The Youngster's View: A Taste of Game Time

[Bonzaijoe 74]

We sat down once again with Vegas Aces Goalie Joe Nixon, fresh out the VHLM draft coming from Pittsburgh to do our weekly segment in which we've been dubbing "The Youngster's View"!

 

This week's edition is a special edition, featured on VSN rather than VHL.com! Venture over to VHL.com to read the rest of our saga with Joe Nixon if you enjoy what you've read here today!

 

Today, we sat down with Joe after he came back into the locker room following his first 60 minutes on VHLM ice against Halifax in which the Aces took a 3-1 loss. We asked Joe how it went, and he said quite simply "Eh. Not what I was hoping for." When I asked for some more detail, he said "I wanted to be able to come out there and steal a win for the boys. It was looking great in that first 40 minutes but the third period hit, we broke our stride a little. It was tense after no scoring in the first 40 but once they scored that first one, I was done for." We asked Joe how he could improve his game and be ready for the next one, which he answered with, "Just practice, really. I need to stay sharp, focused, and play a full 60 minutes next time I'm out there. I can't collapse and let in 3 in the third period, I can't allow that many in. If I stay on top of my game I have full faith in my ability to stop that puck and take home some wins for this team."

 

Feeling for Joe, we brought up how the rest of his team performed. We told Joe that one goal isn't much to work with and he shouldn't put it on just himself, as the game is a team effort. His response was "1 is enough to win a game. 1-0 works, I know that. It's not my place to talk about how the rest of my team performed, I just need to go out there and be my best to help these guys out. If I can take a game and give that other team 0 points, I will. The guys in front of me are putting in their work, I'm putting in mine. It's my job to keep that other team to as few goals as possible, regardless of how many goals my own team gets. I'll just have to come in hot and ready for the next game. No days off."

 

Lastly, we asked how it felt to get his first start. Nixon said, "It was great! I'll keep talking all night about my performance but it's really special to be able to go out there and play for my team, regardless of the outcome. I'm so happy that my GM and Coach have the confidence in me as a player to put me in that net, and I'm so unbelievably blessed to be able to come out here and play the game I love as a job. It truly is a dream come true. I can't wait to be able to represent my team as the season rolls on."

 

Thanks to Joe Nixon for sitting down with us again this week! We look forward to talking to him again soon, on next week's edition of "The Youngster's View"!