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letsgetrowdy43 · 11 months ago

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Timeline—

Au Masterlist!!

Evangeline "Angie" Chandler is from Dallas, Texas. She was raised there by her mother and father, alongside her older and younger sister.

Her mother played hockey alongside Ellen when they were little and remained one of her closest friends up until graduating from college, the two of them lost contact as their lives got busy and they both gained a career and families.

But they got close again when a scout reached out to the Chandler family and offered Angie a position on the USNTDP team, while they were searching for a suitable Billet family they saw Ellen and Jim's names on the list of available rooms and knew that Angie would be in good hands.

Ellen had quite the house full, Quinn was at Umich, Luke and Jack were still at home, and Angie and Alex Turcotte moved into the remaining spare bedrooms as Billet kids. It was hectic, but was so much fun.

Angie loved living with the Hughes, and Ellen quickly became her idol as the mother helped her through the acclimation to playing on an all-boys team, she helped with the tears and the breakdowns, talking her out of quitting her sport when her actual mother couldn't be there to help her through it all.

Angie finishes out her two years with the program, makes an insane name for herself, and suddenly she gets a call from the NHL inviting her out to the combine

The Combine goes well, she is obviously athletically gifted so she does all of the testing just fine, her interviews with teams were a little disheartening, but her ones with the Devils and the Sabres both felt really promising.

Now that it's known throughout the league that a girl was invited out to participate amongst the boys she's getting a little anxious about how real this all is

People either hate her or love her, her stats were impeccable so many hockey lovers are really rooting for her, whereas some people just absolutely hate her

So it becomes a lot, ESPN does a little documentary on her life and achievements, NHL does one on her impact within the program, its a lot of positive media where she's sharing her struggle to be seen as an equal.

She sat through many sexist interviews and read many disgusting tabloids about her that all lacked the conversation of hockey and focused more on literally anything else

But people still really hate her, her 'softness' is not the type of thing the league is built for blah blah blah, misogynistic bullshit.

Anyways, the draft comes around and she is a part of the League "Welcome to the NHL" video along with Cole, Jack, and a few other draftees.

She wore a lavender suit with a list of Women who pushed and fought to get her where she is in life on the inside of her jacket along with a tiny Ellen Hughes quote that said "Give 'em hell," an homage to the woman who pushed her the most.

She was trending on Twitter the second she stepped on that carpet, she was so obsessed with reading how much people hated her as she sat in the stands, that her dad had to take her phone to calm her nerves.

Jack went first like she knew he would, and she was the first person he went to hug after he went through his whole family, whispering a short "I owe this all to you," as she shook her head and hugged him tightly.

She wasn't drafted in the end, and she was so upset, but she was more upset with herself for even thinking that being in the NHL was a possibility.

She ends up crying in Ellen's arms outside of the arena, realizing that nothing she could do would ever be good enough.

She almost quits hockey that summer, but Quinn calls her outraged when she doesn't show up for the first summer training session.

"So that's it?" he asks over the phone. "I don't know what else I can do Q, I've done everything I can at this point, it's not worth the fight anymore" He let out a bitter laugh, "So you just let them win?" she sat for a second in silence before he spoke up again, "I'm not allowing that Chandler, I better see you tomorrow or I will show up to your house and drag you here myself." It was safe to say that she went the next day, but the real emotional moment was when Jim texted her telling her that he missed her at practice to tell her he was proud of her for pushing past it all

Then she was off to university, much like most of the USNTDP boys, Jack and Quinn are both now in the League playing their rookie years

Her collegiate rookie year was the same year as covid so it's pretty bland, her team and roommate are the only people she gets to be around so she felt very isolated by the end of the year

Before the entire world shut down though she got a chance to visit Jack during her reading week, and this is where she meets Nico for the first time

It was literally just a week of him and her giving each other heart eyes, Jack was over it the second it started, he wanted time with his Angie and Nico was ruining it.

By the end of her trip, Jack had practically locked her in his room and said that she couldn’t leave until it was time to go home cause he wanted to hang out with just her for a few days, with no Nico, and no distractions.

Luke got drafted in 2021, and she was asked to join Quinn and Jack in a video tribute for him and the Hughes for ESPN, she gladly reached out and accepted the interview.

It was at that time that a producer told her that if she ever wanted to give up her pipe dream, she could always have the backup of reporting or journalism. She was not a fan of that comment.

She was also there to witness Jack’s over-the-top reaction, which she still relentlessly bullies him for.

She spoke a little to Pat Brisson that night, and he hinted that shortly, the league is gonna do some growing and he wants to be the one to represent her if there ever comes a time that she needs it. She tells him that she’ll reach out if she ever needs to.

She became an Assistant/Alternate captain in her second year (2021-2022) and she loved it, she really grew into her role as a leader and her team was amazing.

Nothing happened over the summer of ‘22 other than training, and a summer fling that she meets at a bar in Michigan.

Fall semester 2022 starts and she’s back in Minnesota, but around a month in she gets a call from the devs asking to meet with her.

Nico, Lindy, Tom Fitzgerald, and a few other legal and coaching staff representatives are the few people in the room as they go over the terms and conditions of her joining the team.

It was summed up to her that she was being brought in as that “glue” character in their locker room, that she was to bring that close-knit family structure that they were missing. The staff had heard from many sources that she was the girl they were gonna want to bring this feeling to, so the devs were the first to take a chance on her.

Nico asked her out a few weeks later and it was a hard no, she was almost a little offended that he even attempted.

So there starts the heat of awkward tension between them, they have amazing chemistry, they play the same line, and they spend nearly every waking second in each other's presence, but there is still some tension between the two of them that seems a little less than friendly and slightly flirty.

Angie is not looking for romance whatsoever, she has a shot at a career, and to her, it seems like Nico is trying to jeopardize her place on the team, or that he doesn't see her as a teammate so she is not only mad but also really hurt that he would act like he wants her there but also through his actions shows that he doesn't.

He doesn't get that, he's a man, and he worked hard to get where he is but he's never faced the same challenges as her so he doesn't see how the weight of his actions could affect her shot at a professional career.

She attended the 2023 all-star weekend in Florida with Jack, and they had a blast, she's the one who sunk Sidney in the dunk tank which was a “mega slay” as she explained it to the reporter on sight (her media training went right out the window the second she saw Crosby)

Her being a locker room staple on the team obviously worked cause they make playoffs!!

She plays a really good run too, with 12 points in her 10 games, but she gets injured in game 4 against the Canes and she didn't play game 5

She sprained her knee and broke her wrist from a hit to the boards and was actually distraught when she was told she couldn't play for the rest of the run. She thought the boys would back her up, and she wanted to prove that she wasn't soft and could continue, but Nico put his foot down and told them that they had to think about her health first and not the possibility of a win.

She somehow found herself at the Stanley Cup finals a few weeks later, helping with commentary for ESPN, she was on a panel with Biz and Gretzky which was both equally terrifying and hilarious.

Angie also attended her first-ever NHL awards ceremony, she was a finalist for ‘Rookie of the Year’ and she won!!!

Nico saw her in her gown and was literally like 😻😻😻 the entire night, Lindy would not let him live it down either, he was relentlessly bullying the Captain every time he even glanced at the girl who was basically the fan favourite on the carpet.

Her summer is spent with a strict physical therapy regimen, but she still has a lot of fun, even attended the Tkachuck wedding with the Hughes’

She spends a week in Sweden with Jesper cause his mother really wants to meet this girl whom both Nicole and Jesper raved about during the season.

Going into her sophomore year she was so scared of ending up in a slump, and she did absolutely that from stressing about it so much.

Her sophomore year is also the year she realizes just how loved she is by the team, because of this slump all of the boys are doing everything in their power to get her through it.

It's also the year she realizes that she might be in love with her captain, but she definitely pushes that thought far to the back of her mind, not willing to think or reflect on it cause she needs to focus on herself and her career.

At this point, Nico has accepted that she views him as a teammate and nothing more so he is just focused on the betterment of the team, but deep down he knows that he will never meet someone more perfect for him than her.

Luke puts him into perspective during training camp while he's bitching about how he doesn't understand why she just won't let him be happy. And Luke being the basically little brother he is just sits up and rips into Nico for being so blind.

"It's like no one in this locker room realizes how much harder she worked for this than we all did?" he looked at the captain as everyone quieted, "she has a point to prove, you just have to play hockey, she has to show that she is worthy to even ben considered equal" and with that, he headed out to the ice, stunning Nico, his brother, and literally everyone in the room.

So that's why he has dropped any type of advances for her that he was trying to pursue, realizing that he was only harming her by trying to chase whatever feelings he had.

Angie on the other end is dealing with a mental battle, cause she never wants to be known as that girl who gets on this team and starts sleeping with her captain, having a reputation followed by a negative connotation is the last thing she wants.

But it's the holidays, they are in Ohio and are celebrating a win against the Blue Jackets in one of the hotel conference rooms, and Nico and her have not left each other's sides all night. The two of them decide to step out for a second of air, cold air filling their lungs as they just quietly stare at each other. The night had been filled with fleeting glances and quick moments of physical touch as they sat next to each other, thighs brushing against each other and hands momentarily touching. So now they are standing outside with this thick tension between them, and she just kisses him.

It's safe to say that she runs straight to her hotel after profusely apologizing to him, his eyes wide as she steps away from him with shaky hands and then just leaves him in shock.

She calls Quinn immediately, she doesn't know why, but she needs to tell someone, and she can't tell Jack, she sure as shit can't tell Trevor or any of the other USNTDP boys, so she calls her basically older brother.

Quinn assures her that she isn't going to get kicked off the team for a simple kiss, and Nico will surely be fine in the morning

Nico is just absolutely gagged, so he's fine, just shocked.

She literally can't look at him for weeks, and he's going insane from her ignoring him, so he pulls her aside and is like 'This needs to stop'

Nico stops her on her way out of Lindy's office and says he needs to talk, she is literally frozen in fear as they walk to an empty room. "Are we okay?" "I am so sorry," they say at the same time as they just stare at each other. "Why are you sorry?" "I kissed you? and it was weird and unprofessional?" "It's fine, just stop being weird about it, it happened, we move past it," he said, trying not to smother her with the feelings that he's still trying to keep it at bay, "do you regret it?" "Yes," is all she says before sighing and watching him nod and leave the room.

They both know she doesn't actually regret it, she is just doing what is best for her and for her name.

I have no idea how they get together just yet, so if you guys have any ideas lmk!!!

#neveragodau!!#nico hischier

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three-headed-monster · 1 year ago

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adam fantilli | nhl scouting combine 2023

*all credits go to the respective photographers

#too lazy to crop out the getty watermarks #you can appreciate him with them there #someone teach me how to edit them out though #adam fantilli #nhl combine 2023 #umich hockey #nhl draft 2023 #<- breaking in the tag

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puckpocketed · 4 months ago

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19/07/2024 - Tory Pitner joins USHL in Focus: 2024 NHL Draft Edition

My transcript of Tory Pitner's interview with Paul Allan for the USHL. Lightly edited where unavoidable for clarity. Extra context in (round brackets) and adjustments for ease of reading in [square brackets]. Text in bold are all my highlights, stuff I thought was very interesting.

There's so much to say about how talkative he is. It's rarely useless chatter, it's always answering the question and on topic, and it's clear that anything he says is informed and well-considered.

I love how much he seems to think about his long-term development goals, and how his entire junior career up to the draft (and now beyond) has been about pushing himself in the right ways, finding people who he can learn from, working and working and chipping away at his goals. It feels like he could tell all the scouts exactly what they're writing about him if they asked him to break down his own game. I get the feeling he knows exactly what kind of player he is and where he needs to improve. He says, with such certainty, that his hard work will pay off. Like he knows exactly what trajectory he's on and that all he has to do is work to get there.

I like the way he thinks about leadership and responsibility, how he simply wants it, and how when he sees leaders he admires he does everything to take lessons from them. I am not surprised he's worn letters for so many teams he's been on. He's had the C twice; during his U-15 year and for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He craves challenge. He studies the game and loves it dearly. He can name just about every person who has ever helped him get to where he is, and he attempts to do just that. He is so, so smart. I don't know how else to sell people on this guy - I think maybe one day he's really gonna be something, whether it's as a player or a coach, or who knows. But I think I'll leave it at that and let him speak for himself.

Paul Allan: Well we’re joined now by a very busy young fella named Tory Pitner, former Youngstown Phantom who’s about to start his college career at the University of Denver. We’re excited to talk about a couple things here with Tory, it’s been a busy two years for Tory… You’re from Greenwich Connecticut, you’re an East Coast guy, but it appears to me that before you ended up in Youngstown, you spent some time on the West Coast with minor programs there; with the LA Junior Kings, the San Jose Junior Sharks, and then prep school.

So let’s talk about your path to Youngstown first, and then we’ll talk about the rest of the time here. It looks like you’re in a dorm room there at the University of Denver, so we’ll talk about that in a bit, but let’s talk about your path to Youngstown. How did you end up playing for the Phantoms and how was that — playing in the USHL [United States Hockey League] — [as] a place for you to develop as a young player?

Tory Pitner: Yeah, for sure. [It] started out like you said, I was born in Greenwich Connecticut and then I moved to Northern California when I was pretty young, and then played pretty much there in the LA Junior Kings growing up before COVID hit. So I was in that kind of system in the West Coast. Really great spot out there, with great coaches — Brett Beebe, Derek (inaudible, unable to find him on any backdated staff lists) — a bunch of great coaches I had out there.

And then Covid hit, and I made the decision to go and play prep school at South Kent, which is a school in South Kent, Connecticut, and basically that decision was a combination of being able to be on the ice every day, guaranteed ice, being able to have my academics and my athletics all in one place on the Hillside. I went to South Kent, played for [Jamie Russel (Director of Hockey Operations, Head Coach)] there. Really loved my experience, I thought it was great for me. That was the first time I was able to get on the ice every day and I think it was big for me, both for my development and maturity. Being able to figure out a schedule that works for me, because the schedule we had at South Kent was pretty similar to the one we had in Youngstown, and now the one I have here at D.U. So, great stepping stone for me into junior hockey.

And then, that year while I was at South Kent, I was drafted into the WHL [Western Hockey League] with the Edmonton Oil Kings and then I was also drafted into the USHL, after the year was done, with Youngstown. And kind of made the decision shortly after the draft there to head to Youngstown for a [variety] of reasons. Being able to play U.S. college hockey was something that was always a dream of mine. When talking to both organisations, both teams, I thought that the USHL and college in general was just the route for me to go. Looking at myself as a player I [felt] like, ‘I’m gonna need more time to develop,’ and I think the USHL is obviously an unbelievable league for development, being able to go in there and play against guys that are three, four years older than you when you when you’re 16 is something that I really looked at, and I embraced that challenge and I loved that opportunity.

I thought that the travel for us in Youngstown was a bit different than everyone else, but I thought that was good for me to learn how to navigate the roads. And, you know, going through junior hockey now into college hockey, there’s always going to be travel, and then when you get to the NHL level there’s going to be a lot of travel — granted, they travel a little differently — but I thought we did a pretty good job in Youngstown at that. So just, ultimately, the decision came down to; I wanted to play college hockey and I wanted to play in the USHL because I thought that was the best development league for me to get to college hockey.

So I was drafted by Youngstown after my U-15 year, and then decided to head back to South Kent for what would’ve been my U-16 year, but I ended up going and playing up — playing U-18 for the first [part] of the year. I wanted to go and I wanted to be over-ready to go to Youngstown, and so I thought that going back to South Kent, it was still a great situation for me. I went back and then went and played my affiliate games with Youngstown, and through my affiliate games talking with coach [Ryan] Ward and coach [Andy] Contois and coach [Brandon] Gotkin and the whole staff they have there, and based on how I felt in the games — I felt a lot more ready than I thought I was going to, so it didn’t really feel like a jump to me up to the USHL, it felt more like a transition. And that was something that — you know at the beginning of the year I didn’t wanna make the jump prematurely, but after going and playing those games I really found that it was a league that I could compete in and one that would be best for my development moving into college.

At Christmas I finished my semester of school and decided to transition to Youngstown and it was the best decision I could’ve made honestly — ended up finishing the year with them. I think I played around 40-something games with them at the end of the year. And it was great, being able to be in the locker room with guys like Chase Pietila (PIT), another USHL guy that just got drafted, and Chase was kind of a role model for me — I still talk to him to this day — but he was someone who really showed me the ropes, showed me the league.

And Youngstown in general; Andy Contois did a great job of teaching me how to defend at that next level which I feel like is something that, for me, moving on now looking back on my career is something I’m super grateful for. Even though it was only a year and a half ago, it’s something I feel like is now a staple in my game that, before coming to junior hockey, you never would’ve known certain nuances about defending that you do now. Andy’s a great coach, he’s worked a lot with me, I’ve worked a lot with him about certain things I need to develop and will continue to develop. We still talk pretty regularly, too.

Just being able to go up and play those games and be in a locker room with those guys — like Shane Lachance (EDM), being our captain, there isn’t enough to be said about Shane Lachance. He is probably one of the best captains I have and will ever have had. Seeing him as a leader and being around him and seeing his ability to connect with every guy in the room is something that I really tried to take from and emulate. That was really great for me. And ultimately being able to play with the group of guys we had my first year in Youngstown was great. [Being] in practice every day was the best thing for me, because you have [William] Will Whitelaw (CBJ), who was going a million miles an hour on you on a gap drill, that — you’re stuck in mud — so being able to learn those things and play against those guys… I think my first year there we had five NHL draft picks; I roomed with Jacob Fowler (MTL) so I got to see excellence right down the hall. That was really something that, for me, was a great experience, and kind of threw me into the fire a bit with junior hockey, and was the best thing for me and I loved every second of it.

And those guys, after winning the Clark Cup with them, it can’t be understated how much of a bond everyone had there. We were together — you know, everyone could’ve gone home after, but we all decided we wanted to stay together and just hang out, because we knew we were gonna miss each other as a group, and we still — our group chat’s still active. We still talk pretty regularly. I talk with a few of those guys that I got pretty close with pretty often. And you know, [them] taking me in as a 16-year-old and really showing me the ropes led me to being able to jump into my next year, my 17-year-old year, my draft year, and have an idea of how it’s going to look; because I saw Stratty [Andrew Strathmann (PIT)] and Whitey [William Whitelaw], and Brandon Svoboda (SJS), [Matthew] Perkins (VAN), Fowler, I saw them all doing NHL interviews last year, I saw how that whole process went. It kind of eased my nerves going into my next year, because I’d seen it, I’d known what it looks like.

Being in Youngstown, they do a great job of bringing in high calibre players to have that experience. Me and Luke Osburn (BUF) went along with that process together this year and I thought it was great for me and Ozzy to push each other all year, being able to play games. We had another good team, we had another great group of players, great group of guys. Obviously, it wasn’t the end result we wanted, we ran into a great Dubuque [Fighting Saints] team and we just weren’t able to get it done. But ultimately I thought that this year was a great learning experience for me, too. Having to take on a bigger role with the Phantoms was something that I really embraced, and loved the challenge of, and loved the opportunity to do. I’m super grateful for the coaching staff and coach Contois for giving me that increased opportunity. Being able to wear a letter for them is something that I was really proud of. They looked on me as a leader in the locker room to kind of show the other guys the way; I thought that was really great for me.

The [other] opportunities I had this year as well, like being able to captain the Hlinka Gretzky team was something that was a dream of mine. Whenever I found out about the tournament, I wanted to go, but I didn’t just want to go; I wanted to be a leader on the team and make an impact. And, you know, we were able to do that; win our first medal — since 2016 I think it was — with the United States. Hopefully the team this year can follow that up and bring home gold. Then, continuing into the season playing for USA again at the World Juniors — didn't get the result we wanted but that was another great experience. To be around the top guys in the USHL and play with other guys that have been drafted before, and talk with other guys, talk with the coaching staff… They brought some of the best coaches from the USHL along; to be able to pick their brain every day, we have guys from that coaching staff, like Mike Leone, he’s now coaching in the AHL and I got to be on the ice with Leo every day for two weeks, which was something that I thought was great for me. Being able to be around those guys, too, who are now going to step into college and be great college players before going on to having great pro careers.

So those opportunities coming back in my second year was something that was really great for me. And I was super fortunate to have that, and then getting the call to come into Denver this year, and now being able to take all that experience and transition it into college. In our first [skates (?)] here, I feel pretty confident, so that’s something that definitely prepared me and I’m really grateful for.

A bit of a long winded answer, but yeah.

PA: That’s awesome. I do have a couple of questions for you though, and a couple of observations that I always… Everybody who’s involved with hockey over the years talks about the small world and you mentioned Jamie Russel there. Of course, Jamie Russel is a former coach at Michigan Tech. and Chase Pietila is from the — I mean, I don’t know how many Pietilas have played at Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. of the the years. There's a bunch of them.

TP: So many. And Adam is on our team again, he’s [Chase’s] cousin.

PA: But what a whirlwind for you, and I know the Youngstown organisation is extremely proud of you, a 2-time All-Academic kid, too. And I know, Tory, as you were making your — one of the things you sort of left out there was the recruiting process, and what you were juggling there, and how that went along for you. We’ll get to Denver and how you ended up deciding to go play for the Pioneers here in a sec, but I want to talk about this past year going back to the Clark Cup Championship season.

During your minus-1 draft year you end up playing for Youngstown, and what a great time to jump on board with them and contributing to a Clark Cup Championship, the first one in the organisation. That’s pretty cool, but then you touched on the Hlinka Gretzky invite and the World Junior-A Challenge invite, and then you get to go to the NHL draft, get selected by the Colorado Avalanche; and then you get an invite to the USA Hockey World Junior Summer Showcase. And you’re oh, by the way, starting summer school at DU with workouts and [getting to know] all your teammates. How are you able to juggle everything and keep a clear head with all this stuff, Tory? For an eighteen-year-old kid, that sounds like a lot of things to consider.

TP: Yeah, yeah no, it’s definitely a lot. But like I said to you before we hopped on the call: I’d rather be busy than bored. So for me, I always want to push myself. Instead of just sitting in bed and watching Youtube or something, that’ll be the time I do my homework from my summer school courses and everything like that. Being here, I really love the schedule because we’re up early, we’re working out early, and then we go to class and then we get to come back, we get to skate with all the pro guys out here. And then you come back and you do homework and you get to do it all again the next day. You’re really fully immersed in the whole culture.

And I’d really say, just, how I’m handling it is; it’s the preparation I had before, from South Kent, getting to see what that model would look like — having school and hockey in the same place. And then being in Youngstown and travelling as much as we did; some of our bus trips, like when we went to Fargo for the Clark Cup, that was right in the middle of finals season, too. We’re busing 23 hours, we’re busing out to Fargo to play the [Fargo] Force.

You learn to prioritise different things. You learn how to manage your schedule pretty well. You know, it does suck. You can’t call your buddies as much. You can’t text, Instagram — none of that stuff really comes into play too much anymore just because you’re so busy. I really embrace it. And I think that it’s something — if I wasn’t busy I’d probably be a little more upset, if that makes sense. Like, I’d rather have this schedule where I’m constantly going and, you know, I think it’s pushing me. It’s a bit of [overload] training here in the summer, just with how much we’re actually doing, how much of a course load, how much lifts we have. Skating with the pro guys, too. Being out here at D.U., we have a great setup where a lot of the pro guys come back and skate. Being drafted to Colorado is great because you see Colorado guys coming into the locker room, you get to meet them, you get to meet guys in the NHL club and you get to skate with some of them sometimes. That’s really great for me in my development going into my freshman year here and ultimately to making the Avs.

But like you said, it's been a long summer, but it’s one I’m super grateful for, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

PA: Before we talk [about the draft], I do want to talk about your decision to go to Denver and play for the Pioneers, and the commitment process. How did the process — how did you decide that going to Denver was the best place for your development as a player and as a student?

TP: Right before the USHL Fall Classic, I actually started talking to a bunch of teams. I was previously committed (to UMass Amherst), but decided to decommit for reasons — just coaching change reasons, everything like that. So, I decided to decommit and the fit really wasn’t there anymore. Decommit, and then open up my recruiting process before the USHL Fall Classic, then go to the Fall Classic. And honestly don’t really focus on it too much. Just try and play my best hockey for my team, because that was my goal, that’s what I’m there for. It can’t be a distraction. But after the Fall classic I had a little bit of time off and I talked to a couple of schools, had a couple of Zoom calls. Right when I talked to D.C. [coach David Carle] and the Pioneers, I knew that it was probably the place I was going to end up.

Being a West Coast kid growing up there, they were the furthest West team before A.S.U. [Arizona State University] became a college hockey program. So growing up, you go to tournaments in Colorado, you always want to go to the D.U. games. You grow up like — I watched Will Butcher play (2013-17), and Will Butcher’s in the locker room now (25/07/2023 - Butcher has signed with Barys Astana, a KHL team; link, archive link). That’s so cool for me, and hearing those guys talk and what they see is the plan for me, what I see is the plan for myself, and both of those kind of aligning; it really just made the perfect sense. And obviously they have an unbelievable track record of developing NHL defensemen here at Denver, like if you walk through our locker rooms you look at the walls, NHL players are on the walls. You look at them and go, ��they’re in the same shoes. I am there doing the same workouts. They were doing the same skate. They were doing the same schedule.’ And that really gives you confidence to keep working hard because you know that someone’s been through your path before, and if you keep working and you keep staying your path… and — not keep your head down — but if you just put your head down and work hard, then you’ll be able to achieve what you want to achieve.

After talking to them and hearing those things from the coaching staff — Ferg does a great job with the [defensemen] — Dallas Ferguson. Travis MacMillan does a great job recruiting, great job with the boards. All the staff here, there’s — I could list them all, but it really doesn’t do justice how much of a fit it really felt like, talking to them on the phone.

Once I really had that conversation, I felt that it was the best thing for me and kind of a no-brainer decision when you pull in where I grew up, how much success they had… And so I made that decision shortly thereafter, and I’ve been thrilled with it ever since. Kept in touch with them pretty much all year. Had a great open line of communication development-wise and just personnel-wise, just checking in and seeing how I’m doing as a person off the ice, how I’m handling that schedule that we have in Youngstown, just being that [travelled]. They were great with me, and now that I'm here, I couldn't be happier. All the guys here on the team are great guys and I’m really excited to be here and can’t wait to get started.

PA: You’re a two-time USHL All-Academic pick in your two seasons with Youngstown. Tory, have you thought about what you’re going to take for classes and what are you going to major in?

TP: Yeah, we just actually had that conversation with our academic advisor last week, so I’m kind of torn right now, but I’m leaning towards psychology. So what I’m going to do is my first quarter, I’ll take Intro to Psych and Intro to Business and Into To a bunch of those courses, because no matter what, they're all going to count for common core courses, so I kind of get to feel it out and see which one I’m going to take. Right now I’m probably leaning towards majoring in psychology. I’ll make that decision, we’ll all declare officially after our freshman year, so I have the year to figure it out.

But I’m really excited. I have a good course load, a lot of good challenging courses, a lot of fun courses, too, interesting ones. So it’ll make it easy when you're interested in the subject to be able to go in and learn and go to class. And it’s nice to be in an actual classroom again after two years of online school with the Phantoms. It’s something that you don’t really think about, but it definitely helps. And it’s nice for me as a kid that always wants to learn. I think that’s my mentality on and off the ice. It's just always wanting to learn, always wanting to get better. So I’m really excited for it. I think that summer school so far has gone well — knock on wood — grades are coming out pretty soon, but I feel pretty confident about it. So yeah, I’m just looking forward to it. And I think it’ll be a great experience off the ice in the classroom and both on the ice.

PA: Let’s wrap it up with your draft day experience in Vegas, Tory. Of course, you’ve alluded to it already; you were picked in the 6th round by the Avalanche and [inaudible]. That’s pretty cool. What were your thoughts, and tell us about the excitement that you experienced there in Vegas a couple of weeks ago?

TP: It was a long day, I’ll give you that one. Got there with my family. We actually — we had a test on Thursday, so I took my test and I flew out Thursday night into Vegas and the draft obviously started Friday. And going into it, you kind of have an idea of a few teams that you thought could pick you, but you don’t really know where with how the draft’s going to shake out. You hear some things, but they don’t really hold true just because everything is crazy. You saw the draft. It went nuts after that third pick, pretty much everything changed. Just going in there, no expectations, just be grateful for the opportunity you have to be there and being able to be there with my family and my friends and some coaches, just people I hold close to my heart, was something that was super cool for me.

Busy week with everything we had, like dinners, breakfasts, meetings; everything like that with teams or with whoever — with your advisor, with your family. But it was ultimately a good time, you get to throw on a suit, get to go to the draft. The Sphere was obviously unbelievable; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in my life. I was probably cranking my neck to see who the next pick was at the top of the board there. It was a pretty cool experience being able to sit around all those great prospects. And then, you know, I talked to Colorado quite a bit throughout the year, stayed in contact with them, and so I felt that they were one of the teams that I could have gone to, and so every time they were picking I was on the edge of my seat a bit.

And then finally you hear your name called after a long day, it was something that — a lot of relief, and just joy, gratitude. It was an unbelievable feeling. Really grateful having the Youngstown guys there. I wasn’t able to go and say ‘hi’ just because of how busy it was, which I was frustrated about, but it was good to see people that you hadn’t seen in a little bit and really share that experience with everyone that helped get you there, because that’s what it’s all about. I wouldn’t be here without all the people in my corner, all the people that have coached me going up, my mom; like everything, they’ve all been there for me in the past. I wouldn’t be there without them and being able to be there and celebrate that and going to the Avalanche is something that is super special for me, especially being here in Denver growing up.

They have an unbelievable D-core right now, and so you know that, going into it, they have a high expectation. And then going to Dev Camp and meeting the staff, you understand what that high expectation is. You just go and you work your hardest and you try and improve your game and adapt it to whatever they need so one day you’ll be able to play at the NHL level. And being here at D.U., I said it before, but having them right down the road and having some of their guys come back and skate and lift here and train here is something that’s super cool for me to get to see. Then obviously D.U. had Sean Behrens last year, who’s going to the Avs now, so getting to hang out with all the D.U. guys that were at Avs Dev Camp was great for me, especially all the defensemen.

It was really a perfect situation because even though we had summer school we were still able to go, and we wouldn’t have been able to go to dev camp if it wasn’t in Colorado, so that was awesome for me. I couldn’t be more happy. I’m really grateful for the organisation for taking a chance on me. And now it’s my opportunity, and pretty much all I have to do right now is go and prove them right. Prove to them that they got a steal and just make sure that they made the right decision, and go out there and work as hard as I can. [I’m] happy that they feel — they like me as a prospect, and I really enjoy [being] in an organisation like that. Obviously they have a great track [record] for success and I hope to get out to a few games this year and watch and cheer them on.

PA: Alright Tory, thanks very much for joining us on your busy schedule. Looking forward to seeing your career progress. You still got a lot of stuff to do this summer with the World Junior Showcase in Plymouth. I was thinking about Zeev Buium being there, William Whitelaw, Jake Fisher, all guys that you…

TP: All guys I know, yeah.

PA: And then the rest of the way with the Pioneers this winter with your schedule, and then after that. So best of luck and thanks a lot for joining us, and enjoy the rest of your summer, okay?

TP: Thank you. I appreciate that. Alright, bye.

#truly SO interesting. such a fascinating draft pick #a fit for the avs if the people in my tags for that one post are correct?#Tory Pitner #puck!script #colorado avalanche #puckscouting

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csykora · 2 years ago

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hi csykora! i appreciate this may not be your field of academic interest but as the pre eminent hockey professor i was wondering if you could give any insight as to why some draft classes are just stacked and others are ??? thinking about the absurdity that is the 2015 draft class vs the 2012 class for example

This is a great question! I have 500 answers. :)

I'm not a statistician, so I can't really talk about how particular draft classes are different, but there are a lot of reasons why they are. It's sort of a stew made up of some amount of the following reasons:

the annual draft isn't a snapshot of all the hockey players born in a certain year: it's a sampler of American and Canadian players who were between 18 and 20, and international players between 18 and 21, at a certain point in a certain year. While the top prospects we talk most about do often get taken in the first draft they're eligible for, keep in mind that this is a large and often overlapping group. That means that random differences between kids born in certain years can get folded together in an odd way.

whether you're taken in your first year and if so, where, depends on how much NHL decision makers have seen and heard about you. Teams judge prospects based on the assessments of the Central Scouting Service, and by the team's own scouts. The CSS is meant to be an unbiased resource for the whole league: they're the ones who publish out the twice-yearly draft reports ranking players, and who organize the Combine. (It's worth noting that while other major sports franchises also have league scouting departments to assist their teams, hockey is unique in that it publishes the scouting reports publicly and people, like normal members of the Canadian population with families and jobs, read them. Other sports fans just do not care about ranking prospects like this.) The CSS has about 5-10 full time scouts and 15 part time scouts in North America, and hires 6 more scouts from the European Scouting Service out of Finland to watch European and continental games.

You will notice that the CSS doesn't have a Russian wing. A couple of the ESS's 6 scouts rotate cover it for them, but--and I don't know if you all know this--Russia is large as hell. CSS scouts work long hours and travel ludicrous distances just to cover some of the US and Canada--and even then they manage to make Colton Parayko-sized mistakes. I want to be clear that I respect individual scouts' work, but the CSS reports are fundamentally flawed.

So each team will also hire some number of scouts to hunt for them. Several NHL teams still don't have a Russian scout--meaning an NHL team is ahead of the game if they have one. Russian hockey players barely manage to travel across Russia to get to all of their own games. And that's Russia, one of the richest mines for talent! Most teams don't have consistent scouting in lots of places like Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc. Scouts typically go to international championships and then might follow up on a player who has already been identified as promising. Sometimes while they do that they catch a random glimpse of other players. Vítek Vaněček, for example, is now a sturdy NHLer who wasn't on anybody's radar and would never have been drafted at all if he hadn't happened to be in the same city at the same time as Jakub Vrána.

The team scouts still have to start their hunt based on previous scouting, and some peer pressure. According to Serge Savard, "When Central Scouting comes out with their first-round list, all the scouts think, 'Oh, Christ, I better get this player in my list or I’ll look bad.'" Sure, you want to find a hidden gem before somebody else does, but on the flipside nobody wants to be the person who wasted days of travel and your boss' time by going to freaking Krasnoyarsk to watch some kid play and he turns out to be just okay. There are a lot of boys in Alaska who aren't Colton Parayko. That risk vs. reward leads to a happy medium of mundanity. NHL scouting is, by their own admission, accurate about 50% of the time.

So, did you make it to World Juniors? How did your team do this year, and maybe the year before (since again, we're looking at a draft eligible window)? How did your regular season team do? (And was that because of you, or in spite?) We often talk as though the World Juniors team are the best young players, but realistically if a young player's regular season team is strong and makes it deep into the season, maybe because he's helping them, sometimes they don't want to send him off to tournaments. Youth teams don't really care if one of their players gets on a national team or gets drafted to the NHL--maybe if he does he'll bring some good reputation for their program, or maybe not. In the CHL, it's fuck him really, he'll be 21 and age out anyway. Internationally, going to the NHL might bring a ton of money back to the community, but if there's a local pro team then they can't make money off him. They aren't inclined to be helpful. So it's not that all WJC players are actually bad, but there's a back-and-forth tug of pressures on which young players get on the international stage.

(This is especially a problem for young goalies: getting to the WJC really depends on their team being good enough that they look good, bad enough that they can leave in the middle of the season, or somehow both. In 2007, one of Canada's World Junior goalies put up a pretty miserable .833 save percentage. That was only to be expected--the reason he was available for the tournament was because he'd only won 42 out of the last 115 games for his regular season team, so they weren't exactly busy. As a result, he was drafted in the fourth round. His tandem partner for that tournament managed a more respectable .918, which had been about his average for the last few regular seasons, and was taken by the Avalanche in the second round, inside the top 50 prospects. One of these two players now has a Vezina, a Jennings, a Stanley Cup, and is named Braden Holtby. The other is Trevor Cann, who probably nobody outside Ontario remembers but me, and for sure nobody in Colorado remembers because he's never been there.)

Now, that's not scouting or teams' faults. It's also that 18 to 21 is a mind-bogglingly stupid age to predict young men's physical abilities. It seems like the idea that the human brain isn't "finished developing" until your early twenties has become a relatively common tidbit of science that people talk about on the internet--what I wish people would remember is that's as or more true of young men's freaking skeletons. Those boys are half-baked! There's a relatively wide range in when people reach their full heights, but your skeleton cannot fully mature until you do. In testosterone-driven development, your long bones grow from the soft growth plates at each end, until a hormonal shift stops them, causing the ends of the long bones to harden and thicken. (This process is why people with high T tend to have broader hands and bigger knuckles, in comparison to a similar person with lower T. Note that I phrase it this way because we all have testosterone.) Until that happens, bones are vulnerable to cracking at the growth plates, and muscles which generally attach at the ends of your long bones can become too strong for the bone under them. You really just do not know for sure how strong a boy is going to be until this process finishes, which could be in his mid teens but generally is in his early twenties. And as long as he's growing and his weight distribution is changing, he's going to have to keep adjusting how he moves. Some boys just go through a real gangly awkward stage, and that doesn't mean much of anything. (Speaking of things that don't mean much: the Combine. A lot of the tests aren't relevant, the ones that are, like the Wingate, aren't useful unless you have technical knowledge to interpret them, and it's a bad time to be testing boys anyway). As a pretty predictable result, the NHL tends to favor not just tall men, but men who got tall young, which is actually a pretty specific subset. Parayko grew six inches after he was 18.

Teams and their scouts follow trends, just like the rest of us. They want their own Carey Price, so they look for boys built like Price, who move like Price, even if maybe there's a different shape and style of goalie who would work just as well. They want tall boys. They want players with a certain body fat percentage, which means less than nothing. They want players with muscle in certain areas, so much that young players today do certain exercises just to look the right way. Maybe one year there's a really great smaller player, or a really great defenseman, and everyone gets excited about that guy but also knows they can't all have him, so they look closer than they usually would at other players in that 'type' to try to find a good alternative, and they drive up interest in that type of player.

And players make trends themselves. I think the biggest single explanation for 2015 is that, most of the time, playing either with or against a good player makes you a better player too. From a skill-development perspective, it's not actually the competition that matters, it's not about Eichel trying to beat McDavid, it's just about proximity. We learn from watching each other, being near each other. If you have a guy on your line who has already mastered a skill that you haven't yet, you'll learn it from him faster than you probably would have on your own. If you play against him, you'll learn it too. And when you're a younger kid playing near someone slightly older, who's more physically developed and therefore has had a chance to master more skills, you'll also tend to learn those skills. So again, we're talking about this range from 18 to 21, which I think can give you almost a hangover effect that stretches from year to year: you have a player like Mitch Marner who happens to be old enough to land in 2015, and then you have a younger teammate who had the opportunity to learn with him like Matthew Tkachuk who lands in 2016. (Not the greatest example because I'm sure Tkachuk would have been Tkachuk regardless, but my point is there is a clustering effect, most famously in Warroad, but also in Toronto and other places. Tom Wilson grew up learning to play from his future teammate Devante Smith-Pelly, and so on.)

Also, last but never least, the injuries. They completely change how we feel about a class retroactively. We really can't assume that just because some kid who was drafted high never panned out, he was never that great: very often there just wasn't a place available for him, and then he got injured in some quietly catastrophic way.

#hockey

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misschino · 7 months ago

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Baby nico at the nhl scouting combine 2017

#hockey #nhl #new jersey devils #nj devils #nico hischier

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hugheses · 6 months ago

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Jack Hughes' Draft Diaries for NHL.com

September 20, 2018 - Forward projected to be No. 1 pick discusses All-American Prospect Game

October 11, 2018 - Forward projected to be No. 1 pick preparing for first game against brother, Quinn

November 15, 2018 - Center projected to be No. 1 pick discusses recent tournament, plans for Thanksgiving Day

December 13, 2018 - Center projected to be No. 1 pick preparing for start of select camp for World Junior Championship

January 17, 2019 - Center projected to be No. 1 pick reflects on World Junior Championship performance, discusses injury

February 14, 2019 - Projected No. 1 pick discusses return to lineup, thoughts on stretch run

March 14, 2019 - Projected No. 1 pick discusses brother Quinn signing NHL contract, goals for remainder of season

April 11, 2019 - Projected No. 1 pick discusses Draft Lottery, World Under-18 tournament, brother Quinn making NHL debut

May 9, 2019 - Projected No. 1 pick discusses excitement for World Championship, disappointment with end of U-18 tournament

June 1, 2019 - Projected No. 1 pick discusses meeting with teams, not testing at NHL Scouting Combine

June 21, 2019 - No. 1 pick grateful, excited after selected by Devils

#jack hughes #queue #2018 #2019

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annieqattheperipheral · 1 year ago

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Why the Maple Leafs went off the board to select "Cowboy" Easton Cowan

Treliving was working the phones & did try to trade down bc they knew they were picking this projected 2nd-rounder high but no bites. But i suppose in turn it puts a nice spotlight on a swell fella we should get to know

the cowboys've got The Passion™️

farmboy, loves naz, AND ✨stylin✨ has more than got the goods to fit right in w mitchy & auston

full article about cowboy:

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Moments after he first met Dale Hunter, the longtime Knights head coach gave Easton Cowan a nickname that stuck.

“Cowboy.”

Born in Strathroy, Ont., Cowan comes from a farm in nearby Mount Brydges where his family farms cash crops like wheat, corn and soybeans. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and Cowan’s time in high school classes became limited, he began working on the farm from 6:30 in the morning till 9 at night during the busy farming seasons of spring and fall, driving a tractor beside the massive combine his father Chris uses to transfer crops.

“It’s the time you have to put in to succeed in the cash crop business of farming,” Chris told The Athletic.

That time on the farm helped instill a work ethic, as well as good ol’ farm strength, that Cowan has made his hallmark as a Knight. Ahead of the draft, Clark was clear: The Leafs wanted players who had intelligence, competitiveness and who could “influence winning hockey.”

Clark and the team’s scouting staff appear to have found a player who ticks those boxes.

“It’s a great picture of what (Cowan) could be in the NHL,” Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson said. “His motor and his engine on the ice, he is relentless and never stops working. And he’s the type of player that if you want him to play higher in your lineup with skilled guys and bring competitiveness and forechecking and skill, he can do that. If you want him to play a defensive game and play the penalty kill, he can do those things.”

That versatility was evident as the Knights went to the OHL final this season. During that playoff run that Simpson called “impactful,” Cowan’s game shone. The Leafs valued how he played in the playoffs, lapping up the spotlight and the pressure while leading all OHL rookies in playoff scoring with 21 points in 20 games.

It was his hockey sense, which shined with quick passing in the offensive zone, that popped in the playoffs. That hints at his potential for producing offence as he continues to develop.

Even though his smallish frame may remind some of past Leafs picks, it’s the fact that he’s become known as a “puck hound” according to Simpson that might well separate him from those picks. His competitiveness is well-established.

Cowan grew up a Leafs fan and said he models his game after Nazem Kadri.

Simpsons remembers games this year where Cowan would pinball from one defenceman to the other on the forecheck. He wouldn’t stop there. He chased after the puck wherever it went.

“He’s just relentless all over the ice at trying to get the puck and when he has it, he doesn’t want to give it up,” Simpson said.

He also appears pretty comfortable in his own skin.

“How’s it goin’?” Cowan, wearing black suede shoes with no socks, said as he took a seat in front of more cameras and reporters he’s likely ever faced.

Cowan beamed when he described FaceTiming with Mitch Marner.

“Happy you’re part of the Buds,” was what Cowan remembered hearing from Marner.

“That was pretty cool,” Cowan said. “(Marner) competes all over the ice. He’s a great player and a great guy. You look up to that.”

Cowan listed Knights equipment managers and trainers as people who helped propel him being an unlikely first-round pick.

Before leaving a table at the end of his media availability, he asked politely if he could take a box of Biosteel sitting in front of him.

“He’s so kind to everyone around him,” Cowan’s father said. “Not a lot of people know that about him.”

The long-term projection:

Cowan can play both centre and the wing but the Leafs likely see him more as a wing in the pros. While it’s remarkably early to start forecasting where Cowan might fit in an NHL lineup, it is fair to say the Leafs valued his sharp progression this past season and believe that he may just be scratching the surface of what type of player he can be.

His standout playoff performance especially, fueled by that tenacity, may have really struck a chord.

“The biggest thing that’s going to translate the best is his motor, his engine and competitiveness,” Simpson said. “You look at the NHL playoffs, you have to have players like that to be able to win these days.”

Cowan, who just turned 18 in May, will likely begin his time in the Leafs organization at the team’s development camp, set to begin July 3. It feels likely that Cowan will return to the Knights, not just next season, but for multiple seasons. He’s already intent on adding the kind of strength to his frame that will be necessary for him to one day join the Leafs in the NHL. That and improving his shot.

The Leafs appear comfortable making Cowan a long-term play for the organization.

“We’re trying to take the best player available, not today or tomorrow, we’re looking at the long run,” Clark said ahead of the draft.

But what Cowan could become in the long run is intriguing enough for the Leafs to have made perhaps the most surprising pick on day one of the draft.

#my leafies #easton cowan #cowboy #nhl draft 2023 #toronto maple leafs #london knights #mitch marner #nazem kadri

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workingforitallthetime · 1 year ago

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https://theathletic.com/4864806/2023/09/16/traverse-city-prospects-blue-jackets/

I'm a little scared of Adam tbh

"Fantilli has had a whirlwind summer, which is part of the price that top draft picks play. The NHL scouting combine, the draft, development camp … it can be a challenge for young players to enjoy enough of an offseason before the games start anew.

But then some guys are just wired differently.

“Right after development camp (in early July), I went to Prince Edward Island to see my family and decompress,” Fantilli said. “To be honest, I was just kind of itching to get into the gym and start training again. I felt like I was kind of getting robbed of a little bit of training time.”

How long a break did he take?

“Three days,” Fantilli said."

what’s that naur quote about adam going 100mph at all times? wonder who’s gonna make him slow down this season when luca’s not around to handle that job.

#anonymouskinis

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ellen-shame · 8 months ago

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Different anon but still asking about the breeding prgrm, is there some kind of combine for omegas? How do they even get selected in the first place? Are they drafted separately, (nicknamed the baby draft a la the baby bar exam perhaps?) Are there scouts who are good at picking out dynamics before people present?

Omg I love getting these questions so much <3333

First of all, in my 'verse people present around the middle of puberty, usually at 12 or 13, so by the time the combine rolls around everyone knows their dynamics.

OKAY SO the omegas go to the same combine as the alphas and betas; however, the three groups are treated very differently.

The betas basically experience the IRL combine.

The omegas have to go through a LOT of additional tests to assess their breeding potential, given that their fertility is widely considered the most valuable thing they can offer to the league, since omegas are generally taken much less seriously as athletes. Usually they're drafted pretty low - it's rare for an omega to be drafted in the top twenty. Most omegas play in the omega league; the very good ones make it to the AHL; and the extraordinarily, freak-of-nature-level good ones make it to the NHL. (Omega league teams are attached to NHL teams like AHL ones are. Normally omegas will be bred with players from the NHL team they're attached to, because then the team doesn't have to pay stud fees. Teams only pay stud fees if they think it's really going to be worth it to import another team's player's genetics.) So as well as assessing the omega players' competition record and overall fitness at the combine, they also have blood tests to assess their fertility hormones and very unpleasant physical exams to check everything seems to be normal and healthy down there. This is what Sid remembers and was so traumatised by. So if an omega is a good-but-not-great player, BUT they come from a large, healthy family and has, let's say, a sire who was also a competitive athlete, they might be considered a better prospect than an omega with a better personal record on the ice but without that lineage. Sid was considered remarkable because his competition stats were so good that teams almost didn't care about his fertility stats. Almost.

Alphas too have to go through very invasive fertility testing; sperm count, knot duration, etc. However, this is generally considered less important for them, and if a very promising alpha player has poor fertility stats, it's not really a mark against them, because of course alphas are there to compete whereas omegas are there to breed.

#my fic #supersede

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extraliga-related · 1 year ago

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EDUARD ŠALÉ @ NHL SCOUTING COMBINE 2023

#e. šalé #hc kometa brno #nhl draft 2023 #2023 draft prospects

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ozzyscollectiblehub · 2 months ago

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Bobby Hull: The Golden Jet of Hockey

Bobby Hull, one of the most electrifying players in the history of hockey, left an indelible mark on the sport with his blistering speed, powerful slapshot, and larger-than-life persona. Known as “The Golden Jet,” Hull was a revolutionary player who captivated fans in both the NHL and the WHA (World Hockey Association), helping to popularize the game of hockey in North America. Over a career that spanned two decades, Hull became synonymous with offensive excellence, setting scoring records, winning individual awards, and forever altering the landscape of professional hockey.

Early Life and Path to Stardom

Born on January 3, 1939, in Pointe Anne, Ontario, Robert Marvin Hull grew up playing hockey on frozen ponds, honing his skills alongside his brothers. From a young age, Hull stood out as a prodigious talent, combining exceptional speed with a powerful shot — two traits that would come to define his career. His natural ability quickly caught the attention of scouts, and by the time he was a teenager, Hull was already on the radar of NHL teams.

At just 18 years old, Hull made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1957. He didn’t take long to make an impact, and by his third season, Hull had established himself as one of the league’s premier players. His golden blond hair, combined with his blazing speed on the ice, earned him the nickname “The Golden Jet,” and from there, his legend began to grow.

Dominance with the Chicago Blackhawks

Bobby Hull’s career with the Chicago Blackhawks was nothing short of spectacular. He played for the team from 1957 to 1972 and became the face of the franchise during that era. His offensive prowess helped transform the Blackhawks from a struggling team into a Stanley Cup contender.

Hull was known for his ability to score from anywhere on the ice, but it was his slapshot that became his trademark. Clocked at speeds over 100 mph, Hull’s slapshot was feared by goaltenders across the league. He scored with such force that some goalies admitted to flinching when they saw Hull wind up for a shot.

In 1961, Hull helped lead the Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup victory in 23 years. Alongside teammates like Stan Mikita and Pierre Pilote, Hull was instrumental in bringing Chicago back to hockey prominence. He continued to pile up accolades, leading the league in goals seven times and winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player twice (1965 and 1966).

Hull’s scoring achievements were nothing short of legendary. In 1966, he became the first player in NHL history to score more than 50 goals in a single season, finishing with 54 goals. His record-breaking season set a new standard for offensive players and solidified his place among the game’s elite.

Jump to the WHA and a New Era of Hockey

In 1972, at the peak of his career, Bobby Hull made a groundbreaking decision that shocked the hockey world: he left the NHL to join the upstart World Hockey Association (WHA). Hull signed with the Winnipeg Jets for an unprecedented $1 million contract, making him the highest-paid hockey player of his time. His decision to jump leagues was a pivotal moment in hockey history, as it gave the WHA instant credibility and drew other star players to the league.

Hull’s move to the WHA was about more than money; it was a bold step toward player empowerment. At the time, NHL players had little control over their careers and earnings, but Hull’s defection helped pave the way for better contracts, free agency, and higher salaries for all players.

In the WHA, Hull continued to dominate. He became the face of the Winnipeg Jets and led the team to two Avco Cup championships. Hull’s partnership with Swedish stars Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson formed one of the most dynamic lines in hockey history, and together, they revolutionized the style of play in the WHA. Hull’s time in the WHA helped bridge the gap between European and North American hockey, as the Jets’ offensive style was ahead of its time.

Legacy and Impact on the Game

Bobby Hull’s influence on hockey cannot be overstated. Over the course of his career, Hull scored 610 goals in the NHL and 303 goals in the WHA, making him one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the sport. His combined 913 goals in professional hockey rank among the best all-time, a testament to his longevity and skill.

Beyond his statistics, Hull’s impact on the game was transformative. He revolutionized the way hockey was played, especially in terms of offensive strategy and the use of the slapshot. His decision to join the WHA helped challenge the NHL’s dominance and ultimately led to the merger of the two leagues in 1979, bringing WHA teams like the Winnipeg Jets into the NHL.

Hull’s influence extended to the next generation of players, including his son, Brett Hull, who followed in his father’s footsteps to become a Hall of Fame hockey player. Together, the Hulls are the only father-son duo to each score over 50 goals in a single NHL season, further cementing the family’s legacy in the sport.

Controversy and Personal Life

While Bobby Hull’s on-ice accomplishments are legendary, his personal life has been marred by controversy. Allegations of domestic abuse and troubling comments about race and politics have cast a shadow over his otherwise celebrated career. These controversies have led to a more complex legacy for Hull, with fans and historians alike grappling with how to reconcile his greatness as a player with his off-ice behavior.

Honors and Recognition

Bobby Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, a fitting recognition for one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. His number 9 jersey was retired by the Chicago Blackhawks, and his contributions to both the NHL and WHA continue to be celebrated.

The Winnipeg Jets also honored Hull by retiring his number after their return to the NHL in 2011, paying tribute to the player who helped put their franchise on the map. Hull’s legacy is also honored at the United Center in Chicago, where a statue of him stands alongside fellow Blackhawks great Stan Mikita.

Bobby Hull’s career remains one of the most remarkable in the history of hockey. From his dominance with the Chicago Blackhawks to his pioneering role in the WHA, Hull left an undeniable impact on the game. His speed, skill, and scoring ability made him a fan favorite, while his decision to challenge the NHL’s status quo helped reshape the sport’s business side.

Though his off-ice controversies have complicated his legacy, there is no denying that Bobby Hull will forever be remembered as one of hockey’s greatest players. As “The Golden Jet,” Hull flew past defenders and into the annals of hockey history, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to influence the game today.

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