Dan Gles Biography [2/2]

[No_Dangles 42]

Dan Gles

18 |  C | 220 lbs | 6'0"

 

Gles is a defensive speedster at the center position who formerly played for the Ithaca Little Red and is currently a student athlete at Cornell University. He recently has decided to opt in to the VHL expansion draft and is seeking to become a part of a franchise where he can be the cornerstone of their penalty killing unit.

 

 

Personal Life

 

A true American, Gles was born on July 4th to father Bo Gles and mother Min Gles. As the only son of two professors, his parents made ample time to focus on Dan’s cognitive development. It didn’t take long for Dan’s parents to find that he was quickly outpacing the rest of his fellow classmates. As a result, his parents decided that it be best that Dan skip grades 2 and 3. This focus on academia would be a major theme throughout Dan’s life.

 

He currently resides in is hometown, Ithaca, NY; where he continues to develop his 2-way style of play.

 

 

Early Career

 

Gles attending his first figure skating lesson

 

Dan first set foot on a smooth ice surface at the age of 3. Quickly developing his skating abilities in his backyard during winter months, his parents found that he was too natural of a skater to not utilize his talents. As a result, Dan was quickly enrolled in figure skating lessons and focus on his craft.

 

Drawing inspiration from fellow Ithacan, Dustin Brown, Dan found that he was drawn to Ice Hockey despite being heavily involved in Figure Skating. At the age of 8, his parents reluctantly enrolled Dan in a local ice hockey program on the condition that he continue to focus on his academics. His coaches quickly found that Dan, having the background of a figure skater, had a natural skating ability and easily out skated the rest of his teammates. As a result, his coaching staff decided to put him at defense where he would primarily play for his early career.

 

It wasn’t until the beginning of high school that Gles would run into issues playing at the competitive level. Standing at 90 pounds and 5’ 0”, Dan was severely undersized for his high school’s hockey squad. It was at this point that Dan’s parents had a scare. In the second half of his rookie season, Dan was boarded in the 3rd period. Dan had sustained a concussion that would keep him out of school for a week. His parents, already concerned about his small stature, decided to withdraw him from the program.

 

After major pushback from their son for over a year, Gles re-enrolled in the program at the age of 14 (grade 11). He quickly impressed the coaching staff but still left more to be desired in terms of physical attributes. It was at this point in time that they decided that Gles would best serve the team as a Center, which he quickly excelled as. He then continued to lead the Ithaca Little Red to the NYSPHSAA championship where they lost in overtime. Dan served his senior year as the captain of the varsity squad where he would kill a 5 minute major to lead his team to their long desired NYSPHSAA championship title.

 

 

University

 

Cornell University, Gles's University

 

At the age of 15, Dan decided to commit to his hometown University, Cornell. It was at this point when Dan believed that his Ice Hockey career as he didn’t believe he had what it took to make it professionally. Entering his freshman year, he decided to try out for the University squad as he still had a passion for the sport. The coaching staff were quik to realize that Dan had outstanding natural ability that couldn’t go unnoticed. The issue was that once again, Dan lacked the physical strength to compete with the rest of the team safely. The coaching staff decided it be best to have Dan workout with the team and get to know everyone for his Freshman year. He played minor minutes with the team for his first year in the NCAA, solely working as a Penalty-killing specialist. Following his first year, Gles was sitting comfortably at 6’0”, 200 lbs. Serving as a defensive cornerstone, Gles double shifted 3rd and 4th line minutes to assist the team with the lack of depth that they were experiencing. As a result, Gles served as the forward with the 3rd highest minutes on the team.

 

During this past year, Gles served as a Junior alternate captain, leading his team to the ECAC hockey championship where they would ultimately lose in a loss to Clarkson University.

 

Gles & co. thanking their fans after a tough loss to Clarkson

 

 

NCAA Stats

 

 

 

Interview

 

Q: Who would you say your favorite VHL/NHL player is?

A: In the NHL, I would have to say that I truly admire Anze Kopitar. The Los Angeles Kings are actually my favorite team as I look up to Dustin Brown; but I would have to say Kopitar resembles how I play the game. In the VHL, I would have to say I admire Jake Davis’s gameplay.

 

Q: What are your expectations as a potential draftee?

A: I’m really not expecting much. I’m really just trying to have fun with the whole experience and earn my spot on one of the teams.

 

Q: Before the upcoming entry draft, what are you doing to prepare for the VHL?

A: I’m really just trying to round out my skill in the face-off circle and maybe continue to work on conditioning. I don’t really feel as though I’m ready to keep up with those in the VHL.

 

 

Future Prospects

 

Although reluctant to abandon his 4 year degree, Gles has recently determined that he will opt in to the S66 VHL entry draft.

 

In the upcoming draft, we would expect Gles to be a mid-to-low round pick as he really only has one side of his game figured out. While very defensively minded and talented as a skater, he still lacks the offensive abilities to truly contribute on a VHL roster. In the future we would like to see Gles round out abilities by focusing on his shooting and his hands. If a team were to round out the rest of his abilities, he could truly be a sleeper pick with top-6 VHL potential.

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by No_Dangles

[FakeJenton 24]

Review:

 

Overall it was a really well written biography, the images are a nice touch. Not a bad idea for his parents to start him in figure skating as well, I'm sure that did wonders for developing his skating ability when he was young. Nice he was able to grow out of that 5'0" 90 pound frame too. Looking forward to what Dan Gles can bring to the league

Edited April 23, 2019 by FakeJenton

[Big Mac 310]

Review: Nice. It was satisfying to me how he got slowly better and better. University was also a good touch that most bios don’t add in. This felt like a never give up story, and this wasn’t the shitty ones it was pretty good. As Kenton said the 5'0 90 pounds frame growing out of that is good, and that shows Dan Gles' work ethic. Better be good.