I’m from a town in Alberta of only 70 people. My dad and several of my relatives were drafted to play in the NHL. A decent percentage of the adults I knew growing up played professional hockey in some capacity. So I was under the general impression that you play when you’re little, then you get drafted and play in the NHL for a bit — seems like the thing to do, y’know? It wasn’t until I laced up my skates in Juniors that I realized exactly how good hockey players can be. There are absolutely no guarantees in this sport, and that’s especially true when it comes to making it in the NHL. There are just too many talented and passionate players, and too few spots.

For my first four years in the show, honestly, I wasn’t a great player. I mean, if you look up my point totals early on, they don’t really paint a picture of a guy that would end up having a long career in this league. I was averaging just about 15 points per season.

But for one reason or another, this organization showed faith in me. They could have easily gotten rid of me at any point, and nobody would have had a second thought about it. That’s the business, and you either learn to understand that or it’s forcefully taught to you. But somehow, throughout the years, I avoided the cycle of getting moved from team to team.

And that’s really how it works in this profession, unfortunately: If you get moved one time, it generally happens again and again. And at that point, even if you’re a high-caliber player, it can be difficult to stick because you don’t get to establish yourself in any one place.

Who is it?