Nick’s start in hockey was a bit later than most. Instead of learning to skate at a young age, he exceled and was more fond of other sports. However, in his teens he finally fell in love with hockey and devoted all his free time to improving his skating and stick work. He was naturally gifted and exceled at all sports so he was able to pick up the physical elements of hockey fairly quickly. It wasn’t long after that he joined s local junior team to get a taste for actual team based hockey. While he hadn’t played as long as others on his team, he was definitely the best player as evidenced by his performance. The rest was history. He dominated any league he became a part of throughout his teens and into college. Scouts took particular note of his dedication and work ethic which allowed him to really shine even though he got a late start.
I recall fondly the ice ponds of my youth and the many friendships that were made with my wooden koho stick in my hands its was during these early days I honed my pre adolescent skills with much practise and many long days out on the pond. It took me a while to get the hang of skating but before I knew it I was whizzing around my buddies the best out of the bunch while shooting was always a pain my ability to pass was never in question nor was my ability to make 5 guys look dumb while chasing me around. With many kids in the neighborhood on this one pond stick handling became the most sought after skill of all of us with so little space to move in you had to be able to handle yourself well in tigh spaces and really gauge what was needed to be done out there. Welp that's my pt later folks
I have talked briefly about my past before on the site but I can rehash it and expand some more. I started skating pretty much as soon as I could walk. Both my parents were involved in skating; my father played hockey and my mother was a speed skater. I always had a passion for the game but never really wowed anybody with my play as a kid. I was for sure a late bloomer skill wise. I have always been a big guy, so my game didn't really start to show until I hit pee-wee and could start throwing my weight around. Still being an awkward growing pre-teen and teen held back my skating technique and skills with a puck. I was a real one dimensional wrecking machine kind of player. I was always getting in scraps and tossed out of games. Luckily the Detroit Falcons took a chance on me and that is when my game really developed all around.
Alexei first put on skates at the age of 3 in his native St. Petersburg on the frozen Neva River and he was a natural where he quickly picked up speed and eventually became a natural at skating around the River and the Ice Palace. At the age of 5 his parents Vasily and Sophia introduced a young Alexei to the game of hockey to which he took his great proficiency with skating and started to applying it to the game of hockey and quickly found himself playing in various city leagues and school teams quickly showing that his abilities with the stick were a mix of raw natural talent and a strong work ethic. Eventually while in secondary school he was recruited by the SKA youth program in which he finally found himself within a very competitive environment that had an opening to get into Junior hockey but also the ability to end his career before it even started. Luckily Alexei thrived under the pressure and while being captain of the SKA youth team led his team to victory in the Gazprom Neft Cup in the International Kids Hockey Tournament and cemented his star and interests by Junior Hockey teams.
As a kid, Mathias Seger did not dream of becoming an SHL star player, in fact for the longest time, he did not even consider being a pro hockey player. He always thought, he would become a teacher like his parents. Hockey was his passion though and it was what he wanted to do in every free minute. At some point, he became the most hard working kid in his junior team, simply because he had so much fun playing hockey. Only with about 15 years old, the coaches started to tell him, that he could actually become a very good hockey player and it started to show that not only did he enjoy playing a lot, but he also actually had a ton of talent. Soon after that some scouts from North America showed up at his games and it quickly became apparent, that he actually could play in the junior league over seas.
Mathias Seger #15 | Player page | Update page Sigs by Donini, RainDelay, Fever and OrbitingDeath
Charlie's first memory of hockey is so old that it's hard for him to really "see" it anymore, but he remembers it being the spark that lit his passion for the game. The Philadelphia Flyers' training camp was being held in his town's brand new rink, and his parents brought him to see. That single memory of being at the rink for the Flyers training camp is as far back as Charlie's memory goes, but he knows there's a lot of hockey memories he's forgotten since. He had a natural love for the game, but his natural skills were a bit lacking at first. Not lacking though, was his joy. On skates, Charlie felt like he could beat the world, so his mother always hard a had time getting him to come in off the backyard rink every night. Hockey has helped Charlie through good times, and bad, and he says that if it weren't for that first trip to the rink, who knows how long it might've taken him to find the game.
Being the grandson of former NHL'er Lyle Odelein, Lyle was born into this sport. His family all swears that Lyle learned how to skate before he learned how to walk. Growing up in a hockey family, young Lyle cherished every moment of it. He was, and still is, very close with his grandfather and both can recall many nights watching games on tv where the younger Lyle would ask hundreds of questions about game tactics, trying to soak in as much knowledge as possible. Having a professional hockey player help raise him, Lyle had a leg up on most of the kids he grew up playing with, but that never went to his head. You would routinely find Lyle getting to practices early or staying late with some of his teammates, helping them and himself at the same time to work harder to get to the next level. Young Lyle never took anything for granted, he worked harder than anyone else around him to make sure he could play his best possible game every time he stepped on the ice. He still tries to do the same today.
Bo Kane has been playing hockey since the day he could hold a stick. He's always been known as the more talented guy and has dominated in every league he's been in. Every person around him had always wanted him to take hockey a little more series and to attempt to make a career out of it but Kane growing up never thought such a thing was possible. He always took hockey as just a fun hobby on the side. Due to this a lot of his skill was just raw natural talent he was born with. Luckily, he ended up being convinced to give pro hockey a shot and he managed to get drafted by the Colorado Raptors to start his hockey career which he excelled at. The transition from taking hockey as a hobby to a full-time career was a challenge as he had to work on his technical skills and couldn't just rely on raw talent anymore.
I mentioned in another point task somewhere that Elizabeth Doyle grew up watching a dominating Ireland team on the international stage. The years where they won medals after medals after medals were probably the best in Eli’s mind and she wanted to do the same. She wanted to feel that same rush of feelings that she was able to experience as a fan of the sport when she would be growing up. She always had good reflexes and she decided to capitalize on them by wearing the mask. Nobody cares who she was before she put the mask. After that, she shined by her natural talent to block the puck and to stop attempt made against her. She mostly trained in Ireland and had a few years with the Dublin Flying Ducks before she tried her luck across the pond. She struggled, like every young goalie, but was able to keep her mind to it, determinate to reach her goal at one point in her life.
Tor Tuck has been playing in the league too long to have a huge memory of what his early childhood was like as he picked up the sport. After half of the games Tor Tuck takes several blows to the head and he wakes up hardly able to remember those games themselves. These reoccurring concussions paired with his advanced age are a sad cost of the sport that Tor Tuck and his colleagues love. However, Tor Tuck is confident that he was not a natural born talent on the ice. Coming up through the ranks he spent a lot of time just being a role player that was good enough to make a roster but not enough to really do a lot more to carry the team. His childhood home is not decorated with trophies and medals from his accolades growing up like a lot of the other players in the SHL. However, he was persistent enough that his hard work eventually got him into the big leagues. After some reservations the Edmonton Blizzard finally decided to pull the trigger on Tor in one of the weakest draft classes in semi-recent history. The rest just fell into place for Tor Tuck and he has been a contributing, serviceable defender in the league for the Blizzard since.
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