My Old Teammate Story

Saw this story in the Toronto Star and thought I would share one of my stories (and I have few of these).

I was 14 years old and had just made my Bantam AAA team as 1 of two goaltenders. We had a pretty good team and I remember getting introduced to this new player who had just moved to our town from Manitoba with his family. My first impression was that this guy was two small and skinny but after one practice I realized this guy could really skate.

Our season went along like any other minor hockey rep season could. But I remember one game specifically in Vernon when our new teammate picked up the puck behind my net, like he usually did, and two opposing players came to hit him from both sides. My warnings of ‘heads up, two men on’ went unnoticed as I feared he would soon be plastered against the boards yet he managed to dodge them with some of the most amazing evasive turns behind my net and the corner. With players still trying to hit him, he managed to make a perfect pass out of our zone to a winger cutting across the red line; tape to tape. As the season progressed myself and everyone else realized that this guy was really good and improved every game. He became my favourite defensemen and I haven’t played with one better since.

On a road trip to Trail, my family and my favourite defensemen’s family shared a hotel room to cut costs since money was tight in the 90’s. My little brother fondly remembers one night before we were getting ready to go to bed when my defensemen needed a chocolate bar before he went to bed so his mom got up and went out into the cold night to get him a chocolate bar.

After that season I went out to the prestigious hockey school of Notre Dame. After one season there I was picked up by a WHL team but moved back home to try my hand at Jr.A. I was reunited for a short period of time with my favourite defensemen as we played for our provincial select team and got a tryout for the U17 World Challenge. We were both cut and upset, but continued onto the junior hockey ranks. His venture more successful as I bounced around from team to team.

I decided to take a year off from junior hockey during my senior year of high school to play for my hometown midget AAA team. My practices were early morning before classes and I would usually skip my first class so I could have all the ice to myself and use it for conditioning and crease movement drills.

One morning during my usual skate session I heard a familiar voice from up in the stands yell out ‘Hey Tyler, you staying out on the ice for a bit? Want some shots?’ It was my favourite defensemen. He was playing for the local Jr.A team and had just had a meeting with the coach and saw me skating. He threw on his equipment and we did shooting drills for at least an hour until I was exhausted. I got off to go to school and on my way out after the showers, I saw him still out there doing drills all by himself.

That was the last time we shared ice time together as I went on to play college hockey in the USA and then some minor pro in Europe. He went on to win a Stanley Cup, Norris Trophy, and an Olympic Gold medal last year. Yes, my favourite defensemen is Duncan Keith.