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Summit in the valley
When Brooks was raised in the Phantoms programming this year, he showed that he could still produce in clusters.
(Photography of Justports)
After a savagely A successful career with the Pats of Regina de la WHL – which made him a choice of fourth round of the Maple Leafs in 2016 – Adam Brooks, from Winnipeg, helped the Marlies in Toronto de l’HL to win the Calder Cup 2018 in his first season as a pro. Three years later, he finished the post-comfortable NHL sandwich season on a line between Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza. Life in Toronto was all he had ever known as a professional hockey player.
While the training camp began before the 2021-222 campaign, the Leafs found themselves playing the wage gymnastics, and some players were put forward. “They warned me that I could be in motion, because there was some interest for me other teams,” said Brooks. “I was ready to leave Toronto, even if I didn’t really want to.”
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On October 10, 2021, the Leafs put him in derogation. Brooks, then 25, was picked up by Montreal Canadians. This triggered him during an unprecedented tour around the league which would ultimately become a NHL record – which could never be broken. “It was cool to move to another big historic franchise like Montreal,” said Brooks. “Although I was heading for a strange situation, being taken right away from the camp and starting on a line with (Brendan) Gallagher and (Mike) Hoffman after never skating with them before.”
His time as a inhabitant was as grouped to injuries as in short. In his second match, Brooks developed a throbbing hip injury due to a compressed disc on the back. After only four games as a home, he started hearing whispers that he would be put on the wire.
On November 16, Montreal did exactly that. A day later, he headed for Sin City. “Going to Vegas was so different from what I had experienced in hockey,” said Brooks. “It was the first time I had lived in the United States.”
As is the case for most players, family support was crucial for Brooks. “My message to Adam was simple,” said his father, Scott Brooks. “‘Whenever you go out of the way, there are teams that see the value in you.’ ‘Not everyone has the opportunity to be picked up by another NHL club once he has made exemptions.
A month after joining the knights, Brooks saw his already tumultuous season take a scary tour at the team’s training center in Summerlin, Nev. “I bound my skates before training and I felt like my heart was flying,” said Brooks. “As a guy who did not play a ton, I did not want to be a drawback, but after a while, I went to see the coach. A few years ago, thanks to an electrocardiogram, the Toronto medical staff discovered that I suffered from WPW syndrome – and because the Golden Knights knew that their cardiologist said that I would be better.”
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a congenital heart disorder and can cause potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias. When Brooks arrived at the hospital, he went directly to the operating room, where he suffered a successful “removal of the heart”, which is considered a minor form of cardiac surgery.
When I woke up the next morning, I had an SMS on my phone from my agent. He read: “I think you are in motion again”. I said: “Close the F — Up” – Adam Brooks
“The next day, they freed me and said” rest “. So I decided to go to the game and spend time in the locker room,” said Brooks. “At the end of the match, I had crushing headache, which turned out to be comfortable that I had picked up in the hospital.”
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Brooks was forced to make forty 14 days in his hotel room in Vegas. “The most difficult was that I also had major stomach problems I had to take, due to heart surgery and nagging hip and back problems,” he said. “With this came the first feelings of anxiety.”
Big start
Brooks completed his Recruit-Pro season by celebrating a 2018 Calder Cup victory with his father, Scott.
(Photo of Brett Brooks)
After a month of leave, Brooks was informed that he would return to the AHL to join the Silver Knights during their road trip in Colorado. But to do this, he should go through again – you guessed it – The thread.
Shortly after his arrival in Denver, Brooks received a call from Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. He was apparently returned to Toronto but needed to identify derogations Again It could therefore be sent to the Marlies and finally be available for the Maple Leafs for the playoffs. “Less than 12 hours later, I’m back sitting at Vegas airport on the way to Pearson airport, and my phone and my social media explode because the leafs have announced that they have given me up.”
In any case, Brooks returned to his Toronto condominium after his four -month odyssey. It was like entering a post-apocalyptic tray. He took note of the stunned air and the thin layer of dust throughout the unit. He also went to check his brand new car, which had not left the parking lot from the Leafs training camp. But he was always happy to be “at home”.
“You are looking for something to grasp, which is comfortable,” said Brooks. “And for me, it was Toronto because I had been there for four years. At that time, I finally said to myself: “I’m back where I should be”. I was so excited to go to sleep in this condo and wake up home in Toronto. »»
Adam Brooks and Chris Tierney
(Marc Desrosiers-USA today Sport)
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This is where the torsion of the plot is revealed. Perhaps only one Mr. Night Shyamalan could concoct. “When I woke up the next morning, I had an SMS on my agent’s phone. He read: “I think you are in motion again. I said: “Shot the F — Up”. Brooks had come to the highest point of his unforgettable season: he was heading for Manitoba, to join his Winnipeg jets from the hometown.
Overcome by emotion, Brooks broke down in a full panic crisis – something that has become a recurring problem in the next year of his life. “I had barely patinated, leaving cocovio and heart surgery, and now I have to go play in a NHL match?” He said. “Not that I didn’t want to go to Winnipeg and wear this jersey. I had dreamed of playing for jets since they came back, but just not like that.”
That night, he was back on a plane for Winnipeg, where he arrived at his parents to sleep in his childhood room. The next morning, Brooks went to the Jets training center, where he found himself on the upper line with Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Winnipeg was about to embark on a one -week road trip with stops in Calgary, Dallas, Colorado and Arizona. “I said to myself:” I’m faced against Calgary’s first line after not playing for a month? In the second highest altitude in the league? “” Said Brooks. “It didn’t go well. The third match, the coach had to shoot me because I had trouble breathing. ”
(Photography of Justports)
Brooks time as a jet was a fight. He failed to produce a point in 14 games, while making an average of 7:28 of ice time.
When the season ended, he had played a total of 34 games between four NHL teams and an AHL team, including pre-season. “I would go to these teams,” he said, “and they would be like” let’s see what we have here “and they put me on the first or second line and we are waiting for me to click right away with my new teammates. Two or three games later, they are like” he does not produce “. So, at the fourth line.
(Photography of Justports)
This year, which is the second of Brooks as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization, he found himself playing in a sheltered role in the third and fourth lines of their AHL team. But Brooks was promoted in the first line of Lehigh Valley in mid-March, where he produced nine points in four games for the Phantoms.
I had dreamed of playing for jets since they came back, but not like that. I learned a lot about me this season – Adam Brooks
While he continues to continue his NHL dream, Brooks has a new perspective thanks in part to his time on the wire: “I learned a lot about me this season,” he said. “Whether it is health, hockey or life in general, there are always positive points that you can withdraw from the experiences you are confronted with. You realize whatever the level you are in sport, in the end, it’s always the same game you have played by growing up with some of your best friends.”
