In December 2009, I committed to Middlebury College to play hockey. I wanted to go there more than anything because I wanted to play college hockey and get an unbelievable education at the same time. Part of the reason I wanted to go there so bad was because I thought it was the best place for me to go, coming from an unknown hockey school in the mountains of Colorado. I didn't think I had a chance to go anywhere else, and I never gave myself the opportunity to prove I was a good hockey player. For 4 years, I was playing in a league with little exposure, mediocre players, and, quite honestly, little significance compared to high school leagues in other states like Minnesota and Wisconsin. No one saw me, and people told me I needed to go somewhere else if I wanted to pursue hockey. I didn't listen, though. Something told me to stay at Battle Mountain, close to my family, in a place where I could be involved and get the most out of my high school career.
Since playing in youth hockey in Vail and in Denver, I had always heard how hard it is to make it in hockey. People's comments made me wary because I didn't want to fail. I shouldn't have let their comments get to me because I should've believed in my work ethic, my love for hockey, and my ability, but I was insecure. So I hid myself in Colorado High School Hockey, thinking that people would see me if it was meant to be, rarely ever showing myself in anything outside of the CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association) league. I made an impact throughout the league and in my community with young hockey players, but for the majority of my high school career no one of importance noticed me for what I wanted to do.
During my junior year of high school, the Middlebury College hockey coach came to Eagle for a Vail Eagle Hockey Association youth hockey camp. My high school coach was selling me to the coach, telling him I was a big kid, with a good head on my shoulders, and a lot of hockey potential. I didn't even want to go to the camp to have the coach see me because, again, I was afraid to fail, afraid to hear what people thought of how I played hockey. Finally, after a call from my high school coach and with my mom's urging, I went down to Eagle on the last day of the camp. The coach liked what he saw, and he said he would keep in touch over the next year or two. Right then, I realized that playing hockey at the next level was something I really wanted to do, and something I really could do. I ended up visiting Middlebury twice and loved everything about it. The coaches really had an impact on me when I visited because I could tell that they wanted me to be a Panther and believed I could make an impact on their program. And I wanted to be a Panther. For a while, it seemed like I would go to Middlebury without a doubt. I got accepted into the Class of 2014 in December 2009, and confirmed I would be going there in the fall of 2010.
I kept playing in the CHSAA league for my senior season and tore it up. I was named All-State First Team and led the state in scoring for defensemen. Our most important weekend happened to be the weekend that our Vail International Hockey team came back from our trip to Eastern Europe. I was worried I would be out of shape for our games against rivals, Palmer and Lewis-Palmer. I focused hard during practice in our week back from Europe, making sure I would be at top form in our most important games of the year. Turns out, the Red Wing Alumni team was in town for that same weekend, and we were playing our games before their game against the Vail Mountaineer guys. I played really hard in both of our games, and we got good results against Palmer (a 1-1 tie) and against Lewis-Palmer (a 1-0 win). I happened to score the game winning goal against Lewis-Palmer, a one-timer from the point that went in right on the ice. After the game, I was ecstatic, completely fired up about the win, and about what might happen the rest of the season after passing such a hard test against Lewis-Palmer.
My coach pulled me aside in the locker room and told me there was an NHL scout outside who wanted to talk to me. Almost immediately I lost my breath and got really nervous. Why would he want to talk to me? I was just a hockey player from Battle Mountain High School, not really anything special outside of the high school league in Colorado. I went outside, not knowing what to expect. My parents and I ended up talking to Jason Woolley, a family advisor with The Player's Group, for over an hour. He was on the Red Wing Alumni team and had played with the Red Wings for a number of years. He wanted to know my story because he had heard a lot about me the past two days, being in Vail before our high school games, and he saw me play the past two games. I told him I was committed to going to Middlebury to play hockey and get an education. He insisted that I need more exposure and believed I could play Division I college hockey if I really went for it. He stressed that once I was in the right environment, I could become a hockey player, not just someone who likes the idea of being a hockey player.
I was hesitant. I was almost certain that I wanted to go to Middlebury. It was the only school I applied to, and I had been talking to the coaches there for a year and a half. Jason was persistent, though. He emailed my parents and called me over the next few weeks. My parents were also hesitant, not sure if they wanted their son to go off to play junior hockey in an unacademic setting. Then, I started to realize that I wanted to be the best I could be at the sport I love. I had cut myself short too many times. I could've gone to become a hockey player years before, but for some reason I chose to finish out my career at Battle Mountain. I started to believe in myself, as Jason kept calling me and texting me, telling me that I could do it if I put my mind to it. And I started to want to put myself out there, to show people that I could play hockey. I did not want to close myself off from other opportunities anymore. Jason ended up helping me set up a trip to Indiana to skate with a USHL team called the Indiana Ice. The USHL is the top juniors league in the country, and I admit, I was a little over my head coming in there as a Colorado High School Hockey player. The practices with the Ice were fast-paced, intense, and so much fun! After the weekend in Indiana, I realized I wanted to play hockey at the highest level I could, and that meant going to play juniors for a year or two before college.
Then came the hard part. I had to call the coaches at Middlebury and tell them that I wanted to go play junior hockey and not come to Middlebury in 2010. Jason told me it would be an easy call. Just tell them my plans and that I actually have a shot at making a team somewhere. It ended up being the hardest call of my life. I grew up during that call to Coach Beaney. I am a very loyal person. That's probably part of the reason why I stayed at Battle Mountain for 4 years, and that's why the call to Middlebury was very hard for me. I told him my plans, and he was disappointed, almost upset at the choice I was making. He told me to be careful about the whole juniors process because people along the way try to take advantage of you. I know Jason was not taking advantage of me though. He was doing all of this for me, giving me a chance, and I am so grateful and so lucky that he saw me when he did. He set me up for the path I am taking now, and I will tell you all about what I am going through in the next few posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment