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What's Your Story?

May 27, 2019, 10:47 AM ET [19 Comments]
Matt Ross
Florida Panthers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Not a lot of news floating around in the Pantherspehere currently...fans continue to theorize who the Cats should target this offseason and the Bob/Panarin debate continues to rage.

Amongst the speculation, Dale Tallon announced last week the signing of Finnish standout forward, Aleksi Heponiemi, to a three-year deal.

"We are thrilled to have agreed to terms with Aleksi. He is an immensely skilled and dynamic player with excellent vision and hockey IQ. Aleksi has been an elite player at every level and a leader on winning teams on the junior and international stages. We look forward to Aleksi's development with the Panthers and believe he will be an important part of our organization's success for years to come." - Tallon

The skilled 20-year old helped Finland win a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship.

For more on Heponiemi, check out the official press release.

What's Your Story?

Tonight kicks off the first game of the 2018/2019 Stanley Cup Finals between the Blues and Bruins. Every year, around this time, I catch myself reflecting on my own hockey "career."

I think a lot of of us on here dreamed of making it to the NHL and winning a Stanley Cup. I mean, there's a reason the cliche of pretending you're scoring the winning goal in game seven, while shooting a tennis ball in your driveway, exists...it's because we all did it!

I started playing hockey around seven or eight. I really wasn't any good. My skating was very lackluster and I didn't have that "killer instinct" or intensity that would have probably helped me. I was a bit smaller and I remember as I progressed up and we began learning how to deliver and absorb/avoid hits, I was scared out of my mind.

One game, I went in to the corner and knew I was in a guy's crosshairs. I remember thinking I might be able to pull up, push the puck towards the back of the net and avoid the hit at the same time.

Nope.

I got smoked. I slammed into the boards and everything went black. After my coach scraped me up off the ice (how many fingers am I holding up? Haha), I sat on the bench and thought, "Maybe I'm not meant to skate out..."

On the drive home, I talked to my dad and told him I wanted to try being a goalie. I played it all the time in street hockey with my friends and loved it. I thought the transition to ice would be pretty natural.

My dad called the rink and the guy in charge told him to bring me back the following weekend at 5:30 AM. And so he did. The guy had an old set of goalie equipment laid out in a locker room. He was a former goalie and played at a high level - even getting called up to the show a couple times, so I thought he was super cool. He helped show me how each piece of equipment went on and I hit the ice.

There was no instructions. No drills. No coddling.

He told me to get in the net. He then tipped over a bucket of pucks and proceeded to rip shots at me. He wasn't trying to beat me or pick corners. He put shots into my chest protector, glove, blocker and leg pads. He was really cranking them, too. The intensity and "killer instinct" I lacked as a forward came out in net. I remember wanting to stop everything and loved how it felt doing so. It was like this new drive within me had been unlocked.

When we were done, he told my dad that the whole idea behind the session was to see if I could actually face shots and not be scared.

With that, I got the approval from him and my goalie career started.

I played all through middle school, high school and practiced with my college's club team. When I got out, I played a couple sessions in men's league before transitioning out and playing as a defenseman - which I've been doing for years now. Oh, and, yes...my skating is still very lackluster.

My trajectory was/is that of an average Joe. Do I wish I was one of those guys in an NHL locker room playing for the Stanley Cup? Well...of course! Instead, I'm playing at 10 PM on Tuesday nights for a mens league trophy (or t-shirt, depending on the league) that needs to be returned to the front desk after you take a picture with it.

But you know what? I love every minute of it!

How about you guys? What are your stories? Did you play/still play? Have you never played, but just like watching hockey? What's the word?

Hopefully we'll be getting some more news soon, as I've been reading some teams are looking to start making moves sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned and go Panthers!
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