Junior Review: Victor Grachev

[KaleebtheMighty 1,420]

Hockey is life. Hockey is one of the only lives that matters. That’s what my father, Boris Grachev, told me as a young boy when I first laced up my skates. I did not know what he meant, for are other lives also worth living?

 

But the sound of steel cutting into the ice, the speed, the game....I realized this was the greatest sport in the world. I was born to play it. Born to love it.

 

I started out my hockey career at the age of 3. I found out quickly that I was quite good. Even as I grew older, I presented a challenge to some of the age groups ahead of me. My father also saw my potential. He believed in me. After years of competing, I was sent to train for a team in Moscow. And it was there that I saw my first professional game, and saw the Moscow Menace. The fire that burned within me burned even brighter. That was where I wanted to play. The professional league, the VHL. This was Victor Grachev’s Dream.

 

I skated harder and trained harder than ever before. I wanted more. Eventually, I found myself on a team in St. Petersburg. I played there for two years. The first year, I was decent. Ok point production, ok defense. At the end of the first year, however, that was when my father grew very ill. In the off-season, I moved back to my small hometown to help him. I cooked for him and cared for him when he was bedridden. In July of 2018, my father got worse. I’ll always remember his last words to me. They mean so much coming from my dad.

 

”Victor, I want you to win. Be great. But know that even if you fail, and don’t make it, I am so proud of you. Of the hockey player and man you’ve become.”

 

When he died, there was a small funeral. But through that entire time, the fire that was in me burned hotter than ever before. I would not be stopped. I would make my dad proud. And that pushed me to have one of the best seasons in St. Petersburg I’ve ever had. And from that came the offer to join the VHLM with the Philadelphia Reapers.

 

Someday I hope to be the best I can be. I may not score the most goals or assists. I may not be the toughest and fiercest player on the ice. But I will make my dad proud. I will make it to the VHL. When I walked into my first home game in Philadelphia, and walked past the multiple kids wearing hockey jerseys extending their arms out for high fives, I saw myself in those kids. The fire burns within me.

 

Victor want to play hockey. Victor want to win.