Hockey NYS
March 2012
room in front of my sister. “I was thrown on the ground and handcuffed.” As Will was hauled out of the house he left behind a crying mom and sister. “From there it was on to Juvie (short for the Juvenial Detention Center),” said Will. “I got out of there and was put on probation. “I stayed clean from drugs for two weeks before going back to them.Then came September 9, 2009. “Today that is known as my clean date. I went to court. “The judge that day had enough of me. He sent me to Juvie again. “Twenty days later I was on the grounds for Kids Escaping Drugs. I got out of there on July 10, 2010. “I didn’t know what to do. That’s when hockey came back into my life again. “A friend of mine got me a tryout with the Bud Bakewell Bruins. I made the team. “I was having fun again. This time with the coaches as well as the players. “then I went back to my old high school hockey team at Ken-West. I ended up making the team again. “I started out on the fourth line. From there I went to
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the third, then to the second and finally to the first line. “I ended up having a big game against rival Bishop Timon. I scored a goal in overtime that helped us into the playoffs for the first time in our coaches career. “We ended up losing the next week in the semi-finals of the playoffs. I thought that was the end of my hockey career.” At that point Will had to make one of the biggest decisions of his young life. “I tried out with the Buffalo Jr. Stars,” recalled Will, now 19. “I found out that I needed $5000 to pay for expenses to stay on the team. “My mom told me she would come up with the money. She was going to take it out of her retirement fund. “Remember, she was now a single mom. That was a lot of money for her. “So I walked away from hockey. I didn’t want her spending that kind of money on me for hockey. “Instead I got a job with the Tonawanda (NY) Highway Department, a job that I still have today. And I’m still having a blast with hockey. “I’m actually playing roller hockey. I know I have lived a different life than most 19 year-olds.” The best news was yet to come. (continued pg. 32)