New Lightning forward Brandon Hagel has found believers with hard work, patience - Tampa Bay Times

hard.indah.link

BOSTON — When Brandon Hagel’s world changed on March 18, his first call was to his father, Dwayne.

“Dad, I’m traded, but I don’t know where I’m going,” he said.

Initially, Hagel was stunned. In a hockey career founded on proving doubters wrong, the Chicago Blackhawks were the one team that believed in him, and now they were moving him.

“He was still choked up,” Dwayne Hagel said. “I told him, ‘Son, you’re going to a contender. You’re going to someone that wants you. And it’s what you’ve always done in your career: When someone wants you, it’s a good feeling, and it will be great.’”

Within the next few hours, Hagel had wrapped his head around his future with the Lightning. His on-ice promise, work ethic and a club-friendly contract made him a popular target before Monday’s trade deadline, and the Lightning had to put together an incredible offer to get him that included two first-round picks, as well as rookie forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk.

His new teammates reached out immediately, and by the end of the day his father could tell that he was sold on Tampa.

“He’s already talking about buying a house in Florida,” Dwayne Hagel said. “The guys convinced him. ... It’s only been a week, and they’re on the road and he’s said, ‘Dad, this is a good group.’”

Perfect timing

Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, right, made his first call after getting traded to his father, Dwayne, left. [ The Hagel Family ]

Just four years ago, Brandon Hagel was thinking about life after hockey.

His life-long dream of playing in the NHL was hanging by a thread, and the drive he’s had to get there since he was a kid was wavering.

Hagel had been drafted by Buffalo and went to the Sabres’ training camp, but the team opted not to sign him. Hagel was left with just one more season of juniors to earn an entry-league deal.

Beating the odds wasn’t new to him. Growing up in the small town of Morinville, Alberta, he had been overlooked many times before. His name wasn’t called in the bantam draft, and he was passed over for Alberta Cup and Team Canada opportunities.

But what happened in Buffalo really stung. Former NHL player and coach Brent Sutter, who was general manager of the Red Deer Rebels junior team, had talked Hagel into playing one more year. But Hagel was considering returning to school to take some prerequisite classes to become a teacher.

“I gave myself until Christmas before I ended up actually going into school,” Hagel said. “I wanted to have a successful life no matter what I did. I knew that was the route that I might need to take.”

Knowing it was his last chance, Hagel made sure he was ready for the season. He worked to put on more weight, skated more and went to the University of Alberta to work out with the team.

“I said, ‘Don’t worry about school, it’ll be there. Just do what you have to, just don’t quit. Just live it,’ and he did,” Dwayne said. “That season, he worked so hard.”

Hagel scored 30 points in the first 19 games of his final season in Red Deer, and the Blackhawks offered him a contract. He finished with 102 points in 66 games before joining Chicago’s AHL team the following season. After waiting for so long, Hagel finally had his opportunity.

Follow all the action on and off the ice

Subscribe to our free Lightning Strikes newsletter

We’ll send you news, analysis and commentary on the Bolts weekly during the season.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

“It was pretty crazy how quick it happened,” he said. “Life-changing, basically.”

Finding believers

Playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, Brandon Hagel skates over the Anaheim Ducks' Brendan Guhle in pursuit of a loose puck during a game earlier this month in Chicago. [ CHARLES REX ARBOGAST | Associated Press ]

Hagel’s first goal with the Lightning Thursday in Boston was fitting. It came shorthanded, the result of a forecheck in the neutral zone that forced the puck loose. Hagel jetted up ice and was positioned perfectly for a one-timer in front of the net off a feed from Ondrej Palat.

“He competes like a son of a gun,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Thursday.

Hagel’s play is the kind the Lightning are looking for in their drive for a third straight Stanley Cup. He’s strong on the forecheck, battles for the puck and isn’t afraid to get physical despite being just 5-feet-11, 174 pounds. He reminds you a bit of former Bolts Yanni Gourde and Tyler Johnson, who played tougher than their size might have suggested.

That’s how Hagel compensated for never being the biggest or fastest or most-skilled player growing up. He knows his game relies on his compete level, and it’s turned him into a 21-goal scorer with a two-way game that the Lightning wants as part of their future. Hagel can remain under team control for the next four seasons.

When Hagel was 8 or 9, he was playing with kids two years older than him, with more experience and 8 inches and 50 pounds on the 5-foot, 80-pounder.

“He worked hard,” said Hagel’s brother, Tyler, who is three years older. “And even playing against those bigger guys, you almost have to be a little smarter to figure out how to mingle around them. Even starting from the beginning, he was just smart with the puck. Sometimes in drills, I would go to the back of the line, but he was always first. He knew what was going on. He was always a step ahead of the game, paying attention.”

In the Lightning, Hagel definitely has found a team that believes in him. But that doesn’t mean the chip on his shoulder is going away.

“I think I’ve always started from the bottom when I was growing up and since I was a little kid,” he said. “I never made it to all these Team Canada things and all these other things as a younger kid, so I always went through that adversity, not signing in Buffalo, getting passed over in the bantam draft. I’ve been through those things. So that’s why I kind of just stuck to the 100-percent effort every night, because that’s what made me successful and that’s what got me here.”

• • •

The Tampa Bay Times has commemorated the Lightning’s second consecutive Stanley Cup title with a new hardcover coffee table book, Striking Twice. Order now.

Sign up for Lightning Strikes, a weekly newsletter from Bolts beat writer Eduardo A. Encina that brings you closer to the ice.

Never miss out on the latest with the Bucs, Rays, Lightning, Florida college sports and more. Follow our Tampa Bay Times sports team on Twitter and Facebook.

Adblock test (Why?)

The Link Lonk


March 26, 2022 at 10:29PM
https://www.tampabay.com/sports/lightning/2022/03/26/new-lightning-forward-brandon-hagel-has-found-believers-with-hard-work-patience/

New Lightning forward Brandon Hagel has found believers with hard work, patience - Tampa Bay Times

https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en