AJ Axelsen: A Fight Against Poverty [2/2]

[littleboi 26]

AJ Axelsen Bio

 

Alexander-Jakub Axelsen was born in Karlstad, Sweden on January 19, 2000 making him one of the first players born in the 21st century to play the sport at one of the most professional levels. His passing and his speed on the ice are often praised but let’s take a look at how he ended up there. This Halifax right-winger plays on their bottom line as a depth scoring forward who often has to play shutdown minutes against top lines.

Early Life:

Being born as the third eldest in a poor family with five kids AJ Axelsen always had worked hard as a child living in one of the poorest areas of the city. Axelson’s family was always struggling through either financial or emotional difficulty which made his childhood very challenging compared to most childhoods. At the age of eight his father passed away because of excessive smoking which had caused lung cancer to form in his chest. After his father died Axelsen became a very somber person who no longer laughed or even smiled. Without hockey he would probably still be living in that poor household working around the clock to pay off his families bills. After his birth his father began to gamble lots of money at a time and he ended up having to sell the the family car and eventually even the house. This left the family with barely any money and after his death they found it difficult to pay off the bills. At school AJ was always a very quiet kid who kept to himself without any connection to other kids in his class. Even though he had very little friends he was always greatly respected amongst his peers due to his freakish athletic ability and showed clear athleticism since his early days.

 

Discovering Hockey and his Family’s Struggle:

At the age of nine he started to play pond hockey with some of the kids in his neighbourhood because he said it helped him get away from the day-to-day stress that his family had to deal with. He first learned hockey when one of his classmates asked him to go play with him on the weekend and he decided to check it out. As a young child he often struggled with learning the game at first and regularly was unable to skate and gave away the puck often but he kept on training for hours on end. The local hockey coach sometimes came to the pond to watch the kids play and one day he saw Axelsen training tirelessly and he asked him his name. The coach decided that Axelsen was a player that he needed on his team but when he figured out that his family would struggle to pay for his hockey expenses the coach paid for it himself and bonded with Axelsen to help with his anxiety and stress. After a couple years of his training Axelsen became his team’s star player and would often record multi-point nights or hat-tricks. While Axelsen progressed through his hockey his family’s financial issues continued to struggle with them ending up having to move houses because they could no longer pay the rent for their house. AJ Axelsen started to play more seriously after this because he believed that he could rescue his family from poverty and make sure that his own children would not have to suffer through his childhood. His siblings would often tease him because of his antisocial personality but they often played pond hockey with Axelsen too and were always by his side to encourage him throughout his entire career.c

Hockey Career:

Axelsen started out by playing in his hometown league where he tore it up in scoring and points finishing with 34 goals and 60 points through 30 games for his first season he went on to record 210 goals and 416 points through the next four seasons with his small town team. Now a sixteen year old he had caught the eye of several scouts for Swedish Hockey League teams a major one of them being Frolunda HC who he eventually signed with. His first season with Frolunda was off to a rough start, he missed 13 games due to injury and still only managed to score 1 goal and 10 assists through 39 games. The next season however he started to produce scoring 15 goals and adding 33 helpers for 48 points through 52 games. In his final season of SHL he scored 22 goals and had 57 assists through 52 games, breaking the Frolunda record for most assists in a single season. His teammates at Frolunda described him as a dynamic offensive player and a guy who would always be making good, smart plays. They said that he was a great team player and he was always a pass-first type of player.

VHLM Career:

In his final season with Frolunda Axelsen contemplated his future as a hockey player, would he like most people give up his dream and set to work in his hometown or would he become the greatest ever hockey player to come out of the city of Karlstad, Sweden. He chose the latter by deciding to sign an entry level deal with VHLM juggernauts Halifax 21st. His career so far has been as he quotes,”I think my time in the VHLM has not been defining of who I am as a player and my potential to score goals and collect assists. I feel like if I wasn’t playing fourth line minutes I could easily become a 10-15 goal-scorer in the regular season.” During the 38 games that he played with Halifax he chipped in 3 goals and added two assists, but he also had 16 penalty minutes and 24 successful hits. AJ Axelsen is hoping that his team, Halifax can make a push and win the Founder’s cup finals. An inspiring part of his story is when he decided to gift his family with most of his money after signing his first pro deal. AJ Axelsen’s story is a story of horror and of sadness, it is a story of pain and suffering, but it is also a story of compassion and determination.

[Greg_Di 1,028]

Review:

Great biography. I would have centered the pictures in the article so that it would flow easier and be easier to read. Also adding spacing between the pictures and paragraph. Other then that job well done! Enjoyed reading this especially about AJ going pro to help with family finances. Great to see some quotes in the story as well, makes the article more realistic!

[Big Mac 310]

Review: Good Biography. I like it being written in bold print adds a nice touch. As Greg said the pictures could be centered. At the end of section Discovering Hockey and His Family's struggles there was the letter c for some reason, so you might wanna delete that.  I like that last line how you told that though the story has some drama, but it isn’t pure drama, ex: Tragedy after Tragedy. It’s also nice to know even with the tragedies he didn’t fuss a lot. Overall good Biography.