With the SMJHL draft being later today, we figured it was time to remove the shroud of mystery from one of the newer players to join the league - Hotdog Lunch

Here's a few things we learned from the media interaction this morning - Hailing from Superior, Wisconsin the northern native is no coward when it comes to weathering a stormy season or even unknown outcomes during turbulent times. A small city situated right on the south-western coast of Lake Superior, where they too may have some of the harshest winter seasons in the upper Midwest. These harsh winters were celebrated by constant pond hockey games, hotdogs around the fire, and a strong sense of community as the city only has the residents to rely on each other when the lake freezes over in the middle of the winter season. This caused Lunch to really focus on two things; playing the best hockey possible and learning to cook the best portable protein with whatever systems were near him at those times. Growing up in the more remote areas of the northern US, he was in charge of the family ice farm for quite some time. Helping haul frozen fresh water from the lake into town for the local shops to use. This helped Lunch learn the importance of creating and nurturing a community, but also helped him gain some muscle from dragging frozen water all around town.

Many may say "Oh Hotdog is just another forward from Wisconsin" but he is much more than that. His constant pond hockey playing as a kid and into his teen years taught him the value of being able to be flexible with his positioning whenever the need would arise, especially since the amount of players on the ice would vary each day. Sometimes there would be a nice set of players for a proper game of 5 on 5 (a goalie if they were lucky), but more often than not, there was only 3 on 3 happening. This ability to play up and down the lineup is something that Hotdog wants to prove to any GM that took on him onto their SMJHL team. A true gladiator on the ice that is willing to do what the team would ask of him to get the overall status of the team moving forward towards an epic post season run. While he may not be the largest player on the ice, he will try his hardest to be an offensive threat no matter which spot he would be set into. 

Since growing up in northern Wisconsin on the family farm, his family did not have much money or time to leave the area - something this draft has greatly prepared him for his new life away from the shores of Lake Superior. First he hopped on a train from his small city down to Madison so he could catch the first plane out of town to meet up with the teams looking to speak with him - teams like Detroit, Thunder bay, Quebec City, and Anchorage to name a few. This was his first real trip outside of the confines of his little state and really out of his town. In most of these places he was greeted with a whole new world compared to what he has always knew. Food that wasn't always just a tube of resorted meat, lands where the lakes are not known for constantly fighting the ships and giant technology companies/centers of industry. 

On one of these trips he would run into Earl Biggins - another SMJHL prospect that is also going to be drafted later today. At first they hit it off pretty well, going around to the various food spots that sported some kind of fancy sausage meal. Then Mr. Lunch caught his German counterpart, Biggins, doing something that no hotdog lover should ever see when cooking - a fresh brat being cooking in the microwave... A cardinal sin. Hotdog confronted his new friend about he magic cooking box transgression that he had just witnessed (microwaves did not exist in his childhood home, so Lunch was quite surprised by this new technology), as the sausage was imploded by the flash-cooking method presented by the seemingly science fiction device in front of him. This caused Biggins and Lunch to verbally attack one another over their shared love of food - creating a bit of drama prior to their draft.

Today Hotdog gets his first suit ready, oil changed in his food truck, and a fresh pack of glizzys for the draft. He seems extremely excited about the prospect of moving onto a team of likeminded players, albeit a bit nervous about the ranking that he may have developed during his talks with the GMs while being scouted. He's very confident that even if he's asked to play in a defensive role, that he can also make a pretty strong offensive impact all the same. As with all recruits we followed around for a while, only time will tell where Lunch will actually sit in the draft rankings and if he will become the SHL legend that he things he will be. It should be exciting to see where this player gets to and what they may get up to! 

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