Gucci Garrop bio [1/2]

[JG10 28]

 

Name: Gucci Garrop

 

Height: 6'8

 

Weight: 250 LBS

 

Age: 18

 

VHLM draft position: 13th overall

 

Hometown: Toronto

 

 

Early Life/ Family. 

 

Gucci Garrop was born in the suburbs of Toronto. He lived there throughout most of his early years. Grew up in Markham but moved to Thornhill when he was 6 years old. He gained the love of hockey from his father and his older brother. His dad bounced around the minors leagues and played several seasons in the VHLM but he never made it to the big leagues. He know owns a successful family run bait shop  His older brother on the other hand, was a very solid hockey prospect, playing AAA hockey for many years until he chose to play baseball instead due to the financial grantees of baseball. Garrop has said that both of them and his mother who was a multi sport athlete at Michigan as well serve as an inspiration to him and they help him train to get better and fulfill his potential. 

 

His dad pushed him to start skating when he was just 3 years old. Right away, they saw the potential he had in hockey. His skating was miles ahead of every one else his age and they all saw his size. The 11 pound baby already showed a huge build over all his classmates. He started playing hockey when he was 6 years old and immediately grew a love for the game. He spent most of his time either at the rink playing/ practicing hockey, practicing his skating, or he spent his time in his backyard outdoor rink taking shots at an empty net. He played triple A rep hockey for many years for various teams. Most famously playing for the Toronto Marabous While he was never a star player, he held his own and was a very respectable player. He had a whole rink game that showed combined with his height and his skating ability, it was clear that Gucci Garrop was going to be a VHL player in the future.

 

Playing Career

 

Gucci Garrop had a lot of hype going for him as a VHML prospect. While he never was a star for the his rep teams, he was always a very key player on the best teams in the league. He knew how to play the role of the role player and he knew how to step up. He was also very clutch scoring countless game winning goals for his teams. All these traits earned him a lot of points by scouts. Combining his playing abilities with his size and his speed, there was a lot of talks about untapped potential. He was never a star but it was not hard to picture him as one with his speed and skating and a unique skill for his size. These skills and abilities allowed him to get multiple offers before the draft to play for VHML teams before he was entered into the draft.

 

Junoir playing career

 

Saskatoon Wild 

 

Gucci Garrop first signed with the Saskatoon Wild in the VHML. Due to unique league rules, it was known that they were only going to get to keep him for the end of the season and he would go back into the VHML draft again the next season. He signed because he was promised first line Center minutes on the worst team in the league. He figured this would be good for his development. Those minutes promised were not given to him however as he sat in the press box for the whole season not playing a single minute. He mentioned that he was a little peeved off about it but he would not let it bother him as he had knew goals for next season with a new team. He did mention that he feels it did affect his development as not playing affected his abilities to learn and grow.

 

Yukon Rush

Garrop was selected in the third round of the VHML draft  13th overall. He was predicted to be a steal by many of his peers and by many experts. He immediately started getting playtime right away. Playing second line Center minutes he struggled to start. PThere were concerns about distractions to him and he failed to live up to expectations towards the start of the season. As the season went on, playing behind a star center prospect, he began getting more and more comfortable and his coaches stuck by him and trusted him throughout the whole process. He finished with 30 goals and 38 assists in 72 games despite his slow start. His clutch factor was still evident as well with 8 game winning goals. In addition to this, he showed great skating and played really good defense. The Wild would be knocked out in the semi-finals of the playoffs but it was still a successful season for him and the team. They expected to go all the way but a couple bad performances when it really mattered knocked them out of contention for the cup.

 

Professional Playing Career

 

He is currently awaiting to be drafted into the VHL. He is currently being mocked around the second round.

 

Other interests

 

Gucci Garrop is a multi sport athlete. He picked up hockey as his first sport and his main sport and instantly grew a love for it. However, that does not mean he did not diversify. Multiple studies over the years have shown and proven that diversifying your talents is the way to go as an athlete. While hockey was his main sport, he played a variety of sports like baseball, soccer, and basketball to help him with his hockey career. He used the strengths and muscles that he gained from those sports in hockey. Aside from sports Garrop is also a very intelligent individual. He placed high scores in a variety of schooling tests. He is also a children's book author. He spends his time in the off-season writing and illustrating children's books. The majority of them are about young hockey players facing adversity and attempting to overcome them. 

 

Edited December 19, 2018 by JG10

[StamkosFan 72]

Review: It's a good start, but needs a bit more; you said you'd finish it later so I'm sure it'd be fine. Good to see that you touched on the family aspect as some biographies tend to overlook that. Maybe add a bit of formatting, at least some bolding, to the headers of each section just so it's easy for the reader to distinguish. Looks promising and is bound to be an excellent read when completed.