Armani Calamari's unique path to the VHLM

[WildfireMicro 367]

Armani Calamari grew up in Toronto Ontario Canada despie being born in Alberta so hockey was always a big part of his life. Whether it was days at the community rink starting as a decent goalie for his youth hockey team before transitioning to center or being a starting center for his school hockey team he was never that far from the ice. Days when he was not playing were usually spent watching and studying various hockey games from all kinds of leagues to improve his playing abilities. It was a dream he kept even when his mom unfortunately passed away due to her heart condition. Eventually he got into AAA hockey levels and was a great starting center even if he was not the star player on that team, that player being his best friend and team captain Craig Smith.

 

 

  But Calamari ended up still putting up good numbers in his minor career averaging 15 goals and 21 assets through 42 games. His hard work on and off the ice would eventually pay off when he managed to lead his team to a provincial championship despite a career ending leg injury to Craig due to a dirty hit. Armani was named captain the following season and managed to repeat as provincial champions, dedicating the victory to Craig who watched them from the stands. An award in the high school was also named after Craig that awards the most dedicated player. After his days of playing on the team were finally done, he joined the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He put up ok numbers in his rookie season with 7 goals and 17 assists in 62 games.

 

The next season he improved tremendously but was injured during the season with a groin injury, getting 22 goals and 33 assists in 45 games. He has since said that the injury was the most painful one far of his career. It would take a bit for him to recover and he almost missed the first few games of the following season. But he played through the pain amd the team actually reached the championship but unfortunately lost in six games. But throughout the season he had 42 goals and 33 assists and during the playoffs he had 10 goals and 6 assists. After the playoffs he was told that he had gotten to old to stay with the team and decided to sign a waiver free agency contract with the Philadelphia Reapers of the VHLM despite the fact that an Ontario team offered him due to wanting to see more of the USA.

Edited June 18, 2021 by WildfireMicro