Ozzy Batty - Back to Mississauga!

[Ozzy Batty 275]

Oh wow, so much has happened! Yea, I got really sick so I missed out on the draft and training camp, but I am back on the mend and am back on the ice. 

Yea, that is so crazy as well! I was told initially that I had accumulated “too many points” to stay in the VHLM, and then I was told that I was still under the point threshold so I was going to have 1 more season in the M. I know that after my career in the M is over that I will be joining the Oslo Storm for a season or 2. After that I will be heading to the Moscow Menace, so it is nice to be heading back to Europe. 

But what until then? Like I said, I was sick and wasn’t able to watch the M draft. I wasn’t sure where I would go and even though I had been in the M for a season, it was as a Waiver Signing, so I was going to be drafted for my final season in the M.

My family decided to not watch the draft as well. They didn’t want to know where I was going before I found out. I went to bed, hoping I would feel better in the morning without any idea of what was going to happen next. I had talked to some of the teams, but I think the confusion about my eligibility made teams unsure about wasting a draft pick on me. 

On top of that, some of the teams had seen a turnover in their leadership, so the people I had talked to may have moved on to bigger and better things. So I really had no idea where I was heading next.

I talked to my parents and they were really curious about where I wanted to go. In all honesty, I wanted to go back to Mississauga. I wasn’t sure if that was even a possibility, and even if they wanted me to come back. They were one of the teams who had a leadership change so I didn’t know the new Manager that well. Added to that is where they had their first selection in the draft. They didn’t have a selection until the 8th pick and according to all of the mock drafts, I would be gone before then.

Needless to say that when I woke up the next day, feeling a little better I may add, I was so shocked to have about 15 missed calls from Mississauga Canada! I nervously called back and woke up the new manager before he excitedly told me that I was on the board when they were ready to make their selection and he told me, “We just had to bring you back.” I was so excited that I almost dropped the phone! We made arrangements for me to fly back to Mississauga as soon as I felt well enough to meet my new teammates and to reunite with my old ones.

I went into the lounge to share the good news with my family. I know that all of the teams in the VHLM are good and positive environments, but there is something about being able to go back to a place that I know and feel comfortable in. Plus I get my old locker back!

Now, lets win that championship!