Ladies and Gentlemen: Maddox Hopkins
What all started as a dream, turned into a reality very quickly. Maddox started playing hockey in school with some of his friends in pick up games after school. While they didn't really specify which positions they were playing, they either said they were a forward or a defender so they knew who was who. Things seemed a lot simpler back in those days. As the years went on, Maddox started to fall in love with the game and he started watching it on television. Now he was always one to love the city and state that he grew up in so he ended up liking the Nashville Predators. He didn't quite know much about hockey in the early years of watching but he did enjoy watching the team play and how they would score and their camaraderie. He knew that he would eventually make it one day as a professional hockey player and he knew that it meant being a teammate. Hockey is not a solo person sport but a team sport and he was going to have to make sure that he knew he would have to share the scoring and also be a good sport about things.
High school came around really fast and he got a little more into hockey and started out playing winger. He wasn't designated a certain side to play from but he did enjoy playing from the right winger side a little more. While he knows that he is still a long ways away from being a pro, he has been putting in the extra hours to improve his game. He has stayed a couple hours extra at practice and made sure that he understood the plays and he knew where he had to be at all times. He also had his practices taped so he can see what he was doing right and what he was doing wrong so that he can try to remedy some of his mistakes. Most of his teammates are always trying to be the flashy guy on the ice and score, etc. For Maddox, he just wants to set his teammates up to score. He knows that he can still get points off assists so if he can do that, he will do what he can to help the team win. Most people are always trying to be "that guy" for the team and it just seems like no one really wants to be that guy known for passing. Well guess what? Maddox has affirmed he would love to be the guy to set up his teammates in any situation. Winning has been something that Maddox hasn't really had the luxury of knowing a lot but he knows how good it feels when he does win. Let's just hope that what he has learned growing up and what he learned in his one year in college can really help him out. He has recently declared his eligibility to enter the VHL but he knows that he has to join their minor system first and he intends to do so. Their draft is coming up soon and he is beyond excited to be a part of that.