Phil Sakic Biography

[Phil 5,129]

Phil Sakic Biography

 

This is a short biography about the latest teenage sensation, Phil Sakic. It has always struck this author as odd that we make biographies of athletes and celebrities whose careers are not even over, or more to this point, of ones that have barely even begun. However this is great for my business so I shall tell you the tale of Sakic up to this point.

 

First, a little more of a pre-amble from yours truly. My name is Phil Knight and I run the prestigious talent agency that has been bringing players to the VHL for multiple decades. As those that know me are fully aware, I specialize in bringing British talent into the VHL. All of their names just happen to also be Phil. What is great about the agency is that I foster not only a passion to the sport but also to the community. A lot of my previous clients are now close friends and work with me to help develop the new generation. You will see some of this in this short story. Alright. Let's begin.

 

Phil Sakic, yes, is related to the Canadian NHL Hall of Famer Joe Sakic. For privacy's sake I will not tell you exactly how, so just go with it. The lad was born in a small Village outside London in Buckinghamshire called Beaconsfield. It's a quiet area where not much happens. There are local farmers markets and community events, but otherwise it's just your typical small English town of sheep and rolling hills. 

 

Football (soccer) in England is obviously all the rage and all boys play it on the school fields. Generally in the phys-ed curriculum, there is a short unit where the kids learn and play ball hockey, however, field hockey is more well known. Sakic obviously knew of ice hockey because of Joe Sakic and had watched the Winter Olympics replays where he had won gold for Team Canada. He was infatuated with skating - knives attached to shoes. But more so it was how players could move so quickly and gracefully on the slippery surface. Moreover, the handling and deking done with the hard black rubber puck was bewitching to him. 

 

So by 8 years of age, the youngster was already practicing his puck handling in the driveway of his home. His parents bought him a net so he could practice shooting. On some weekends, his parents would also take him into London to the local ice rink during the winters so he could practice skating. They signed him up for skating lessons, however, the only ones they could get him into was figure skating. Phil was fine with that. As long as he could speed across the ice, he didn't care how he did it. 

 

It was only when he was 12 that his dad signed him up for a league. They would make the trip into London 3 times a week. His dad wanted to make sure this was something Phil was serious about before committing such a large chunk of time to pursuing. It was a decent call, and of course Phil had been training, mostly independently, for 4 years for this. 

 

Obviously, he was phenomenal, because otherwise I would not be writing this biography and neither of us would know who he was. I'm not going to bore you with all the statics, but suffice to say that in his first game, he scored 8 times and set up 3 assists. He probably could have done more but he was trying to pass the puck to give others a chance to score. It took him 7 seconds to score his first goal. 16 to score 2. See? You get the point. 

 

By the season's end, the junior hockey team, the London Lions, wanted to reserve a spot for him on their roster for when he turned 15. Let's skip to that part. 

 

So here we have a 15-year old Phil Sakic, clearly a talented skater and handler of the puck, step inside the locker room of the London Lions for the first time. He was completely overwhelmed. They had banners hanging from the rafters of the arena and plaques of individual awards from past legends. He stood in the doorway for a good minute drinking in the history and the moment. This league attracts the best youths in the area and country so this would be the biggest test for Sakic to see if he has a future in ice hockey. I took the train down from Liverpool to attend the game. I knew there were new players starting and wanted to see what the Lions were so excited for. 

 

Now for context, this league has players 15 to 17 years of age. Developmentally that is a monstrous gap. For as you know, so 15 years olds can look like 8 year best people and some 17 year olds can look like grisly men. Sakic, being on the smaller side, would get a huge test on his physicality. As Sakic laced up his skates, he kept replaying Joe Sakics highlight reels in his head. He knew he was meant to play ice hockey and today was the biggest opportunity to date. He was not going to squander it. 

 

10 seconds into the game, all spectators jaws, including mine, were on the floor. From the faceoff, which London lost, Sakic on the wing flew towards the defenseman with the puck, lunged and intercepted the pass across to the other defenseman, shrugged off the checked and trip attempt, and snapped a shot from the slot that snuck under the blocker-side arm of the goalie for a 1-0 lead. It seemed even the players were shocked. What's great about this league is that practices before the first game are not allowed so this was literally the first time anyone on the team had seen Sakic skate. 

 

 

So the game went on like that. The other team, the Slough Sloths, put immense pressure on Sakic, but he was so quick and agile around the boards, he was always able to skate or pass his way out of trouble. Though he isn't too tall, he has long, powerful legs that he is able to accelerate for as long as he needs, outpacing even the best of Slough's skaters. Sakic ended up helping (really leading) his team to a 16-2 trouncing, putting up 9 goals and 7 assists in the process with a +16 rating. I was already talking with his father, as were a couple of other agents but his father was shooing us away. That's how I knew I needed to make a house call. 

 

And so I showed up, hat in hand, to the Sakic residence to offer my services to Phil. I told him of my past and my agency, telling him that I could have him work with Hall of Famers Phil Gerrard and Phil Rafter to continue developing his skills and help him get drafted to the VHLm. Phil's eyes were wide with excitement but his father told him that they wanted a family meeting to discuss. They told me to come back next week. 

 

I deliberately did not disturb the family during that time. Obviously this is a giant decision and pestering them in the meantime is rather disrespectful. Their lives would change dramatically with the decision to sign with me and both his father and I knew it. No need to state the obvious. So I showed up the same time the next week to check in on them and see if they needed any further information or had reached a decision. Phil had come prepared. He invited me in, his mother presented us with tea and biscuits, and Phil asked me some terrific questions. Of course, I had come prepared as well. I presented Phil my career plan for him. He was thrilled to see that I didn't want him to do anything until he had finished in the league with London. Once he was 17 and a half, that's when he could make the jump to the VHLm. I mapped out how I would support him and guide him to success, gave him my resources, and some pre-paid visa cards to his father. Starting out, not many people have money and since the VHL is an international league, if he ended up in North America, that's a huge cost. I told them I would put them up until he's drafted in the VHL. Although my offer was good for the 3 of them, Phil's father said that since Phil was serious about making this his career, he would be the only one relocating. Phil nodded enthusiastically. 

 

 

It was a great meeting. I had never really seen such preparedness from a 15 year old when it came to life outside of hockey. So I knew he would be successful where ever he went. 

 

So we fast forward 2 years, and he arrived on his first VHL contract in Canada, home of his relative and favourite NHLer, Joe Sakic, on a 1-year contract for Halifax. We will see what the future holds but the VHL better brace themselves for this young spark. He means business

 

 

Words: 1,500+

[Daniel Janser 2,216]

58 minutes ago, Phil said:

Beaconsfield

I swear I read Baconfield first and went full Homer-made 'mmmm a field of Bacon'...

[Phil 5,129]

17 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

I swear I read Baconfield first and went full Homer-made 'mmmm a field of Bacon'...

It is pronounced "Beckonsfield" which is even closer to "Bacon" 

Edited April 22 by Phil