Toe Drag Release

[NineIQ v2 41]

New School Sport

 

In the small town of Eagles lake there was a 10 year old kid named Carter Abrams. Carter attended primary school as a 4th grader when one day he heard about the ball hockey tryouts from the school's intercom. He told his parents about it and it turns out it was the first year the school was finally big enough to have a second sports team. The tryouts were tomorrow after school but Carter wanted to learn about hockey before he went. 

 

The Tryouts

 

He went on his chromebook bought by his parents and looked up “hockey”, he then clicked on a YouTube video named “Connor Bedard Highlights”. Carter was hooked. The kid spent all of his screen time watching Bedard and learnt about his toe drag release before being called for dinner by his mom. Carter told his parents about Connor Bedard and how he wanted to be like him when he was older, his dad was keen on letting him play ice hockey but his mom didn’t want him to get hurt.

 

 Carter was told to sleep on it and the very next morning he was ready for the tryouts, he received a plastic stick and wondered where the curve was when he spotted another kid bending his stick. Carter remembered how Bedard's stick was bent and tried his best to recreate that exact curve on his plastic stick. During the warmup Carter was trying out shooting and bringing the ball up and down the floor since it was his first time with a hockey stick. Soon enough he went to take his first shot in warmup but completely missed the net and had little power on it. He finally managed to score a warm up shot but I was a badly aimed shot with little power. 

 

Scrimmage Time

 

The scrimmage started and Carter had the ball on his stick, he remembered his soccer practices where he was told to look up and when he looked up he found his open teammate. Carter made a terrible pass but the ball managed to just get in the reach of his teammate so he could pull the ball back and shoot. The shot was saved but at least Carter didn’t lose the puck like many other kids were doing. Carter got the ball about 5 meters from the net where there was a defender watching him but he remembered his toe drag release and saw just enough space to release it. Carter pulled his stick towards him dragging the ball with it and made a wrist shot motion just like he saw on YouTube. The ball got through the defenders legs then went through his teammates legs who was standing in front of the net before going five holes on the screened goalie. Carter had scored, it was pure luck but either way it was a goal and the coach was really impressed with Carter.

 

After that Carter was subbed off for someone else after having made a nice impression and the coach told him he made the team before the tryouts even ended. The first practice was after school the next day but it was time for Carter to go home. His parents never heard the end of his toe drag release and Connor Bedard but they were happy about what their son had accomplished. 

 

The school day

 

Carter had to keep up his grades in school if he wanted to play on the ball hockey team and as it happened he had a math test today. His bus arrived at his stop at 7:30 am so he could get to school before 8:00 am. He had his first three periods, art, french and physical education before his lunch period. He ate with his class before being let outside where he would play soccer with his friends at recess. 

 

He was quite good at soccer and managed to make one of his friends fall over with a slick move before sending a missile into the net where the goalie was still in question of what happened. He was popular at his school because of his impressive moments in soccer but soccer wasn’t his interest, more of a side sport. He was then let back in where he was faced with multiplications, however he had studied well and passed the test effortlessly with a 86%. Carter finished with an easy science class before it was already time to go to hockey practice.

 

 The practice disaster

 

Carter showed up to practice where he shot some terrible toe drag releases that all missed the net. The coach approached him suggesting he try a snap shot or wrist shot, he learnt both finding them easier but really likes doing his toe drag releases. Carter was shooting much better after that, managing to pick the bottom corners a few times and even raising the ball on command.

 

In the scrimmage he wouldn’t have the same luck as yesterday, his toe drag release either missed the net or got poked by the defender and his wrist and snap shots were going wide. At the end of the practice the coach put up the lines for the upcoming game in two days on friday. The team could only bring 12 players, 6 forwards, 4 defenders and 2 goalies and there were 16 players therefore because of Carter's performance in practice he wasn’t going to play in the game.

 

Carter still attended the game missing half his science class where his team would get demolished 4-0 by the richer and bigger school from Haliburton, ON. During the weekend he went over with a hockey stick his dad bought him and a ball to the park where there was a net to practice his shot.

 

Hockey at the park

 

When Carter woke up Saturday he walked over to the nearby park with a stick and ball his dad bought him to go practice his toe drag release. Upon his arrival to the park he found that the only two nets were being used by 9 older boys playing 4 vs 5. Seeing the unbalance in the game he asked if he could join but the older kids weren't too keen on letting 10 year old Carter play. They passed Carter the ball and asked him to shoot on the big goalie and when he shot the ball snuck under the goalkeeper's glove and he scored. Their tallest kid said Carter should be good to play and he was put on the left wing where he was told “just stay with the defender”.

 

Carter got the puck 15 meters away from the other team's goal on the left elbow of the rink where he put his head up to find his teammates. All he saw was the defender so he looked back where he saw his defender wide open so he passed it backwards. Turns out Carter's defender had a better vision of the rink so he was able to make a pass that turned into a good chance that barely missed. Carter ran to the corner of the rink where he was overpowered by the defender then fell down because of the sheer strength advantage of the older kid. Carter got hurt but he decided that he could keep playing and got back up where he reintroduced himself to the play like nothing happened. The older kids praised Carter for his toughness since he got back up and even asked him for his name.

 

Carter got a second chance with the ball, this time he had a shooting lane in the slot where it was him vs the goalie. He approached the goalie where the goalies stick was swung at the ball but then he dragged the ball towards him and did his toe drag release. The shot hit the post however it was good enough to impress the older kids who got the rebound and scored off a play that went to the defense for a deflection off the shot. After the game the older kids said they were from Ottawa visiting Huntsville for a house league tournament and they got hotels in Haliburton since it was cheaper. They walked Carter home where they took his parents phone number if ever they were back and left to go back to their hotel. Since they had to leave early because it was a one hour drive to Huntsville where their tournament was.

 

Toe Drag Miss

 

Carter was back to school practice where he kept missing his toe drag release and to make it worse his coach saw him also messing up his snapshot. He was told if he didn’t work on his shot he would be cut from the practices and wouldn’t be able to play this year. It didn’t help that he was a 4th grader since it was mostly 5-6th graders who made the team. Carter went back to the park but this time he was alone at the park and he missed toe drag release after toe drag release. He wondered why when his dad came to pick him up, he showed his dad his toe drag release and was told “just stick to the normal shots for now”. His dad set up some targets at home with spare boots and gloves and said “aim for there, it should help with time”.

 

He kept doing toe drag releases until he did it, he transferred his weight from his back foot to the release and there it was, the toe drag release he was looking for. It wasn’t much but that discovery helped him be more consistent with his shot and even helped him hit the targets 1/3 times.

 

Game 2 selections

 

The selections for the second game of the season was on a Wednesday and armed with his new shot training Carter's shot was looking a lot better. His shot wasn’t good by any means but it was enough for him to get 2 good looks on net and finally score with a snapshot from 7 meters out. The coach put the lines for the next game out and behold, he was the 2nd line left winger.

 

Carter went home and looked up what the left winger's job was, he learnt about a player named Brady Tkachuk. Now his playstyle was very physical so he stayed away from that since he wasn’t very big standing at 4 '1 and 55 pounds. He was mostly watching for the positioning and game sense of an experienced left winger so he could try and replicate it in game. 

 

If there was any advantage Carter had over others it was his passion for the game, he loved playing hockey even if it was only ball hockey he could not hold in his excitement after being picked for the game.

 

Carter’s First Game

 

Carter was rightfully nervous even though he was on the second unit he knew he had to be ready for when he got subbed on. About midway through the first the game is 0-0 and the coach sees this as a good time to sub on the bench unit. The first chance comes and the right winger runs into the offensive zone's right corner with the ball. Carter yells as he makes space for himself in front of the net where the winger looks him off. The ball was lost but the coach saw how Carter got open in front of the net and called for the ball so later on he praised him for that. Carter got the ball as he was crossing the halfway line and once he got to the top of the offensive zone faceoff circles. He takes a pre-scan where he only sees the net so he launches a wrist shot that is gloved with ease by the goalie since his shot is still weak and badly aimed.

 

He gets one more chance in the slot closer to the blue line where he shoots hard and low where it almost hits his teammates stick but is covered by the goalie. He was subbed off for the whole 2nd period where his coach made it clear to him that his shot wasn’t hard enough and to stay after practice on Monday to work on that.

 

Carter started the 3rd period down 2-1 to the team from Essonville, he immediately got a screened shot off but after getting past the first defender it hit the goalie for a rebound he controlled very well. Then his teammate got tripped which meant his team got a power play, he was on the first unit because of his vision therefore he was the ball carrier. His team formed an umbrella in the offensive zone where they cycled the ball. The left elbow got an open shot that hit the goalies blocker and went into the corner where the winger recovered the ball. The ball cycled back to Carter where he saw an opening in the net that he shot low and hard at. The ball hit his player's stick then the defender's leg that popped out on the right for a rebound. But the goalie was there so Carter yelled for the ball and was passed to for a one-timer that squeezed into the net despite the increasing chaos in front of the net.

 

It was now 2-2 with 1 and a half minutes left on the clock and Carter knew if he wanted to win he had to act fast. Carter got the puck in the defensive zone along the boards and after blowing by the first defender with a fancy move he saw one of the older kids use it and then it was 1v1 against the last defender. Carter advanced to the top of the circle with his teammate closing in on the net wide open for a shot. Before he passed he took one more look at the net and there it was, a small opening for the ball. If he wanted to shoot this he would have to score it and after taking one last look at his teammate who was yelling for the ball he shot it. His coach was nearly ripping his clipboard apart as the ball hit the post and the defense recovered to end the game in a tie. The coach was not impressed with Carter’s selfishness and scolded him about passing the ball. The next Monday at practice he had to do 10 laps of the soccer field before being able to play for the team again.

 

(This is the end of part 1, I will write one next month and claim my TPE while I wait.)

[NineIQ v2 41]

claiming for week 2

[NineIQ v2 41]

Claiming for week 3

[NineIQ v2 41]

Claiming for week 4

[Oddpurplefly 63]

Reviewing 

 

A great biography. This is exactly the amount of details I hope to find when reading one. He throws a good mix of hockey situations and life experiences that bring the character to life. Only thing I would of liked to see more of, is the backstory to the character ,maybe like family roots in example which would give so much more depth to the biography. But overall I do give credit to the creativity and ideas brought to the table. I give this article an overall " A ". Definitely good writing

 

91 words

[The goat of hockey 103]

TDR