Her family has been into hockey ever since she could remember. When she was a young child, a rink was built less than a mile from her house. Her family helped get a league started there and she was the star of the show. I am talking about Liz Giroux. Her brother is highly touted rookie John Grossmann of the Manhattan Rage and he played in that same league. It's in her genes.

"All of my relatives played hockey there. Even my dad was a ref. We were always around the rink, playing and just being general jackasses. It was a good time. A simpler time."



She wasn't always a player, setting up teammates.

"I actually started as a goalie. The league was short on goaltenders, so my family bought me a pair of cheap pads and just stuck me in the net. I was actually really good. As soon as I decided to make the jump to ice hockey, my skills just jumped. I played in national showcases and was sort of a local celebrity in the area. I even had a Facebook group claiming that I was the best goalie in Pennsylvania."

Then, tragedy struck and her career almost ended before it even began.

"I was playing deck hockey with my team on a normal winter day. Then I felt my knee twist. Then I heard a pop. Finally, a great pain washed over my whole body and almost caused me to black out. I found out later that I had torn my ACL and MCL. It was awful. I was off of the ice for nearly a year.

When I finally hit the ice again, I didn't think that my knee could handle the stress of being a goalie. All of the lateral movement...No way."

So she adapted her game and became a left winger on a new team.

"I had to change up my whole style of play. I became more of a shot blocker than anyone in my league had really ever seen. It was just the goalie in me. Skating was a strong suit of mine, even in all of my goalie gear. Another one was puck handling, so when I put a player stick in my hands I could dangle something fierce."

A conversation with her brother then decided her fate.

"My brother and I had a conversation about where I could take my career. He told me about his experiences in the NWJHL and his newer experiences in the SHL. I thought that would be a good fit for me so I signed up for the draft. Of course, I became eligible around 20 minutes before the draft, so I went undrafted. I think that's better in a way because now I can control where I play. Of course, anywhere is good but now I have a little bit of control over my destiny.

I guess that's me saying that I'm fielding offers now. I already have a few offers on the table, but I haven't made up my mind. So if there are any GM's that are interested in my services, I am all ears."

I have narrowed it down to two teams and my decision will be made shortly. I have two teams that seem to really be interested in my services. 10 minutes or less.