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KenitohMenara · 11-25-2020, 08:08 PM

**1343 words - 50/50 split between @KenitohMenara and @Keenan - x2 draft media

“I guess the simplest answer to how I got into hockey is just that I’ve been around it my whole life. Dad played in the SHL, some of my first memories are seeing him playing. I always thought it was so cool, here he was playing this game he loved, this game I love. And not just that, but he was getting paid to do it, he was a public figure. I worked day in and day out to be just like him. His dream had become my dream as well.”

For Gregory Goode, the SHL is in his blood. His father, Clayton, played in the SHL and SMJHL for over a decade. In that time, he would rack up 125 points and win the Challenge Cup with the Edmonton Blizzard in Season 28. Now, the only son of the Goode family has begun his own path towards the richest prize in the sport.

The road to even get to this point though was not easy. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there were not many opportunities to practice ice skating in the Sooner state. The state’s passion and pride was in football but even here, small pockets of die hard ice hockey fanatics could be found. Cutting his teeth on the tiny ice rinks of Oklahoma, the young Goode started getting attention from junior scouts for his natural skill but he was unsure as to whether he would pursue. Other scouts in the state were already scouting him to play football due to his natural athleticism… that is until a certain hockey star visited the state. Two time challenge cup champion and SHL hall of famer, Kyle Keenan.

Keenan was in the state as part of a SHL hockey tour, trying to grow the game in some states, which was when he came across the young Gregory playing in a scrimmage. After it ended, with Gregory scoring 3 points, Keenan said one thing to the young Goode.

“You’ve got real skill, kid. I reckon that with proper training, you could be an all star in the SHL.”

A perfectly normal comment, if it came from a parent or a junior coach, but for the young Gregory, hearing those words for an hockey hall of famer was worth more than anything. It cemented what he wants to do with his life right then and there, he was going to make it to the SHL. He would do it by any means he had.

“Gregory had this presence about him.” said Rick Moon, Gregory’s first coach in Tulsa. “He has all the measurables you look for in a defenseman. Simply refuses to lose once he sets his mind to a play… it's amazing how far he’s come despite where we are in Oklahoma.”

Gregory even brought this up in the interview how sparse the scene was in the Sooner State.

“With dad in the SHL, but us being from Tulsa, I had to play wherever I could, not a big hockey community in Oklahoma. I definitely trained with him at home a lot, then whenever I could find some like-minded individuals we’d play together. Competition was fierce, but scarce. My last junior team was the Oklahoma Tumbleweeds, a few times a month we’d play the Dustbowls. Our starting left wing was actually just a scarecrow.”

The Armada Charter can only hope that he was joking about that.

With his skill set, many scouts from outside the state started taking notice and he started getting offers to play in the major junior leagues. With the lack of opportunities back home, Gregory packed up and headed north to the Chicago Steel of the USHL.

“We were so excited to get Gregory when he hit the USHL.” said Jeremie Desiraux, the head coach of the Steel. “We knew his pedigree, his talents, his athletic ability… it was all just a great sight to see. We knew we were onto something truly special here.”

Special is the perfect word to describe Gregory. Like his father before him, he is an offensive defenceman that loves to join in on the rush and fill in for an attacker on developing plays but Gregory has also spent many a practice session training his defensive game. He’s rarely caught out of position and if he has the puck deep in his eye, he can easily find a forward up the ice to make tremendous passes to. A right defender of many talents and with a ton of potential to be an SHL defender down the road.

His success and accomplishments with the Steel eventually led him to draft night, a similar position to where his father was, those many years ago:

“Draft night was… interesting. The opening jitters were something, those last couple of hours before the draft felt like days, I was pretty much just sitting and watching the clock. Then it starts, and the first few picks are playing out exactly as many people expected, and then… not so much. I ended up waiting a bit longer than I had expected, but I couldn’t be happier with the result.”

His moment of happiness came in the 2nd round when the Anchorage Armada took him with pick 19 overall. In that moment, all of his hard work, all of his training, all of his dedication to rising out of the dust bowls of Oklahoma to the professional leagues had paid off. He was gonna head to Alaska to join the Armada:

“It was like a weight being lifted off of my back. Especially with the waiting I ended up doing. Each pick became a bit more tense, I started getting in my head, “did I do something wrong?” “am I not as prepared as I thought I was?”. You know logically that these are top tier players, there’s no shame in falling behind them. You know logically that your time is coming, that you deserve to be here, but that emotional part of you tries really hard to bury that logical part. That rush when I was finally called, that feeling of relief rushing over me, it was great.I’d like to say I was surprised, but it wasn’t too much of a surprise. I had given it roughly an 80% shot that I’d go to either Anchorage or Carolina. But to hear my name called, I guess the first thought that went through my head was just a general thought of gratitude. Gratitude to the Anchorage brass for taking a chance on me and gratitude for everyone that helped me reach this level.”

It’s been a very long time since the league has seen a member of the Goode family in the SHL and sometimes the children of former players can never step out of their forebears shadow. It can be the roughest experience to try to fight from under that, but if one player out of this class can rise out of that shadow and carve out a legacy in this league, it would be Gregory Goode. One look at his skating record is all it takes:

“I’d love to develop into the kind of player dad was slated to be. A very good offensive defenseman, but one who doesn’t neglect the defensive side of the game either. I definitely think I’m on the right path. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aiming for a 4-Star Cup. That’s always the goal, right? On a personal level I’d just like to do whatever I can to help the team reach that level and help build my stock for the SHL draft next season. Reaching the SHL means everything. It means all the hard work: the sweat, the tears, the blood, the bruises, everything that I had done to devote myself to this dream was all worth it. It would be the most validating thing in the world. And who knows, maybe a few years down the line when I get some games under my belt it’ll mean one-upping dad.”The

*Gwdjohnson* · 11-25-2020, 08:26 PM

We hadn't planned at all around the possibility of Goode being there at 19, and assumed he'd be going at least in the first round. Extremely happy to have been able to land him where we did and looking forward to seeing both him and Bean on our defense together down the stretch. Armada

DeletedAtUserRequest · 11-25-2020, 09:16 PM

+1

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Keenan · 11-25-2020, 09:34 PM

Awesome read, thanks again for the interview Cheers

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