On draft night I did not know what to expect. I had heard from numerous scouts that I was a 1st or 2nd round prospect, so as soon as those rounds has passed, I did not know what to expect. Yet the team that took a chance on me was a team of huge past success… the St. Louis Scarecrows. They are one of the only remaining professional teams in St. Louis; the Scarecrows coached currently by the great Daniel J. Marston and his great Co-GM, housed in the wonderful Enterprise Center and the logo and mascot that strikes fear in all who see it, Hayes The Scarecrow, are a multi-championship winning team in Season 16, Season 20, Season 29, Season 39, And most recently in a threepeat performance in Season 44, Season 45, and Season 46. But with over a 10-season drought to overcome, this new group of rookies including myself could be the one that lights the final spark to stop this finals championship drought. When the St. Louis scouts asked me what mattered most in a locker room, my favorite movie, and if I preferred coffee or tea, I was excited to see if they would draft me, and that turned out to be just the case.

But as much as I want it to be the case, I was not the first off, the board for the team. That honor was the #1 pick overall Jean-Locke Zidane and as a great teammate I would not have picked anyone else, in the 2nd round Friedensreich Hundertwasser came off the board to the cheers of many as well as the amazing prospect Kit Kirkstone, and Hunter Sharpe in the 3rd was the last Scarecrow taken before me, I would not want anyone else on my team besides those awesome guys. When I came off the board at 39, I was just as excited as I would have been coming off the board in any of the previous rounds. I was an unproven prospect and for any team to take a chance on me was an absolute blessing. And after I was selected, we rounded off the draft with prospects like Nick Grant, Fufi Fufunci, and Rickie Fowler that I am just as proud to call me teammates even for the short time they were on the team.

Before I knew it 7 preseason games were in the books, the Scarecrows were 4-3, and this unknown English skater had some (unofficial) stats in the books. But I will never forget our match against the Anaheim Outlaws. I had a few games of experience by then but no coveted first goal. Then, in the 2nd inning “Rebound is loose...Greg Davies shoots! / It beats Jack Lewis ... Greg Davies scores! / It's his first goal in pre-season...” Bud Weiser and Colin Lambert helped make it possible. And that goal was the deciding factor of the game. Throughout preseason I scored one more goal, had 8 shots on goal (ending up with a shooting percentage of 25%), 2 penalties (sorry), and averaged exactly 11 minutes on the ice. And while I hoped I could do more with those 11 minutes in the preseason, the season itself is a whole new beast, and the ability for an unknown rookie like myself to succeed in the SMJHL and SHL as a whole in the future is absolutely a great possibility.

Go Crows!

APPROVED +5 TPE @bjkman