Claimed:Giovanni Reuel - Biography [Final 10/10]

[Glaciem 86]

Giovanni Reuel

 

 

Giovanni Reuel was born in Canne della Battaglia, Italy at the site of the ancient battle of Cannae where Hannibal destroyed an army of over eighty thousand Romans. This rural area in southern Italy is not a hot bed of hockey by any stretch of the imagination, but Reuel’s parents were actually Germans who had moved to Italy as archeologists of the Roman Empire. It is from them that Reuel developed a love for hockey. Never having the opportunity to play on any organized team in his region of Italy Reuel studied the game intently as a child. He watched every tape of legendary puck handlers he could find; Pavel Datsyuk, Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr were his idols.

 

Eventually his parents knew that Reuel was not going to be satisfied with simply analysing the game. When their terms were finished at local universities they returned to Berlin to give Reuel the opportunity to pursue his passion. While Reuel knew everything a boy of his age could about the game of hockey, he could not skate. To prevent him from becoming discouraged his parents enrolled him in figure and speed skating classes before letting him join a hockey club.

 

  

 

Reuel was fourteen years old before he played on a competitive team. This can easily be seen as a huge disadvantage compared to other children but Reuel simply understood where to be on the ice and had a grasp on puck control none of his peers possessed. His speed skating and figure skating classes also helped him stand out from the moment he joined his local team.

 

With only a year of club hockey under his belt he managed to crack the lineup of the Berlin Junior Polar Bears. Reuel was completely devoted to his craft. He continued to analyse the players he had as a child, falling deeply in love with the game of Pavel Datsyuk. Whose poise on and off the ice separated him from any other player in Reuel’s mind. Reuel knew he was not facing the challenges he needed to get to the next level playing juniors in Germany. He continued to study the game on his own time as, despite their best intentions, his coaches had never dealt with a player of his talent before.

 

 

Once his season was over he knew he had to leave Germany if he was going to make it to the professional leagues. He decided that he would enter the international draft for the QMJHL. He was drafted late in the draft by the Rimouski Oceanic as he really was an unknown commodity, but Rimouski was attracted by his complete dedication to pursuing hockey in North American and his proficiency with the English language.

 

It is in Rimouski where Reuel really developed as an individual. Until this point of his life he had been under the watchful eyes of his parents who had always promoted an environment of education and learning. The lack of this support network was hard for Reuel who had never been a very outgoing person which was made harder by Rimouski’s primarily French speaking people. Reuel and was taken in by two of his new teammates who unfortunately for Reuel did not have the same dedication to hockey as Reuel had always possessed.

 

 

These two teammates introduced Reuel to distractions he had never really encountered in his sheltered childhood; primarily booze and girls. After being a star in training camp and making the team Reuel quickly became the focus of attention of the town’s youth. He had an exotic name, a charming accent and was a talented hockey player. The two teammates quickly brought him around to parties which resulted in Reuel having an incredible time, as young popular people do, but his game suffered greatly.

 

Reuel stopped spending the extra time to study film, which had made him the standout player he was. He instead spent his time drinking and gallivanting around with different girlfriends. On the ice Reuel was not producing, the talent was obvious as was his incredible puck skills, but he was being thrown around by the much bigger North American players. Not only was he simply to small but he was developing a temper. Becoming increasingly frustrated as his poor performance on the ice resulted in people losing interest in his company off the ice Reuel lashed out. In a game versus the Sea Dogs Reuel broke the ankle of an opposing star player with a vicious slash. He was suspended fifteen games and his season was done.

 

Sitting in press box the team manager came down and had a conversation which would put the young Reuel’s life back on track. The manager bluntly told him that he had tried to trade him multiple times throughout the season and no one had been interested. He said people around the league had heard of his antics off the ice and believed him to be a toxic asset. Reuel was shocked. He had not really thought about what he had been doing or how people would perceive his actions. He had been caught up in the excitement and drama of a popular teenager’s life. The manager made it clear that if Reuel continued to display this kind of behaviour while on his suspension Reuel would not be receiving and invitation to camp next fall.

 

This was the motivation Reuel needed. Rimouski’s awful season came to a close, the teammates who had led Reuel astray were traded away and Reuel was able to completely focus on his game. He made sure to stick to a daily routine and a healthy life style. Hockey was the focus of Reuel’s life again. Now heading into his draft eligible year for the VHLM Reuel turned on the jets. The film room was Reuel’s home away from the rink and he only returned to his house to sleep or eat. The renewed dedication showed and Reuel was dominating the game again. Reuel had his eyes firmly set on being drafted by a VHLM team and nothing would distract him from his goals again.

 

Words: 1014

Edited May 7, 2015 by Glaciem

[Kendrick 4,741]

Beautiful! Great start so far

[Jala 922]

Your time in the QMJHL is eerily accurate to what a lot of players go through. Very well researched and written!

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Overview: 5/5 - Awesome work. Lots of details to read upon here and it was an interesting story. Damn, 15 game suspension in the juniors.

 

Grammar: 3/3 - Not too much to see. For an article over 1000 words, this isn't enough to dock anything.

 

"in his region of Italy Reuel studied the game " - region of Italy, Reuel (needs comma)

"grasp on puck control none of his peers possessed." - that none of his peers possessed

"falling deeply in love with the game of Pavel Datsyuk. Whose poise on and off the ice" - Pavel Datsyuk, whose poise.... (shouldn't be a new sentence)
"Reuel and was taken in by two " - Reuel was

"simply to small " - too
 

 

Presentation: 1/1 - Good!

 

Over 1000 Words? 1/1

 

Overall: 10/10

[Kendrick 4,741]

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