diamond_ace 3,112 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 On October 26, 1996, Francis and Elaine Brookside were in attendance at Stamford Bridge as hometown favorites Chelsea took on the hated Tottenham Hotspur. Elaine was pregnant, but by all indications she wasn’t due for another few weeks. All indications were wrong. At halftime, she felt something unusual, excusing herself to the bathroom stalls under the North End (which would soon be renamed the Matthew Harding Stand, for the club’s former director who had perished in a tragic helicopter accident just four days prior to the match). Once she realized what was going on – she was having the baby, right then and there – she sent a nearby maintenance worker to fetch Francis. He came quickly, along with a few security guards and a member of the stadium’s medical staff, to help Elaine deliver. The two missed the entire second half of the match, including David Lee’s 52nd minute goal that would be the decider, as well as club legend Roberto Di Matteo’s 80th minute security goal, providing Chelsea with the final 3-1 margin, but under the circumstances, they were happy to have their new son, Martin, safe and sound. Growing up, young Martin took well to his parents’ favorite sport, soccer (or to them, football). Blue was always the “colour” for him, and soon his passion for all things Chelsea matched that of Francis and Elaine. He was on a local youth squad as early as 6, and he was always the one guy willing to play goal even though at that age most kids stayed away from it. Through his teen years, he actually looked like a promising prospect to even make a career out of it – that is, until a vacation to Canada for his 16th birthday. He spent two weeks in Canada, traveling among Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. While there, he took in a few matches hosted by Montreal Impact and Toronto FC, but also watched a sport wholly unfamiliar to him, ice hockey. Seeing one game in each city (Habs/Flyers, Leafs/Pens, Sens/Wild) he quickly gained an appreciation for the sport and when he returned home he took in every bit of it he could, even asking his parents to send him to the USA when he graduated high school so he could play hockey while pursuing his studies. At 18, Brookside came to the states and enrolled at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA. Immediately upon arrival at the campus, he got in contact with the coaches of both the soccer and hockey teams and expressed an interest in trying to walk on for both squads. Neither were impressed with the fact that he wanted to do two sports, especially ones whose schedules overlapped somewhat, but what harm could it do? The kid was just a walk on, they figured; he’s not going to make such an impact that he’ll be missed from either team if games ran concurrently, and he’s no lock to make either team, especially hockey as he’d only ice skated and played goal separately, never having combined the two skill sets until now. At soccer tryouts, the scholarship players were given shooting drills against all the potential goalie candidates. The team was looking to fill one spot at the position as their starter was a junior on scholarship and the coach’s nephew held third string just so he could attend the school on their dime. There really was no competition. Brookside easily won the spot, he was probably better than the starter but university politics dictate that a junior scholarship player will always start over a walk on, regardless of talent. Either way, it was close enough that the team certainly wasn’t going to be hurt by keeping the starter, and none of the other options could match Brookside for the spot. Hockey tryouts weren’t so easy. Hockey is a fairly successful sport at Mercyhurst. To take a kid who’s never actually played the game before would be a massive upset. Brookside tried out, yet was clearly fifth best behind two scholarship players and two other walk on candidates. Three would get the roles, so he wasn’t even the best of outside the team. Nevertheless, his determination showed that day to the coach, who agreed to mentor him after the season was done and work him toward a position the following year, considering that one of the scholarship players was a senior and would be graduating, thus leaving a vacancy. Through freshman year, soccer kept Brookside in shape as he watched any hockey games he could (especially later in the season, when soccer had ended) and read about the team in the school paper. As soon as the season finished, the very next day he went to the coach’s office and reported for workouts. Over the remainder of the school year and throughout the summer Brookside blossomed into a phenomenal hockey goalie. Determination and a little coaching goes a long way. However, this would pose one problem: he was a lock to start for the team the following year, but to do so, he would have to give up soccer, the sport upon which he grew up. Brookside thought long and hard about that decision, weighing each side and carefully considering where it would leave him. Ultimately he knew what he had to do. The soccer coach wasn’t too upset, actually, as last year’s starter had redshirted earlier in his career so he had two seasons left anyway. From then on, Brookside was a mainstay on the Mercyhurst University hockey team, starting every game for his last three seasons and earning a scholarship. Sophomore year went by relatively uneventfully, but junior year saw NHL, SHL, and VHL scouts in attendance at games. Some were there to watch star forward Daniel DeCenti, others for power defenseman Spencer Sarboom, yet most would watch closely to catch a glimpse of yet another spectacular save from Martin Brookside, who seemingly burst onto the hockey scene from nowhere. After junior year, he passed on the opportunity to declare for the NHL Draft, leaving only the SHL and VHL as options, because he wanted to finish what he started and not only compete for his team senior year, but finish his degree in marketing and set himself up with a backup career with Brookside Chocolates, a company recently started by his uncle Gary, once hockey was no longer able to support him. It was a risk that paid off. After the third to last game of Brookside’s senior year, he was approached by a representative of the VHL. This was no ordinary scout. This was a GM. This was the big time. Extending his hand in greeting, Jason Glasser, GM of the Calgary Wranglers, introduced himself to Brookside. After explaining that he’d been looking for a new designated player for the franchise upon the pending retirement of Clark Marcellin, and that he’d hoped to make it a goalie, he watched this game and needed to look no further. Brookside was his man, if he’d have him. Naturally, Brookside accepted, under the condition that he could finish out the year at school, which was of course no problem – and the rest is history. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoop 3,432 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Wouldn't it make more sense to right a biography on someone before they've had a pro career? Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-200898 Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_ace 3,112 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Wouldn't it make more sense to right a biography on someone before they've had a pro career? Typically, yes, but TPE is TPE. Also, wouldn't it make more sense to know the difference between right and write? NotAVHLM-GM 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-200905 Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Martin Brookside: The Lost Files The biography was there all along, it was just lost upon publishing years ago Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-200918 Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoop 3,432 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Typically, yes, but TPE is TPE. Also, wouldn't it make more sense to know the difference between right and write? I'm considering it... considering... I have come to the conclusion that it would indeed make more sense to know the difference between right and write. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-200937 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 5,119 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 What's write is rong. Also, no wonder Brookside made the switch to hockey after watching TFC play. (But I can't explain watching the Leafs and wanting to play - perhaps he looked at the goaltending and was like "Damn, I could do better than that" Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-201308 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Overview: 5/5 - Awesome bio, brah. Didn't realize you've never made one for Brooksie. Hopefully he'll win a cup by the time he retires. Grammar: 3/3 - I didn't spot anything at all, which is great for a lengthy bio. Presentation: 1/1 - Great. Over 1000 Words? 1/1 Overall: 10/10 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/18992-the-long-awaited-story-of-one-martin-brookside-final-1010/#findComment-201550 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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