The Olds Grizzlys are in a rebuilding season that sees a lot of fresh faces on the team this year, including defenceman Joel Shoemaker.
The 18-year-old began playing the sport 14 years ago as a part of the Crossfield Minor Hockey Association and later moved on to the Airdrie Minor Hockey Association, once he hit the peewee level.
“I got into hockey I’m pretty sure because of my dad. He played hockey when he was younger,” said Shoemaker. “I kind of got born into it.”
Shoemaker says his competitive nature is one of the reasons he’s kept coming back to the sport year after year.
He recalls a tournament he went to in Germany in the 2013-14 season as a highlight.
“We played teams from Denmark, Hungary and all over the place there,” said Shoemaker.
During the off-season, Shoemaker plays baseball and goes to the gym to maintain his athletic prowess.
“I try to keep fresh with baseball. I usually just play minor league baseball with my friends here in Crossfield and then once-mid April comes around I’ll start getting back into the gym,” he said.
Shoemaker first got involved with the local team after they approached him during the midget triple A showcase last year.
“They came up to me there after one of my games, introduced themselves and everything. They said they’d keep an eye on me and things just got moving from there,” Shoemaker recalled.
He says at the start, it was difficult to make the team.
“There’s a lot of guys that they liked as well and I just had to battle for it and want it more than them,” said Shoemaker. “Then sure enough, I got a spot.”
It is taking time for Shoemaker to build a camaraderie between himself and his new teammates.
“There’s a lot of new faces and a lot of people from all over the place. So we don’t even really know each other or anything like that,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker is still adjusting to the junior level of the game in the first few weeks of the season.
“I feel like as the games go on, I’m starting to adjust to the junior levels of the game -- the speed and everything and the bigger, faster players that I’m playing against,” he said.
When speaking to how the team has performed so far he was honest and optimistic.
As of Wednesday, the team had a 0-8 record.
“I feel like we’ve had a bit of a slow start but every game we’re getting better,” said Shoemaker. “We’re working on the simple things that will make our games a lot easier.”
Shoemaker will next play with the Grizzlys when they host the Whitecourt Wolverines at the Olds Sportsplex on Oct. 12. The puck drops at 7:30.
