Claimed: Long Time Coming [1/2]

[Laflamme 376]

Long Time Coming

 

Close, but no. It isn't the title of The Tragically Hip's song or latest documentary about their trips around Canada on one final frontier and bang before the passing of the legendary Gord Downie. If you want to catch that, it's "Long Time Running" and I'd imagine it's worth the watch though I haven't yet had the opportunity to indulge myself into tearful happiness and a sense of pride into such an incredibly strong human being. Unfortunately, this write up has a different twist and opposes the idea of legendary hero going out with a bang. In fact, this tale is about someone who had high promise, had a hell of a fall on their ass and are now trying to get back up. For Xavier LaFlamme, winger on the Seattle Bears, it's going to be quite difficult to get up too. If were running with the metaphor or imagery perspective that he's fallen on his ass and had struggled to get up, he's fallen a couple times and now his ass is painted with purple and blue bruises. Needless to say, this isn't really his first comeback story, but either way, it's still a comeback story (though it's starting to get to the point of reminding me of that one guy I knew, who constantly said he'd quit smoking but always started smoking again after  a few days of anger and stress eating of that nasty nicorette gum). 

 

Needless to say, here we are and it's been quite a ride for Xavier LaFlamme and if we take a look back, it all started with Seattle Bears GM, Blake Campbell, taking a chance at the young kid and moving some assets to acquire him. At that point in time, it may not have been the biggest risk as LaFlamme was looking great,  but looking back now, was it the right move? Some say no as LaFlamme has largely hit a redline and sputtered out when it comes to development, however, if not mistaken, the asset they dealt for LaFlamme, is now back and playing goal for the Seattle Bears in Vernon Von Axelberry. Now, in LaFlamme's first season with the Bears, LaFlamme and Mattias Forsbegr looked to carry over the immense dominance they had together when they played in the VHLM. However, this was not the case. While the Seattle Bears organization was the furthest thing from amazing, they weren't terrible either. After two horrible years, they landed one of the best young players currently in the game in Gabriel McAllister and threw him into the mix of call up players in Forsberg and LaFlamme (on top of Federov). Now, the team barely missed playoffs but we can nail that down to McAllister, Federov and Forsberg playing so strongly. For LaFlamme, it was the complete opposite and a rather disappointing year for himself and his fans. Through 72 games, he managed 16 goals, 18 assists and 34 points. Now, this isn't terrible, but it also wasn't the start he was looking to get off onto. 

 

"I didn't think I played too terribly, but at the end of the day, it wasn't where I wanted to be. My practice skills and development were lacking big time and while Seattle gave me huge opportunities and really tried to push me, at the end of the day I just wasn't willing to go the extra mile. Again, 34 points through that span for a rookie isn't terrible. It's not a freak of nature total like some of these guys get in their first years, but I was super bummed out - I just maybe expected a little bit more from myself. At the end of the day, it was a sign for me to work harder and put more effort into my game. If you haven't noticed, that didn't really happen and that's why I am where I am now. 

 

As the quote perfectly ended, it's where he is now. Alike S56, S57 was rather disappointing for both LaFlamme and the Bears. For the Bears, they barely missed the playoffs while starting off and a streaky but extremely hot note. For LaFlamme, his production and development almost seemed to take a step back instead of a step back. At this point in a young players career, it largely starts to define what kind of player they are and what you can expect them to become. Now obviously not 100% of the time, but usually it's pretty spot on. For LaFlamme, it was a pretty bad and negative indicator, however, despite the signs GM Blake Campbell decided not to act on them. Instead of trading a player whose value progressively had gotten worse, he decided to hold onto what he believed in. Was he right or wrong for doing this? I guess we'll find out here in the next little while, but throughout S57, it looked like a poor decision. Through the 72 game regular season, LaFlamme managed to find a way to decrease his offensive production. He managed 6 less points on the year and finished with a total of 14 goals, 14 assists and 28 points. 

 

"Very displeasing to take a step back that year but during it, my attention wasn't really there. I was more focused on others things happening in life that I had to take a step back from hockey. Yeah, it pissed me off to play like that and surely I thought of hanging up the skates, but I just couldn't do it. Seattle tried and tried to get me going. They put so much effort and trust into me, it was a difficult situation. To be honest, it's a little crazy that after all these seasons and bull shit, they still stand beside me and you know, really support me as a player and believe in me. It makes me happy to be a Bear".

 

And a Bear he'll be. Xavier LaFlamme just signed a 2 year contract extension the other day, which sees him get 2,000,000 a season or the minimum TPE salary (whichever one it may be). Along with that, GM Blake Campbell through in a signing bonus which seen LaFlamme's agent ink up a 20 ($26 converted CAD) donations bonus to give LaFlamme a little spring leap into his return for the Bears. Where Xavier LaFlamme ends up, who knows, but fingers crossed and all the luck to him to have him come back rolling and kicking some major ass.

 

CLAIMING for 2 WEEKS  (both will be double weeks)

Dec 11th to Dec 17th AND Dec 18th to Dec 24th

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Great little read on how you have come back from the dead. It was well written and I can't wait to see more from you bud. We need you in Seattle

[Banackock 8,160]

52 minutes ago, TheLastOlympian07 said:

Review

Great little read on how you have come back from the dead. It was well written and I can't wait to see more from you bud. We need you in Seattle

Thnx