Kristof Welch - Veteran Presence

[Juice 641]

 

With his third season in the books, with another disappointing season overall for the Toronto Legion, Kristof Welch was spotted in the off-season training harder than ever. At the half-way point of his career, Welch would now be officially labelled as a veteran in the league and would need to take his game to the next level to fully establish that title.

 

Looking back on the road that leads us to where we are today has been quite a rollercoaster.

 

Coming into the VHL with no previous knowledge of the league besides that it's the best in the hockey world, Welch was ready to mark his name down as one of the best up and coming prospects in the S76 draft. With a great season for the Yukon Rush and eventually creating some buzz around the league, Welch eventually became the 5th overall pick for the Toronto Legion.

 

Coming into the league not as skilled as most players, and more importantly as a defenseman, Welch knew he'd have a rough season as a rookie despite being a top pick in the draft. In a sheltered role as the #4 defenseman on the roster, Welch did relatively well putting up a respectable 34 points in 72 games and followed it up the next season almost doubling that total with 65 in 72, but in S78 dwindled down to 57 in 72. Despite these decent numbers, the Legion has struggled overall with two missed post-seasons as well as a 1st round exit.

Being a rookie defenseman is quite different than a rookie forward, even if you're in a similar situation as being lower skilled than most in the league. With the more available spots at forward, you don't get much of a chance to really shine with sheltered minutes. I'd be guessing for a lot of defensemen in situations where you're logged jam behind some really talented players, the thought to change your position to forward can cross your mind. However with the chance to be a dominate defenseman in the league in arguably an underrated role (who wouldn't want to be a top tier sniper?), you just need to continue to push through and make a name for yourself eventually.

 

When asked about any tips for new players in the league based on his own experience, Kristof Welch had this to say, "It hasn't been easy, and I wouldn't change that. If you get the struggles right away compared to the middle or late end of your career, I'd feel that that'd hit harder than at the beginning. We've had some heartbreaks here in Toronto for the first 3 seasons of my career, but the way I look at it is that now there's nowhere to go but up. Improve your game and train as hard as you can to be the best you can be, as that's your sole responsibility as a player, and hopefully the best will come out of it."

 

Several seasons after the start of this VHL career, Welch is slowly growing out the shadow of his formerly vastly superior defenseman that was in-front of him and overall is coming into his own as what seems like a great two-way defenseman.

 

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