since arriving in Montreal, I feel like I haven’t had the time to stand still and really appreciate the place I’m in right now. I got in late the night before training camp started and was immediately whisked to the arena to figure out equipment fit, team swag, and get a headshot done for our programming. I was exhausted at this point, and it was all I could do to take off my shoes and brush my teeth before bed.

Sure enough, 5AM, coach comes knocking. It’s dryland time. I’m sure many athletes will tell you this, but the first dryland training back is always merciless. I can count the amount of suicides we ran that morning, but by the end I was just gassed. Luckily, the teammates had to go through the same thing, so it served as a bonding moment between us due to the shared suffering, and for the new hatred of the conditioning coach.

Getting on the ice was a lot more fun, it was a great feeling to be pulling that practice jersey over my head and putting on all the new Militia gear. The rust is coming off quickly, and I think our team already has a sort of unspoken chemistry on the ice. It’s really exciting to think about where we are right now, and what this could develop into.

They’ve been hammering defensive responsibility into me so far. I clearly left it off of my game for far too long, and while they liked the offensive threat I can show, they want to see me be a more complete and more aware player. It’s tough rewriting how you play the game.

I look at some of the greats in the SHL and realize that just a few seasons ago they were sitting in the exact same situation as me. New city, new people, far from home, and really trying to figure out where to go from here.

Maybe some day I’ll be up among them. But for now, I’m just a kid recovering from training camp and eating steamies at La Belle Province before going to bed to try and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.

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For double media week - 601 words

DeletedAtUserRequest · 07-11-2018, 07:21 PM

I remember those days...Lots of emotions in that first season. Good luck!

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