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twigs · 04-03-2022, 05:50 PM

KING AND HIS KINGDOM

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If you're this far into the season and you haven't already heard of Ashton King, you must be living under a rock. King is one of the strongest shooters in the college hockey circle right now, skating circles around his opponents in NCAA Div I with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. King not only has elite skating ability and even more potent shooting talent, he towers over his competition with a massive 6'5" frame and 220lbs. despite being only seventeen year olds, playing with and against men into their early twenties. The SEC Conference, consisting of nearby southern schools such as Georgia, Alabama, and Oklahoma offers a uniquely underdeveloped hockey program in which dedicated players can quickly climb the ranks and find extreme success. King is the perfect example of this rise through the southern hockey ladder; he played on three different teams in three different leagues this season.

MIDGET AAA - CAROLINA JR. KRAKEN Kraken

King started his season off with the Midget AAA Carolina Kraken, forced to commute almost four hours both ways on the weekends for practice due to a lack of competition in Georgia. Playing Midget A (Georgia's highest tiered hockey), King was absolutely dominant, and found he wasn't growing at all. For this reason, he chose to take on playing with the SMJHL's Carolina Kraken's Midget AAA affiliate team in the SMJHL Midget AAA league. Seeing as he was still in high school, King was only able to attend home games, and the occasional roadtrip to play in St. Louis. He capped off his time in the league by completing a week long trip to complete the North-Western circuit of the season against Vancouver, Kelowna, and Colorado. Despite not being able to play every game, King was soaring up the league leaderboards, and was quickly finding he still wasn't challenge by the competition the league had to offer. Many of the players were younger than him, and enrolled in full-time travel school, capable of keeping up with the intense international schedule.

JUNIOR - ATLANTA JR. INFERNO Inferno

King's new agent and parents felt the right decision for the young superstar was to transition into a more regional program until he finished off highschool early that winter. This brought them to the SHL's Junior A Program, one step below the SMJHL. King was given a spot on his hometown Atlanta Inferno, representing his home state for the first time. Still slightly hindered in terms of the teams he could travel to play against, King was given a chance to play in Tampa Bay and Texas as well as another trip up north to celebrate his graduation where he finished out the junior season against New England, Manhattan, and Baltimore. Atlanta would ultimately lose in the playoffs following the round-robin, being taken out by the Manhattan Rage. This left the tail end of the season for King to pick up with a team so as not to trail off or cool down.

NCAA DIV I - GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS syndicate

With March/April left in the season, King decided to enroll in the spring semester Georgia Tech and try to walk on for the hockey team. Unsurprisingly, the coaches were quick to bring him onboard, seeing his track record as a shining star amidst the lackluster talent the south typically had to offer. Even a Div I program like this was full of random players who seeped their way onto the roster, and it wasn't often someone like King came along to dominate. King would go on to score 35 points in 22 games as a freshman, taking Georgia Tech to first in the SEC and vaulting them past the Texas Longhorns to get into the Eastern Final. In this series they took on the Maryland Terrapins, besting them 4-2 in the first game, with King adding three points including a goal, and then 2-0 in the next. King scored both goals in the series winning game. Despite the miracle run performed by the Yellow Jackets, it would come to a staggering halt when they were upset by the Oregon Ducks. Oregon returned the same 2-0 victory to Georgia Tech in Game 1, although the Yellow Jackets did put up a fight in game two, losing 4-3 in overtime, King scoring one and assisting on another before being ejected for fighting, a true Gordie Howe hat trick.

Because of this experience, King has compiled a short list of the SMJHL teams he would most like to join. This list obviously does not count anyone out, but rather indicates teams of certain interest to the young star.

1. CAROLINA KRAKEN Kraken

King already has experience playing underneath the management scope of the Carolina Kraken hockey program and felt it was an overall positive part of his development. While it was a Midget AAA league, he knows the Kraken have used the team as a pipeline to bringing guys into the show before, and could see them doing the same for him. Staying close to home would be a huge appeal as it would allow his family to still come and watch the games.

2. ST LOUIS SCARECROWS

St Louis quickly became a home away from home for King during his time in the SMJHL Midget AAA league, and he could definitely see himself enjoying the city and the team. While they were definitely fierce rivals, he knows that means deep respect for some of the guys he could end up playing with should they be called up from the Midget program someday. Plus, once again, staying close to home is a big plus.

3. KELOWNA KNIGHTS Knights

One of the cities that King enjoyed playing in the most on his travels, Kelowna is a major top choice for the youngster. The idea of moving to a new country at such a young age is scary, but his experience moving around for hockey has prepared him for a jump like this. Kelowna's fans are unlike any other, and bring such a neat and proud atmosphere to the game that King had the joy of experiencing when he came up to play. The Knights would be a great landing spot for King, even if his family would have to come for the away games in Carolina.

Now you're up to date on who Ashton King is, where he's going, and where he's been. The young southern superstar is trailblazing a path towards the SMJHL and eventually SHL for players from the south everywhere. Despite growing up against lackluster competition, King forced himself to find a way to develop as a player and grow into a better athlete, making personal sacrifices along the way. It's unquestionable that he will continue to make these big of impacts for his team and himself once he gets to the next stage of his career.