A Merican Entrance, Pt 2 [FINAL: 6/6]

[Merica 69]

Welcome back to my first-person chronicle of prospect Josh Merica’s VHLM pro day, I hope you enjoyed the first installment. If you missed it, well, there won’t be a “previously on” segment, so I advise you go back and read it, it’s quite worth your time if I do say so myself.  Alright, let’s pick up where we left off!

 

I look around the bleachers, trying to gauge the reaction to Josh’s question/statement, and it seemed to be one of ”Wait, did he actually say that?”, one player’s jaw seemed to have come unhinged, while others smirked at him, probably thinking ”Yep, that’s the first player I’m decking”. The individual who gave the welcome introduction and asked for questions, whose name is Erich Heidt, also a former VHL player, quickly said ”Well, we know one thing, Josh here isn’t short of confidence or arrogance, hope you can back up the big mouth” before Josh could issue a smart retort, Heidt added ”Alright, go get changed and be in the weight room in 20 minutes.”

 

The players quickly grabbed their stuff and started chit-chatting as they headed for the locker room. I overheard one player, whose last name was Goody, say to a comrade ”Can you believe that guy?”.  I smiled, I had an idea as to why Josh did what he did, but I wanted to hear it from him. I followed him down the stairs and into the locker room, like his personal biographer or something, and started with the questions again:

 

”That was a ballsy move, want to explain why you would piss off the whole group like that? You have a target on your back now.”

”First, I said it because it was true.  Second, you had never heard of me before today, and neither has anyone else, so what better way to get the spotlight than to announce myself? You can bet your ass the scouts will be watching me now. I don’t feel pressure, I perform better when people are scrutinizing my every move, because I don’t care what they think, and I know I’m the best.” Said Josh, as he stacked his gear in his locker, he continued ”I also like to get into people’s heads, and believe me, that is one tactic that works, just look around, their whispering and eyeing me right now, exactly how I want it.”

 

 

My assumptions proved correct. Josh was made for the spotlight, he wanted the attention and he wanted everyone to know that he was the best before he beat them, which was when he would probably say “I told you so”.  Josh didn’t need to change, since he showed up in gym attire, so we left and headed for the weight room, which was right down the hall.

 

As we passed over the threshold into the weight room, Josh looked around, spotted Erich Heidt and walked over to him. ”Hey, do I have to wear a shirt for this? I want the scouts, and ladies, to see how well I take care of my body, ya know?” Erich stared at him, looked at me, than said ”No rule against it.  Josh immediately pulled off his tank top, showing off his chiseled physique, which I admit was pretty impressive.  I felt ashamed, made a mental note to get back into the gym.

 

The first event was the bench press, each player was given a couple warm up sets, then they did sets of 185 and up until they reached their max, after that they did 225 as many times as possible. Merica volunteered to go first, and quickly established himself as much stronger than he appeared. His max was 350, and he pumped out 225 for a total of 15 reps. For a 6’1, 185 lb man, that’s strong.   Josh wasn’t the strongest player, a defenseman benched 405, and knocked out 225 30 times, I didn’t catch his name but he was a brute. For his weight class, nobody came close to Merica, and he benched more than most people in general.

 

Next was the deadlift. Merica, once again first, maxed at 460lbs, and repped 375 10 times. Once again, he blew away the competition aside from a few people.  After he pulled 460 and dropped it loudly, exerting a reverberating grunt, he looked at the guy next in line and said ”Sucks going after me, I know.”  as he flexed walking past him. 

 

I asked Josh how he was feeling. ”F*****g yolked man, do you see this pump? Are you seeing this right now?” It was rhetorical, as he was looking at himself in the mirror, flexing various muscle groups. He spotted a female photographer and quickly gravitated towards her, where he flexed his biceps. ”Now you show me yours baby” he said with a wink, to which the lady blushed and rolled her eyes as she went to the other side of the room.   This guy had confidence, but more than that, he was having fun and wasn’t allowing anything to stress him out, whereas other players were visibly worried about one event or the other.

 

Oh, here comes Goody, who I learned has a first name as well, Chuck.  He approached Merica. ”Dude I might be able to increase-“ Merica cut him off ”Hold on, do you even lift, bro?” he said, his eyes going up and down his body as if he was trying to find muscles that weren’t there. ”Nevermind, you don’t lift, so you’ll have to deliver any questions or comments to my assistant here, Sam, who will determine if it’s worthy of me hearing.” I looked at Goody and shrugged. Erich Heidt announced they were moving onto the final strength event, squats, so the conversation was ended before it could began.

 

Josh exclaimed ”Woo! Let’s do this sh*t!” he knocked out his warm up reps, then pounded out a max of 390, while repping 330 15 times. Once again, impressive numbers, but no one was going to tell that to him, because he was very clearly aware of his own strength and prowess.  After everyone finished up, Heidt announced they had 30 minutes to stretch and be on the ice for individual skills assessment.

 

Not a whole happened back in the locker room, I sat down and relaxed a little bit as the players went through their gear and got prepared for what I hoped would turn into a heated competition. Everyone knows that everyone has a breaking point, and Josh was doing his best to find the collective breaking point of the other players. It was hilarious to watch, but if I had been one of the other players in this room, I would be out to knock his head off, permanently injure him.

 

 

Individual skills consisted of a face paced number of events, to include end-to-end speed, agility drills, puck handling, defense, passing and shooting drills. My desire for some players to reach their breaking point was met with disappointment. The events were too fast paced for too much smack talk, but Merica did get in several good comments, pissing off everyone he talked too.  It didn’t help that he was very skilled, and was making most of the prospects look really raw. His puck handling and speed was uncanny, and no one rivaled him in those abilities.  Passing needed some work, he was middle of the pack there, same with defense. His center of balance and ability to quickly make adjustments was also easily noticed, his hockey IQ was off the charts.

 

The last event was shooting, which consisted of being set up, creating your own shot and penalty shot. This is where some fun began. As Merica skated past the goalie who would be up against him, he said ”Your five hole is gonna be violated like your sister was in the porno I watched last night.” he slapped his ass and skated away, but not before the goalie issued a retort ”Keep talking sh*t, see what happens b***h” Josh looked for me in the bleachers and winked, then made a motion to watch him.

 

Merica circled the puck, than moved it back and forth with his stick, eyeing the goaltender. He cracked his neck, then exploded up the left side of side in a burst of acceleration I hadn’t seen from him today, he angled towards the net, deked it left, tapped the puck behind his back, whipped his stick back around, re-engaged the puck and backhanded it through the five-hole. He pumped his chest once, circled back around, pointed at the goalie and said ”I was wrong, that was worse than the porno”.

 

The goalie ripped of his gloves, tossed his helmet to the side and charged at Merica.

 

But that’s all the time we have for today. Tune in next time to see what happens.

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Content: 3/3 - More than enough written here. Pretty lengthy article and that's not a bad thing. It remained interesting throughout it all.

Grammar: 1.75/2 - A little bit here to note, and try to proof read some more on your next one.

 

than said ”No rule against it. - you're missing a quotation at the end.

I felt ashamed, made a mental note to get back into the gym. - I felt ashamed, THEN made a mental note

I would be out to knock his head off, permanently injure him.  - knock his head off, or permanently injure him

Individual skills consisted of a face paced number of events - fast paced, not face paced

also easily noticed, his hockey IQ was off the charts.  - AND his hockey IQ was off the charts

The goalie ripped of his gloves - ripped OFF his gloves. Minor typo there.

Appearance: 1/1 - The layout is very good and I love the inclusion of GIFs. They're great looking ones that work better than just pictures.

Overall: 5.75/6

[Kel 62]

Content: 3/3 - It was thoroughly written and I loved reading it until the end. Cannot wait for the next segment. 

Grammar: 1.75/2 - It was pretty good nothing a little proofread can't fix. DAAD found a couple things as well. 

 

he slapped his ass and skated away, but not before the goalie issued a retort ”Keep talking sh*t, see what happens b***h” Josh looked for me in the bleachers and winked, then made a motion to watch him. - He slapped his ass then skated away, but not before the goalie issued a retort

 

Erich stared at him, looked at me, than said ”No rule against it. - Erich stared at him, looked at me, then said "No rule against it."

 

Appearance: 1/1 - You got it. Like DAAD said you got the gifs there making it look top notch.
 

Overall: 5.75/6