Login

foehammer007 · 01-12-2016, 05:22 PM

<div align="center"> [Image: etuhertl2409SP_503_nh.jpg]

</div>
<div align="center">The draft of Alexander Ødegaard</div>
<div align="center">Through Greg Cooper’s eyes</div>

Every draft year, I get an opportunity to follow a young man who is about to embark on one of the greatest journey of his life. Most of the time, I go through pages and pages of news about all sorts of young players and I always choose someone close home, in my native country of Canada.

This year, I had to take a chance. I met Alexander’s father through a local friend of mine, and it was simply by chance. I was in Norway at the time with my wife and kids, staying out in Oslo and had been asking my friend a few different things about what we needed to do while in town. He knew I worked closely in the Hockey media business and he had me come down to a local arena to watch a couple of teams play.

That’s when I first saw Alexander Ødegaard play and I knew exactly which player I was going to follow for the week of the draft. I was introduced to Alex’s father and after the game I met the kid himself, and was surprised with what I found.

Alexander was playing for a local Asker team at the time, and out on the ice you could see him really shine. He’s a lanky kid and does not have much to say, he’s almost is always seen just staring off, thinking about whatever is on his mind. I simply asked him, what he wanted from his playing career, where he wanted to go, things like this. “I just want to be out there, on the ice. As long as I am playing hockey, I am happy.” he said before giving us a chuckle.

I was able to spend a couple of hours after the game with him and his father before we left, and I got a small glimpse of who Alexander Ødegaard really was, as a player and as a person.Our weekend visit to Oslo had concluded and I had to head back to Toronto. I left my information with Alex’s father and started to prepare for the upcoming SMJHL draft week.

<div align="center"> [Image: tomas_hertl_czech_republic_051015.jpg]

[Image: tomas_hertl_czech_republic_051015.jpg]

</div>

<div align="center">Draft week</div>

Ah, draft week. A week with so many emotions all over the place, it is such an amazing sight to see so many young players go through it, and really shapes the men they become. Usually, players will come with just their parents, and maybe any siblings, but Alexander had other ideas.Nearly twenty different people stepped off the plane when I met him at the airport, and I was shocked.

He introduced to me to some of his cousins, uncles and aunts. Then I met his youth coach, some of his best mates, and a line mate of his that plays with him on the Asker team. While everyone was collecting their luggage, I got Alex alone and asked him, why all of these people? “Without any of them, I would not be here, in this draft. I do not wish to be alone when I celebrate, and I want to show all of them how much they mean to me.” he said cooly, before he started taking in all of the surroundings of the airport, he had apparently never been out of Europe.

Draft week gives players to start meeting some of the different scouts and even GMs from SMJHL teams, as well to partake in the SMJHL Prospect Tournament, where everyone gets to see them on ice. Alexander seemed to talk a lot about his play coming into the tournament with his youth coach, Lars Johansen. While Alex was on the ice with the Outlaws prospect team, I spoke briefly with Lars.

GC - “Lars, what can you tell me about Alex, how is he feeling out there?”

LJ- “You could tell in the hotel this morning, his emotions were everywhere. Being super excited, anxious, and nervous all together is a pretty intense thing. Once he suited up and got out there on the ice and did some of his warm ups, he was back to his normal calm self.”

GC - “I know it was only a few weeks ago when I first met him, and he was still playing regularly with the local Asker hockey team, has that made him struggle at all on the ice? or the opposite?”

LJ - “Well, coming into draft week while completing a full regular season means you are coming in straight off the ice, but there are some guys here who have spent months and months in the gym training just for draft week. We won’t be able to tell really until the first few games of the Prospect Tournament, but he said to me he is feeling fantastic.”

<div align="center">---</div>

I thanked Lars and promised him a beer later for dinner when we all would meet up to go out to town. I left the Ice while Alexander was talking to all of the other media with his team mates and got his parents to sit down and speak with me about just his life and how it all started.

His father was a steel worker, working in a local steel mill just on the outskirts of Asker. His mother was a tax accountant, and they stayed in the city of Asker for his entire childhood. The both of them were never really into sports but at a very young age, Alex was into hockey like a madman.

Alexander’s father took Alex to a local hockey match in Oslo, and from then his burning desire to play hockey was born. It was only a few days before he was begging his parents to buy him equipment so he could skate at local ponds and start using a stick. Christmas of that year, his parents were able to use all of the Christmas money they had saved up and bought him all of the equipment he wanted, so he could play hockey with his friends.

It took him a few months before he found himself joining a local youth team to learn more about the sport. He had played hundreds of games with his friends on the ice, but didn’t understand the true rules and aspect of the game. That’s where he met Lars Johansen, who has become a close family friend to all of the Ødegaards. His role in Alexander’s playing career will always be major, as he taught him the sport.

Lars taught Alexander and his fellow young teammates hockey, and how to play together as a team. Alexander would always hunt down the puck, always looking to get the puck to score, but he also eventually learned when he needed to pass the puck, for his team.He developed his loyalty there, and learned the true value of being a teammate.

Alex had the knack for shooting the puck, and it really started to show when he kept slotting goals in, every game he would play in. He had always liked to skate on the left side, and he started to become a natural Left Winger, a fast skater with a strong shot.

He stayed on Lar’s team until he was invited to join the local GET-ligaen’s youth team, which was an amazing chance for him to be around some of Norway’s top players that played in Norway and to learn from them and their coaches. Alex was able to continue to hone his skills and play for a much higher paced team, but it also introduced him to dealing with the media. At first, he did not even bother speaking to local media reporters who talked to him, he was just there to play hockey, otherwise he could be home with his family or training.

One of the players, Daniel Volden, had spent nearly ten years with the same club and saw Alexander struggling in regards of public image. Daniel reached out to Alex and inspired him to do more when the media wanted to speak with him, because simply wanting to play hockey wouldn’t always be enough. Two days later, Alexander interviewed a bit with a local paper from Asker and got himself a small little blurb about the player.

Three and a half years later with the youth team, I met Alexander and now he is going into the draft for the SMJHL.

<div align="center">--</div>

<div align="center">Draft day</div>

<div align="center"> [Image: 1020858-img-sport-hokej-extraliga-mlada-...h=306&q=75]

[Image: 1020858-img-sport-hokej-extraliga-mlada-...h=306&q=75]

</div>

With the Prospect Tournament over, the Outlaws only went so far, and Alexander put up 11 goals, 10 assists, for 21 points during the ten game “season” of the Prospect Tournament, and then he also bagged two more goals in the Playoffs. I spoke to him before we arrived at the Arena where the draft was being held, just to get his thoughts on the week and his overall performance

GC - “13 goals in twelve games, how about that?”

AØ - “Any player would love to have a goal per game, but I feel like I could have done more to help propel my team forward more for the cup. I could have scored more, I could have sent more passes ahead for my team mates, there are a lot of things, but overall it’s given me excitement and knowledge on what I need to prepare for.”

GC - “I think any team hearing that will love you. Have you changed up your training at all for this week?”

AØ - “I did a lot more strength training and conditioning. I have my speed and shot, but there are some huge tough guys in this draft and in the SMJHL, so I want to be fully ready for the first game of the season, and I have achieved this goal.”

GC - “I assume all of the teams have talked to you, any stand out at all?”

AØ - “Whew, that is kind of hard to answer. Yes I have spoken to all of the teams, but all of them stand out in their own special ways. This league is really solid and filled with amazing teams, and they all have great history to them.”

GC - “As a person and a player, what are you going to be bringing to the team that drafts you?”

AØ - “I am bringing Alexander. I am always a team first type of guy, I don’t need to make loud outbursts to get attention on me, everyone can recognize my abilities and how I love to joke and laugh.. I bring my scoring ability, which I will always continue to work on, and all of my other skills, like skating and puck handling. At the end of the day, you will be getting me, a player that gets to play the game I absolutely love, with a bunch of guys just like me. You really cannot get anything better than that and I am just beaming with delight that I am here, finally, at draft day.”

<div align="center">--</div>

To sum up this article, Alexander Ødegaard is what every team wants. A franchise player. Someone who loves the sport more than anything, and just will give it his all out there on the ice. He is a Norwegian kid that is grounded on earth, enjoys making everyone laugh and plays great hockey.He knows his limitations but refuses to give up, always striving to push himself harder and farther. He is a rookie that still has a lot to learn, but I know he will be in the SHL one day, and that day I have a feeling will be soon.

Alexander was drafted by the Detroit Falcons in the 4th round, he was the first first-generation player to be drafted, and has now moved and settled in Detroit. Alex joins five other rookie players, Gunnar Rask, Kalid Dermont, Prince Daniel James, Quinn Stevenson, and Rising Hippo, going to Detroit in what looks to be one of the most exciting and promising teams in the SMJHL this season. He now has access to some great players to learn from, and especially the GMs from his team, are all going to make Alex a better player.

Not many players leave their mark on the league, with so many great players it’s a hard place to compete. Alexander Ødegaard is going to leave his mark on the league, and he will as the player and the man he was raised and train to be. Simply phenomenal.

<div align="center"> [Image: 3294f9c441ee38992f55f2aeb766d52e.jpg]

[Image: 3294f9c441ee38992f55f2aeb766d52e.jpg]

</div>

Winter is Coming · 01-12-2016, 05:49 PM

Good work my man!

I really think you are going to strive in Detroit. Cheers

Possum Queen · 01-12-2016, 06:08 PM

Fixed the title for you.

Cheers

foehammer007 · 01-13-2016, 10:33 PM

oh i guess you can ask me questions for the fifth time

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us