Jean-Pierre Devote - London United Youth Camp

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All the way back in the offseason Season 88, the future Monegasque legend Jean-Pierre Devote attended a youth hockey camp that was hosted by the Continental Cup Champions at the time, the London United. When he attended the camp, Devote had just turned 15, and he had just begun practicing along side the French U16 National Team. The camp was held in London, and lasted 10 days, in which the players attending recieved instruction from the London United stars, Ivan Retoslav, and Molly The Cat. Leonard Triller was also there, though he was acting more as a chaperone than a coach, due to his relatively small VHL experience. Right from day one of the camp, the London United players were impressed by the skill shown by Jean-Pierre. He demonstrated elite puck handling skills for his age, as well as an amzing finishing ability, not generally seen in a player of his age, let alone one from Monaco. Following the first day of the camp, Ivan, Molly, and Triller were driving home, as they had car-pooled together, and were talking about the most impressive players they had seen when Devote came up in the conversation. Triller had searched up Devote's Elite Prospects page, and he noticed that Devote was listed as a member of the U16 French National Team, though there was an asterisk next to it due to his Monegasque nationality. The three of them agreed that Devote was special, and definitely had potential to be one of, if not the greatest player to ever come out of Monaco if he kept up his drive. 

 

Over the next few days, more and more London players showed up to help out with the camp, with a friendly game between the United and the kids attending the camp scheduled for the final day. During that stretch, Jean-Pierre received instruction from Hari Singh Nalwa regarding his defensive game, or lack thereof. He largely credits Nalwa as being the reason his defensive game has developed so much in recent seasons, and his recent performances in the VHLM truly show how much of an effect Nalwa had on the young Monegasque star. During the game that was held at the end of the camp, Devote was given the role of 1st line left winger for the team of students. In the first period, London went up 3-1, the one goal for the kids coming off of an amazing cross-ice saucer pass by Devote that was tapped in, and left Teno without a chance to stop it. In the 2nd, London expanded on their lead even more, taking the score to a large 7-2 deficit, with Devote being the one to score on Teno this time. The third period was much more eventful, as the United ended up scoring 2 goals in the period, but also let in 2 goals, making the final score 9-4, with Devote finishing with 2 points, the leader of the team. The United players were very surprised and impressed by the Monegasque's performance, and could easily tell that he was one day going to be a massive VHL star.

(518 Words)