Banackock 8,044 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 It probably feels like it were just yesterday that young goalie Blake Campbell had entered the VHLM as a under 25 TPE waiver claim. He was picked up by the Minot Gladiators in an effort to ensure the young goalies interest remained high when it came to making his way to the VHL. He was a later comer to the league, meaning most of his fellow rival prospects had an edge on him when it came to development. Due to this, earning a starting position with any team would be fairly difficult. Minot already had a goalie, which meant Campbell would earn his place on the bench much more easily rather than earning a spot in between the pipes. For the majority of his first season in the league, Campbell spent much of his team as a bench warmer. During the 72 game season, he managed to play in 15 games spotting him a record of 5-6-4 -- .884% -- 5.22 GAA. He was not impressed with these numbers at all and you could sometimes see the frustration on his face. The plus side? The kid has passion and will only take the negatives and try and make them positives. " My first season was pretty tough. I joined a little later than everyone else which meant I was a bit behind. Obviously this gives the edge to other goalies and my opponents. However, that didn't change how hard I worked or how I looked at the game. I want to be the best that I can be because I want to be the guy teams can rely on. If the boys in front of me are kicking ass in a game, maybe they won't need me as much but there are games where they'll have off nights and I will face lots of shots. Those games I want to be ready. I want to stand tall and help us get the W. I want to stand tall every game. Minot gave me an opportunity and although it wasn't much, it was still something and I'm thankful they did that for me. Who knows how much longer I would have been sitting there if they hadn't." Campbell is an extremely hardworking, determined and respectful young guy. Each and everyday he is looking for ways to improve his abilities, emotions and body. His effort got him noticed by the Stockholm Vikings, who ended up taking him 8th overall in the S42 VHL entry draft. Campbell heads to a team that has quite the odd situation transpiring. If not mistaken, they have 4-5 + extra goalies who could all potentially win the helm and lead Stockholm in the future. Trying to earn a starting position as a goalie is never easy, but it's something Blake Campbell plans to do. "I like Stockholm. The locker room is full of great guys and we have the foundation of a really strong team. For whatever reason, whether it's they believed in me, want me to lead the team in the future or want to trade me, they drafted me and I will honor that. I was drafted here and obviously it's my first professional team. I'm a one team kind of guy. I want that starting position and although the others are my teammates, I'm willing to do what it takes to out train them and out play them. I'm not here to be a back up goalie or to be in a 1A/1B kind of situation. I'm here to bust my balls so that one day, I'm the guy they look to each and every night when it comes to playing in between the posts." So far this season, Campbell has done exactly what he said. During the S42 VHLM dispersal draft, league management made a minor mistake which results in Blake Campbell not being included in the draft. Due to this, he was not picked up by a team. After some talks with the league, it was decided that he would become a free agent. Being a free agent is not always a easy task. There's teams you want to help, friends you want to play with or for and teams that you know have a high potential of winning. He took his time and really thought out the situation and after awhile, his mind was made up. The Brampton Blades had become Blake Campbell's new home and it seems like it was an extremely fitting option. Brampton has a lot of players, many of them with a fairly decent talent level. So far this season he's really turned things around as opposed to his performances the season prior. He's really improved his play, stepped up to the plate and brought a winning effort each game and it's earned him a record of 9-2-1 --.892% -- 2.82 GAA, and we expect him to continue to improve. "It feels good to play games and know that management has confidence in me. I think before, I may have slightly been focusing on the wrong areas to improve. My excuse being that I wasn't training to be a top VHLM goalie, my eyes are always on the VHL. However, I think I have a good idea to what I want to be and how to get there. Right now, I feel strong and that's all I can ask for. I'm going to continue to build myself up and work with both Brampton and Stockholm to further myself and my game." - 915 Words - 3 pics - boubabi and Harumpf 2 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laflamme 376 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Content: 2/2- well over the required words. loved the article personally. It was a great read.Grammar: 2/2- none that were noticeable.Appearance: 1/1- Really liked the video's always wanted to learn how to do that. Keep up the good work!Overall: 6/6 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-188727 Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,745 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Did this have to be locked so quickly? Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-188792 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Did this have to be locked so quickly? I unlocked it. I agree though. If we're grading things pretty much immediately then we should leave them open for awhile. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-188924 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laflamme 376 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 My bad just doing what I thought I was suppose to. I will leave them unlocked now. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-188934 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 My bad just doing what I thought I was suppose to. I will leave them unlocked now. It is what we're supposed to do. Grade it and lock it if it doesn't need another grade. But usually the articles go about 1-2 days before somebody grades them, so there's always time for discussion. Now that we have like 4 active graders, things get graded pretty fast and nobody gets time to say anything. I don't know, it just seems to make sense now to leave it open for a day and then close it. Plus, BOOM questioned the lock so I had to comply because I'm scared of him. Laflamme 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-188948 Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,745 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 My bad just doing what I thought I was suppose to. I will leave them unlocked now. No need to apologize, I'm a grumpy shit today. You're doing a great job, keep it up. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-189016 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banackock 8,044 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 My bad just doing what I thought I was suppose to. I will leave them unlocked now. Thanks for grading so quickly though! Appreciate it big time! Laflamme 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-189098 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick 4,741 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Claimed Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/17743-claimedcampbell-finding-his-way-final-66/#findComment-191143 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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