Greg_Di 1,028 Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 What is there to say about the Eagles dynasty that hasn't been said before? They are a hockey family who produces all-stars. It started with Greg the goalie, followed by Tom the defenseman and currently Henry the forward playing his last season. Now the newest member to join the VHL family is Roger Eagles who will complete the positional full circle by returning as a goalie. Roger was born and raised in Wroclaw, Poland like every other Eagles member. The difference between Roger and all the others is that he was born and trained specifically for this role. He is the cousin of Tom Eagles (who was the son of Greg). As soon as he could crawl, Greg, started training him by playing floor hockey. He quickly learned that when Greg shot, he had to stop the ball. This continued on a daily basis for a few hours a day and while most toddlers would get bored, Roger just kept on smiling and continuing to stop the ball. At this point, Greg new that Roger's calling was to be a goalie. He took him under his wing and started teaching him everything he knows. As he grew up throughout the years the training continued. Every day at the Eagles training facility in Wroclaw, Roger and Greg would train. They would work on all the important aspects of goaltending from Rebound Control, Hand Speed, Reaction Time, Style control and agility. The trainings kept getting longer and longer, more intense and intense but Roger would never quit. He just kept on going. The dedication shown by Roger to be the best in his position was unmatched. " I threw everything I could at the kid and he just wouldn't stop. He wanted to keep going " Greg said when asked about Roger's training "I knew that he will be something special in hockey and maybe the best one of the Eagles yet. He has the drive to be the best and he won't stop until he achieves that" The one surprising thing about Roger is that he didn't play on any organized teams in his childhood, the Eagles family wanted to keep him out of the spotlight so that he could develop with Greg. Many are wondering if this will be a big benefit or if it will hurt him. Most experts say the lack of organized games early on will stunt his growth and also may shock him when he doesn't succeed right away while working up the ranks in the VHL. " Many people believe he didn't play games when he was younger and that is partially correct" says Greg "while he didn't play organized league games, every weekend we brought in some of my VHL buddies and played games at our facility. We had it all coaches, refs, top tier guys playing with Roger playing in net. It gave him the ability to see and learn from the best of the best in the VHL in game situations" As he turned 16, Roger was finally entered into organized league games, playing at the highest level in Poland and then North America. He really excelled in both leagues winning multiple awards and leading his teams to victory. This was the notice to the hockey world that Roger is here and he is ready to take the hockey world by storm. As he enters his first professional steps in the VHL, he will be backed by all the Eagles alumni as they will be traveling with him to help in his training. Before fully committing to the VHLE, Roger will play the last few games of the VHLM season in San Diego, the same team where Greg Eagles started. While it hasn't been the best of starts, Roger does not seem worried. " It's a transition phase, I started near the end of the season where I am still getting a feel for the VHL and getting my conditioning up to game ready state" Roger said "I have had a few poor starts but things are starting to go better. This VHLM phase is just a conditioning stint until I get to the VHLE and most likely spend 2 seasons there getting ready. When asked where he thinks he will go in the draft Roger said " Doesn't matter to me, I know most goalies don't go first overall and I am ok with that. I will go to any team that drafts me at any spot and will ensure I give them my all to win multiple cups. That is my only goal in the VHL" It will be interesting to follow Roger throughout his upcomming career as he is the only Eagles up to this point to be specifically trained to play in the VHL and for the goaltender role. Will this experiment work out or will it be an Eagles flop? Only time will tell. ace_five_, Thunder and Scurvy 3 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
ace_five_ 465 Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 Can we get an Eagles family tree? I'm getting a little lost Thunder 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/#findComment-1023231 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_Di 1,028 Posted April 20 Author Share Posted April 20 14 hours ago, ace_five_ said: Can we get an Eagles family tree? I'm getting a little lost I can make one for a graphics post task later on but basically Greg Eagles Tom Eagles Henry Eagles Now Roger Eagles Thunder 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/#findComment-1023255 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Janser 2,213 Posted April 20 Share Posted April 20 1 hour ago, Greg_Di said: I can make one for a graphics post task later on but basically Greg Eagles Tom Eagles Henry Eagles Now Roger Eagles You forgot Greg Eagleowski, cup winning defender with the Calgary Wranglers in S18... Thunder 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/#findComment-1023256 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_Di 1,028 Posted April 22 Author Share Posted April 22 On 4/20/2024 at 1:44 PM, Daniel Janser said: You forgot Greg Eagleowski, cup winning defender with the Calgary Wranglers in S18... Not an Eagles his the odd Eagleowski different family tree Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/#findComment-1023370 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Janser 2,213 Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 36 minutes ago, Greg_Di said: Not an Eagles his the odd Eagleowski different family tree True Dat... you know I thought it was a case of 'rebranding' when entering the US. A lot of people changed their names when emigrating to the United States. 'Grünspan' became 'Greenspan', names were translated into English ('Schmid' became 'Smith') and so on to accommodate to their new home... Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/147247-roger-eagles/#findComment-1023375 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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