The Ricky Johnson Story [2/2]

[Midnite 69]

Ricky Johnson

 

 

Childhood

 

Ricky Johnson was born on April 15th in Toronto, Ontario where he grew up in a small and quite neighborhood in Scarborough. Johnson's father and mother, Jamal and Maria Johnson, introduced him to multiple sports growing up and was fairly active. It was known that Johnson would play many of these sports along side current SBA player Roy Johnson. By being given the opportunity to explore so many different sports, it didn't take Johnson long to develop a passion for specific ones and by the age of 12 hockey would slowly become the indisputable favorite. Oddly enough, Johnson wasn't the best hockey player or let alone skater having a much harder time picking up the sport unlike the other sports that he happened to be fairy good at. This only drove him to work harder and become better. It would only take Johnson a year of playing in a community hockey league to emerge as a highly scouting youth player.

 

High School

 

 

Johnson chose to attend The Hill Academy Prep High School in Vaughan, Ontario. With the support of his parents and by the advice of former coaches, Johnson believed it would be best to attend the independent high school in hopes that he could further develop his skills here. And that he did. It wouldn't take long for Johnson to start his first season as a Hamilton Bulldog in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) where he would record 30 points in a 52-game rookie campaign as a defense man. 

 

Johnson would create quite a bit of buzz after such a fantastic junior season playing for Hamilton that it caught the attention of many VHLM teams. So much so, that after playing 48 games into the following season with 35 points already recorded he would be picked up by the The Minnesota Storm.

 

Professional Career

 

VHLM

 

Rookie Season (S66)

 

 

Johnson would join the Minnesota Storm with a only 13 games remaining in the season. Despite this, he'd go on to record 9 points alongside 26 blocked shots. Johnson would also get his first taste of playoff experience having faced the Philadelphia Reapers in the opening round where they'd end up losing the series 0-4. During the playoff run Johnson recorded only 2 points with a goal and assist.

 

Sophomore Season (S67)

 

Going into the next season, Johnson would find himself transferred to the same team he had lost to in the playoffs the year prior. The Philadelphia Reapers. Although he was fairly disappointed in the news, it would be with the Reapers that he'd begin to excel into a more well recognized defense man around the VHLM. During his intro season with the Reapers he'd go on to record 55 points in the 72-game campaign. On his new team, he'd once again reach the playoffs where they would lose to, ironically, the Minnesota Storm in the semifinals 4 games to 1. Johnson would record only 6 points during the 9 games of Philadelphia's playoff run. 

 

World Junior Cup (S68)

 

 

With the S68 World Junior Cup taking place during the off-season of S68, Johnson managed to crack the Canadian roster as a second line defense man. The Canadian team would end up finishing in 2nd place after a loss to Europe in the finals. Johnson would end his Junior World Cup journey having only 3 points in 8 games.   

 

Junior Season (S68)

 

Johnson would remain with the Reapers for his final year in the VHLM. During this season he would shine as one of the better defense men of the league. He would end his season with a VHLM career high of 65 points in his 72-game campaign. Unfortunately, he would not see a playoffs match-up during this season. Nonetheless, Johnson would have high praise for the Reapers and their organization. Johnson was quoted saying during his good-bye speech "They were a team that not only took me in, but believed in what I could do".

 

Draft Day  

 

Due to his ability to find the open man and defend, Johnson was already a somewhat of a well established defense man. However, due to his lack of effort in further improvement he would be left behind by many of his peers and would demonstrate a lackluster performance when trying to impress the VHL scouts. Johnson would receive only 1 interview by the D.C Dragons who had just recently entered the VHL. With the conclusion of S67, Johnson was drafted as the 18th overall pick. He would chose to stay and play for the Philadelphia Reapers in S68, before beginning his VHL journey as a Dragon.

 

 

VHL

Rookie Season (S69)

 

Upon completing his last season with the Reapers, Johnson would being his VHL career as a D.C dragon. The rookie defense man would play for the Dragons on the second defensive line. Much like the D.C. Dragons season, Johnson would struggle to establish himself in his first season. He'd end the season only recording 27 points during his 72-game campaign. Despite not fully living up to the expectations he had displayed during his final VHLM season, he'd still be widely recognized over the league as an up-and-coming defense man. This further being true as he was awarded the Rookie Team placement. With the new season set to begin, Johnson is hoping to further improve his game as well as help his team bring a cup to D.C. Johnson was recently interviewed saying:

 

"It's always been about hard work in order to get where you want to be in this league. I'm slowly but surely understanding that now. Talent has gotten me only so far and if i really want to prove to be someone who can be a real game changer for a team, then i have to make that happen through the work I put in night in and night out. I want to be one of the best and hopefully I can make that happen and get a cup or two on the way."  

 

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Midnite

[Greg_Di 1,022]

Review:

I think this was a great Bio. As Tate said including your road to the DC Dragons is above and beyond what most others write. I did count 996 words though and I believe Biographies need to be 1000 unless that changed for this season (If it did then no worries, you're in the limit!)

Well done, look forward to seeing how Ricky does!