Lando Baxter Bio [1/2]

[Elhandon 66]

Full Name: Lando Baxter
Position: LD
Age: 23
Height (inches): 6'4"
Weight (lbs.): 210 lbs
Birthplace:  Belfast, Ireland

Growing Up Frozen:  Lando Baxter was born, unfortunately Landonian Belshazzar Melchizedek Baxter. His parents were Irish missionaries and were sent to the Northwest Territories in northern Canada.  They weren’t very successful missionaries as you might guess, a strong Irish accent isn’t the best way to preach the Gospel in Inuktitut or Gwich’in.  But they persevered long enough for “Lil’Lando” to find his way onto skates at a very young age. 

 

Life isn’t easy north of 60 and it definitely wasn’t any easier being a funny-talking Bible-thumper.  Lando’s only friends were on the family’s 15” tube TV and in his head.  His dad only let him watch Don Cherry’s Rock’em Sock’em (only the first 10; because after that “too many wimps were wearing visors”) and “Veggie Tales”.  In fact the Cherry videos were all Lando knew about the NHL, his parents sheltered him so much he assumed the NHL folded in 1999.  This constant Cherry indoctrination meant Lando grew to love one player more than any other—Bobby Orr.

 

Across the Pond:  After a few years of Timbits hockey in Yellowknife, the Baxter’s went back to Ireland when Lando was 10 years old.  Upon landing back in Dublin he was crestfallen to find there are no permanent ice rinks in his homeland.  He did however join the Flying Ducks and played for them on the temporary ice surface erected in the local mall.  It only took one practice for the local coach Marek O’Malley to notice Lando’s competency, “We thought he didn’t know his own age!  He was skating circles around the 12 year olds but still said he was only 10!”  Having ice for only a few months of the year was frustrating for Lando, but he tried to make up for it by rollerblading as much as he could.  He also found that you could use a sheet of plastic to shoot pucks off of.  He was doing all he could to make up for the lack of working zambonis in his native country.

 

Lando got his big break when, as a 13-year old, he was playing with the Flying Ducks in a 15-year old hockey tournament in Switzerland.  After a few injuries in the first game, the team needed some help on the backend.  Coach O’Malley looked at Lando’s speed and told him he needed him at left defense.  While Lando wasn’t thrilled to being moved from his comfortable left wing position he decided it was time for his inner-Bobby Orr to shine.  And shine he did.  He finished the tournament as the team’s leading scorer and won the tournament’s best defenseman award.  While it was obvious he sometimes got lost in his own end, he was something special when he had the puck on his stick.  He found that he loved picking up the puck behind his own net with some speed and  then making the first guy miss, then another and then another.  It was exhilarating.  The crowd just couldn’t get enough of this Irish Bobby Orr!

Fortunately, it wasn’t just the crowd who was impressed by the ‘Blazin Baxter’, an opposition coach for the Caronport Clippers noticed too.  Coach Trevor Thiessen had went to Bible College with Lando’s father Jedidiah and when his team had no answer for a defenseman who jumped up into the play so frequently, he recruited Lando to come back to Canada.  Lando’s team lost in the semi-finals, but after hearing Coach Thiessen’s idea, he was more than a little excited.  Caronport is located just west of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and had a private Christian high school with a AA hockey program.  It was a dream come true for Lando.

 

Back in Canada:  Upon leaving home as a 14 year old, Lando’s parents made the rule that he couldn’t live anywhere but the Thiessen’s.  At first this suited Lando well, but did create an issue when the Western Hockey League came calling after his second year in Saskatchewan.  He was drafted in the last round by the Seattle Thunderbirds after a stellar year with the Clippers.  However, true to his word, he turned down the invite and stayed in Caronport.  Lando was disappointed he couldn’t follow the most logical path to the NHL, but knew something somewhere was going to be bigger and better.

Lando finished his Clippers career as the highest scoring player in team history.  In his grade 12 year, his 70 points in 30 games was as eye-opening as it was confusing.  Why was a player this good still playing AA?  In the school’s newspaper, Lando was quoted as saying, “Hockey’s so fun, I don’t care where I play it.  I’m just happy to have a rink across the street that I can practice in every day!”  And practice he did.  There hardly was a morning that Lando didn’t use his own key, given to him by Coach Thiessen, to unlock the rink and get in a few laps.  That was about to change as graduation meant he’d be moving on from his stop on the Canadian prairies.

 

Now that Lando was 18 he had choices: would he go back home to Ireland?  Or stay in Caronport and go to Bible College, following in his parents’ footsteps to be a missionary?  Or accept one of the scholarships from the American NCAA colleges that wanted to give him a full-ride?

 

Fighting Hawks:  The ice kept calling his name.  He finally decided on University of North Dakota.  It’s proud hockey history and proximity to Canada, plus a full scholarship made his decision for him.  But it wasn’t all roses, as the first season was a huge struggle.  He was having problems socially in such a big school and it carried over to the ice.  His timid play and social anxiety caused him to be an often healthy scratch the first half of the season.  He didn’t turn things around until one late night conversation with the team chaplain—Cameron Strang.  He was considering quitting and had hit rock bottom.  Mr. Strang was instrumental in changing Lando’s mind and getting him back to “just having fun out there.” 

The next game saw Lando score his first of the season.  It was a huge relief and kicked off a much better second half.  The confidence carried over into the second season where he lead the team in scoring and carried the Fighting Hawks to the Frozen Four.  His speed and creativity was back.  It was the kind of season that opened the eyes of the pro scouts.  The VMHL came calling but Lando declined every offer that came his way.  He felt allegiance to his new home in North Dakota.  He wasn’t going to leave until he played his full four years.  Like his time in Caronport, he wanted to finish what he started.

 

Conclusion:  After his senior year and a Hobey Baker award, he was finally ready to jump to the big leagues.  All VMHL teams came calling but Lando waiting until one team, the Ottawa Lynx offered him one of the biggest rookie contracts of the year.  Lando is setting his sights on helping the Lynx be one of the top VMHL teams and if history is any indication, he won’t be denied.

 

 

[Banackock 7,638]

Fuck YEAH BUDDY.

 

bout time someone showed ya some love @Elhandon

[Enorama 1,980]

Review: I really like the story being told here. Everyone here seems to love unorthodox beginning but I think you've nailed the perfect balance between realistic and absurd. I also like the character building involved in Lando being set on finishing whatever he starts. Does this mean he spends as much time in the VHLM as possible? 

[Elhandon 66]

On 8/13/2018 at 11:20 AM, Enorama said:

Review: I really like the story being told here. Everyone here seems to love unorthodox beginning but I think you've nailed the perfect balance between realistic and absurd. I also like the character building involved in Lando being set on finishing whatever he starts. Does this mean he spends as much time in the VHLM as possible? 

Thanks! 

Yes, I'd say another year in the VHLM makes sense.  As of now, the minors are a lot of fun!  Baxter is currently #1 is league scoring...

@Enorama