Kronos Bio [2/2]

[Quik 4,113]

 

Hockey Player, Leader, Visionary: The life and times of Kronos Bailey

 

 

Name: Kronos Bailey

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Number: 19

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 220 lbs

 

Pre-Birth (Lineage)

 

In life, certain circumstances set in motion a chain of events that lead to a perfect storm. With the Baileys, these events began 52 years ago, when a young player by the name of Matt Bailey took the VHL by storm! Bailey was drafted 1st overall in the Season 12 VHL Entry Draft, by the Helsinki Titans. The Titans, in the midst of a rebuild at the time, were also looking at a change in management. Then General Manager, and star goaltender, Dominik Styker was looking to step down after taking the reigns from previous manager Daric Radmonovic. Five seasons removed from then the franchise’s lone Continental Cup, the organization was looking for a player to become the face of their franchise. They found that player, and their next General Manager in Bailey, who would go on to star for the Finnish franchise for five seasons, leading them to Continental Cup glory in Season 15, going into the VHL Hall of Fame wearing Titans blue!

 

During his time in Helsinki, Matt married a local girl named Leena, and, in his final season with the Titans, the two introduced to the world, their son Jonathan. Jonathan would follow, somewhat, in his father’s footsteps. Growing up in North America, a large part of his youth was spent in Toronto while his father worked for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonathan would go on to play in the NHL for 12 seasons, before concussions forced him to retire early, as he wanted to focus on his family and not risk further injury and repercussions. He and his wife, Artemis, were expecting their first child at the start of what would have been Jonathan’s next season. In October of that year, their first child was born, and it was a baby boy, weighing 8lb 7oz. When it came to naming the child, they wanted to give him a unique name, something strong, that tied into both of their histories. As Artemis was born in Greece, they decided something Greek, that would tie into the Bailey heritage. Ultimately, it was settled that, rather than using the Greek form of Matt, Jonathan’s father, they would name their son after the leader of the Titans in Greek mythos, the exact job that Matt Bailey held many moons prior: thus, Kronos Bailey entered the world!

 

Youth (Age 6-15)

 

Being a third-generation hockey player is never easy, as expectations are always set extremely high. As the oldest son of Matt Bailey’s oldest son, there was a direct lineage, and expectation, that Kronos would grow up to be a hockey player. Surprisingly, of all his siblings and cousins, Kronos was the only one who would play hockey at a meaningful level into his teens. His closest cousin, Daniel, who was the same age as him, played on the same teams as Kronos until the two turned 12. At that point, Kronos continued in the sport, moving up a couple years to play with 14-year olds, while Daniel would diverge and pursue his sporting passion of baseball, where he has gone on to become a top prospect in his own right!

 

From the ages of 12-14, Kronos would play two years up, doing more than keeping up with the older kids. Consistently leading his team in scoring, there was talk about a potential “Exceptional Player Status” exemption, that would allow him to enter the OHL a season early, at age 15. Ultimately, that consideration was denied, as Kronos was quite undersized at the time, standing just 5’5 and weighing 145 lbs. It wasn’t until age 15 that Kronos started to grow into the frame he currently holds, as during his age-15 season, he grew 6-inches in height to stand 5’11, while also adding 20 lbs during the season. If his father hadn’t been a professional player, this might have caused some major issues, as he went through 3 sets of equipment over the course of a single season, including skates!

 

OHL Years (Age 16-18)

 

After his massive growth spurt, the young Bailey was drafted 1st Overall in the OHL Priority Draft, by the Peterborough Petes. Over that summer, he grew another 2 inches in height, while putting in a ton of work in the gym. He would show up to his first OHL Training Camp standing 6’1, and tipping the scales at 180 lbs - a man amongst boys!

 

From the hop, Kronos was given every opportunity to succeed, starting on the first line and getting top powerplay minutes. While the Petes weren’t a very good team around Bailey, he managed a fantastic rookie season that saw him pot 42 goals and 37 assists for 79 points in 58 games. During the season, he was tapped to join the Canadian World Junior squad in the annual World Junior Hockey Championship tournament. As a 16-year old in a tournament traditionally dominated by 19-year old, Bailey more than held his own, scoring 5 times and assisting on 3 other goals in 7 games, en route to a Canadian Gold Medal!

 

During his rookie season, and the following summer, Bailey continued to grow, showing up to his second Training Camp at 6’3, and weighing 195 lbs. With a season of experience, and now being one of the bigger players in the OHL, there was little in the way of Kronos dominating the league as a 17-year old. Once again representing the Canadians at the WJHC, the young Bailey lead the tournament with 17 points, scoring a Canadian record 11 goals. Unfortunately, the Canadians came up short in a 6-5 barn-burner against the Russians in the Gold Medal game, and the boys in Red & White had to settle for a Silver. Back home, Bailey was a force, scoring 66 goals and 51 assists to lead the OHL with 117 points in just 59 games! For his efforts, he would pick up the OHL’s Red Tilson Trophy, as it’s Most Outstanding Player. Unfortunately, his Petes were still in the early stages of their build back up to contention, and were ousted in the second round of the OHL playoffs by the Niagara Ice Dogs.

 

With two OHL seasons in the books, the path seemed set for Kronos Bailey to become the NHL’s next 1st Overall selection at the conclusion of his 3rd OHL season, the Petes’ star Center was gearing up for his final season in Major Junior. Over the summer, he spent a ton of time in the weight room, gaining another 15 lbs, and growing another inch in height, showing up for Camp physicals at 6’4, 210 lbs! After the first week of the season, everything was looking to line up perfectly. After the team’s first 4 games, he had potted 11 goals and 6 assists for 17 points to sit well atop the leaderboard in both goals and points, while the Petes opened their season as Memorial Cup favourites! Then, things took a turn for the worst. In the opening minutes of a game against the Sarnia Sting, Kronos looked to do what he does best: drive the net and power a goal, to open the scoring. Things on this play developed a little differently than most, as, when he skated past his defender, to the inside, the defender lost an edge as he tried to recover, and fell as he pivoted towards Bailey. As the first defender was falling, a battle for position between a Petes forward and the other Sting defender ended with the forward falling on top of the first defender. The second defender, looking to cover for his partner, started to engage with Bailey, checking him from the side. While this happened, the first defender’s stick flung forward, underneath the skate of Bailey. When Kronos took contact from the second defender, he tried to plant his foot to absorb the impact, but stepped directly on the blade of the first defender’s stick, causing him to lose his edge and wipe out. Having been going full speed towards the net, and this slide starting just above the crease, Bailey had no time to react, and collided with the post of the opposition’s net. The impact was so violent it shattered his left femur, as well as his right tibia, wiping out not just the remainder of that season, but likely the following season as well!

 

Following the season, Bailey went undrafted, as he had just begun his rehab, was not yet ready to perform physicals, and could provide no guarantee he would ever return to the level he had played at before.

 

VHL Arrival (Age 19)

 

In the 6 months following the NHL Draft, Bailey has undergone a vigorous rehab routine, determined to return to his previous level of play, and prove that he can be the player he was on track to become. In the meantime, the Helsinki Titans are in an eerily similar situation to the one they were in over 50 seasons ago, looking for a new Manager to come in and take control of their rebuild. With options limited, they looked to a familiar face, as 73-year old Matt Bailey has been tasked, once again, with the goal of returning the Titans to Continental Cup glory!

 

As the VHL allows teams to designate one player as their “Franchise Player,” the elder Bailey has tapped his grandson, Kronos, to make the jump to Finland alongside him, and be the leader of the Titans that Matt once was, and Kronos was meant to be! Knowing that the youngster needs time to rehab from his injury, the plan is for him to spend the remainder of this season, as well as next season, in the VHLM, getting caught up to the speed of professional hockey, before joining the Titans in Season 64! By that point, the goal is for the Titans to embark on their journey back to the Continental Cup, with Bailey a key piece of the core that will get them there!

 

 

**Note: For some reason, when I copy from Google Docs, I can't unbold the font, so don't blame me for that

[Exlaxchronicles 415]

Either you have a really good imagination or that's a legit reading story!

Nice flair for writing Quick. You've kept the bio condensed but pretty in depth.

As it is, your sentence structure, wording and punctuation seem spot on.

Awesome bio write up!

[JG10 28]

1700 words. Good job. The only thing that would make this better is using bigger font. Little difficult to read