ZIKED PT 2

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uckyeahhockeygraphics

So awhile back in first semester I did a feature on Derek Zike CLICK HERE FOR STORY
But he stole the pen back and decided to share his story on his blog:

True Life: Rehabbing My Injury

My Story:

So you might know by now that I was one of the subjects for an episode of True Life based on athletes dealing with rehabbing their injuries. I was one of the three subjects which included Anthony Mason Jr. a basketball player from St. Johns University, a girl who was a three sport athlete, and me. My name is Derek Zike and I played hockey for the AAA Chicago Fury U16 travel hockey team during the 2008-2009 season. I was billeting with a family in Naperville, Illinois to be able to play for the Fury. For those of you who don’t know what billeting is, it is when an athlete is taken in by a family and under temporary guardianship to attend school and play their sport. In the middle of the season we attended the NAHL Top Prospects tournament in Ann Arbor, Michigan which featured the best AAA teams from across the United States. It was my birthday weekend, my birthday is January 19th. In our 1st day of the tournament, January 16th, and second game of the day, late at night, we faced the Dallas Penguins on the main ice surface at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube arena. Unlike a regular hockey game, in the tournament we played two 25 minute halfs instead of three 17 minute periods. A little past halfway through the first half we were down 2-0 on a couple chippy goals and I kept telling myself, “Get your head in this, you are Mr. energy so make something happen.” A line change came in the middle of play and I lead my linemates Tim and Danny on the ice. I located the puck in the offensive zone, got my feet moving as fast as I could, and forechecked as hard as I could into the zone. Now, I have always been the quickest, fastest, most agile skater or at least among the top two on my team; I take pride in my speed. You could say I was on a “break-neck” pace, skating into the offensive zone, I had a bead on the puck carrier. Somewhere between the tops of the circles and the hash marks as I dug my skates into the ice to turn towards my target, something happened that I still do not quite remember......

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE STORY