Kevin Kirkpatrick’s Junior Review

[Jayrad28 369]

Born in the small town of Bathurst, New Brunswick, Kevin Kirkpatrick was often in the shadow of his Older brother Nick. 3 years his Junior, Nick was a phenom as soon as he touched the ice. Kevin, was not. Nick ended up playing on a lot of Kevin’s teams, and was most times, the best player in the team, which led to frustrations and some jealousy and eventually Kevin quitting hockey.

 

Years passed, Kevin joined other sports, including Lacrosse, Track and field, and Rowing. After joining Highschool he was eventually persuaded into joining their last placed hockey team. He started off slowly, but after training with his brother and his teammates in his spare time for a few weeks, his game improved drastically. He developed into a strong two-way forward, dominating both ends of the ice, and helped his minor team reach the playoffs. Even though they got pounced in 5 games, He had a pretty impressive stat line from that season and playoffs.

 

GP:48

G:38

A:43

P:81

 

Playoffs:

 

GP:5

 

G:7

A:4

P:11

 

Not only was he a dominant offensive force, his Defensive game, Particularly his back checking was most noticeable, as he was a key part in breaking up lots of plays past the redline, taking lots of pressure off his weak defence.

 

He eventually was asked to play Quad A Bantam, He continued to impress scouts and coaches alike, Potting 67 points in only 34 games. He missed a fair chunk of the season due to the National tournament for team NB, where he was a  3rd liner. He only gathered 3 points, but played a prominent defensive role. His team play got him noticed by many scouts, and before long he was getting calls about potentially declaring for the VHL draft. Kevin had his fears however, as his brother Nick had already gone down that road. Nick Has a solid stint in the VHLM, but burned out very quickly and ended up moving overseas to find work. He ended up in some trouble, but managed to get home safely. Those series of events rattled Kevin however, and he resisted declaring for the VHLM without consulting friends and agents and considering his options. Ultimately he ended up signing with The Ottawa Lynx. Kirkpatrick wanted to stay in Canada to be closer to home, and signing with Ottawa was a clear cut decision.

 

Word Count: 402

Edited July 22, 2022 by Jayrad28

[diacope 1,561]

Knew the name sounded familiar. Nice work!