Keygan

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In a world full of players not everyone can be the best, that is why there is such a distinction to being a hall of fame player. You were one of the best to ever play the game and if that is not what you wake up and strive for each morning then who is to blame but yourself that greatness was never achieved? Some players are handed perfect genetic bloodlines that give them an edge, a natural inclination at hockey, strong legs and a good hockey IQ, but some players have to earn every bit of it and that is the kind of player I am striving to be. I want to bet on myself to become one of the greatest hockey players the VHL has ever and will ever see and the only way I can accomplish that is if I set my mind straight from day one that anything less than perfection is not good enough. That anything less than every hour of my waking day being put towards being better is unacceptable. I want to bet on myself to be the best, and I am damn sure I am not going to be losing that bet anytime soon.

1. The level of friendliness upon first joining the site was quite apparent, I wanted to be wow'd by any team looking to pick me up and Saskatoon did that for me. 2. No, I am looking to improve and there is no where to go but up from here. 3. It is perfect being able to talk about yourself, but as a new player and not knowing many people around the league it makes it tough to write a generalized topic. 4. Absolutely no one, I am not in them so why would I be cheering on anyone else? 5. I am hoping to resemble a Connor McDavid type player, I want to have vision of the ice people would never expect. I want to be the most successful passer on the ice at any given time. 6. No teams have reached out to be about the upcoming VHLM draft, so here is to hoping I can skip that process and move right on to the VHL instead.

Connor Tanner steps in front of the media following a six to one win over the Halifax 21st "Good afternoon Connor, my name is Kelly Provost with the Saskatoon Stories and I have been tasked to go around the locker room and pose a question to each of the players in the room and record their answer for a column I am currently in the works on, do you mind answering a few questions?" "Yeah sure, what are the questions man?" Connor asks while unlacing his skates. "You see I have been asked to see who currently believes they have the ability to end up as a hall of fame caliber player in the future, I know that is a crazy loaded question seeing as you are only what, 10 games into your pre-draft season but I was told to ask everyone in the room so here I am" You see Connor was never shy about his ability to be great, he knew what he was capable of and he knew that what was going to decide whether or not he made the hall of fame was going him be him and him alone, whether or not he was willing to put in the effort to be the best player he could be on the ice at any given time, the answer to the question slid out his mouth almost effortlessly. "Yeah absolutely I do, and I am fully prepared to put in the amount of work it takes to be a hall of fame caliber player. I will not and have never doubted my abilities as a player, and that confidence in myself is the reason I have gotten as far as I have at this point. If I am not willing to bet on myself to make it where I want to be I will never get there. If I do not believe I can make it there why should anyone else? That is the reason I think I have the potential to eventually make it into the hall whether it is too early to tell or not, you heard it here first. I will be a first ballot hall of fame player whether you like it or not." An astonished looking Kelly takes a step back before asking a second question. "You seem awfully confident has anyone pegged you for an egotistical type?" Connor proceeds to shake his head and look back at Kelly. "I do not just talk the talk Kelly, I have walked the walk my whole life and I do not plan on stopping anytime soon. I said it earlier and I will say it again, you have to bet on yourself everyday of your life to be the best player you want to be. The greatest enemy of perfection is good, and trust me in twenty years from now when you hear Connor Tanner it will be synonymous with perfection, not good." "Well you heard it here first folks, Connor Tanner truly believe the only place he will belong in twenty seasons from now is side by side with some of the greatest the league has ever seen. This is Kelly Provost with the Saskatoon Stories and I am signing out."

ID: 2679-8130-0842-6043 5 Uncapped (Immediate Claim) Weekly Double

Never too early to mark me for a HOF bid.

While it comes to the surprise of many Connor Tanner steps to the podium to announce his signing with the Saskatoon Wild, a VHLM franchise, a far cry from the SMJHL franchise his father signed with as a free agent with all those years ago. “I am ecstatic to announce that I will be joining the Saskatoon Wild for the remainder of the season before I move on into the season 71 VHLM draft that will be happening this offseason. I want to take this opportunity to thank the managers and front office of the Wild who graciously offered me a roster spot in order to hone my skills ahead of the coming draft, without them I would be a man lost in space until the coming draft. I want to take this time to answer a few questions the press may have.” “Connor, what led you to declaring for the VHLM rather than the SMJHL?” “Honestly I am just looking to build a different career than my father, he was a special player but I want people to remember me for who I am as a player, not who my father was, not who my mother was but who I am. I’m a talented skater and I’m going to make a name for myself and quickly, I can promise you that.”

1. How do you think you have done so far this season? I've yet to touch the ice for my new team, the Saskatoon Wild, but I'm a big bodied center and I am sure I will make an impact as I take the ice for my team in the near future. 2. If you could sell yourself to the VHL teams in one sentence what would that sentence be? Play the right way. I'm a player from a strong lineage of players and we have always played the game the right way. 3. Who do you model your play after? Mostly my father, Connor Tanner he was a big bodied defensemen who focused on the back end of the ice primarily. I look to engage defensively before anything else. 4. Who in your family got you into hockey first and why did it stick? My father was the first to make it professionally and it stuck because it paid well, we came from rural Ireland, it was do or die and he did. 5. What was your favorite hockey memory growing up? My fathers first Challenge Cup with the Edmonton Blizzard of the SHL. 6. What do you wish to pass along to young hockey kids? Play the game the right way. Even if you are not the most successful player you will be a well respected player.

In the great scheme of things it should have always been apparent that this was the case, you see Connor knew from the beginning that skills alone were never going to be enough to get him up to the podium after his name was announced, it was going to take dedication to a craft that had be honed to perfection by so many players before him. The enormous for his age centremen with the lineage of greatness stepped onto the ice for the first time aged six and he was awful, he looked like a newborn giraffe on rollerblades the minute he took the ice for the first time. You see his father was always busy traveling. A two-time SHL Challenge Cup Champion with the Edmonton Blizzard makes for a fairly absentee father at times he was raised by his mother, Anna Tanner a world-renowned figure skater with the Irish Figure Skating Club. Maybe that was why the hockey skates never felt right on his feet, he needed to continue working at his footwork on the ice. He felt like an alien on the ice when he put those abominations on his feet, but his father begged him to continue working at, what kind of legacy would he have left behind if his own son could not skate. It was time to take these matters out of his own hand. It was time to visit Madame O’Malley a woman known for her ability to see into the future, my father and I walked on to the front steps of her home that more resembled a shire than a home. “Come in my child, let me see what the future holds for you my dearest.” Connor tentatively walked through the front door not truly knowing what to expect but fully prepared for the worst, maybe he was never meant to follow in his fathers footsteps and play professional hockey later in life. It was completely and utterly repulsive to think of the disappointment his father would feel if he never managed to become anything. He walked closer to the woman’s table and she peered into her glass. “I see flames coloured like the sunset, flames of red and orange. In a place that is described by many names. The District? Columbia? The District of Columbia? I see Washington, I see capitals, but the Dragon feels most prominent.” “What does that mean papa?” young Tanner asked in awe of what had just happened. “I don’t know son, the Calgary Dragons never went by any name other than Calgary, and there was never a team in the District of Columbia. I guess you were never meant to play hockey.” Absolutely and utterly destroyed Connor walked back out the home side by side with his father and the old crone yelled out her door. “BOY! Victory! The words VICTORY are echoing throughout my mind! You are meant to play hockey! You truly are!” “But WHERE?” “In D.C. Connor, with the Dragons. I should have known you were always meant to follow a slightly different path than me.”

Thrilled to be a member of the wild.

Regrettably.

Player Information Username: Keygan Player Name: Connor Tanner Recruited From: Member (Enorama) Age: 16 Position: C Height: 80 in. Weight: 250 lbs. Birthplace: Ireland Player Page @VHLM GM