Tyler Walker Rookie Experience

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TYLER WALKER - ROOKIE EXPERIENCE

 

Hello to all my fans and community members, my name is Tyler Walker and I am here to tell you about my Rookie Experience.  I get asked all the time, “What is it like to be a player in the Victory Hockey League?”  This Rookie Experience Report will explain my expectations, reservations and the steep challenge that it is to go from the VHLM to the VHL.

 

The main reservations I had going into my VHL Career were that I wasn’t going to be good enough and that I would disappoint all of my friends and family.  I have always been a heart on my sleeve kind of person, and I knew that I would mentally be challenged.  With that being said, specifically I was concerned that my lack of physicality would be challenged in my first season and cause me issues with getting playing time.  I was also concerned that the speed would be too much since I had never really played against player’s at the level that some of the VHL’s best are at.  Ultimately, my final concern was that due to the fact that I was going to see some significant first pairing opportunities, I was concerned that I may let down my partner in Condor Adrienne, who was coming off one of the best season’s in VHL history.

 

My expectations though were ultimately pretty strong for myself.  I believed I could contend with the best rookies in the league for the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy and I also felt that the Nighthawks would surprise a lot of people and be a bigger threat than most realized.  I felt that once I got a handle on the league’s speed difference, that my defense would catch up and that I’d be a pretty solid defensemen in every zone.  I always believed my transition offense and my shot were good enough to be threats at any level, so it was mainly my defense that I was focused on.  Obviously I have many more expectations going forward, but it will remain to be seen whether I can meet those.

 

How was my rookie season? I think it went pretty well.  I finished second in Stolzschweiger Voting to my teammate Chris, and I felt I played very well defensively as well.  I was one of the best shot blockers in the league and felt I made a very positive impact at even strength, on the powerplay and on the penalty kill.  The VHLM certainly is quite different and I certainly felt way more dominant there, but I also felt I held my own quite well and could see myself dominating the VHL in the future.  It obviously helps having someone like Condor Adrienne paired next to you, but I held my own individually as well.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Advantage