The past 6 months have been a roller coaster of ups and downs that if I didn't live it, I wouldn't believe it. Starting with a 9 car accident on my birthday and ending with a torn ligament in the middle of my best statistical season of my career. Sandwiched in between all of that was a trade from Danbury (EPHL) to Rome (EPHL), Rome folding shortly after my car accident, trying to find a new team only a couple weeks before the start of the season and rehabbing my back from the car accident that had numerous muscle strains and tears along with vertebraes that were out of alignment. The future of my hockey career was looking bleak.
Brendan Tedstone , Danbury's G.M., gave me the phone number for the Battle Creek Revolution (AAHA) and I gave it a shot and made the phone call. Within a day I heard back from Nigel Hawryliw, their player/assistant coach and the ball was rolling to sign a contract. A couple days later I talked to the head coach, Matt Wiedenhoeft and we negotiated a contract. Everything was right again in my hockey life. After some growing pains with BCR we were becoming a team and playing well. We got new owners, started winning games and after 7 games and only 5 points, I hit my stride thru my last 11 games I had 15 points.
Then I went to throw a hit and bounced off the guy a funny. I tried to catch myself, but hit the boards awkwardly and thought I just hyper-extended my elbow. In between periods our trainer checked it out and thought it would be ok, my first shift back I took a shot and felt a pop in my elbow. I knew it was something bad and went right to the locker room. It was determined I had a grade 2 tear to my ulnar collateral ligament and would be out 6-8 weeks. The remainder of the regular season. In the middle of all this the team was going thru some changes and myself, Wiedenhoeft and Nigel were all pushed out to make way for a new coach and some more room on the salary cap. I still check up on the Revs after weekends to see how they do and they are currently sitting in 2nd place with 3 or 4 games to go. I stay in touch with some of the boys and both interns Haili and Kate (the best interns in the league) and wish them luck heading into the playoffs. Nigel is playing in Chi-Town right now and still leading the league in points. He became one of my closest friends on the team out there and we talk once a week. As for Weezy, he played a couple games for the Chicago Blaze and he is hoping to be coaching again next season. He's a great coach, who is a players coach all the way and I had a great time playing for him.
As for me, my elbow finally feels close to 100% and I have been working out for the past couple weeks to stay in shape in case a team needs a guy for the end of the season. I also spent a week or so searching for a new agent, that could help me out overseas. I got lucky in that aspect, doing this site in a weird way helped me find my new agent. After my last post at the beginning of this month I was contacted by Andruw Bourgeois, who is starting a new website called Pro Hockey Insight and asked me if I would be interested in submitting blogs for the site. After some emailing back and forth I told Andruw I would write for the new website. Then told him how I was looking for a new agent, it turns out he is an agent and works with an NHLPA certified agent with contacts all over the world and he told me he would help me out next season. So I'm killing two birds with one stone, taking the next step in my writing career and also found a new agent who can help me with what I need for next season.
With everything going on I will definitely be writing more often now. So feel free to email me and comment on the blogs.
-Hutch 9-
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Changes
It's been a few weeks and I'm sure the faithful readers of my blog have seen that I am no longer on the roster of the Battle Creek Revolution. A few things added up to that equation, I tore a ligament in my elbow against Evansville a few weeks ago and tried playing thru it and made it worse. Other than that B.C. was making some changes and going in a different direction and for one reason or another I wasn't in their plans. There's nothing I can do about it and wish them all the best for the rest of their season
I had a great time in my 3 months with Battle Creek and met tons of great people. From the front office staff, the interns, the teammates and the fans; they made it one of my best experiences ever in my pro career. I still stay in touch with some of the guys and I know that I always will. We had some awesome times both at the rink and away from it. Memories that will last a lifetime. From the parties and the inside jokes, right down to somehow becoming a secret WWF fan and watching Monday Night RAW alone last week at home, I had a great time out there and wish it didn't end. I have nothing but good things to say about the team, the city and the league and really hope everything goes well in the future.
As for what I'm doing now, it's a whole lot of nothing. I'm trying to get healthy so I can finish the season out somewhere either in the EPHL or back out in the AAHA. But I've tried skating a couple times and my elbow hasn't responded well yet so it isn't looking good. It really sucks for this to happen right in the middle of the best season of my career, but that's the way it goes and I have to live with it.
Keep checking back in and I'll keep you updated on the injury and my playing career. It's been a season full of roller coasters and hopefully it isn't over yet.
-Hutch 9-
I had a great time in my 3 months with Battle Creek and met tons of great people. From the front office staff, the interns, the teammates and the fans; they made it one of my best experiences ever in my pro career. I still stay in touch with some of the guys and I know that I always will. We had some awesome times both at the rink and away from it. Memories that will last a lifetime. From the parties and the inside jokes, right down to somehow becoming a secret WWF fan and watching Monday Night RAW alone last week at home, I had a great time out there and wish it didn't end. I have nothing but good things to say about the team, the city and the league and really hope everything goes well in the future.
As for what I'm doing now, it's a whole lot of nothing. I'm trying to get healthy so I can finish the season out somewhere either in the EPHL or back out in the AAHA. But I've tried skating a couple times and my elbow hasn't responded well yet so it isn't looking good. It really sucks for this to happen right in the middle of the best season of my career, but that's the way it goes and I have to live with it.
Keep checking back in and I'll keep you updated on the injury and my playing career. It's been a season full of roller coasters and hopefully it isn't over yet.
-Hutch 9-
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Bring on the Blaze!
This weekend we have three huge games against the newly acquired Chicago Blaze. The Blaze came together very quickly to save our league and play in place of the Detroit Dragons. Honestly we're lucky that the Blaze were able to pull everything together so quickly and save our league, without the hard work of AAHA people and Blaze ownership who knows what would have happened. We had a very solid week of practice and finished today with a great practice to lead into our pre game skate tomorrow and 3 game series.
I participated very lightly Tuesday and Wednesday in just sweats for skating drills, but did not participate in contact drills. Today I was fully dressed to test out the elbow in my first full practice since Friday night when I slightly tore a ligament in the elbow against the much improved IceMen. The lines were clicking today and I was back on my regular "red" line with Mike Podelnyk and Charles Harvey. Both power play units are looking good and our defense is solid as usual. Both goalies (who last weekend sported Chuck Liddell like mohawks and dyed hair) were on today making several great saves throughout the practice.
We don't know what to expect out of Chicago tomorrow. We got their roster today and most of them have pro experience and I've played with a couple of the players. They look like they have a solid roster and will fit in nicely in this league. Our biggest goal is to not give them their first ever league win in our barn.
So head out to The Rink this weekend, tomorrow and Saturday puck drops at 7:30pm with a Sunday afternoon matinee start at 1pm. Tomorrow night there will also be a Detroit Red Wings ticket give a way to the craziest Revolution fan in the building, so come be loud and have a chance to go watch the Wings play at the Joe!
Hutch
I participated very lightly Tuesday and Wednesday in just sweats for skating drills, but did not participate in contact drills. Today I was fully dressed to test out the elbow in my first full practice since Friday night when I slightly tore a ligament in the elbow against the much improved IceMen. The lines were clicking today and I was back on my regular "red" line with Mike Podelnyk and Charles Harvey. Both power play units are looking good and our defense is solid as usual. Both goalies (who last weekend sported Chuck Liddell like mohawks and dyed hair) were on today making several great saves throughout the practice.
We don't know what to expect out of Chicago tomorrow. We got their roster today and most of them have pro experience and I've played with a couple of the players. They look like they have a solid roster and will fit in nicely in this league. Our biggest goal is to not give them their first ever league win in our barn.
So head out to The Rink this weekend, tomorrow and Saturday puck drops at 7:30pm with a Sunday afternoon matinee start at 1pm. Tomorrow night there will also be a Detroit Red Wings ticket give a way to the craziest Revolution fan in the building, so come be loud and have a chance to go watch the Wings play at the Joe!
Hutch
Monday, January 12, 2009
Good Weekend
After starting 2009 without a win in 3 games we knew we had to turn things around. We had a good week of practice, the boys were having fun at the rink again. Going into the weekend with two home games against Evansville our confidence was pretty high. We have had good luck this season against the Ice Men and wanted to keep it going by getting back on track and back to .500 again.
After our morning skate on Friday we hit some more adversity though. Captain Mark Allen and enforcer Kevin Demers made it official that they were leaving the team for personal reasons. It's tough to lose teammates thru the year, especially this deep into the season. But we were able to pull things together quickly and came out on top with a 6-4 win over a much improved Evansville squad. They brought in 3 guys from Detroit and teamed up with the guys we sent them over Christmas break they've really gotten better. The red line of myself, Mike Podelnyk and Dan Kohanchuk played real well for the first two periods, scoring 3 goals. I say for the first two periods because the red line was without me for the 3rd period after I partially tore a ligament in my left elbow late in the 2nd period.
There really isn't a timeline on how long I'll be out for with this injury. It is my lower hand on my stick so everytime I shoot the torque in my elbow will be really painful, but I might be able to tape it and try to play thru the pain. I'll be off the ice for the next couple of days to try to heal it as quickly as possible so I don't miss too many games. The biggest thing is making sure I don't do more damage to it and miss the rest of the season.
We won again on Saturday against Evansville 11-0. We came out and were all over them all night. We didn't play great in the 1st period but gradually picked it up as the night went on. Nigel Hawryliw led the charges with another hat trick and Justin Grevious picked up the first ever shut out in AAHA history.
This upcoming we face off against the newly formed Chicago Blaze for a 3 game set at home Friday-Sunday. We don't know a thing about them or who is on their team so it's a big mystery. Come by and check out the games if you are in the area.
After our morning skate on Friday we hit some more adversity though. Captain Mark Allen and enforcer Kevin Demers made it official that they were leaving the team for personal reasons. It's tough to lose teammates thru the year, especially this deep into the season. But we were able to pull things together quickly and came out on top with a 6-4 win over a much improved Evansville squad. They brought in 3 guys from Detroit and teamed up with the guys we sent them over Christmas break they've really gotten better. The red line of myself, Mike Podelnyk and Dan Kohanchuk played real well for the first two periods, scoring 3 goals. I say for the first two periods because the red line was without me for the 3rd period after I partially tore a ligament in my left elbow late in the 2nd period.
There really isn't a timeline on how long I'll be out for with this injury. It is my lower hand on my stick so everytime I shoot the torque in my elbow will be really painful, but I might be able to tape it and try to play thru the pain. I'll be off the ice for the next couple of days to try to heal it as quickly as possible so I don't miss too many games. The biggest thing is making sure I don't do more damage to it and miss the rest of the season.
We won again on Saturday against Evansville 11-0. We came out and were all over them all night. We didn't play great in the 1st period but gradually picked it up as the night went on. Nigel Hawryliw led the charges with another hat trick and Justin Grevious picked up the first ever shut out in AAHA history.
This upcoming we face off against the newly formed Chicago Blaze for a 3 game set at home Friday-Sunday. We don't know a thing about them or who is on their team so it's a big mystery. Come by and check out the games if you are in the area.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Ringing in the New Year
2009 is here. Happy New Year and hopefully you haven't broken your resolutions already. We rang in the new year with a 9-1 win over the Evansville IceMen at home after another eventful day at The Rink. The game was supposed to start at 2pm, but would it really be any fun if something didn't go wrong? Evansville's bus broke down on the way and set them back about 3 hours before they got a new one to pick them up and they didn't arrive until 3:30pm. About 250 Revolution faithful stuck around the cold rink, waiting for them to show up. I think the newly acquired beer stand was something that helped them stay.
When things finally got underway we took it to them pretty good from beginning to end. New guys Justin Nattress, Dan Kohanchuk and Battle Creek native Ryan Huggett all helped in the win. Natty and tough guy Mason Cossette both scored their first ever professional goals. Hugger got into his first pro fight at the end of them game, part of a line brawl that broke out with 5 seconds left in the game that even included the goalies. Our goalie Justin Grevious won his fight pretty convincingly and also picked up his first pro assist. The remaining fans definately loved the fight at the end of the game and hopefully will come back to our home games next weekend against Evansville.
After the game guys went off on their own to celebrate the new year, some went over to Kalamazoo to watch the KWings play Muskegon in the IHL. Others went to Kalamazoo to hang out and the rest of us brought in the new year at a small bar up the road from our house.
We couldn't party too hard because we were back at it again yesterday afternoon against Chi-Town in Dyer, Indiana. We loaded up the vans and I was excited to play because they have an Olympic size ice surface, which I have always loved to play on. But, on the way to the game our coach was informed from the league that I was suspended for the game due to my fight with 4:37 left to play in the 3rd period. I got hit from behind, got up and protected myself, but somehow got an instigator penalty. The instigator in the last 5 minutes of a game carries an automatic one game suspension.
It sucked to watch the boys yesterday from the stands and not be able to help. Watching the game with our captain Mark Allen (leg contusion) wasn't easy, knowing that two leaders of the team couldn't do anything was tough to swallow. We lost the game 7-4. Kevin Demers and Cossette tried to jumpstart the boys with a few fights, but it didn't work. We came to life too late and it wasn't enough.
We're back in Chi-Town tomorrow and Sunday, again we will short benched. Allen, Demers and Kohanchuk all have to return to Canada due to visa issues this weekend and we should have them back by next week.
When things finally got underway we took it to them pretty good from beginning to end. New guys Justin Nattress, Dan Kohanchuk and Battle Creek native Ryan Huggett all helped in the win. Natty and tough guy Mason Cossette both scored their first ever professional goals. Hugger got into his first pro fight at the end of them game, part of a line brawl that broke out with 5 seconds left in the game that even included the goalies. Our goalie Justin Grevious won his fight pretty convincingly and also picked up his first pro assist. The remaining fans definately loved the fight at the end of the game and hopefully will come back to our home games next weekend against Evansville.
After the game guys went off on their own to celebrate the new year, some went over to Kalamazoo to watch the KWings play Muskegon in the IHL. Others went to Kalamazoo to hang out and the rest of us brought in the new year at a small bar up the road from our house.
We couldn't party too hard because we were back at it again yesterday afternoon against Chi-Town in Dyer, Indiana. We loaded up the vans and I was excited to play because they have an Olympic size ice surface, which I have always loved to play on. But, on the way to the game our coach was informed from the league that I was suspended for the game due to my fight with 4:37 left to play in the 3rd period. I got hit from behind, got up and protected myself, but somehow got an instigator penalty. The instigator in the last 5 minutes of a game carries an automatic one game suspension.
It sucked to watch the boys yesterday from the stands and not be able to help. Watching the game with our captain Mark Allen (leg contusion) wasn't easy, knowing that two leaders of the team couldn't do anything was tough to swallow. We lost the game 7-4. Kevin Demers and Cossette tried to jumpstart the boys with a few fights, but it didn't work. We came to life too late and it wasn't enough.
We're back in Chi-Town tomorrow and Sunday, again we will short benched. Allen, Demers and Kohanchuk all have to return to Canada due to visa issues this weekend and we should have them back by next week.
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