"That Goalie That's All Over The Place"

[Spade18 1,302]

Ismond Kingfisher was born to Dave and Miranda Kingfisher of Califon New Jersey in the deep cold of the year 2000 (holy shit 18 year olds are born in the year 2000!?!?).  Dave worked for Verizon wireless and his mother was a school teacher in the local district.  The youngest of 5 sons, (Dave Jr., Marek, Hayden, Jason & Clayton) the Kingfisher house hold was a busy one.  Living the quiet, country lifestyle suburbs of New York City, Ismond spent his younger years playing sports with his clan of brothers, learning music, and exploring the forests of his native state.  Hockey was booming in his younger years following years of a strong New Jersey Devil's mini dynasty coming off of 3 cups in the last 10 years.  His brothers, being lovers of the sport, could be found shooting around in the driveway after school more often than not.  Being the youngest, Ismond was usually the one strapping on the pads and playing net. He fell in love with the position almost instantly.  Following the footsteps of his brothers, Ismond joined his local hockey league as well, even playing on a few teams with his brothers as they moved through the years.  With no formal training before this, Ismond had a self taught reactionary style, that when it came time to join House leagues and play organized hockey for the first time, made him stand out against all the butterfly and modern style goaltenders that were cut and copy in masses following the '05 rule changes.  

 

After a year or two of organized hockey, Dave Kingfisher saw the potential in his son and the Kingfisher family became more serious about pursing the sport as a profession, rather than a hobby.  

In his local bantham draft, Ismond was taken first overall, and was a member of many area travel teams.  His high level of play, and signature style caught the eye of CHL scouts as they canvased the area for new talent.  Kingfisher posted shut outs in consecutive games during the scouts first visit, and it was enough to warrant scouts returning to watch him play a few times, which earned him a spot in the OHL draft when he came of age.  Taken towards the end of the first round by the London Knights, Ismond's hockey dreams were becoming a reality.  

 

London Nationals:

Kingfisher's serious hockey career began after his draft year when he was assigned to the London Nationals for his first year of CHL eligibility.  Moving up to Canada was a huge change for Kingfisher, who had never been further from home than sleep away camp.  He was set up with his booster family and went right to work.  He posted great numbers against a high level of competition than he had ever seen before.  Mid way through his rookie season, a spree of injuries lead to Kingfisher starting for the Knights.  A rocky start almost spelled the end for Kingfisher, but his following games proved to scouts that he was the man for the job.  It was during this stretch of time that phrase that seemed to follow him his whole life was officially coined.  A VHL executive, Spade, of the New York Americans, attended one of his games, and up until this point ,was unfamiliar with the goaltender minding net for the London Knights.  He turned to his scout and asked "Who is that?  That goalie that's all over the place?" to which his scout responded "That, is Ismond Kingfisher."  Once his fellow goaltenders were back from injury, Kingfisher was sent back down the the Nationals, where he finished the season with a strong performance to win a Sutherland Cup.  The following season, Ismond Kingfisher was in the #1 spot on the Depth chart for the London Knights.

 

The London Knights:

Kingfisher broke onto the scene of the OHL in staggering form.  Kingfisher backstopped the Knights to a 31 game winning streak to start the season.  Suddenly, all eyes were on Kingfisher.  He was selected to represent the US in the world juniors, but unfortunately, in his only appearance at world juniors, USA finished 4th.  He returned to the Knights, down, but not out.  He picked up his old form again and helped the Knights win not only a J. Ross Robertson Cup that year, but also a Memorial Cup.  Kingfisher's performance during the Memorial Cup was so astounding that he was named the tournament MVP.  All of this lead to Kingfisher being a highly touted name coming into his draft year.  The only question that remained, was which path his career would take.  NHL? or VHL?

 

To V? or not to V?

After Ismond was done celebrating his Memorial Cup victory with his teammates, it became time to turn his attention to the next step in his professional hockey career.  The Draft.  Two leagues had been heavily recruiting him ever since the 31 game winning streak to start the season.  First the NHL scouts.  They had told him that honestly, goalies were being drafted later and later in the draft, and his chances of being a first round pick were slim despite his impressive play, and the road to the NHL was a much longer road with much less certainty of a starting position any where he went.  The VHL scouts told him that the current goalie market was decently flooded, but the pipelines were much drier than those of the NHL in regards to goalies, and in a few years he could pretty much call his own shots.  Ismond took his time in making his decision, longer than many other draft picks who declared immediatly after the season, so he was a decently late addition to the draft pools.  When it came down to it, Ismond liked the idea of carving a new path in the VHL better than taking his chances in the NHL.  Ismond loved the direct control the VHL had over it's affiliate league as well, siting that as a major reason he was interested in playing there.  Once the summer rolled around, Ismond headed to Las Vegas to be on site for his day of destiny as he was drafted into the VHL.  He sweated it out for a while, but with pick #14, The Oslo Storm of the VHLM decided that Kingfisher was their man.  This presented another huge change for Kingfisher, as he packed up his bags to move half way around the world, but he was excited.  The long dream of professional hockey was finally about to become his reality.  

[Beaviss 4,949]

@Spade18 this reminded me I haven’t done the rookie profile or bio for Beau....

[Spade18 1,302]

6 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

@Spade18 this reminded me I haven’t done the rookie profile or bio for Beau....

 

Reminding you to do these was actually my intention with this bio, so I'm glad it's all working out lol

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

3 hours ago, Beaviss said:

@Spade18 this reminded me I haven’t done the rookie profile or bio for Beau....

I don't even know if I'm going to for Twinger or Ironside yet.

 

I skipped Bio for Boeser. Earned a lot of TPE so it didn't really matter to me.

[Beaviss 4,949]

10 minutes ago, DollarAndADream said:

I don't even know if I'm going to for Twinger or Ironside yet.

 

I skipped Bio for Boeser. Earned a lot of TPE so it didn't really matter to me.

18 TPE can go a long way

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

6 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

18 TPE can go a long way

Ya, I get that. Early on, especially. Usually I still do the Rookie Profiles, but Bio I don't know why I never did Boeser. His career was also cut short though, too.