Post by dogbert on Nov 17, 2007 7:31:24 GMT -4
www.hockeyjournal.com/Article.php?ArtID=344832
Juniors Journal
Busy Tony
By Bill Keefe
Nov 16 2007 6:21 PM
It’s a Wednesday night and Tony Resendes has had a full day.
He’s sharpening skates at Cyclones Arena in Hudson, N.H. His day started at 4:30 a.m., when he went to work at his father’s auto transmission shop until noon.
Tony Resendes
He has been at the rink since 1:30 p.m. He spent time in the gym, worked out on his own on the ice for an hour and then went through an 80-minute practice with his team, the Northern Cyclones of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. Some days he’ll go back on the ice to help out with one of the Cyclones’ younger teams; on this night he’s sharpening skates. He figures he’ll hang around and watch the Junior B team’s game at 8:30 p.m. and make it to his Wilmington, Mass., home around 11.
Resendes doesn’t blink at his schedule; he says he gets his drive from his father, whom he called “a workhorse.”
“I’ve got to work,” he said. “Hockey is an expensive sport to play.”
Even ‘schedule’ seems too formal, because it makes it sound like an obligation. And to Resendes, the chance to be around the rink is anything but.
“I love it and it keeps me out of trouble,” he said.
He was hoping to be around a different rink this year, but it didn’t work out the way he hoped. He will be at a different rink next year. He turns 20 in December, so this is his last year of junior. He won’t be at one of the rinks he really wants to be at – a Division 1 college rink – but wherever he takes to the ice next year, Tony Resendes will love every minute of it.
Resendes has enjoyed a lot of success during his hockey career, but he also has known disappointment, some of it his own doing. But the thing about Resendes is he knows who he is and he’s doing something he loves to do. Forget about the what-ifs; he’s thinking about what is and what will be.
In his fourth year playing for the Cyclones, the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Resendes serves as captain and is the reigning league MVP after posting 35 goals and 42 assists for 77 points in 44 games last year. Resendes helped the Cyclones win their division last year, make it to the AJHL finals and the four-team inaugural Tier III Junior A National Championship.
“He is the absolute, ultimate competitor,” says Cyclones head coach Bill Flanagan. “He plays tough, like a 6-foot guy. He wins the one-on-one battles. He is the purest, faster skater in the league. He can do it all. He plays defense on the penalty kill.
“He went through some growing pains his first year here. It was the first time he was coached, the first time he had to handle discipline. He grew up a lot the first year. He had to learn how to play defense; it’s not just about scoring goals, the typical things when we get a high school kid.
“The great thing is how he’s grown as a person. He’s a leader. He knows me. He knows what I expect and passes it off to the younger guys. It’s like night and day where he is now as a person.”
Before moving to Wilmington in junior high, Resendes grew up in Charlestown and still has strong ties there. As a kid, he was within walking distance to the Garden and dreamed of playing in the Beanpot. Resendes played two years for Wilmington High – setting the single-season scoring record as a freshman with 48 points.
The transition to the Cyclones and junior hockey was everything Resendes had hoped for. The one drawback became academics. Resendes kept his grades up to play for the school hockey team, but now that he was playing for the Cyclones he didn’t need to meet the school eligibility standard and put the books on the back burner for his junior year and the beginning of his senior year. When Northeastern, which was actively recruiting Resendes, told him he needed to pull his grades up, he did.
But it was too late. He graduated with a 1.99 grade-point average. He needed a 2.0 to meet NCAA D. 1 standards. He won’t play in the Beanpot. He won’t play D-1. He won’t blame anyone. He won’t cry about it.
“I regret what I did in school,” he said. “I messed up. My dream was always to play Division 1. Sometimes dreams don’t come true.”
Top Division 3 programs are still a possibility, but, Resendes says, it’s been two years since he’s been in school and he’s not sure it’s for him. He knows the importance of a degree, but he knows car repairs from his father and has that trade to support himself some day.
“I’d rather play pro,” Resendes said. “Me making the NHL is a long shot, but to play in Europe or the East Coast would be just as fun."
Because of that, Flanagan supported Resendes taking a shot at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this year with the Saint John Sea Dogs – thinking it could be a better springboard to pro hockey.
With ‘Q’ teams limited to three 20-year-olds, Resendes had a difficult task as a rookie to make an impression. He scored nine points in three intra-squad scrimmages. In two exhibition games, he had a goal and an assist. The goal was a third-period game-winner in a 3-1 victory over Moncton. Despite the production, after that game, he was told he was being released.
“When I first heard about leaving the Q, I was so miserable,” Resendes said. “But it’s a business up there. If the team doesn’t play good, the coach gets fired and loses his job. It’s a business more than junior hockey. They get paid a lot of money to win championships.
“I have to realize I’m still chasing my dream. I’m still only 19 years old. I’ve got a few more years to chase my dream. If it’s made out in the cards, it’s made out in the cards. All I can do is work hard, see what happens and keep racking the points up.”
The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League wanted Resendes, but Saint John wouldn’t relinquish his rights until Christmas. Then Resendes came back home to the Cyclones and no matter what happens with Saint John and London he’s not leaving.
“I’m better if I stay here with Bill and (assistant coach) Joe (Flanagan) and win a championship,” Resendes said. “They deserve it. They’ve been good to me for four years. Letting me come back was a big thing. I want to help Bill. This year is not about me. Bill and Joe have done so much for me. I wouldn’t be half the player I am if not for (assistant coach) Tony Dalessio, Joe and Bill.”
Knowing his own collegiate options are limited next year, Resendes realizes many of his teammates’ are not and he says he is committed to playing well for them to help them land their commitments.
He is second in the league with 32 points on 11 goals and 21 assists in 17 games. The Cyclones are three points out of first place in the North Division.
Tony Resendes is 19 years old. He’s not perfect. But he can look himself in the mirror, enjoy what he does every day and be grateful for the opportunities he’s been given and the opportunities still ahead of him. That’s a Division 1 attitude for life no matter where he plays next year.
Bill Keefe can be reached at feedback@hockeyjournal.com.
Juniors Journal
Busy Tony
By Bill Keefe
Nov 16 2007 6:21 PM
It’s a Wednesday night and Tony Resendes has had a full day.
He’s sharpening skates at Cyclones Arena in Hudson, N.H. His day started at 4:30 a.m., when he went to work at his father’s auto transmission shop until noon.
Tony Resendes
He has been at the rink since 1:30 p.m. He spent time in the gym, worked out on his own on the ice for an hour and then went through an 80-minute practice with his team, the Northern Cyclones of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. Some days he’ll go back on the ice to help out with one of the Cyclones’ younger teams; on this night he’s sharpening skates. He figures he’ll hang around and watch the Junior B team’s game at 8:30 p.m. and make it to his Wilmington, Mass., home around 11.
Resendes doesn’t blink at his schedule; he says he gets his drive from his father, whom he called “a workhorse.”
“I’ve got to work,” he said. “Hockey is an expensive sport to play.”
Even ‘schedule’ seems too formal, because it makes it sound like an obligation. And to Resendes, the chance to be around the rink is anything but.
“I love it and it keeps me out of trouble,” he said.
He was hoping to be around a different rink this year, but it didn’t work out the way he hoped. He will be at a different rink next year. He turns 20 in December, so this is his last year of junior. He won’t be at one of the rinks he really wants to be at – a Division 1 college rink – but wherever he takes to the ice next year, Tony Resendes will love every minute of it.
Resendes has enjoyed a lot of success during his hockey career, but he also has known disappointment, some of it his own doing. But the thing about Resendes is he knows who he is and he’s doing something he loves to do. Forget about the what-ifs; he’s thinking about what is and what will be.
In his fourth year playing for the Cyclones, the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Resendes serves as captain and is the reigning league MVP after posting 35 goals and 42 assists for 77 points in 44 games last year. Resendes helped the Cyclones win their division last year, make it to the AJHL finals and the four-team inaugural Tier III Junior A National Championship.
“He is the absolute, ultimate competitor,” says Cyclones head coach Bill Flanagan. “He plays tough, like a 6-foot guy. He wins the one-on-one battles. He is the purest, faster skater in the league. He can do it all. He plays defense on the penalty kill.
“He went through some growing pains his first year here. It was the first time he was coached, the first time he had to handle discipline. He grew up a lot the first year. He had to learn how to play defense; it’s not just about scoring goals, the typical things when we get a high school kid.
“The great thing is how he’s grown as a person. He’s a leader. He knows me. He knows what I expect and passes it off to the younger guys. It’s like night and day where he is now as a person.”
Before moving to Wilmington in junior high, Resendes grew up in Charlestown and still has strong ties there. As a kid, he was within walking distance to the Garden and dreamed of playing in the Beanpot. Resendes played two years for Wilmington High – setting the single-season scoring record as a freshman with 48 points.
The transition to the Cyclones and junior hockey was everything Resendes had hoped for. The one drawback became academics. Resendes kept his grades up to play for the school hockey team, but now that he was playing for the Cyclones he didn’t need to meet the school eligibility standard and put the books on the back burner for his junior year and the beginning of his senior year. When Northeastern, which was actively recruiting Resendes, told him he needed to pull his grades up, he did.
But it was too late. He graduated with a 1.99 grade-point average. He needed a 2.0 to meet NCAA D. 1 standards. He won’t play in the Beanpot. He won’t play D-1. He won’t blame anyone. He won’t cry about it.
“I regret what I did in school,” he said. “I messed up. My dream was always to play Division 1. Sometimes dreams don’t come true.”
Top Division 3 programs are still a possibility, but, Resendes says, it’s been two years since he’s been in school and he’s not sure it’s for him. He knows the importance of a degree, but he knows car repairs from his father and has that trade to support himself some day.
“I’d rather play pro,” Resendes said. “Me making the NHL is a long shot, but to play in Europe or the East Coast would be just as fun."
Because of that, Flanagan supported Resendes taking a shot at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this year with the Saint John Sea Dogs – thinking it could be a better springboard to pro hockey.
With ‘Q’ teams limited to three 20-year-olds, Resendes had a difficult task as a rookie to make an impression. He scored nine points in three intra-squad scrimmages. In two exhibition games, he had a goal and an assist. The goal was a third-period game-winner in a 3-1 victory over Moncton. Despite the production, after that game, he was told he was being released.
“When I first heard about leaving the Q, I was so miserable,” Resendes said. “But it’s a business up there. If the team doesn’t play good, the coach gets fired and loses his job. It’s a business more than junior hockey. They get paid a lot of money to win championships.
“I have to realize I’m still chasing my dream. I’m still only 19 years old. I’ve got a few more years to chase my dream. If it’s made out in the cards, it’s made out in the cards. All I can do is work hard, see what happens and keep racking the points up.”
The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League wanted Resendes, but Saint John wouldn’t relinquish his rights until Christmas. Then Resendes came back home to the Cyclones and no matter what happens with Saint John and London he’s not leaving.
“I’m better if I stay here with Bill and (assistant coach) Joe (Flanagan) and win a championship,” Resendes said. “They deserve it. They’ve been good to me for four years. Letting me come back was a big thing. I want to help Bill. This year is not about me. Bill and Joe have done so much for me. I wouldn’t be half the player I am if not for (assistant coach) Tony Dalessio, Joe and Bill.”
Knowing his own collegiate options are limited next year, Resendes realizes many of his teammates’ are not and he says he is committed to playing well for them to help them land their commitments.
He is second in the league with 32 points on 11 goals and 21 assists in 17 games. The Cyclones are three points out of first place in the North Division.
Tony Resendes is 19 years old. He’s not perfect. But he can look himself in the mirror, enjoy what he does every day and be grateful for the opportunities he’s been given and the opportunities still ahead of him. That’s a Division 1 attitude for life no matter where he plays next year.
Bill Keefe can be reached at feedback@hockeyjournal.com.