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Growing up in the Albertan prairies, hockey was just a way of life. Almost every community had an arena, and if it didn't, you could sure bet that they had some sort of outdoor rink. Every winter there would be people playing pick up games on the frozen ponds from morning until night. And even at night, people would park their cars around the frozen lake and turn on their headlights to keep the games going. The picture to the right is actually one of the rinks I played on growing up. It is this lifestyle that has lead to my
incredible passion for the sport.
After moving to Vancouver to attend Simon Fraser University, I began to miss that life. So it was no surprise that I quickly made friends with Canucks ticketsholders so I could attend as many games as possible. In fact, during my time at SFU I never missed a single game, exhibition or regular season, of my favorite team, the Edmonton Oilers.
It was in Vancouver that I first met Doug Thom of Firstar Sports. He provided me with a terrific opportunity to be the company's Director of Social Media. While the main focus of my job was developing and executing a social media strategy for the company, I was also put in charge of handling their various endorsed athletes. These varied from a wide range of players in the WHL, ECHL, AHL, and NHL, with some of the most notable players being Ryan Kesler, James Reimer, and Jamie Benn.
It was at Firstar that I met Stephen (Heisler) from JuniorHockey.com. It didn't take long for Stephen and I to build a solid rapport with one another as we really hit it off from day one. Once Stephen found out I had moved on from Firstar, he contacted me in an instant to be the site's Western Canadian partner.
I plan to bring my love for the game, business skills, and experience working with hockey players at all levels to the table for JuniorHockey.com. This should create a great opportunity for those teams and businesses that choose to partner with JuniorHockey.com, and help A-List players get the support and exposure that they deserve and need to make that next step.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter. Questions and comments are always welcome - @Eric_Yeomans
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