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Written By: Connor Bizal In light of the National Development Camp rosters being announced, I figured it was time to touch on my experiences with the CCM High Performance process and where I stand with it. Before I get started, I want to make it clear: I fully encourage players to go through the HP tryout process! It is a great way to potentially gain exposure and also see how you stack up against players your age. However, many players feel it can make-or-break their careers, which cannot be further from the truth. There are both pros and cons involved with this topic, and I want to make sure people see both sides of it...
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Written by: Adam Zukowski Every long-term athlete has dealt with injury in some way, regardless of severity. My first two seasons after high school have been riddled with injury. This season, I broke the third metacarpal bone in my dominant (right) hand and had surgery five days later. I was on injured reserve for around seven weeks, which seemed more like 70 to me. What helps cope with injury best for each person differs, but I am here to share my experience of being sidelined for the remainder of my season and my strategies to maintain my mental well-being and take care of myself while living on my own.
Written By: Connor Bizal If you know me, you know how much I love to have fun and bring positivity to every situation I find myself in. I have been told I smile too much and I can be found laughing too hard at the most minor things. When you see me at face value, you would assume I live a fairly easy and pleasant life. Currently, you would be right! However, things have not always been this way. I was blessed with the opportunity to write about my mental illness experiences for a blog called Athletes Helping Athletes. This process allowed me to reflect on my past and detail it in the best way possible. AHA is a tremendous resource for those who may feel they are alone or need to know that things do get better, so I highly recommend checking out their website and following them on social media! I wrote the article in hopes of shining a light on mental illness and inspiring those who may be fighting their own battles. Below you will find my toughest fight...
Written by: Adam Zukowski 3. Do not burn bridges with coaches.
I will start with an example for this one: A few weeks after my senior season, I had two NA3HL coaches of league leading teams reach out and offer to sign me. At this point, I was frustrated with how my interactions with NAHL coaches had gone and did not want to think about the option of tier 3 junior hockey. I spent well over an hour each on calls with these coaches, and spent a month or so texting back and forth with each. I was not planning on accepting either of their offers, and later started ignoring their texts for days on end. After I signed to play U18 in Sioux Falls I had completely stopped responding to both coaches. A month later I checked twitter and saw that one coach was named the new assistant coach of the Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL), and right after that the other coach was named the head coach of the Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL, and whose camp I had planned on attending later that summer). Written by: Adam Zukowski This year may have a different look than in previous seasons, but seniors in high school still face the same situations that seniors in years before have had. Looking back to how I approached my senior year hockey-wise, there are definitely some situations I wish I had dealt with differently. I did not have an older sibling who had gone through the hockey ranks and my parents had never played hockey before, so this experience was new for me. I wish I had someone to guide me through this process in my hockey career. I won’t spend too much time beating around the bush and get into my first two pieces of advice for seniors finishing up their seasons this year, and juniors getting prepped for their final year of high school hockey. I am only posting my first two pieces of advice for now and will post the remaining three in my next blog, along with the full article!
Written By: Connor Bizal It is safe to say the past year has been life-altering for many people. Most people are at a point where they are sick and tired of hearing about the pandemic, but it is a major part of our lives right now. Obviously, the pandemic has flipped people's worlds upside-down. Things are way different now compared to this time last year. However, we cannot use the pandemic as an excuse to not strive to be the best versions of ourselves. Everyone is dealing with similar struggles, it is about persevering through them and coming out better than we were before our "normal" was stripped from us. Granted, we may never see the "normal" we knew a year ago. Regardless, we should be able to look at ourselves and confirm we have grown/improved over the past year...
Written By: Connor Bizal Welcome to the Fellowship of Hockey Advancement! We are so excited to offer this FREE resource to everyone. Who we are, what our mission is, and what we provide can be found elsewhere on this website. We are two junior hockey players playing for the Boston Jr. Rangers in the Eastern Hockey League...
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