Claimed:Sam Keeler Biography

[Kyle 667]

Childhood

 

Sam Keeler grew up in the town of Madison, Wisconsin in the United States. Madison is a college down with a big emphasis on the sports teams of their school, the Wisconsin Badgers. Being in the Midwest, it wasn’t tough for Sam to play hockey at most times of the year, particularly in the winter. Like most hockey players, Keeler played a lot of his childhood hockey on a frozen pond during the freezing Wisconsin winters. Sam’s father was an avid hockey fan and owned season tickets to every single Badgers home game and occasionally traveled to watch some games as well. Sam developed his love for the game through his father and once he stepped onto the ice, it seemed like he never wanted to get off. The Keeler family is an upper middle class family who had the money to be able to have Sam play a high level of hockey without any questions; he was very fortunate in that aspect. Sam when he was 14 moved to Illinois in order to play for the top travel team in the state, Team Illinois. Sam under the right coaching developed very quickly and eventually was offered a full ride by the team he grew up watching his entire life, Wisconsin. Despite having offers from the OHL, Sam knew that it would make his entire family proud to see him wear red and white every Friday and Saturday during the winter. 

 

College Hockey

 

            Keeler was built like a man when he entered his freshman year at Wisconsin, he was 6’3 and 220 lbs. At age 19 the coaches marveled at how he seemed to play such a man’s game despite barely being able to legally buy cigarettes. Keeler tore apart the Big 10 hockey division as a freshman, leading all freshman in scoring and finishing 3^rd on his team in scoring as well. The buzz for the big bodied forward started to gain rapidly. After being selected into the NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 3^rd round, Keeler was continuing to get phone calls from the OHL begging him to give the league an opportunity to develop his skills. Keeler knew that his second season at Wisconsin would likely not help his development, but he had no desire to play in such a defensively lacking league such as the OHL. Keeler made the decision that he would apply for the VHL Draft and spend an extended amount of time developing in a league that some consider a rival to the NHL or KHL. Keeler would go on to be picked up on waivers by the Brampton Blades, that’s when his road to becoming a professional truly began.

 

Rookie VHLM Season & VHL Draft

 

            To say that Keeler’s first season in the VHLM was a reality check would be an understatement. Sam Keeler couldn’t believe how much farther behind he was than some of his competitors, he felt completely overwhelmed despite his big frame. Keeler only managed 9 points through a 72 game season even though he was touted as one of the best prospects in his draft. To have a season like that in your first year in the league is certainly tough, and some scouts didn’t believe that Keeler had the mental capacity to be able to bounce back. Although there was talk of Keeler falling out of the 1^st round due to his lack of production, he was selected 8^th overall by the New York Americans in the Season 39 Draft. Keeler had stated in some interviews that New York was his top destination throughout the process and New York seemed ready to take on Keeler as a project player. Since being drafted by New York, Keeler’s development has taken a huge leap and he has started off his 2^nd season in the VHLM with an absolute bang. Amongst the league leaders in both points and hits, if Keeler’s development curve continues this way some believe he could be similar to his agent, Ansgar Snijider. However, Keeler still has a long way to go before he is compared to the Season 39 Hall of Famer.

 

Pros:

 

            Strength: Keeler is obviously strong for this stage of his development, and it seems that he is only getting stronger as he progresses. With his huge frame and improving offensive skills, Keeler could end up being an extreme threat on the half wall, on the forecheck, and in front of the net.

 

            Scoring Touch: Although he didn’t display it in his rookie VHLM season, Keeler has a scoring touch that set him apart from other players in the NCAA. Although it still has quite a ways to go before he becomes a legitimate threat in the VHL level, the ability to do so is certainly there. Keeler’s release just needs to become a bit quicker before he can start scoring regularly on VHL caliber goaltenders.

           

Dedication: One of Keeler’s biggest question marks going into the draft was how dedicated was he to improving his game? Quickly after the draft it seems that he has found his niche in the New York developmental system. Keeler will be plugging away in Bern until he is ready to make a run at the Rookie of the Year trophy in the VHL in Season 40.

 

Weaknesses:

 

            Passing: Keeler has always been a shoot first player and what he’s been working on in practice since joining the VHL has shown he has no intentions of changing that. Although Keeler does gain assists simply off rebounds or quick touches, he is not the type of player who will look to pass before shooting. Sam Keeler will be looking to improve the passing aspect of his game, but don’t expect him to start looking for seams to pass through.

 

            Hot Head: With Keeler being a big presence on the ice he is often targeted by the opposing team’s enforcer.  Keeler refuses to back down in these situations, despite him knowing the massive gap in talent he might be trading off. This has become an issue for many coaches of Sam, and he will need to tone down the stupid penalties if he is to be a true star in the VHL.

 

            Injury Prone: Similar to Lindros, with Keeler’s reckless style of play he has often gotten himself into situations where he has gotten injured. Although he has yet to have any concussions, Keeler’s right hand is considered extremely fragile and he has had to get surgery on it multiple times. Many scouts believe this was one of the reasons that Keeler fell in the draft as well, or had such a poor first season in the VHLM.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Overview- 3/3

1,111 words - impressive number sequence. You did a bang-up job with this despite the shortness of the pros. You had excellent - descriptive writing that captured the events true enough. Everything flowed very smoothly and in regards to your second season in the VHLM, it's good to see you moving on from that disappointing first campaign.

Grammar- 2/2

down = assuming you meant town

Sam when he was 14 moved = Sam, when he was 14, moved

Wisconsin, he = Wisconsin; he

freshman = freshmen

72 game = 72-game

Presentation- 1/1

The presentation was great, especially with the Ryan O'Reilly picture.

Pros- 1.5/2

192 words. Just shy of that 200-word requirement.

Cons- 2/2

229 words. Three excellent cons here. In some ways, I kind of wish we had minor injuries enabled to add that realism to the sim, but missing games in a short 8-season career is not a good idea either.

Overall- 9.5/10

[Will 4,651]

Overview: 3/3

Really nice job here. I think this was a really well balance bio: you had a good amount about his childhood and upbringing, and a good amount of hockey-specific story. I really enjoyed reading this.

 

Grammar: 2/2

Slobo got em' all.

 

Appearance: 1/1

Looks good!

 

Pros: 1.75/2

Little short here but nothing to worry about. I definitely wouldn't let 8 words lost you any points on this otherwise excellent bio. Good pros though!

 

Cons: 2/2

Im definitely glad there is no injuries in the sim. Wouldn't be good for me, building a complete pussy offensive defenseman. 

 

Overall: 9.75/10

Final: 10/10

[Guest]

Claimed