Molly the Cat Biography

[JCarson 588]

Early Hockey Memories 

 

Molly the Cat’s earliest memories involve hockey. Molly the Cat remembers sitting in the family living room as a small child watching VHL games on a Saturday night. Molly the Cat grew up a Toronto Fan as it was the local team. They had numerous opportunities to attend games in Toronto and always loved to see the European teams visit.  

 

                                                                                                          

Molly the Cat also remembers visiting the VHL hockey hall of fame as a child and being able to touch the Continental Cup. For days afterwards Molly remembers dreaming of hoisting the Cup as a VHL Champion. That dream has not faded over time. 

 

Molly the Cat Starts Playing Hockey 

 

Molly the Cat started playing hockey at the age of 4 in various minor leagues in the Niagara Region. Molly the Cat loved to play hockey, being out on the ice with teammates. It was quickly identified that Molly the Cat had some talent on the ice and by age 6 their parents were encouraged to get Molly the Cat some extra training. Molly the Cat was enrolled in many hockey training schools between the age of 6 and 10 to help build technical skills. Molly the Cat excelled in each type of training that she took part in. In addition to hockey schools, Molly the Cat also took up figure skating so that they could learn how to use their skate edges properly. Molly the Cat was mocked and ridiculed by many players, but they persevered. Molly the Cat loved to skate and spent as much time as they could doing it. 

 

                                                                                                                                                               

The extra work that Molly the Cat put in to develop skating skills was quickly noticed by others and they were recruited to one of the region’s travel teams. The added playing time created an increased competitive spark, an increased love of hockey and a drive to be the best. Molly the Cat took every opportunity to work on their skills, skating, shooting, passing and defense. Molly the Cat’s quickly improving skills soon made them one of the best players on their team. Molly the Cat had a successful minor league hockey experience winning many tournaments and being named player of the tournament several times. At age 15 Molly the Cat was selected to the All-Ontario team to play in the U16 Canada Minor Championships. Team Ontario won the tournament, and Molly the Cat was named player of the tournament with 10 goals and 14 assists in the 10 games played. 

 

Unique Training 

 

Molly the Cat had many training experiences as a child growing up in the hockey community in the Niagara Region of Ontario, however there are a few experiences that Molly the Cat attributes to the success they have experienced in the VHL. The first of these experiences was taking a series of figure skating lessons and skating drills with Barbara Underhill, professional Canadian Figure skater and highly regarded skating coach. In addition to the skating training Molly the Cat received, they also got private lessons from Professional Hockey player Nathan Horton. Nathon Horton spent a couple summers working with Molly the Cat on shooting and passing techniques as well as methods for developing an increased ability to see what was happening on the ice. The Last training experience that Molly the Cat attributes to their success was an opportunity to part in a video coaching program being developed by the Canadian Hockey federation. Molly the Cat had all their university games taped and had one on one sessions with a video coach to help analyze and build alternate strategies for those game situations. These 3 specific training experiences helped Molly the Cat in building the techniques they brought to the VHLM and have been the backbone of Molly the Cat’s current development. 

 

A Draft foregone to Pursue Education 

 

Molly the Cat worked their way through the various stages of minor hockey until they reached what would normally be the draft eligible age. Many expected Molly the Cat to be drafted in the first round of the VHL draft in Season 79. Many VHL teams reached out looking to gage Molly the Cat’s interest in joining their team. It was a shock to everyone when Molly the Cat announced that they were removing themselves from the draft to pursue a university degree first. It was a difficult decision, but Molly the Cat decided that they would pursue a university education, taking a business degree focusing on marketing instead of pursuing a professional hockey career. It was not that Molly the Cat was giving up on a Professional Hockey Career in the VHL, but they felt they needed to secure their long-term academic success first. Molly the Cat received a scholarship for both academic achievement and for athletic achievement in hockey. Molly the Cat played 4 years of hockey in university, during which time they set both the single season record for points and the total university career points record. 

 

Finishing their university hockey career and graduating with their business degree with honors, Molly the Cat unfortunately missed the VHL draft for Season 83 and as such was expecting to sit for the season. Luckily for Molly the Cat the VHLM San Diego Marlins reached out and signed Molly the Cat as a free agent. And that is how Molly the Cat’s VHL career started