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A Dream Pursued
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MarlinManiac4Registered Member
Note to graders: draft related article. I'm deferring my first article bonus to a later article, Also READY FOR GRADING.
Word count: 576 Tampere Times
A Dream Pursued
Local teen star looks to make his dream of playing professional hockey come true
Tampere, Finland On a brisk January evening with the type of stormy weather that would make anyone else want to just stay home and start up the fireplace, one sound can be heard at the local Tampere hockey rink. That sound being the constant scratching of skates on ice as local teen star Bradley Barkov works on his personal routine of drills. On a typical evening, he performs numerous skating and passing drills by erecting cardboard cutouts of teammates and opponents around the ice, practicing skating around defenders and passing to teammates, and typically stays well into the evening. “I started coming here to practice years ago as a kid after school. The owner would see me every day and we became friendly. Eventually he would let me stay after hours and store my things there as long as I cleaned up my things into one of the unused closets and locked up for the night.” Said the young Barkov. Barkov would go on to play in travel youth leagues and become a star. He would go on to break all the local scoring records as a defenseman. While coaches agreed he had a good shot for a defenseman, they were blown away by his play-making ability. Coach Matti Lindstrom of one opposing team had this to say: “I had heard of this kid before we came down here to play against his team. It was said he moved smooth as silk on the ice and could make any pass without even looking at his teammates. We tried to game-plan around him, only to realize after watching him feed his forward a lightning quick pass from the point across the ice for an easy open net goal within the first minute that we stood no chance. I had never seen that before at this level”. But perhaps the most impressive praise for Barkov was given by his own coach: “While everyone can see all the numbers he puts on the stat sheet, what you don’t see is the amount of personal responsibility he takes on shutting down the opposing forwards on defense. He always seems to be in the exact right place to make a key interception or to clear the puck out of dangerous situations. Its those skills and instincts that make him a truly special player.” Barkov is now eligible for the SMJHL draft and has declared his intentions of leaving for North America this January. “Its always been my dream to play professional hockey in the SHL. I think every kid envisions himself scoring the game winning goal in game 7 of the championship and holding up the trophy. Its what I’ve worked all these years for and there is still a long way and a lot of hard work to go.” In order to make himself more known to SMJHL GM’s, Barkov filled out questionnaires for all 10 teams and sent gameplay and workout videos as well. Mock drafts show a wide range of possibilities for Barkov, from the first couple rounds to the later rounds, as the Juniors tend to have more unknown quantities involved. We won’t have to wonder for long as the SMJHL draft is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Jan. 18. Wherever Barkov goes, he is sure to make all of us here in Tampere, Finland proud.
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