10-22-2008, 10:28 PM
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#37
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All Star
OVR: 27
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Hamilton, Ont.
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Re: The Career of Bryan Hurst (NHL 09: Be A Pro)
Oct. 9, 2008
Finally, tonight is my first professional hockey game.
I have to admit that I haven't been this nervous before a hockey game in a long time. It will be my first game in the American Hockey League and I know it's going to be a lot more challenging than junior hockey. The players are older, faster and much bigger. They're monsters compared to the teenagers I played against last year in the Ontario Hockey League.
But the biggest difference is the personality of the players. I've have been here more than a month and I've really noticed it. Most of the guys are positive, but some of the guys have a certain bitterness about them -- mostly the older guys who have had a taste of the NHL but haven't been able to stay there.
I guess when you have travelled first class on airplanes and stayed in four star hotels it's tough to go back on the bus in the minor leagues.
I talked to Matt Walker one of our defensemen who was drafted in 1998. He's played a bit in the NHL but he finds himself back here in Rockford to start the season.
He's warned me that skill isn't necessarily the biggest factor in determining who plays in the NHL and who gets sent down to the minors. A general manager is always more inclined to give higher draft picks a chance before other players because the GM has a lot invested in those high picks. They have to show ownership they are shrewd drafters and that the money spent on those picks hasn't been wasted.
He said I'll find there's a surprising amount of politics in professional hockey.
Walker is married now and has a couple of kids. He said there have been days when he's wondered if he would be better off quitting, going to college and getting a degree.
But he said the idea quickly passes because once you have been on the NHL ice and heard the roar of 17,000 fans, the experience is like an addictive drug.
You crave -- no you, need -- to feel it again and again. It consumes you and powers you. You wake up in the night and you can recall certains sound. The feeling of anticipation when you hear the fans clapping at the end of the anthem. The spontaneous chanting before a big power play, a standing ovation after a good penalty kill.
I don't want you to think it's all serious here. Wade Flaherty, our 40-year old goalie, has played in the AHL the last five years. He's just a joy to be around -- he's always joking and pulling pranks.
"Hey, rookie," he asked me this morning. "Do you have enough diapers for the season? I don't want you making a mess in my crease."
"I'm a forward, I don't plan to go into the defensive end," I joked.
"Oh, I forgot, you're going to get 60 assists," said Flaherty. He had obviously heard the GM's expectations that I should get 10 goals and 60 assists this year. "Tell you what, kid, if you get 60 assists I'll buy you a jock. I know you don't need one yet because you haven't hit puberty, but by the time you get 60 assists you'll need it. You should be 30 by then."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Wade."
"Just play good defense, kid. The points will come in time. But seriously don't wet yourself tonight in my crease. I like to keep a clean sheet."
He had nothing to worry about. I felt like I was going to vomit I was so nervous before the game but it passed.
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