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I started playing hockey at the age of seven. My father was a chemical engineer for a company in Salzburg, Austria when I was born. At the age of seven, the company transferred him, and my family from Austria to their offices in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was hard leaving my friends and family in Austria. At the age of seven, I effectively lost everything and everyone I had come to know. I was a stranger in this place. I had no friends. My older brother was the only person I could confide in, but he had no interest in me. My mother was the one that got me started in hockey. She had met with some of the local moms around town and they all had kids in hockey. My mother, not knowing how expensive hockey could be, signed me up during my first week of school for skating lessons.

I don’t know what it was about the way the ice felt beneath my feet, but I didn’t fall at all. I took to skating like most kids take to running. It was natural. The coach pulled my mom aside after the lesson and suggested that I move up to the advanced skating class. I was thrilled! I wanted to learn as much as I could about skating! Soon I was skating backwards at speed, doing crossovers, and I could stop on a dime. My skating coach, Tim Anderson, was headed for the NHL before a car accident shattered his ankle. He couldn’t quite keep up with his peers after that. He spent some time in the ‘A’ Leagues before he decided to take up coaching full time. It’s amazing to me that he was unable to skate as hard or as fast as the NHL players. I’ve never seen anyone skate like he could. Coach Anderson spent extra time with me, after normal sessions were finished, working on hockey skating techniques. It wasn’t long before he got a stick in my hands.

For a seven year old, my shooting was pretty good. I only missed the net every third shot. I’ll never forget my first slap-shot attempt. I was in the slot and coach passed it to me from the point. I wound up as far as my little body could muster and I smacked at it as hard as I could - I spun around three or four times, that’s how hard I swung – PING! Right off of the cross bar and it ricochets back toward me, flopping to the ice about two feet from the goal mouth. Coach had a good laugh at it.

After working on my shot a bit, coach knew I had a knack for the game. He wanted to get me on a team right away. My mother had her concerns, but Coach Anderson reassured her that while it’s violent on TV, kid leagues are non-checking and that I would be fine. I got kicked out of my first league for being too good. I was that star player that every parent hated seeing their kids go up against. I was bigger, faster, and more talented than the other 7 year olds out there.

Growing older, I had a hard time coping with the loss of my grandfather. He was back in Austria and had been sick for a while. Being 4,800 miles from a dying relative is not easy. I know it was difficult on my father. He ended up flying back to spend some time with his father before he passed away. I wrote a letter and asked my father to read it to him. After he returned my father told me, “Es war kein trockenes Auge im Haus, Lukas. Dein Großvater hat dich sehr geliebt und ist sehr stolz auf dich.“ He only used his native German when speaking formally to family or couldn’t find a phrase in English. His words stung with a bittersweet edge. To translate: “There was not a dry eye in the house, Lukas. Your grandfather loved you very much and is extremely proud of you.“ The words reverberated within me. I knew I had to do something to make him even more proud. I decided then and there, I would use his birth year, 1933, as my number. My homage to my grandfather would be stitched into ever jersey I’d ever wear.

As the years went on I started playing in higher and higher skilled leagues. I ended up receiving a Full-Ride scholarship to play college hockey with Penn State. I was devastated after we lost to Denver in the Quarterfinals my senior year (2017). We had all worked so hard. Still I was glad to be on the ice with my teammates on that big of a stage. I left school being the highest scoring defenseman (213, 159 games played) in school history as well as setting the record for plus/minus at +162.

I’m excited to start this next chapter in my hockey career. I’m looking forward to tearing up the SMJHL and bringing my high-powered defense to whichever team is lucky enough to draft me. I don’t think I’ll go first overall, but I’m not saying that I won’t. Whatever the next challenge is, I’ll take it on head first. If it’s anything like the previous challenges I’ve faced? I’ll tackle it with ease.

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. – Mario Andretti


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