Thoughts After the Under Armour Hockey Showcase

I thought the weekend went very well for the most part. On Friday, after the practice with our team, I did the off-ice testing that the camp provided for all the participants. It was very cool to get to go into the varsity weight lifting room at DU. I didn't really know what to expect from the NHL Combine Testing that we were going to go through, but I was pretty sure I was in good shape going into the camp. They measured our weight, height, wingspan, and body fat. Then, we did certain exercises to the rhythm of a metronome: we had to bench press 150 pounds, do sit ups, and push ups to the metronome, and if we were off rhythm, they would not count any of the exercises any more. On a few of the exercises, I was told that I got the highest anyone else in the whole camp had gotten so far, so I was pretty excited even though I completed the testing on the first day of the camp. After those exercises, we tested long jump, vertical jump, and medicine ball toss. It was an interesting test, and I'm excited to see how I stack up against the other kids at the camp and even against other NHL players who completed the test.

I thought I played solid in the games. I tried to play smart and aggressive, but I also always tried to play with great positioning and support my defense partner. I was hitting people, and I made some very good defensive plays. I made some good passes out of the defensive zone, but I know I was a little rusty with my decision making. At times, I would hesitate, and then the safe play would not be an option anymore. I made a few bad turnovers, but I thought for the most part that I played well. I was competing hard, working hard, and I always tried to make a difference whenever I stepped on the ice. Unfortunately, not everyone thought I played well. I did not make the All-Star game on Monday afternoon, which I thought I definitely should've made. I thought I was the best defenseman on my team by far, and my parents did as well, but 2 other younger defensemen on my team made the All-Star game in front of me. Maybe my parents are looking through rose-colored glasses, but I don't think they are that biased when it comes to watching me. Anyway, I didn't make the All-Star game when I thought I should have. It could've been because of my age--maybe they were looking for younger players--or it could've been because my coach for the weekend, who was my coach when I was in New Mexico, truly didn't believe I played well enough to be in the All-Star game, and he didn't recommend me. I don't know what happened, but I just have to take it in stride and let it fuel me to work even harder.

I think this weekend was worthwhile, no matter if I made the All-Star game or not. I got some good exposure, and I got to listen to a few really good seminars about college hockey. My dad and I listened in on a seminar by the general manager and head coach of the Chicago Steel in the USHL. He said either you can play hockey, or you can't play hockey. It's as simple as that. And if you can play hockey, then the right people will find you if you market yourself in the best way possible. Then, we listened in on a seminar by the assistant coach at Denver University about playing Division I college hockey and the importance of academics. He said it's critically important to have good grades because they will open up so many more doors for you than if you're just an average student. Well, I already have that side of things taken care of...He also said that you need to be patient in this process. Playing junior hockey is a very unique process that takes time. Almost every college hockey player these days plays junior hockey. There is a very small percentage of world-class hockey players who come into college as true freshmen. Playing junior hockey is part of the process; it takes time, it's frustrating at times, but the bottom line is that most college hockey players play juniors. Afterwards, I introduced myself to him, told him a little about myself, my grades, and my test scores. He said I need to stay patient because with my grades, I should have a lot of opportunity because there is a very small pool of hockey players with the smarts and the ability to pay to go to school at some of the top-end Division I and Division III schools in the country.

At the end of the day, I was heavily disappointed that I didn't make the All-Star game at this showcase, but it's the first All-Star game at a junior camp that I have not made, which I think is pretty uncommon. I made the All-Star games at the Indiana camp, the Bismarck camps last year, and the Bismarck camp this year. Failure is part of the process for everyone. I just have to let it drive me to be better and make myself work harder to achieve my goals.

Today was the first day of the Under Armour Hockey Showcase at DU. We had a practice today with another team, which was fun, but honestly I felt a little rusty. Ok a lot rusty. It's been a while since I skated like that because the ice has been out up in Vail. Anyway I think a lot of people were rusty because I was one of the better ones on the ice today. My coach from New Mexico is my assigned coach for the weekend and it was good to see him. Something pretty funny happened on the ice: I fell and flew into the boards on an overspeed drill and almost nailed my coach. We both laughed about it. He said, "Who says coaching's not a contact sport?" and I said, "Almost gotcha," because he had joked about making me a scratch this weekend during the showcase, which is something that happened too often this year when I was in New Mexico.

Under Armour Hockey Showcase This Weekend!

I'm going to the Under Armour Hockey Showcase this weekend in Denver at Denver University. I have a practice tomorrow with my team and then over the weekend, we play 4 games total. There will be a lot of scouts and coaches at the event, so it will be a good chance for me to get under a lot of eyes. I'm excited. I'm ready to play assertively, but also to play intelligently. It's going to be a fun weekend because the majority of the games are played in Magness Arena, where the Denver Pioneers play! I'll keep posting about how the weekend goes, but right now, I have to pack and start driving down to Denver.

My New Website

My mom just recently took a webpage design class, and she decided to create a promotional website for me to help market myself to coaches around the country. Throughout this process, I've learned how important it is to competitively and aggressively market myself to colleges. There are very few colleges who will initiate contact before you initiate it yourself, so I'm going to start sending the link out to college coaches right away. I did all the writing, but my mom is responsible for the design of the site. I think it's pretty cool. Check it out. The link is: www.connortedstrom.com

And the Journey Continues...

Yesterday, I got a call from the head coach of the Bismarck Bobcats. He asked how I thought I did this past weekend, and I told him I thought I played well. He said he thought I played well too, but then he started to tell me that he doesn't think he has a spot for me on the team this year. He said he wishes things were different because I'm a great kid with a lot of potential, but he thinks the best thing for me is to go somewhere I can play night in and night out and play in every situation. They have a lot of defensemen coming back next year, and he doesn't want to do the same thing he did to me last year, where I pay all this money to go to camps and tryouts and buy flights up to North Dakota, and then have me sit games and end up leaving 2 months into the season. He told me he thinks after one more year of juniors, I will be a good player at the college level, but that the next year for me is huge in my development, and I need to play. He reemphasized that he wishes it was different because over the past year, I've done everything he's asked of me and more, but he thinks the best thing for me is to go back to Idaho or go somewhere in the NAHL where I will play and get coached. I'm happy he was honest with me, and I sort of saw it coming, to be honest. I definitely agree. I think the best thing for me is to go somewhere I can be a top 2 defenseman; even though I would love to go back to Bismarck, it'll be much more beneficial for me to play a lot than to go back to Bismarck and be a number 5, 6, or 7 defenseman.

Now this makes my decisions this summer a lot more simple. I have a few more tryouts coming up in the next few weeks, and I'll just see what happens. I know I have a great place to go in Idaho, and I know what I will get there: great coaching and a lot of playing time. But I'm going to see what comes up in the next few tryouts I go to. I know for sure that I'm not going to go play in the NAHL just to play in the NAHL. If I make an NAHL team, I need to make sure it's the right fit for me because I know Idaho is a great fit for me. And why would I go somewhere where I don't know what kind of coaching I will get or how much playing time I will get when I know what I will get in Idaho? The journey continues...

Let Them Fail, Let Them Succeed

When I went down to Denver in the middle of last week to skate a few times, I skated at Apex Ice Arena in Arvada, my old stomping grounds for one season back in 8th grade. As I was preparing myself for the tryout last weekend, I saw a sign hanging up on the glass that really got me thinking. It said something like, "Let them play. Let them have fun. Let them succeed. Let them fail. Let them be kids." Sports can be stressful for everyone involved, parents included, but the reality is: sports are diversions. They're just games. Games that we've created into huge, profitable businesses; but nonetheless, they are still just games. Throughout my athletic career, I've seen kids who are forced into playing a certain sport, kids who don't want to play the sport they're playing, and parents who put way too much pressure on their kids. I think that was magnified even more for me this year. I didn't see many kids who don't want to play hockey, but I did see a lot of kids with a lot of pressure on them from outside sources. It's understandable because everyone's chasing that Division I scholarship, everyone wants to have good games and get noticed by scouts, but not everyone accomplishes that. Failure is part of life. A big part of life. And I realize how lucky I am. I'm doing this for me. No one else. I don't think many kids in juniors can say the same.

I don't come from a hockey family. No one in my family has been through this, so they can't put pressure on me. They just want me to be happy. And I think that's something that has helped me out immensely. I'm following my dream because I want to follow my dream, and it makes me happy pushing myself in ways that I never have before. I've never felt any kind of pressure from my parents. I play sports because I like to; I like the lessons I learn, the people I meet, and the way sports make me feel. I'm in this to give my dream a shot. And I'm thankful I have a family who fully supports me in following my dream because I've seen kids who aren't in it for the right reasons, who lose sight of why they are really doing what they're doing.

Anyway, seeing that sign in Apex just sparked some thoughts in my head and made me grateful for my family and proud that I am giving my dream a shot for the right reasons.

Packed Weekend

I had the Bismarck open camp in Denver this past weekend. It was so good to get back out on the ice. I arrived at the rink on Friday, and I was asked to play both games that night because they were short on defensemen. In the first game, I was definitely rusty. I didn't play very well. But I don't think I was the only one who was a little rusty--I was probably in better shape than most players there. The next game, I felt like I started to get my legs back. I think I got stronger as the second game went on; I played smart and made some good passes. Afterwards, I was dead tired, though. On Saturday, again I played two games. At least they were spread out this time...I played in the morning and played OK. I didn't play great; I made some mistakes with the puck behind the net, lost some people in coverage, and my footwork wasn't fast enough, but I'll get that stuff back quickly I think. The next game I focused on playing smart and solid, and I took short shifts because I was tired from the previous 3 games I had played. After the night game, I found out I made the All-Star game at 8 the next morning. I think I played my best game of the weekend in the All-Star game. I don't remember really making a mistake, I played physical, tried to be aggressive, but I also played solid defensively. And I scored a goal!

Although I don't think the level of the camp was as good as it was last year, I think I did really well at the camp overall. Maybe I feel like I did better because I got that much better over the course of the year...

After the All-Star game, my family and I stayed in Denver to see a Broadway musical, Billy Elliot. It was a pretty inspirational show, with great music. The basic moral of the story is that you should do whatever makes you happy, no matter how many people say, "You shouldn't," or "You can't," or "Are you f****** stupid for doing that?" I think I can take a lot away from that show. I'm lucky to have parents who support me 100% because I know a lot of parents would say, "No way! You're going to college!" But they're allowing me to follow my dream of playing college hockey. I still come across a lot of people who doubt me or doubt what I'm doing or are surprised that I'm doing what I'm doing. Sometimes I let their comments get to me, but I really shouldn't. I talked to my dad on the way home from Denver last night, and he said, "Just because you're taking the road less traveled, doesn't mean it's the wrong road." I'm proud of what I'm doing.

Bismarck Camp in Denver Coming Up

I'm going to the same regional tryout camp in Denver that I went to last year for the Bismarck Bobcats. I'm excited to get out on the ice again because it's been a while since I've played a game. I think this year, I will be much more confident and ready to compete at this camp, though. Last year, I was a little shell-shocked. But I'm ready to go this time. I might have to go down to Denver a few days early because I can't find any ice up here in the mountains, and I'd like to get out on the ice a few more times before this weekend.

Life Like an Exchange Student

We just had an exchange student from Brazil move into our house. It's been cool for my dad, especially, because he lived in Brazil for a little while during college, and he knows some Portuguese. (He says he's partially multilingual, whatever that means.) But my mom made an interesting comment the other day. She said, "Tell Johan what you're doing. This year was kind of like being an exchange student for you." And after thinking about it more and more, I realized I really was like an exchange student this year. I lived in three different cities, with three different families, I had to learn a whole new language (the hockey vernacular is a little different than the shred gnarpow lingo of the Vail Valley), and I had to readjust my whole lifestyle because before this year, I had never played hockey at such a high level. I had never even played more than 20 games for the past 4 years. And this year, I played 37 at a much higher level, I practiced hard every day, I worked out pretty much every day, and, as you can imagine, it was very taxing on my body.

Anyway, I thought it was a neat realization because this year was a very different year for me. I only skied one day...Living in Bismarck, North Dakota was a little different than living in the Vail Valley, to say the least. I met people who didn't know what mountain biking is or who haven't skied in their life! It's mind-boggling. This year was different, but so much fun. And such an amazing experience, one whose real amazingness probably won't sink in completely until after I'm finished living the life of an exchange student. After this year, I realize I am so blessed to live where I do and to have had the opportunity to do so many things in my life that most people never even dream of doing. I also realize that at this point in my life, I'm making sacrifices to chase my dream, but I'm so happy I'm chasing it. If I wanted to be a skier, I would have chosen that path a long time ago.