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Dossington47 · 10-29-2020, 02:54 PM

Notice: This is my first media article. Please apply the First Article Bonus. Thank you!

Hockey. It's the game we all know & love. It's beauty, while "unconventional", comes in the form of grown men & women duking it out on the ice, checking one another, and scoring that one, special goal to win you the game. Oh, and we can't forget the fights. The fights. It is something that is unique to our sport. That rush of adrenaline that even the fans feel when two players lock arms and decide to partake in a mini-boxing match right there, right then. It is a truly magnificent thing. However, while hockey is one of the premier sports in nations such as Canada, Austria, or the U.S., hockey has unfortunately been regressed to a "moderately popular" sport. Australia is one of these countries.

In the "land down under", hockey has to compete with the likes of Australian football, cricket, and rugby. As of the IRL Year 2012, there are approximately 3,200 hockey players in Australia. Right Defenseman Doss Williams is one of those players. Doss grew up in Sydney, home of the Sydney Bears & Sydney Ice Dogs of the AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League). His mother had grown up in Canada, and met his father, who is Australian, on a business trip. The two were married and moved to Sydney; Doss' mother bringing her ice hockey roots with her. By the time that the Bears joined the league as a charter member, and the Ice Dogs two years later, little Doss has been born to the world, and through his mother, the entire family became hockey fanatics, reading about the Canadian Hockey League and NHL through the Internet. Doss enjoyed the sport so much that he began to play in the local youth league. He would go on to play through his middle & high school years.

Doss wanted more, he wanted the chance to play professionally. Although there were two problems. One, the AIHL, is not a professional league, it is semi-pro. The players are not paid on a standard basis. Secondly, he is Australian. Australians are not known for their ice hockey, and as such, would disregard him as not being a "true" player. However, that all changed. One day, after one of Doss' high school games, a man came over to him and introduced himself. The man was Gunnar Söderberg, RW for the Chicago Syndicate. He was on vacation in the area and decided to come watch the local games. Doss' defensive play stood out to him, even though Gunnar was an offensive player. He said his play reminded him of some of his teammates' play.

Gunnar told Doss about the SHL, a league in North America, where players from all over the world; Austria, Finland, even the UK would come to play professional hockey! But these countries had prominent leagues, a "standard" climate, and more players. How would he get into a league with such international competition?

Gunnar told him: "Tänk på det här. Du, ditt land; du är Dark Horse-kandidaten till ishockey." which is Sweedish for: "Think of it this way. You, your country; you are the dark horse candidate of ice hockey."

Fast forward to now, as Doss Williams, THE Dark Horse, is preparing to make his mark on the SHL. But the road will require blood, sweat, and tears. And maybe a SMJHL title along the way. Who knows what the world has in store for this young man? Only the simulati- *COUGH*, I mean, only time will tell.

Word Count: 627 words.
Users mentioned in article: Gunnar Söderberg ( @sköldpaddor )

*sköldpaddor* · 10-29-2020, 02:58 PM

so glad i made that trip to australia, what would this league do without me

DeletedAtUserRequest · 10-29-2020, 04:04 PM

Great article!
+1

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