Greg Eagles Biography [2/2]

[Greg_Di 931]

A Greg Eagles Biography
 

 

Greg Eagles has been competing ever since he could skate. He grew up in Wroclaw, Poland where hockey is not a very popular sport. Even though Wroclaw was a place where winter temperatures regularly dipped below zero, Soccer was the dominant sport of choice. Fortunately for Greg, his father played hockey (former VHL goaltender) and introduced Greg to the sport. His father bought him his first pair of skates when he was just 5 years old. He picked up skating in no time, being able to fly by other kids his age who were struggling with this new sport. Right away Greg was interested in playing as a goalie, because he has always watched his father play. In no time he was a regular at the Wroclaw outdoor/indoor hockey rink where local kids gathered for pick up games of hockey.

 

Greg playing at the rink

 

Even at that young of an age, Greg had the reputation among his family and friends as a competitor who hated to lose. Once during a pickup game, Greg sprained his ankle so badly that he could not skate but he refused to leave the ice and continued to play in goal on his knees. He would never give up and always played at 110% wheter it was a pickup game or league game. Many of the local parents would come up to his father and tell him that Greg had a special gift in this sport which was just starting to become a little more popular in Poland. From an early age he showed the drive to potentially be an elite level goaltender in the future but no one really knew what the future held. Hockey was just starting to grow in Poland and not many scouts or leagues payed any attention to any of the schools or leagues in the country.

By the time he reached 3rd grade, hockey had become an all-consuming passion. Greg would watch VHL games on his tv, would go to his fathers games to cheer him on and plaster his room with VHL all-stars hoping one day to become just like them. By his 12th birthday Greg became a full-time goaltender in one of the top polish junior leagues. No one knew at that point that he was going to become a top level prospect. He quickly established himself as the starting goaltender for the Wroclaw junior team leading his team to many championships as no one could get a goal past him. His post-to-post speed was incredible and so was his rebound control for such an early age. He consistantly was at the practice rink working on his game, wheter is was early mornings with his father or late night with his coaches. He was always striving to improve his form.

Heading into his junior year in high school, Greg continued to be a dominating goaltender and make his varsity team. While his school team was ranked one of the lowest in the country, because of his excellent play his team just squeaked into the playoffs. His coach was searching for a spark heading into the playoffs and he found that in Greg. His coach heavily relied on his play to keep the team in games and by an astonishing miracle Wroclaw made the finals against bitter rivals Warsaw. Everyone had written Wroclaw off and expected a clean sweep. Wroclaw quickly went down 2-0 in the fest of 5 series when Greg's father sat him down and had a quik discussion with him about how to improve some parts of his play. This sparked Greg and in the next game Greg came up big and made some show-stopping saves as his team stunned Warsaw 2-0. This really lit a fire under his whole team and gave the team believe that they could win this series. Greg won the next contest as well, with a 52 save performance, which forced a game 5 showdown. Warsaw finally broke through in overtime to win the championship but this made Greg one of the most celebrated goalies in his home town.

 

Greg making an amazing save during game 3 of the finals

 

Things changed out of high school, once he graduated and applied to college, he all of a sudden stopped playing hockey. He was far more interested in girls and cars. At this point in his life he just wanted to have some freedom and fun. He thought that hockey was taking over his life and that because it was not popular in his country that all this time and dedication would not amount to anything. This really upset his father and coaches who saw a bright hockey future for him. As the years went on Greg continued to not focus on hockey and many wondered if he would ever return. This once again all changed in his 3rd year of college. Due to a freak car accident, both of the college goalies were injured during college finals playoff hockey, Greg (being a former goalie) was asked to fill in as a starting goalie for his college just to finish out the playoffs. He refused at first but after much pressure he finally agreed. In the game Greg stole the show with a shut-out performance to help his college win the championship. It was at this time that something sparked in him and he reminded himself how fun the game is and that he is actually pretty good. In his final year of college he tried out for the team and made it as the starting goaltender. That spark that lay dormant for his first 3 years of college was re-ignited but many thought that he missed out on too much time to be anywhere near as good as he was before. Greg proved the doubters wrong as he once again he led the team to a second championship, setting records all over Poland as a college player

 

Greg winning his second college championship

 

After this championship Greg was called up to the Polish Junior National team and this is the point in his life where scouts really noticed him. Poland was not expected to make a dent in this tournament but Greg led them to the finals where they eventually lost to Team Canada. Many scouts from various leagues approached him to ask where would he play professionally. Many thought he would go to the NHL draft but Greg stunned everyone and said he will follow his fathers footsteps to join the VHL. " I just want to follow my fathers steps, I believe I can be an elite goaltender anywhere but VHL is the league I would love to play in. It is a very competitive league and I want to always be playing at the top level" Greg was quoted as saying right after the Junior National team finals.

That dream finally came true when Greg applied for the VHL on April 17th, 2019. We are now awaiting to see what VHLM team will draft him. Greg's story is not complete, it is just getting started and we look forward to covering him as he grows in the league and hopefully earns more accolades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beaviss 4,949]

@Greg_Di

 

Great Bio! VHLM GM's should keep an eye out for you this upcoming draft!

[GRZ 179]

Review:
I really enjoyed this biography, I like how you tied in your family in this story, especially having a chance of going to NHL but deciding against it, because you wanted to be like your father.
Nicely edited post, awesome that you included pictures and one's that actually follow up on the text above it. Makes it easily readable and adds a new level of immersion to the whole story.
Some little spelling mistakes but I'm not going to hold that against you, great job!
 

[Rayzor_7 741]

I enjoyed having the 250 words/picture. Gives a bit more tone to the bio. 

As GRZ said, spelling errors which could be rectified with word spellcheck or an online checker.

College and then the Juniors was a good touch of different.

I enjoyed reading this.