News Article: Ghost - Player's Tribune

[BillDineen]

You Might Know Me as Ghost | By Shayne Gostisbehere

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[Curufinwe]

In 2012, after a strong freshman year at Union, my hockey advisor told me I might go in the sixth or seventh round of the draft. I mean, there’s only seven rounds. So when I heard that, I was excited, but I didn’t really know what to think, because I could’ve just as easily not been drafted at all.

So I was eating breakfast with my family in Florida during the third round — and I really wasn’t paying attention to the TV. The draft was on in the background and muted. We were just having a regular morning. I remember, I think I was taking dishes into the kitchen, and I saw the Flyers logo on the big board, then … GOSTISBEHERE popped up. Like, you know how train departure times pop up at a station? Same thing.

I was like, “Uh, Mom?”

And she flat-out tackled me onto the couch — like, a perfect wrap and take-down.

Everyone started crying. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think I had really pictured my draft-day moment, but I definitely didn’t expect it to go down like this.

 

[FlyersMania2]

You Might Know Me as Ghost | By Shayne Gostisbehere

I really enjoyed that. What a down to earth guy he is. Sounds like he doesn't take any of it for granted - definitely something you find in a lot of American born players and later round picks who overachieve (I hung out with G a few times during his rookie years and he was very down to earth then).

 

[Curufinwe]

Hak or Hexy obviously wrote this part for him.

Alright, I want to talk about this year’s team a bit. But before I do, I know people made a lot of me being a healthy scratch last year. It was tough to deal with, yes, but I understood it. When my shooting percentage went from 13% to 3% — and nothing was seeming to go my way — that’s when I got how hard it was to be an NHL player. And being able to step away from that, for even a single night, can really help.

I won’t lie, though. I had to delete Twitter off my phone. During my rookie season, I loved scrolling through my mentions and interacting with fans, but when it wasn’t going well it was hard. You can only read “you’re a one-hit wonder” so many times before you go crazy.

 

[BillDineen]

Let's sign his sister.

 

[SnS]

"She still thinks she can beat me in a race"

"Nah"

 

[Curufinwe]

Let's sign his sister.

That's the kind of nepotism I'd happily get behind.

 

[Striiker]

That was pretty good.

Best part is, if you read that and haven't watched him play, you'd think he's just a mediocre player who got some fortunate breaks. He makes it sound like he's not an insanely good player, sitting 7th in D scoring this year and 105 points in 166 NHL games.

And

A month earlier I was nobody, for real.

The same guy we've been hyped about for years before he got to the NHL.

 

[RANKKA]

Listened it with google translate, was good article really enjoyed it.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Ah, damnit. I had to go and read it and then see the Holmgren article after it again.

Shut up, i'm not crying, you're crying.

 

[Jtown]

We are lucky he is a flyer. He is a special player.

 

[deadhead]

What's holding Ghost back is his desire to make plays, that is, he wants to make plays when there's nothing there.
When he learns to be more patient, and not force things, he'll eliminate a lot of the bad mistakes he's making.
This won't take away from his offense, since those mistakes tend to occur when there's not a play to make.

We're going to see that a lot the next few years with all the young kids. Especially the talented ones. Because the NHL is different.

Really talented players in juniors or college are the best player on the ice, and they're expected to make big plays all the time, you see that with Ghost, you see that with Sanheim, you see that with Konecny. And in the NHL, you can't do that anymore, because many of the guys you're going against were also the best guys on the ice. But it's a tough habit to break, to learn to be patient, to pick your spots, trust your teammates, and live to make a play on the next shift.

Offense for a skilled player isn't that hard to pick up at the NHL level, "efficient" offense, where you're not making as many goals for the other team, takes longer. At 21, Giroux split his season between the AHL and Philly. At 22, in his first full season, Giroux only had 26 ES points and a +/- of -9. Of course, the next season he had 50 ES points. On the other hand, Matt Carle at 22 put up 11-31 42 points, but that was the high point of his career. Bounced around, rebounded for a couple good years in Philly, then finished by age 30. Never became a reliable two way defenseman.

And that's why both patience and discipline is required, patience to let a prospect develop, discipline to get them to focus on reducing mistakes.

 

[TCTC]

Our future captain, imo.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

What's holding Ghost back is

... Hakstol.

 

[deadhead]

Couts is our future captain, and Provorov.
Even Ghost is in awe of THE MACHINE.

 

[Lindberg]

Looking back after what he said, its odd to think that some people thought he wouldn't sign with the Flyers after all the prospects.

 

[OriginJM]

He mentioned he had the same hip injury as his sister who was never the same skater again afterwards. Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see the lightning-quick spin-o-rama machine that Ghost was in his rookie year. He's still very agile but he seems to get beat in foot races quite often this year and doesn't seem as comfortable in his top gear. I hope he can eventually recapture his skating magic somehow since G looks like he did it this year - though it's obvious he's not 22 anymore either.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

He must've forgotten about Andy when he mentioned the leaders in the locker room.

 

[FLYguy3911]

He must've forgotten about Andy when he mentioned the leaders in the locker room.

And Mandog. And all of Hagger's hits.

 

[FlyersMania2]

He must've forgotten about Andy when he mentioned the leaders in the locker room.

I love that someone else refers to him as Andy. I always do - I picture Raggedy Ann and Andy

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

And Mandog. And all of Hagger's hits.

O/U on reminders for Hagger being the leader in hits tonight?

 

[FLYguy3911]

O/U on reminders for Hagger being the leader in hits tonight?

Someone else can set the line. I'll be watching the Sportsnet feed.

 

[BernieParent]

What a potty mouth.

 

[Beef Invictus]

That was pretty good.

Best part is, if you read that and haven't watched him play, you'd think he's just a mediocre player who got some fortunate breaks. He makes it sound like he's not an insanely good player, sitting 7th in D scoring this year and 105 points in 166 NHL games.

And
The same guy we've been hyped about for years before he got to the NHL.

I was thinking the same thing. Dude is one of the most agile skaters in the damned league and he's like "Oh shucks it's weird I'm here."

 

[klutch]

Highly enjoyed that article and I'm glad we have him wrapped up for years. I fully expect him to keep that down-to-earth mentality no matter how much he succeeds. It'd be an honor to meet him in person one day. Stay humble and drop them GHOST bombs, Shayne