Month: November 2017

The Cat

Jess Briggs1 Comment

Throughout Alex Debrincat’s three years in the OHL, I grew rather fond of this small right winger.  Whether the connection formed due to only his offensive firepower, or the sharing of a number (his number, 12, was also my water polo number), he captured my attention.  And as he has moved from the OHL to the NHL, I can guarantee I am no longer one of only a few Erie-ites who make up his fan club.

Alex came to the Erie Otters as a free agent.  Growing up in Michigan, he had originally planned on playing hockey in the NCAA.  Because of NCAA regulations, young elite players must choose between the OHL and NCAA.  While OHL players are not technically paid, they do receive a small stipend and an education package they can use if they don’t go pro, causing them to loose their eligibility.  Because OHL teams knew of this decision, DeBrincat went undrafted into the league.  However, Otter’ recruiters were able to lure Alex to Erie, helped by the star studded roster including Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome that was being developed.

In Erie, DeBrincat went on to become a scoring leaders.  He accumulated over fifty goals in each of his three seasons with the Otters, becoming one of only two OHL players to ever accomplish this feat.  That being said, you would think he would be a highly ought after piece in his NHL draft year, right? Not quite.

While Alex was being looked at, teams questioned him.  Not because of anything he had over, though.  Because of his size.  Standing at only five feet seven inches and 160 pounds (at the time of the draft), Alex is tiny in the hockey world.  Teams were concerned that he would be demolished in the NHL, cracking under the pressure of playing against guys almost an entire foot taller than and much more muscular than him.

This is my personal favorite video of him proving them wrong:

As you have surely guessed by now, Alex was drafted in his draft year.  But not until the second round, selected 39th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.  With their first pick in the 2016 draft, Chicago finally picked up Brinksy, seeing him as similar to one of their star player Patrick Kane, who was also considered too small at five foot ten. DeBrincat was passed over by 26 teams and slipped from the first round, where he his skills should have rightfully placed him.  And today, all of these teams are surely kicking themselves for loosing out on the biggest slip of the 2016 draft.

This past week, Alex DeBrincat scored his first NHL hat trick, with three goals in Chicago’s win against the Anaheim Ducks.  He is in the running for both most goals scored and points earned by rookies in the NHL.  He is making everyone turn their heads and take a good hard look, proving that with good players, skill can overcome size.

(Jonathan Toews is Chicago’s current captain… Yeah)

I could not end a post about DeBrincat without sending a sincere thank you to whoever it is that runs the Chicago Blackhawks’ Twitter page.  Obviously their social media manager has also taken a liking to DeBrincat, who is now mostly referred to as simply “The Cat.”  Here is one final example of my favorite DeBrincat tweets, for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy! #purr #thecat #brinsky #meow #ipromisethisisthechicagotwittersdoingnotmine

(As I was writing this post, he scored again, making him tied for first place in NHL rookie scoring. I love and miss this boy so much.)

How It Feels to Win It All

Jess Briggs1 Comment

Earlier this week, I came across this tweet:

To most, this just seems like a list of random words and names.  To me, it is a vivid memory.  As I read along, I could see the play being described in my head like a movie clip.  I could see the puck slide off of Anthony Cirelli’s stick and into the back of the goal, ending the game in sudden death overtime.  I heard the goal horn and the screams of the fans.  I could see the entire team jumping from the bench, sticks and gloves flying in the air as they piled into the boards to celebrate together.  The insanity that followed for the next hour and a half is permanently etched in my brain.  And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Though I had never actually heard the radio broadcast from this night, I could hear our announcer’s voice in my head as I read those words.  I had a visceral emotional response when I saw it, with goosebumps running up my arms and a smile breaking across my face.  In those documented seconds from May, we finally accomplished the goal that was four years coming.  We had finally done it.  The Erie Otters had finally won the OHL Championship.

After four seasons of being so close always conference champions or runner ups, it was amazing to finally be the big winners.  Every year, my dad told the stories of our first championship win in 2002.  He said that the noise and the atmosphere was like nothing else he had ever experienced.  The stories always ended with him looking back at me with a special sparkle in his eye and saying “I hope you get to experience it, Jess. It’s amazing.”

And this year I finally did.  In the minutes after, there was screaming, crying (yes, I will admit that I cried), and hugging.  I wanted to describe exactly what happened after and how I felt, but the words are impossible to find.  There is no way to describe the immense pride and happiness I felt on this day.  I still get a weird, tingling feeling in my stomach when I think about it.  Especially with a local team, there is this intense passion that OHL die-hard fans have, and the arena exploded with it that night.  And I realize that to outsiders, we must seem ridiculous.  But on the inside, there is no better feeling.  We watched as our boys celebrated with their friends and family.  And we got to celebrate with them.  It was an amazing shared experience, especially near the end of the night when most had left.  The was nothing like celebrating with your team and the other fans who had been with them since the beginning.

The timing of our win as perfect.  I was getting ready to leave for college, an last season is quite possibly the last full season I will ever have in Erie.  The team I had watched since I was in the 5th grade finally won the championship as I got ready to graduate high school.  It was the perfect end of an era.