Claimed:Braxton Hunter Biography

[dshervill 45]

Braxton Hunter 

 

 

LW - #65

6’4” - 220 lbs

London, Ontario, Canada.

 

 

Overview:

 

Braxton Hunter comes from a family full of athletes, his sister Lily is a world class ringette player and has represented Canada multiple times. His brother Colby is a 5 star football recruit who is heading to the NCAA as one of the most highly touted recruits in this years recruiting class. Now this leaves Braxton who has been quietly developing into a very well rounded and talented hockey player. Braxton has suited up in every level of hockey in London and has thrived in each role that has been given to him. When you go to a practice you will always see Braxton being the first player on the ice and the last player to come off of it. You will also see that Braxton’s dedication and work ethic are the two things that give him the potential to become a star when he is drafted into the VHL. 

 

Childhood: Growing up Braxton was always constantly overshadowed by his older sister and younger brother. He was constantly trying to set himself apart from his athletic siblings and thats when he found the hockey rink. He started playing at the age of 10 and was quickly known for his skating abilities and how Braxton’s work ethic made him one of the the best players on his childhood teams.

 

High School: During his teenage years, Braxton learned that an overall team effort is better than one individual. This was evident in his high school hockey team winning 3 city championships and getting a birth to the OFSSA championships 3 years in a row. His grade 11 year and his grade 12 year he was named captain and Braxton led these teams to victory. This was due to the well balanced team that was developed and how Braxton worked on his development as a player in the defensive zone. HIs defensive minded traits is something that has followed him throughout his career.

 

University: After one year in University, Braxton decided to leave school and pursue his hockey career full time by entering the VHL draft process in hopes of achieving his goal of becoming a professional hockey player. It was a bold move on his part but Braxton believes that it was the right decision for him, and that he can become an impact player in the VHL.  

 

Braxton who has been flying under the radar on his team this year, did not use any excuses for his lack of production so far this season. Due to his teams restrictions with the media this season, the coach of Braxton’s team Drew Howard answered the following questions.

 

 

 

 

London Sports Network: “So what would you say is the reason for Braxton’s lack of scoring this season?”

 

Drew Howard: “When I’ve spoken to Braxton he has not given me any excuses for his lack of scoring, he knows what he needs to improve on and he is working every practice to get better at it. We also see Braxton as a leader on this team and he knows that the team looks up to him. The team doesn’t have to rely on him in the offensive end as much as we have had to in past years which takes some pressure off of him. Braxton who also is very stout in the defensive end and he can help lead the team in other ways rather than just scoring.”

 

LSN: “So what would you say is the biggest thing he needs to work on?”

 

Howard: “Well Braxton is a very well rounded player, but I would say he could use some more work on his puck control and his offensive awareness. Him and I have talked about the progress we have seen from him in these areas, but if he wants to become an even better player he knows that he needs to improve these areas. Its not a case of him not being talented enough, because he knows what he needs to do but doesn’t completely understand the why. You can see him questioning himself during a game in the offensive zone and thats what holds him back from making those ‘wow’ plays.” 

 

So after the interview with Drew Howard, we decided to get a first hand look at Braxton at practice and after watching a couple game tapes from this season. These are the traits that we here at the London Sports Network came up with in terms of Pros and Cons. 

 

Pros:

 

Intangibles: Braxton has all of the intangibles needed to lead a team and shows an unremarkable amount of passion for the game of hockey. Being the captain of his championship high school teams it shows that he can lead teams to championships as well as not be a problem in any team’s locker room. On the ice he exhibited leadership qualities as he helped organize the other players to quickly start drills and make the best use of practice time. It showed in the game tape that we say that he also wears his heart on his sleeve and brings a lot of energy and emotion. From more in depth interviewing with his coach we also learned that he is a very humble and good kid which helps in a locker room as well.

 

Defensive awareness: Hunter’s defensive awareness which he has had since his high school hockey days has always been a strength in his game. Being a solid two way player means that he can contribute to a team in just more than one way. In the defensive drills we saw he was very commanding of his teams defence and was very effective in being in the perfect position to block shots and make sure his team kept the puck out of the net. 

 

Scoring: Braxton is extremely effective when scoring. Even though he doesn’t get the opportunity very often, he has great finish around the net and he has a cannon from the point as well. In the drills we witnessed in practice Braxton showed great scoring touch in the shootout and one on one practice portion as he picked apart the goalie in the net with very little trickery and was able to get past defenders with ease. 

 

 

Cons:

 

Offensive awareness: What we heard from Braxton’s Coach was validated in the practice, he moves well in the offensive zone but you can see exactly what his coach said. He stutters and slows down at times when things break down and questions himself in the offensive zone. But when he gets his opportunity to score it is almost always ends up in the back of the net.

 

 

Puck Control: Again, something his coach told us in the pre-practice interview. Braxton had some problems with puck control when helping start the break. Also at certain times on the ice such as keeping possession and also trying to gain possession in the corners seemed to be an issue for him since he struggled with that in the drills we saw. On the tape we saw the same thing where he gets bumped off of the puck easily in the corners.

 

 

Aggressiveness: One thing that I kept seeing in the practice and it occurred on the game tape is that Braxton is just not aggressive enough in the corners and when trying to battle for puck possession. This also affects him while playing defence because he tends to not be aggressive enough even though he is in excellent position. He also doesn’t get aggressive when driving to the net which keeps him off of the scoresheet some nights. 

 

 

After the practice we were able to ask Braxton a couple questions and here is a quick recap:

 

 

Favourite VHL Player: Willem Janssen

Favourite Food: Tacos

Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers & Jay Z

Other Sports: Football and Basketball

Favourite Other sports team: Minnesota Vikings (NFL)

Favourite Movie: Ferris Buelers Day Off

 

Thank you for reading the newest prospect spotlight, my name is Jeff Irvine with the London Sports Network and we will keep you up to date with VHL news.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Overview- 3/3

1,351 words. This was excellent. It had a few different components, like the interview in it, as well the little bit at the end also added to it. You went into great lengths to provide a very good biography. Just key in on fixing some of the grammatical errors in your next piece and you should be golden.

Grammar- 2/2

Just watch the apostrophe's on some of your words. More over, the severity of the grammar issues and the word count don't clash here.

 

5 star = 5-star

years = year's

Growing up Braxton = growing up, Braxton

thats = that's (x2)

of the the = of the

birth = berth

VHL draft = VHL Draft

Braxton who = Braxton, who

teams = team's

Him and I = Braxton and I

Its = It's

 

Presentation- 1/1

It was sufficient enough for me.

Pros- 2/2

293 words. Great job with these.

Cons- 2/2

226 words. Right on!

Overall- 10/10

[Guest]

Claimed