Has anyone else' career ended like this?

So heres my long story in extremely short:

I started when I was 7, Couldnt skate, didnt know whether to sh** or wind my watch, etc. I worked and worked at it, and finally by peewee was an average player. I kept working and made Rep in Bantam. After a setback in my first two years at midget, I finally made AAA in my third year. I started out the season as maybe the 5th D-man. By the end of the season I had worked my way into a top 2 spot, playing every second shift in playoffs and provincials. However, after the season ended, I had no letters of invitation anywhere(this was last march)

In the Spring, I went to two Jr A. camps. In both i was invited to the affiliate junior B clubs but not surprisingly, not the jr A team itself. I chose the first who had a beautiful new rink and a great coach whom i liked, and he said i had a great chance.

I went there, and had a great camp as far my inconsistant standards go. I was last cut however. In my interview however, he pointed me in the direction of another team whos coach had scouted me out in provincials. So i trekked up there(I dont want to mention the names of the teams right now unless you really want to know I'll PM them). The coach said i was likely to make it as a 5th d-man and i'm thinking "all right". I sign up for school, see the rink, and fall in love with it all. This team has great fans, great everything. However, after 4 exhibition games I am last cut again, pushed out by returning jr A players. This crushes me.

However, I have one last remaining option: the team that was the worst in the league the previous year, whom i had scoffed at until then. There was one huge bright spot however: the coach guarunteed that he would sign and keep me throughout the season. So i go down there and sign the next day. I transfer into the school, find a billet, and off I go. I quickly get to like this team, the players, the town and the school. I seem to be finally set for the year.

This is where it all comes crashing down. The billets I live with are rich, with a huge house, and four young girls. They also carry 4 billets at a time. On my fourth day there, I'm chilling with the family and another one of the billet guys. One of the four young girls is getting incredibly annoying for 15-20 minutes straight. After 5 hours of sleep (if lucky) the night before, and a stressful call home, I finally cant take it. I tell her to "please stop doing that"(some reason she kept pointing and laughing at me).

That, and that alone ended my career. I'm at school the next day when the coach shows up, and takes me out to the hallway and informs me that the billets have complained(turns out all they said was I wasnt a good fit in that stressful house). He says he will have to find me a new billet or send me home on the bus. I plead with him for the first option, and he says he will do that for me, but first will phone my parents. he leaves and says he will phone me later.

20 minutes later he phones me all cheerful, telling me he couldnt call my parents where could I reach them? and Oh yeah he phoned the executive and theyve decided they cant deal with me, so theyre sending me home that night.

I begged with him and pleaded with him to talk them into letting me back on. I asked him for their phone number, I'm basically on my knees over the phone. He seems dissinterested, but says he will try and will phone me back 20 mins later. So i sit there, hoping, praying. He phones back later and again asks me where he could find my dad. He also says they are sticking with their decision. I am done.

They sent me home that night on the bus(watching stuart little on the Tvs really cheered me up . I called my billet to apologize for what id "done". She says she is shocked and didnt ask for that, she just said I might be a better fit somewhere else. However, She wont help me. The coach seems dissinterested despite the fact he told me i was doing great on the ice. When i talk to my parents when they pick me up at the bus stop that night, i hear them say I'm labelled as an anger management case. Like are they for real?

So thats it. My career is over. A possible 3 years of junior, nothing. I realize people have gone through much worse in their life, and this probably wont be the low point. I wasnt to be a great hockey player either. I just wanted to play, get better and experience the life for a while. ANyone with any thuoghts? I think a career ending injury would be bad, but its a natural thing, its not like somebody pulling out the carpet from under you(unless its a matt Johnson on Beaukaboom or bertuzzi thing)

 

Man...that REALLY sucks. And as much as I was never "there" really...I was involved with the politics of Rep hockey and then the Junior A and Junior B crap that I had to put up with...and it sucked to put it simply....you'll probably always wonder "what if?"...regardless...there's always beer league/rec league...and that's usually fun!

 

I realize Jr.B teams are mostly in small towns, but why would any team let 4 players billet with a family who have 4 young children? That's just begging for trouble.

 

Can't you just play for a Junior B team for a while until you get your 'break' again?

Or did this happen in the past? If not, how many more years of junior eligability do you have?

EDIT: I'm also confused as to whether the billets incident happened in Jr. B or A.

 

This just happened two days ago. I still have school as I am a late december birthday. There is one option left and they have not phoned back, and school must be under control by Monday for me. And this happened in Junior B, I'm not nearly good enough to make Jr A i was first cuts every camp. So basically today is the last day, if this team doesnt phone back(we've left two days worth of messages on their machine) I'm screwed.

 

I have to guess they had no choice And I was getting along just fine, thats the thing. In my previous billet home on the team i got cut from second, they had kids coming out their ears, in fact one took my precious guitar and started smashing it on the stairs, and I didnt do a thing. Thats the troubling part for me, I've never been this big discipline problem ever.

 

Thats a tough, tough story & not very "fair" at all.
For what its worth, I strongly encourge you not to let your competitive hockey career end on this note, even if that means not playing this year. After playing all these years, I really dont think you want to end competitive hockey on a sour note, as it may affect your love of hockey for the rst of your life, & that would be unfortunate.

 

thanks. Also I've been thinking, and I watched thatTerry Fox Video on CTV, man this is nothing. People have been to hell and back practically, and fought it and remained positive throughout it, in fact I dont know why I am even comparing this to something like that. If I cant battle through this I am pretty weak. I'll try out next year for sure and make it(on a better team too). Hey maybe somebody will phone me this year halfway through, who knows what happens theres a meaning for everything.

 

Agreed. I thought I was getting a raw deal in high school and quit -- wish I could go back and change that, so naturally my advice is to ramp it up and stay positive -- only thing is bring the guitar and leave the violin behind. Not criticizing this vent/plea, but while this board has shown compassion and understanding, the hockey world in general has neither sympathy for nor belief in players with long stories about how they got screwed. Best of puck.

 

Well, look on the bright side. You still have your health. My friend, who was 16 at the time, was a promising hockey player in the making, but he got cheaped shot by an opposing player in a game. The end result was a broken neck. He can never play hockey again and at one time, had to work at Superstore to make scrubs. The guy who cheaped shot him is banned for life and can never play hockey again either.

 

Sad to hear that. But hey, I can coach you.. I know you suck, but I'm up for a challenge!

 

Listen to these people, don't quit now. Find a recreational league that can challenge you, work on your game as much as possible then go to camp and dazzle them next year.

 

thats brutal

 

That's just crappy luck. My "career" had a somewhat bad ending. I was a 16 year old trying out for the local Junior A team as a d-man. I attended the rookie camp (through invitation) and was one of the few that made it to the main camp. From there, I got to play in 6 pre-season games and even put up a goal and two assists, which I thought was pretty impressive for a 16 year old d-man in the league. At the end of camp, the coach pulled me into his office and told me I had made the team but that I would be used in a limited role. I was still pretty excited and took off for home to tell my parents. My step-dad and I had a pretty long talk that night and thought it would be best for my hockey career if I went back to midget for one more year and get lots and lots of ice-time. Well, about two weeks before Christmas, I cut across the offensive blue-line and an opposing player stuck his knee out and we collided. Oooooh, that hurt. Ended up I had torn the ligaments and was going to miss the rest of the year. So when the next year rolled around, I had to decide whether to go and try to make the Junior team again (on a bum knee and with only a third of a season under my belt the year before) or go off to university. My marks were good so I took the university route. I may have never made it, but I regret not giving myself one more chance.

Anyways, my point of the story is to keep your chin up and look for something to get you back on the right track. Don't give it up so easily or you may regret it for the rest of your life...

 

Same thing here. I thought I was getting a bit of the shaft and ended up quitting when high school started. Not a day goes by that I don't regret giving it up, ESPECIALLY since the guys I played with through the years ended up winning the state championship the year after I graduated.

My advice to you, Nucks&Flames, is basically the same as the others: don't let this discourage you, and certainly don't give up yet. Work your a-- off in the offseason and show up next year ready for business. Heck, maybe a little bit of a break will do some good???

Best of luck.

 

i took a 2 hander to my right knee, which tore tendons and i pretty have no cartilage left in that damn knee, then the right one i took a cheap knee on knee hit.

When i sit down at a chair for more than 25mins my right knee locks and my left knee starts to stiffen up to lock up but takes more time.

That my friend is worse than being labelled anger management, you can still play hockey and work your way back in, all you gotta do is behave and suck up big time, you'll be back in. Me, even with surgeries, it will always been painful, but i wouldn't take any of it back, i enjoyed every moment i had playing ice hockey.

 

Hey it has been 6yrs since i last played ice hockey or even floor or roller hockey for fun. I am started to get back into it, even with the pain, i don't care, i miss playing. It's not that painful, if i keep movin' i'm good...


Showing a quitter mentality just shows that your a weak ***, stop being such a wuss, you want it, go get it. i know you want it, so go and f'n get it, work out, learn to bite your tongue, hangout with the most annoying people in school, if you can stand them and stay quiet, some ******ed 6 or 15 yr old will be nothing.

 

I said I will be trying out though

 

That's all i want to hear. A quitter's mentality is something that is oh soo wonderful for the lazy and someone who isn't ambitious...you give up now, you don't know what kind of habit your picking up.


Give it all you can, till you know for sure you can't get anywhere professionaly, then turn it into a recreational thing...something you do to get away from things.


Till then, bust your balls and make yourself proud by trying out, don't let some lame bs walk all over you.

 

My ending sucked as well.

I was 16 and I had had a huge growthspurt, but my ligaments in my knees stretched out at first instead of growind with my legs.

I kept on ignoring it and was like, whatever, it'll be ok, but one day I wake up after a game and I can't walk it hurts so bad. I go see a doctor, turns out I need physical therapy for six months if I want to be able to walk straight for the rest of my life.

Tried playing again a couple of years later at 18 when I had filled out, but it hurt way too much to play competitvely.

I still play for fun, but my knees take a beating the next day.