Dan Montgomery, An Underdog Story [1/2]

[BarzalGoat 728]

The Start:

Dan Montgomery was born to Greg and Lisa Montgomery in quaint Garden City, NY, home of the New York Islanders. While his 2 older brothers fancied themselves baseball players, and even spent some time in the minor leagues there, Dan always had the passion and drive for hockey. While his parents recognized his athletic gifts, they wanted him to follow in his older brother's footsteps as a baseball player, something they family knew. Eventually, wearing his parent's down, he was able to make his way to his High School's starting lineup, and the rest is history. Dan loved watching the Islanders, even though they hadn't been good for his entire adult life. Watching the Islanders perceiver through the tough times, and literally not win a playoff game for the first 18 years of his life, taught him a lot about what hockey meant to not only players, the fans, by him personally. His goal was set to one day play in the NHL, but the road there is long, and started in the backyard, shooting wristers. 

 

High School:

See the problem with Dan was never the intangibles, he's gritty, puts in the work, hustles, but as a 15 year old: he just wasn't big enough for hockey. At a meek 5'4" 145, Montgomery didn't belong on the ice with high school level talent, and the coach recognized that. In typical gritty fashion, Montgomery wasn't going to let the coach cut him, and was happy to play on the practice squad. Just from being around the team, he was able to gain valuable experience, work on his skating -his most outstanding trait- and even put on a few pounds of muscles. Come sophomore year, he had grown to almost his height and weight now, and immediately took over at second line center duty, due to a lack of senior players. He was able to take a strong leadership role, and come the beginning of sophomore year had earned the "A" from his coach. He would go on to lead the County in assists, the conference in points, and earn 2nd team All-State honors at center. Going into his senior year he had finally earned the favor of a few scouts, most prominently Bowling Green, and more importantly, earned the "C" from his coach, as he told him he would 4 years earlier as an undersized, gritty freshman. Here he is below with his team after losing the State Championship semi-final game in high school. Dan would graduate as an All-State center, with the school record for points, goals, and assists, in a season as well as the state record for assists in a season. His number 9 was retired by the team this past year, in a very emotional ceremony for all. 

 

Juniors or College:

While Dan's real dream was to focus on hockey full time and play in the Junior's league, he just simply didn't receive any attention from the local leagues. His plans would have to take him up north, or out west, and he simply didn't want to move out there at this point in his career. He saw Juniors as a means to getting to the VHL, whereas he could also get an education by attending college. While his personal hero, Islanders player and Calder winner Matt Barzal played for his favorite WHL team, the Seattle Thunderbirds, his parents didn't understand the value of playing hockey in Seattle. Both of his parents were teachers, and saw this as a great opportunity to get an education, in case this whole hockey thing didn't work out for him (though it looks pretty good right now). With his parent's approval, he decided relatively quickly to make his next step college. 

 

College:

Going into the college decision process, Dan wasn't really offered scholarships at many frozen four contenders. The only real contender that offered him a scholarship, was Bowling Green University in Ohio, a little far from home. With his dream, a suitcase, and his pads, he packed up and spent 3 years at Bowling Green, accumulating numbers that put him in the top of that program's history. None of this would never have been possible to an undersized skater, who told his coach he was going to be the captain on the first day of try outs freshman year, where he didn't even make the team. Here's a picture of the team celebrating after Montgomery's game winning goal to propel Bowling Green to their first frozen four appearance since 1990. He received all-conference honors both his sophomore and junior year, while leading his team in points and assists. He was also named MVP of the conference tournament, an honor that a Bowling Green hockey player hadn't received in a long time. 

 

 

 

Today:

Montgomery decided, with a heavy heart, that a frozen four appearance at Bowling Green, as well as numerous personal accolades, was all he needed to accomplish, and looks forward to taking his talents to the VHL. He's a hard worker, who is willing to put in the time to improve himself, and become the best pro he can be. He looks to improve upon his skating, and passing abilities, so that he may continue to find success in the same way he did in college, and high school before that. The road to the VHL wasn't easy for Dan, but he's ready to show the world he belongs there, one week, day, and one practice at a time. He will continue to wear his signature number 9, as he has since he started, and looks forward to repping not only Bowling Green, but Garden City, on the next level. As the third line center for the Yukon Rush, he looks to bring strong, quality minutes to the back of the lineup. Its a tough road ahead, but he's ready to brave it. Look for him to contribute good face off technique, strong passing and skating, and the occasional goal. At this point he really won't dazzle you, but he's a well rounded enough player to keep the franchise happy with their centers at the moment.

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2018 by BarzalGoat

[Beaviss 4,949]

@BarzalGoat I’m impressed you pumped that out quick and it’s a great article.

 

A lot of promise in this one.

[BarzalGoat 728]

Just now, Beaviss said:

@BarzalGoat I’m impressed you pumped that out quick and it’s a great article.

 

A lot of promise in this one.

I used to have a pipe dream of being a sports writer, so I'd write in this kinda style a lot a couple years ago. Really, it's a lot of fun. 

[Beaviss 4,949]

Just now, BarzalGoat said:

I used to have a pipe dream of being a sports writer, so I'd write in this kinda style a lot a couple years ago. Really, it's a lot of fun. 

 

You will do great here then! I really love writing aswell. With all the league jobs I have now I don’t have the time anymore though. 

[Smarch 2,939]

Should have made him from the west coast so he could have played for the Seattle Thunderbirds!

[BarzalGoat 728]

9 hours ago, Smarch said:

Should have made him from the west coast so he could have played for the Seattle Thunderbirds!

 

Maybe I'll save that for the next one, who goes Juniors instead of College!

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Review:

Glad you're having so much fun writing out things like this. It definitely shows that you're into it! Loved the read.

Great write-up. Good luck in the upcoming draft and VHL career.