Christy’s passion for hockey leads to trip to Canada
The chilly air, the ice on his face, and the redness on his cheeks. He skates down the ice rink with his mind set on two things: score and help out teammates.
Freshman Gregory Christy has been on many hockey teams in the valley such as the Stockton Colts, the Tri Valley Blue Devils, and the Capitol Thunder. These are all travel teams, which means they play all over California and even travel to some teams in nearby states.
As a kid, Christy used to go to games with his dad and watch the local hockey team, the Stockton Thunder, and watch all of his favorite athletes play the game that he would end up loving.
He was inspired by a player who went to the NHL from the Thunder.
He saw that with hard work and initiative he too co
Other teams were looking really good but we knew we had the talent to defeat them.
— Gregory Christy
“I would love to be drafted in the World Hockey League, which is pretty much the step to the NHL, but I would have to wait till I am 17 and out of high school.”
Though this league is for the players in the world that have been considered the best, Christy hopes that one day he can make it.
Christy was able to overcome the struggle of constantly traveling because of these teams and how they go to many places in California.
“There was a tournament in San Jose to qualify to go to an even bigger tournament in Canada,” said Christy.
The Tri Valley Blue Devils ended up winning and Christy had the chance to finally play an international tournament in January.
“When we arrived, it didn’t feel any different that we were going to play, but it was just super cold,” said Christy.
He was really excited to be part of a team that could possibly win the tournament but was also scared because these teams were really hard to beat.
As he took to the ice, he looked at all of his surroundings and was really surprised to see that many people were going to be there and watch his team play.
Let alone the fact that this team was from a small city, they had to work as hard as they could to get to where they were.
“Other teams were looking really good but we knew we had the talent to defeat them,” he said.
The first match that they played was a tie. “I remember I made a big hit for payback,” Christy said. “Once I hit him pretty hard, he fell back and my teammates banged their stick against the wall and I heard the crowd clap.”
The second team they played was the host team and they were defeated by them.
However, they never put their head down. Christy and his team knew that the second game was going to be better than their first.
“It was late in the last period and we were on the offensive side and my teammate passed me the puck and I just took the shot and I made it. I was pumped,” he said.
