Seven players from last season's Union men's hockey team are currently playing at the professional level.
Goaltender Troy Grosenick and forward Josh Jooris are in the American Hockey League. Forwards Kyle Bodie and Wayne Simpson are in the ECHL, along with defensemen Greg Coburn and Ryan Forgaard.
Then there's defenseman Shawn Stuart, the only one honing his craft overseas. Stuart is half a world away in northwestern France, where he skates with Drakkars de Caen of the French Elite League. He signed with the team on June 10 following a four-year career with the Dutchmen.
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Stuart |
"I have always wanted to travel around Europe and see the cities around Europe. I just thought it would be a good experience for me. I also felt that it had more opportunities to play and make a career for myself."
The move overseas has worked out well for Stuart, who was originally supposed to be joined by Forgaard before the latter latched on in the ECHL late in the summer.
Stuart is the club's top scoring defenseman with a goal and five assists in 14 games. He scored his first professional goal in style last Saturday, lighting the lamp at 1:10 of overtime to lift Drakkars to a 4-3 win over Strasbourg.
Stuart is the club's top scoring defenseman with a goal and five assists in 14 games. He scored his first professional goal in style last Saturday, lighting the lamp at 1:10 of overtime to lift Drakkars to a 4-3 win over Strasbourg.
It was a play that he won't forget anytime soon.
"I got a pass in the middle of the ice from [forward] Kevin Da Costa at the red line, skated to the blue on a three-on-three down the middle, and took a shot at the blue line," Stuart recalled. "The puck hit the defender in front of me and came back to me and the defender was flat footed. I skated past him and shot the puck blocker side low."
"The cultural adjustment has been quite significant coming to a place where I can't speak the first language," said Stuart. "Caen is a very French city and very few people speak English, which makes it difficult at times. But the guys on the team have been helpful and my roommates are from North America which helps as well."
France isn't as synonymous with hockey as other countries like Canada, Russia, or the United States but the following the sport has in France has surprised Stuart. Some teams in the French Elite League average as many two to three thousand fans a game.
The 24-year-old said the game is played differently than what he experienced in his days in North America, particularly at Union, where he scored 26 points (4 goals, 22 assists) in 147 career games from 2009-2013.
Stuart said the talent level throughout the French Elite League comes down to financial resources, like any other professional league.
Stuart still keeps tabs on Union by staying in touch with former teammates and monitoring the coverage the team receives. He credited his time with the Dutchmen for getting him to where he is in his hockey career.
Stuart hopes to be doing that for a while longer.
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