Growing up, there were not a lot of SHL teams around me, but my dad had moved from Minnesota to Grand Haven to work for a company that had recruited him. He taught me about hockey when I was a little kid, and his favorite team was always the Minnesota Chiefs. Because of that, even though I grew up surrounded by Toronto fans, I have always been a Chiefs fan, and Alonzo Garbonzo has always been my favorite player.

Growing up, I modeled my entire game after Garbonzo. He's a pass first guy with a rating of 99, but he also has a deadly shot at 90. It's only my first junior season, but I'd say I'm already on my way to being the next Garbonzo, my passing is already rated 70 and my scoring is already rated 60. I'll be putting up points like that all star before anyone knows. But as two-way defensemen, we both understand the importance of playing solid D. If we were there just to score we'd be playing offense. Garbonzo is rated 99 for defense, and I'm already rated 71.

In a year or two I'm gonna be the one winning Stevens trophies, I'll do him one better by making the all-star team instead of just getting honorable mention. The SHL might be a tough league, but I'm gonna finesse it into submission.