Congratulations to Sam Lahl of Bloomington Jefferson Youth Hockey! Sam’s essay was randomly selected from three finalists as the winner of the 2013 HEP Essay Contest. Sam has won a dream day for him and his teammates at the Xcel Energy Center next season.

Minnesota Hockey would also like to say congratulations to the other finalists, Karina Carlsen from Alexandria and Charles Moher from Edina.  All of the finalists were featured by FSN during their Hockey Day Minnesota broadcast.  Look for their essays in coming weeks of the Minnesota Hockey Newsletter and Let’s Play Hockey.

Below is Sam’s winning essay and a video clip from FSN’s coverage of the HEP Essay Contest:

“It was one of my first years of hockey and it was early in the season. The score was 3 -3, the fans were roaring in the bleachers. We took a time out, we were nervous about the score so we sent out our best line.

The faceoff took place. My heart was beating so hard. I was nervous. My teammate took the faceoff and then he took a shot. It hit the pipe. I jumped in and hit that puck as hard as I could, and it went into the net! Score! Our team jumped over the boards and asked “did we win, did we win”? It was our first time winning.

Win or lose, I play hockey because it is a lot of fun. You have a chance to score goals. You make a lot of friends and you get to go to tournaments. No matter what, if you fall or make a mistake, no one laughs at you because it is part of learning the game.

I have met a lot of nice people and the coaches are great. They help you learn new skills to become a better player. That is why I play Minnesota Hockey!”