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Tigerfan895 · 01-20-2020, 09:32 PM

(2x Draft Media Post) 2065 words, ready for grading

"You can do it, you have the potential."
by Braden Lowrie

A backstory usually is pretty sad, it's hardly ever the most positive thing you'll read. Mine, however, is not one of those. You might not know me, or you might if you're one of my teammates on the Anchorage Armada. I like to call myself, a shot in the dark. My name is Braden Lowrie, a right winger drafted twenty-ninth overall in the season 52 SMJHL Draft by the Armada. I guess I wasn't fully correct in my prior statement, I have gone through a bit of a wringer to get where I am.

Back a few years ago, I transferred to a Canadian high school where I met someone who I consider a good friend now. It wasn't always that way. His name was Jack Kanoff. Of course as a prepubescent teen, I broke out with laughter when I first heard it. "Jack Kanoff? What sort of things did you do to get cursed with that hell!" was a common comment that was left floating around the conversations at first. Initially he was not happy with how I reacted towards his name, unsurprisingly he felt it was a form of bullying. He'd be correct. I had no intention to be a bit of a bully, but I also had no idea he'd be my best friend a couple years following this introduction. The comments slowly were removed from the conversations, but the damage was already dealt. He started to ignore me. It was totally justified and in no way do I blame him for it, but this is not the story of our friendship so I figure I should get this ball rolling. Or should I say, puck moving. At the time I didn't know much about hockey, so I was usually clueless when anyone mentioned teams like Halifax Raiders and Vancouver Whalers. It was just entirely "Uh, yeah. Go team!" even though I knew almost nothing about the sport.

One day I finally caved in, I had to go see a game in person. So I went to the local hockey rink, and there he was. Jack Kanoff playing on the ice with a group of players who I can only assume tried to get drafted in the same group as us. I sat in the bleachers and followed the puck that was racing along the ice with elite precision from stick to stick. I was hooked, my heart was set and I knew what I wanted to do while I was here. So what did I do? I mess it all up, because things never go perfect the first time. I picked up a stick and sat at the edge of the wall, still following the puck with my eyes. It was at that moment, I blacked out. Apparently I leaned over the wall too much and got decked by Kanoff, who was trying to make a quick stop of the puck to avoid an icing call. It wasn't pretty, and when I came to, there was a nasty bruise covering the bridge of my nose, and some blood dripping down from my lower lip.

All this connects in the grand scheme of things, I swear! In the end, even after I was given a full force knockout from Jack Kanoff making a routine play, I still was infatuated with the sport. So I promptly went out, signed up for the school team, and got started as soon as I could. In my first game, I got bodied about five times in my first 3 minutes. The kids were aggressive, and giving it their all. Every single time, I got right back up and reached for my stick. It was invigorating, the amount of fun that was had during my brief stint as a backup right wing was incredible. So I trained on every off day I had. Jack Kanoff was the ace of the team, he was seen as the best player we had. So I felt I had to beat him. It took me days, weeks, and months to get even brought up in conversation at our school as a hockey player. "Lowrie? You mean that one guy who got knocked out by Kanoff?" was the first thing I heard whenever my name was mentioned. I was embarrassed, fuming, and just needed to work on my game more. So one cold January night, I was out at the hockey rink to get accuracy practice. With each and every shot, the pure frustration of feeling incompetent sank in. It was totally incorrect, especially when there was a spectator taking notes on everything I did, and where I could improve. His presence was felt, but I acknowledged him no more than I did the lack of defense on the ice.

The spectator got up from his spot on the bleachers, and approached the wall to look at the way I wound up the next slap shot. When the stick connected to the puck, it shot past the goalie's mask and into the goal without even granting him a chance to get his muscles going. That was the final shot I took that night, I was exhausted. When I got off the ice finally, I sat down right next to the now empty bag where the pucks were being held. He stared down at me for a moment, then chuckled. This was a man I would be seeing again soon, really soon. After another week of rigorous shot accuracy training, I had finally felt confident in my shot. In my first game after, it was one goal after another in a dominating 8-1 victory at a showcase game. I scored two goals and had three assists to give me five points on the game. I was pumped, but of course I wasn't the one people cared about. Kanoff got himself in line for a hat trick and had two assists himself, so we had the same score on the game, but the hat trick was more important. It doesn't matter, I kept telling myself that. It was then, I heard something that stuck in my head. "You can do it, you have the potential." It was that man again, I had only seen him two times after that first encounter at the rink. He stood there and had a smile that could calm even a berserk bear down. It was comforting. I asked who he was, and all he said was, "Just get yourself geared up and ready to go for the next game. You impressed a few people."

That was all I heard from him. My jealousy of being the number two player on the team eventually led to me talking to Kanoff more. It only took a week before we started training day in and day out together. My shots got more accurate, and his defense was near impossible to get through. The perfect competition on the training rink. It was only a matter of time before the dynamic duo was molded. Every game, the points kept stacking up, and in our conference it was as close of an MVP race as it could get. Over the span of the year, Kanoff pulled away in every counting stat he could. All except for goals, that is. I was the better scorer who's slap shot scared the young teenage goalies from even making a move. Most of the time, that is. I wish I could say I had a perfect 100% shooting percentage, but it's hockey, not a video game. When the season approached it's arrival towards a conclusion, the man who I had learned was named Cassius Darrow, was at the final game I was going to play in. He was dressed in formal attire this time, and not his usual casual wear. It was strange, not seeing him in what most would call casual Friday work clothes, but I can't imagine he's there for any particular reason other than watching a game. The team we were facing, was some cross town rival who had a couple really good players that could match Kanoff and my production pretty easily.

The game was expected to be a battle of the defenses, but that wasn't the case. In about 50 shots for each team, the score was 9-7 our favor. Darrow's eyes focused on the opposition, and how the puck was battered around and slipped through every defensive play that was made. Our goalie was exhausted, he had 24 saves, and absolutely no time to breathe because every other moment there was a shot right at him. I felt pity for the goalies, but at the same time, our game was to wreak havoc on the opposition at any chance we could. During our post game, I saw another man staring at a clipboard sitting near Darrow. I was clueless who he was, but I opted not to check in with the guy who was basically mentoring me for once. Our game was over and I was exhausted, but we had won it. Final score was marked down at 10-7. As a whole, the team was stoked for victory and it certainly showed. When we were awarded with the trophy, the applause felt silent. I know it wasn't, because there was a large amount of people for a simple high school championship game. Yet it still felt silent, all my work was done. I had completed my objective. Hockey was done. The second mystery man approached me, and he placed his hand on my shoulder with a grin that went ear to ear. "We like you. We like you a lot. Are you joining the SMJHL draft?"

I stared blankly at him, "The SMJ what now? SMJHL Draft? I might, I'm not too sure." I had basically admitted defeat right there. Yet this man laughed. Why was he laughing? He was laughing because of this: "You have the potential, you're going to be something great."

I had heard that line before, not word for word, but it was definitely something that I recognized. When I did catch on, I scanned the surroundings looking for the man I met when I was at that one fated training session. "I wonder where he went.." I had muttered under my breath. This caught the new stranger's attention.

"If you're looking for Darius, he went to talk to some other prospects. He's got his eyes set on quiet talent, and he wanted to double check with another team to see if they saw the same results. To be short, we do." His quote left me in a daze for a moment, almost like when I was knocked out from my own stupidity back at the training rink. The man with the scruffy hair had to depart. I learned his name was Dionyz Vizkoc, and with it I was left with the communication number for the Anchorage Armada.

In the end, I applied for the draft which happened approximately two months after that game. I wasn't taken in the first round, or even the second round. Yet I did get to see Kanoff get drafted to Halifax in the second round. The guy has talent and I wish I could have kept caught up with him at first, but through all my hard work and training, I got drafted twenty-ninth overall in the third round of the SMJHL draft to the Armada. It was about thirty minutes after I had got the phone call that I was going to be drafted to a team before it finally hit me, I'm not just a high school kid anymore. I made it, I made the big leagues. My parents were proud, especially after they invested so much time and money in getting my career going on such short notice. In true Braden Lowrie fashion, I totally messed it up, but I put forth enough effort that it caught a scout's eye. I was a shot in the dark.

You can do anything you put your heart and soul into.

You have the potential.

mxman991 · 01-20-2020, 09:58 PM

Congrats on the draft man!

Tigerfan895 · 01-20-2020, 10:01 PM

01-20-2020, 09:58 PMmxman991 Wrote: Congrats on the draft man!

Thanks! I'm happy to be here in Anchorage. Hopefully I can beat Jack in goals this time!

mxman991 · 01-20-2020, 10:19 PM

01-20-2020, 10:01 PMTigerfan895 Wrote:
01-20-2020, 09:58 PMmxman991 Wrote: Congrats on the draft man!
Thanks! I'm happy to be here in Anchorage. Hopefully I can beat Jack in goals this time!

Hey you’re in the SMJHL now, what you did before that doesn’t matter now, just what you do moving forward!

Tigerfan895 · 01-20-2020, 10:31 PM

01-20-2020, 10:19 PMmxman991 Wrote:
01-20-2020, 10:01 PMTigerfan895 Wrote: Thanks! I'm happy to be here in Anchorage. Hopefully I can beat Jack in goals this time!

Hey you’re in the SMJHL now, what you did before that doesn’t matter now, just what you do moving forward!

I'm glad to be here. Thanks for dropping by!

mxman991 · 01-20-2020, 10:44 PM

01-20-2020, 10:31 PMTigerfan895 Wrote:
01-20-2020, 10:19 PMmxman991 Wrote: Hey you’re in the SMJHL now, what you did before that doesn’t matter now, just what you do moving forward!

I'm glad to be here. Thanks for dropping by!

Of course! Can’t wait to watch your career!