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Posted by GSH-Editor on Thursday, November 11, 2004
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 | Every young lad growing up in Canada dreams about one day stepping out on the ice and playing in the National Hockey League.
For most this dream is born and ends on a local pond or street hockey game. For the few, this dream becomes a reality. GongshowHockey.com sits down with nineteen year old Minnesota Wild defenseman Brent Burns to get a first hand perspective on being the youngest hockey player to skate in the NHL last year at only eighteen years old. .....
You started your Junior hockey career off in the Ontario Provincial Junior “A†Hockey League with the Couchiching Terriers, how was that experience? |
It was a great experience for me, a lot of great guys like Sean Berkley. “Burky†used to drive me to the rink every day, so we got to know each other real well, and that was a great experience for me, he kinda brought me along slow. At the rink our coach was great Ray Flaherty, he was a great coach, and I owe a lot to our General Manager he helped me out a lot to get to Brampton the next year as well.
As a Junior “A†player, as you know you must at some point make the choice of whether you should try and get a scholly or head to Major Junior and try to fast track to the Pro’s. What was this choice like for you?
Actually, I had my head set on going the school route up to a month before the OHL season, and then I had a meeting with Stan Butler down in Brampton, and he showed me what Brampton had to bring, and he told me if I wanted to play in the NHL this was my best route to go. I came home and thought about it, and then signed a contract in the next few days, so they made the choice pretty easy for me.  | After only 1 year in the OHL, you find your self drafted 1st round and in the NHL. How did you get up there so fast?
It was tough, I still remember going to those first few practices and thinking to myself holy shit what am I doing out here? You see all the older guys and you think they wouldn’t be working hard, but there’s guys like Wes Waltz you see coming to the rink two hours before practice getting ready and I had never seen that before, and they are the same guys that are staying two hours after working out in the gym. It took a while to get use to it, the first two months I couldn’t walk, it takes a while to get used to the mental drag the NHL season causes, its tough to be traveling all over the country, you go to different cities and playing games practicing the next morning, its pretty tough, its the older guys that keep you going and your spirits high, and I owe a lot to the older guys in Minnesota... |
You expected when camp was over and the GM called you in to his office, that you would be heading back to the OHL as most eighteen year olds do. What’s going through your head when he tells you he wants to sign you to a contract and keep you up with the big team?
Oh man, I still remember getting called in to Riseborough’s office and I thought for sure I was heading home, and he says I was just talking to your agent about getting a contract signed. They told me that there was a rule that unsigned players couldn’t play in exhibition games, so we got it signed and done. I got to play in Montreal my first game; all my family came down to watch so it was great....more |
Read More... (10.33 KB) | 1 comment |  | Score: 4.70 (4655 reads) |
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Posted by GSH-Editor on Tuesday, October 05, 2004
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 | Gongshowhockey.com sat down this week with former Maine Black Bear and current New York Rangers product Lucas Lawson to talk about his junior days, getting a scholly to Maine, and signing an NHL contract. Lucas Lawson played his junior career for the Kanata Valley Lasers where he led the CJHL in scoring with 45 goals and 40 assists for 85 points in 50 games in his final year.
He was named the MVP of the season as well as the CJHL All-Star Game. From their he moved on to star for the University of Maine Black Bears NCAA Division I, part of the strong Hockey East conference. Lucas twice helped his team advance to the NCAA Frozen Four Championship. In his senior year he appeared in 39 matches, registering 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points and was selected to the Hockey East Second Team All-Conference. Upon finishing his career at Maine, Lawson signed with the New York Rangers, playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL last season. |
GSH- Thanks for sitting down with us today Lucas. You were a bit of a late bloomer, not even getting drafted to the Central Junior “A†Hockey League (CJHL), then being cut as a walk-on 16 year old with the Kanata Valley Lasers. Did this motivate you to work harder for the next season?
LL- It definitely did. Playing junior hockey was one of my goals, so when it didn’t happen it was really kind of frustrating. I went back home and played midget in Arnprior, Ontario for the year. I made a lot of strides off the ice that summer, doing the Acceleration Canada program at the Corel Center (skating on fake ice on an inclined treadmill). I put on about thirty pounds and I came back and finally made the squad as a 17 year old.
 | GSH- After leading the CJHL in points in your final year of junior hockey, you decided to sign your letter of intent with the Maine Black Bears NCAA (Hockey East Division I). What made you choose Maine and what other schools were you considering?
LL- Well I had offers from Ohio State, UNH, NDU, for the early signing period, but I still didn’t really know which school I wanted to go to. Then in February, before the second signing period, Maine asked me to go down there for a visit. So I went down there and really liked what the coach had to say (Sean Walsh) and he seemed like a great coach. The other schools, it was kind of a big school atmosphere, so in Maine it was a little smaller, and I figured I’m kind of a small town guy. So it ended up working out great there. |
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Read More... (15 KB) | 1 comment | | Score: 4.81 (1399 reads) |
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Posted by GSH-Editor on Wednesday, September 29, 2004
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After many e-mail requests to have this story posted on the front page again, we have listened to the members....here's the most read story EVER on GSH!
» CLICK HERE FOR TASKER VS SENN FIGHT CLIP!!
Ottawa native Ken Tasker has made a career out of pounding people’s faces down in professional hockey leagues across North America for over 7 seasons now. He nearly broke the East Coast Hockey League record for penalty minutes in one season accumulating 438 PIMS in just 42 games in 1999-2000 (he would have broken it had he not been suspended for so many games). He was featured on Sports Greatest Disasters on TLC (The Learning Channel) showing two of his most gruesome tilts. He was the State of Georgia’s Tough Man Competition Champion a few years back for his weight class. Before pro, he played in the MJAHL, and the CIS on the east coast, getting banned from both leagues. Tasker has played in the UHL, ECHL, AHL, and QSPHL during his professional career.
 Click HERE to listen to Tasker [/align]
On the ice, there is no doubt he is an animal, but off the ice he is a stellar guy in the community, often visiting hospitals and schools many times a month.He has never drank alcohol in his life, is polite as a priest, and is always doing community work. At 6.0 and 185 lbs he is not your typical goon. Tasker is the last person you would think would be a nut on the ice…but he is just that and more. GSH sits downs with Ken as he prepares for another big hockey season.
[align=justify]Q. Thanks for joining us today Ken. So what’s it like making a living being a hockey fighter?
KT- Well it’s been my dream since I was a kid. After watching the movie “Slapshotâ€I made up my mind that I wanted to be a hockey fighter like the Hanson Brothers. I just couldn’t believe that these guys made a living playing hockey. |
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Read More... (19.34 KB) | 15 comments | | Score: 4.86 (17365 reads) |
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