Didier Verhault, Player Mentor

[FTK 49]

PLAYER MENTOR

 

DIDIER VERHAULT

 

You would be right to call Didier Verhault a late bloomer in terms of prospects, likely the largest reason for his slide and relative outright exclusion from prospect rankings. Recently Verhault has signed an entry-level contract midseason with the Mexico City Kings, taking his first steps into the Victory Hockey League systems. Quoting Didier himself he is "excited for this new chapter in his career, and anticipates a long journey with the League" This is not to say that Didier has no connections or relations to the Victory Hockey League. As recent as a year ago he was taken as a pupil to the retired Defenseman Shaggy Tipton, who Didier would style much of his game and playing style after Tipton's own.

 

Tipton had a short, but respectable career in both the Victory Hockey League Minors and the Victory Hockey League. Tipton himself had a decorated career, winning both the Ryan Sullivan Award and Jake Thunder Award for his individual awards, and capitalizing his career with the Founder's Cup in the Victory Hockey League minors. These would be the spotlight of Didier's mentor though, as injuries shortened his career. Didier has spoken up out of respect to his mentor, recognizing his awards, but also announcing that he plans for his career to outlast Tipton's, and aspires to become more than just a flash-in-the-pan Minor League player and fringe Major Leaguer. 

 

Verhault's game has been modeled closely to Tipton's, placing an emphasis on defensive competence with matching offensive capability. Headlined by these skills are Verhault's notable checking skills, with body his body and his stick. Didier's passing skills and offensive zone awareness are also very noticeable in games, as he rarely seems to disappear on either side of the ice. At first the main conflict of Tipton being Didier's mentor had been his language block, only being able to speak Belgian and some Dutch. After months of attending on ice training with Tipton, Didier would slowly gain the ability to speak English. Signing in Mexico City, Didier was asked in a report about the language barrier between him and Mexico City's staff, answering "Thankfully most players can speak English, I can barely order food in Spanish,".