A check in with Jaxx Hextall

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For many newer viewers of the VHL, they may have no idea who Jaxx Hextall is and what is career was like. He's been retired from the VHL for sometime now after playing seven seasons in the league and headed over to the NHL. He's been living out his dream of playing for his favorite childhood team, the San Jose Sharks. To give a quick rundown of his career he started out playing for the Halifax 21st when he was 17, he took over as the starter and played 32 games in the second half of the season and the team would make it to the second round in the playoffs where they would get swept aside by the titan that was Saskatoon at the time. Next season he was a steal of a draft pick for the Minnesota Storm who have since relocated to Oslo. He'd pile up a record of 61-8-3 with a .899 save percentage, 2.09 goals against and earned 10 shutouts. In the post season the team went all the way to the finals and won it all.

 

In the VHL he played his entire career with the Toronto Legion, being the starter from season 71 to season 77. Playing 454 games and getting a record of 210-182-48, he secured 21 shutouts and had career save percentage of .918 and GAA of 2.97. Sadly his VHLM playoff success never carried over to the VHL postseason, Toronto Legion only made it three times during his time there. Season 72 Jaxx made all seven starts but the Legion would ultimately fall to the Lafontaine lead Calgary Wranglers. Two seasons later Toronto would make their best run, making it to round to after beating Seattle 4-1 they would face their other Canadian team rival, the Vancouver Wolves. Sadly it was a heartbreaking game seven loss and Vancouver, leading by goaltending friend and rival Jimmy Spyro would win it all. Hextall Would have to wait for his lat season to be back in the playoffs again, a rematch with the Seattle Bears. The Bears got their revenge in a 4-2 series win over the Legion, ending Hextall's time in the VHL.

 

Now he's been playing for the Sharks since he was 26 years old, he'll be 32 by the start of next season and says he has no plans for retirement. "I feel I have a lot left in me to give, I feel like I could still play for another 10 years, sure it may not be as a starter for all ten but I still wanna be around. I was pretty sad when I heard Lafontaine was retiring, we had some great battles, not just in the VHL but here in the NHL as well. We both played in the pacific so we saw each other a fair bit, if you're ever ever thinking about making a comeback bud, I would like to do battle once again." He would go on to add "Me and the guys still hang out every once in a while, maybe another go-kart race or getting some food together, maybe we go see a movie together. Having Lafontaine and Spyro as friends is great!"

 

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[Greg_Di 1,038]

Review:

I always enjoy reading articles about players that have retired and seeing what they have been up to since moving on from the VHL. Great to see Hextall is now playing for his favorite childhood team the San Jose Sharks! This article was great with lots of information on Hextall. Only minor items I would add is maybe a picture to help the article pop and maybe have the quotes stand out more by adding color. Other then that great work! 9/10

Edited June 13, 2022 by Greg_Di

[Doomsday 4,156]

 

Jaxx Hextall is a stud