Making the Jump

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never got called and I survived to see another day in the Remparts locker room. Two days later the main camp started. All the returning players came back, and they were a lot older than me, so it was a little intimidating. That day we had two intra-squad games because they wanted to see how the rookies would hold up vs the vets before putting them in the lineup for an actual game. I did my best in the two games, getting a goal and playing a good two-way game. After the game they called more players out and they got cut. Once again, I survived to get another chance to put on the Remparts sweater. Coach Philippe Boucher told me that I would stay until the end of training camp and that they would evaluate me and the other two 16-year-olds closely. I had three pre-season games left to prove myself, a home-and-home against Rimouski and a road trip across the river to Baie-Comeau.

When the game against Rimouski started, I was nervous. It was my first ever game in the QMJHL. I knew I had to make sacrifices throughout the game and play for the team and do things that others weren’t willing to do. The whole night I was playing hard, making hits, sacrificing my body to make plays, getting shots on net, and protecting the puck. We were on the penalty kill and Phil called my name to go out and only ten seconds in I blocked a shot right off the knee. There was so much pain that I thought right away that my camp was done. The knee was severely swollen, and I could hardly walk but I was determined that it wouldn’t stop me from playing the next day in Rimouski. I was going to play through it, I didn’t want to give up any chance I had. Whether I made the team or not, I knew I had to make a name for myself.

The puck dropped in Rimouski, I want out for my first shift, but I could barely skate, my knee was in so much pain. I didn’t get much ice time that game and my knee was bothering me all night. I had one last game in Baie-Comeau against the Drakkar. My last chance to show myself but yet again my knee was bothering me. I had a rough game for myself and I felt that the writing was on the wall. Once we got back to the rink on Monday, Phil called me in and I got the news that I was not going to make the team this year. I was so disappointed, I had had such a good camp and I was really looking forward to a roster spot as a 16-year-old.

I had options on where to play for the upcoming season, but I wasn’t sure as to where I would go. The time quickly came where I had to make my decision. It was either go back to BCS or stay back home and play major midget AAA with the TriPen Osprey in Newfoundland. I finally decided to play at home because the league was going to be very competitive this year and we were going to have a strong team. I wanted to be a part of that, staying home with my best friends and going for a provincial championship. However, things weren’t looking too good for us early in the season. We had 4 wins and 14 losses going into the Christmas break. We were 2 points out of the last playoff spot. We had such a good team that it just didn’t make sense. Something wasn’t clicking, and we knew we had to pull it together in order to make the playoffs. Our first game back from the break was against the first-place team and we battled hard but came up short 4-3. Although we lost that game, it was a turning point for us. We knew we could compete with the best team in the league. From that point on, we won 13 straight games finishing with 17 wins and 15 losses. We moved all the way up to 2nd place going into playoffs.

During the playoffs, we were up 3-2 in the first round and I was looking forward to closing out that series. On Monday of that week I was sitting in class when I got a call from my Mom. It was weird that she would be calling me during class considering she is a teacher herself, so I knew it had to be something important. She told me that the Remparts had called and I was getting called up for the final two games of the season! My flight had already been booked and I was leaving for Quebec that evening. There was no time to spare so I left school early, packed my bags, and hit the road for the airport and on to Quebec city. I was so excited! The next morning, I got to the rink, saw all the boys and hopped on for a game day morning skate. It was a weird feeling. The past weekend I was playing in front of a crowd of 800 people and tonight I would be playing in front of 12000 people in an NHL sized rink. It was very cool, the fans were crazy, and I had, in my opinion, a good game. I thought that I played well for my first official game in the QMJHL. We got the win 5-0 over the Moncton Wildcats and the fans were insane. I was ecstatic, I’ve never played in front of a crowd like that. It was amazing. I played again in Chicoutimi the next night. I had another good game, won all my faceoffs and had some good chances.

It was a short stop for me in Quebec. Later that night it was back to Newfoundland to finish the playoffs with the Tripen Osprey and help the boys win a championship. We went on to win the first round in game 6 and where moving on to the finals to play the St. Johns Maple Leafs, a very strong first place team. We knew it was going to be a battle and a championship never comes easy. We had our minds set on winning this. We were on fire and we wanted to keep it going. We started off strong, but we still lost the first two games in overtime and we were down 2-0 in the series. The next two games were going back to our rink. Our fans were crazy, and we were ready to go. We played well, battled hard but fell again in two more games and lost the series four games straight. Our season was over but as the assistant captain of the team, I couldn’t have been any prouder in the team that we became during the season. Overall it was a great season battling from last place to 2nd place and making it all the way to the league finals. Personally, it was a great season for me scoring 52 points in 31 games, 33 goals and 19 assists. I lead the league in goals and went on to win the league MVP. Also, getting to play my first games in the QMJHL was a big accomplishment and a big step in my hockey career. It was for sure another year to remember!

Summer came round and I was once again off to Montreal with Chad, on the ice and working out. Getting ready for my second major junior hockey league camp. This was the year I really wanted to make it and finally earn a full-time spot in the league. I worked hard all summer, training twice a day 5 times a week and going on the ice 4 times a week. I had my mind set on making this team. I sacrificed my whole summer at home to go workout in Montreal, so I could finally earn my roster spot as a Quebec Remparts. I was ready,