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*thedangazone* · 06-25-2017, 07:46 PM

3280 words. Waiting to be graded

Growing up in a non-traditional hockey market is hard for any kid who loves the game. It wasnâ€™t always tough though as I didnâ€™t start liking hockey until a later age. You see in Florida football is king. The kids down here are insanely fast on a field and their taught from a young age to love the sport. Itâ€™s almost as if their bred to be football players. Hockey on the other hand is an afterthought at best to most sports fans in the city. Football, baseball, basketball, and even auto racing will always be more popular in the south, especially in smaller cities well away from any of the teams. There are hockey teams down here and even professional leagues where you can catch games. Thereâ€™s a team in my city even but as a kid youâ€™re never taught to like hockey or even what hockey is. Itâ€™s always football first and if that doesnâ€™t work baseball. If that doesnâ€™t work, then sorry kid sports arenâ€™t for you. But, occasionally, there is a family that likes hockey and gets their kids into it. Thatâ€™s actually how I came to love the sport myself.
Growing up I always played football, there was no other choice for me. I was passionate about the sport and I wanted nothing more than to play linebacker for the Miami Dolphins when I got older. I played peewee and even joined my high school football team when I got there. I quickly learned that freshman year of high school though that football wasnâ€™t for me, but there was something that could be on the horizon. My best friends growing up, and still my best friends to this day, their parents are from Michigan. They grew up with hockey and grew to love it. As I started hanging out with them more and more I started to notice how exciting the sport could be as they watched more games with me around. I had never been so enamored by a sport and it was like I was 7 years old again just beginning to love football again. I knew immediately that I had to play. Luckily for me the local hockey team does allow open skating hours after games and on nights that nothing else is taking place. Thatâ€™s how I learned to skate. I worked my ass off every chance I could get to become the best skater that I could until I could actually play.
By the time I was good enough at skating to begin play I was almost done with high school. Kids entering into hockey this late rarely amount to anything and I understood that but I planned to still try. I bought a stick offline, since thereâ€™s no stores around that sell legitimate hockey sticks, and I got some of those street hockey pucks and I began working on my hand eye skills nonstop. At first it was tough going, as I must confess I was never really that good with my hands in football; itâ€™s part of the reason I chose to be a defensive lineman. Also, being as tall as I am makes you kind of clumsy sometimes but I worked harder at it then I have ever worked before. And you know what happened? I actually started doing pretty well. Now this wasnâ€™t a real puck on the ice yet but it was just as good to me at the time. Nothing could have made me more excited than to see myself actually getting better and to maybe have a chance to actually play. Now I had also bought a few real pucks and on the nights it was slow during the free skate period at the ice rink I would bring them and the stick out and practice for real, at least as best as I could with little kids being skated around by their parents. It didnâ€™t matter to me though, all that I cared about was getting better every time I went out onto that ice.
Fast forward a bit to the end of my senior year of high school and here I am actually not that bad at what little skills I have on the ice. While I still wasnâ€™t able to play a real game of hockey yet I did the best that I could with what I had. It also helped that I had shot up to well over 6 feet tall by now and had the body to be a hockey player. If I wasnâ€™t on the ice or street practicing though then I was studying games harder than any kid has ever studied anything in their life. I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life and I was determined to make it happen come hell or high water. So, when time came for me to actually choose a college to go to there was no doubt in my mind that I was going up north so I could actually play. Now I knew that making any team would be hard as I had as little experience actually playing as anyone could have but I also knew I had the determination to make it happen and I had trained harder in what I could do than anyone possibly could have. This game had struck a fire under my ass so to speak and it would not be simmering down any time soon. When I chose my college, it was but just a lowly division 2 school with a mediocre hockey team, Iâ€™m not going to name names. I chose this school because its hockey team wasnâ€™t that great, but they werenâ€™t bad either. My hope was that I would eventually be able to make the team and still play some decent level hockey. Where I went from there would be a bridge I crossed when I got to it.
Now going to school so far away from family is hard but itâ€™s even worse when you do it just for a single reason. The school accepted me easily enough but my courses were always an afterthought to playing hockey. Not that I didnâ€™t plan on getting my degree still, I can only play hockey for so long or what if I just sucked at it and I needed a backup just in case. Naturally, I chose a business degree, not my favorite classes but It would be helpful if I wanted to ever get into head offices of hockey one day instead of just playing or if I couldnâ€™t even play. It was tough going into a degree field while also working so hard to actually play hockey. The first thing I did when I got there though was look up any recreational leagues in town and I found 2 different ones I intended on joining immediately. I could have tried out for the college team at the first walk ons that they held but I knew better than to embarrass myself that quickly. I wanted to make sure I was good enough for the team before I tarnished my name right off the bat. So, I joined these leagues and yes I sucked at first, but, I started to come around eventually. Every game just got a little bit better and by the half way point of the rec league season I wasnâ€™t half bad, but I still wasnâ€™t close to good enough. So, I continued to work and work and train harder every day. My grades even started to slip a bit because of it but I didnâ€™t care not as long as I got better. Fast forward a little bit further and by the end of the season Iâ€™m actually pretty good. Iâ€™m no all pro defenseman or heralded prospect thatâ€™s going to light up the league but I can get the job done. I also hope this is a somewhat good piece of advice for any kids reading this. If you truly want something work that much extra harder for it and you can make it happen. Though I wouldnâ€™t recommend letting your grades slip ever such as I did and I had to work hard at that as well to get those back up. Life is all about hard work and if you see something you want you work your tail off till you get it.
The next season the second my collegeâ€™s team had open tryouts again I was there in a flash. I was easily the first in line waiting to get in and show what I could do. I was so ready to go and show that a kid from Florida could actually play hockey too. Well, things didnâ€™t go exactly according to plan but I did manage to give a respectable showing but still I feared I wouldnâ€™t make it. Those few days between tryouts and when the list was posted were probably the longest days of my life. When I walked up to that list with my heart beating out of my chest I thought I was going to have a heart attack from the fear. Every single name I read that wasnâ€™t mine made my heart skip a beat but finally there it was, right at the bottom as I had barely made it. I didnâ€™t care though all that mattered to me was that I had made the team. Who cared if I was last paring D if I even was dressed at all, I had made the team! I would work my way up over time I just needed that foot in the door. That first practice was pretty damn scary to say the least. My team was amazing to me, they flew around and were so good at playing. In the back of my mind I thought there would be no way I could ever play well enough to not let them down. Those thoughts though motivated me to work hard enough to never let that happen.
That first season with the team was extremely rough for me. I rarely got playing time and I only did if someone was injured or sick. I never let it get me down though. That fire stayed lit in my soul and I was determined to make this happen no matter what. I think I finished the season with all of 5 games played though and never scored a point. The only thing that mattered to me though was that I was getting better. Every practice and every game I could tell I was just getting slowly better and better. That offseason I trained as hard as I could and even put on some weight to train into muscle. At this point I had finally hit 6 foot 6 inches and was getting a little lanky. I put on a good 30 pounds in muscle that summer to make sure not only that I wouldnâ€™t get messed with on the ice but that my muscles were strong enough to skate for 20 min a night or more or shoot that puck at the speed of light if the opportunity arose. Well it didnâ€™t take long for that opportunity to happen. Our very first preseason game one of our defenders broke his leg in a freak accident as he lost an edge and slid into the boards. As I was next up on the depth chart I would be dressed for the rest of the season barring I didnâ€™t regress terribly. I was so devastated to see my teammate go down, all my teammates are like family to me. My team will always come first and I love everyone I play with to death but I couldnâ€™t help but at least be a little excited to finally see the ice, even if I did feel guilty for that. The night before that first game I couldnâ€™t have slept if someone had given me tranquilizers. I was so excited to be the opening game starter that I had butterflies in my stomach. That next evening couldnâ€™t come fast enough. Of course, the next day dragged on and on though and by the time it was time for warmups I was so antsy I was literally shaking with excitement and fear. I proceeded to blow a coverage and give up a two on one break a way on my first shift. Thank god for our goalie who bailed me out but the coach let me hear it for the next 5 minutes after. The rest of the game didnâ€™t go half bad though. I logged some minutes and while I didnâ€™t score I didnâ€™t get scored on either so I was happy with my performance. I slept so much better than night thatâ€™s for sure. Game after game passed and I got just a little bit better every time but this growing nagging in my mind started to fester. It grew and grew every game because every game I still hadnâ€™t scored. The buzz of the nag seemed to tear at me until about halfway through the season. I had just got the puck at the point and the right winger for the other team came flying out to get me. I didnâ€™t have any one open that I could see so I just threw it towards the net thinking itâ€™s always good to get a shot off. The goalie stopped it easily but what he didnâ€™t stop was the juicy rebound he gave up right to our right winger just waiting to bury it. My face lit up more than the goal light when I realized that it had went in and that I finally had a point. I celebrated so hard that night that I threw up the next morning, luckily we had an off day. More important then finally notching a point on the stat sheet though was that we were still winning more as a team. A championship would mean so much more than flashy numbers. Hell, everyone is always chasing the cup not the scoring trophy, but itâ€™s nice to get something extra along the way.
The most important thing about that point that season for me though was it opened the proverbial flood gates. A couple games later and thereâ€™s an assist. 3 more down the line and I get 2 in the same game. They start coming more frequently until BAM thereâ€™s my first goal. Iâ€™ll never forget that day for as long as I live. A pass right onto the tape of my stick and I just sling it towards the net as fast as possible before the goalie can get set. My aim was a little off apparently as I was aiming blocker side shoulder high and it went glove side. All I heard was a loud ping as the puck smashed the crossbar then the roar of the horn as the puck slammed into the ice behind the goalie and behind that line. I was ecstatic to say the least. The rest of that season was a blur to me as I just continued to get better and move up the stat sheet slowly but surely. Thereâ€™s nothing I can attribute more to my success today then the hard work I put in every day and the support that came from my teammates. Weâ€™ll touch on teammates more as well.
Fast forward a couple of years and here I am at the end of my senior season. I had finally made it to first line putting up big minutes and even bigger points. My game had really come into its own by then and while I think I was at least pretty good all the scouts thought I was even better. Who would have thought a boy from a little town in Florida would be there now turning heads getting ready for the draft? I had continued to train my hardest every day though and I was so close to tasting the sweet release of getting drafted. My hard work paid off finally though when I was invited to a Prospect tournament for the SMJHL. They had to at least expect me to be drafted if they were inviting me, right? That prospect tournament was something else to say the least. While the stats didnâ€™t matter nor the games won all that mattered to me was showing my work ethic to the scouts in attendance. Along the way though I made some amazing friends who I still get to play the game with now and I wouldnâ€™t trade that for the world. Draft night itself was also fun. I couldnâ€™t wait to hear my name called and for me to walk across that stage but I knew I would never go high as I was nowhere near as good as these other kids I was playing against. So, it was no surprise to me as name by name went off the list and I was still there. What was surprising to me though was seeing St. Louis walk up with their third-round pick, number 24 overall, and call my name. I thought there had to be a mistake thereâ€™s no way theyâ€™re really picking me this early in the draft, there has to be some kind of mistake, right? There wasnâ€™t, and Iâ€™ll never forget the faith that St. Louis showed in me that night. Arriving in St. Louis was tough for me. I was so new to all of this and here I was set to play for an SMJHL team. I could not have asked for better teammates though. The Scarecrows organization has been like a second home to me welcoming every day and always happy to see each other. The best part of coming to St. Louis though is that they know how to win and they can teach me that now. While Iâ€™m only playing on the third pairing my amazing GMâ€™s have shown the faith and trust in me to place me on the second power play unit, helping me to succeed and giving me every opportunity to prove them right. I could not have asked for a better organization to play for and I have worked my hardest every day to show them that they made the right choice. My goal this year isnâ€™t to score goals or get ice time itâ€™s to win these guys a cup, a cup they were robbed of last season. I donâ€™t care how hard I have to work for it I will give it my all until these guys get that victory, itâ€™s the least that they deserve. One day I hope to get them a cup in the SHL as well, if weâ€™re so lucky to end up on the same team that is.
At the end of the day thereâ€™s nothing in this life you canâ€™t get by working for. If you want to be a teacher or a doctor or even an astronaut, then you can work hard enough to do it. If you want to be a professional hockey player from a small town in Florida, you can do that too. It doesnâ€™t matter how good you are now just remember that you can work your butt off every single day to accomplish that goal. Itâ€™s hard growing up a hockey fan in a nontraditional market and itâ€™s even harder making it work for you but itâ€™s possible. This is a story to show you that no matter where youâ€™re from or who you are you can make your dreams come true even if itâ€™s becoming a professional hockey player when football is the only thing you know.
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Evok · 06-25-2017, 07:59 PM

<div align="center"> ROMMMANNNNNNNNN AUGUSTUSSSSSSSSSSSS
Towel

</div>

<span style='color:gray'><div align="center">HAL > STL tho</div></span>

Clint Eastwood · 06-25-2017, 08:54 PM

+1 for the rednecks

*thedangazone* · 06-26-2017, 01:23 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Evok@Jun 25 2017, 06:59 PM
<div align="center"> ROMMMANNNNNNNNN AUGUSTUSSSSSSSSSSSS
      </div>

<span style='color:gray'><div align="center">HAL > STL tho</div></span>