WINNIPEG – Getting cut is enough to throw any hockey player off his game – let alone twice.
Instead of dwelling on his misfortunes, Manitoba Moose forward Jimmy Lodge decided to prove them wrong.
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Within a few days last fall, Lodge slid down the league ladder. He started the pre-season at the Winnipeg Jets’ training camp before being bumped down to the Moose. He was then shipped to the ECHL two games into the AHL season.
The demotion came as a bit of a surprise for the forward especially after spending all of last year with the Moose.
“When you’re taking a step backwards, it’s going to hurt and feel like all the hard work is going somewhere else.” Lodge said.
“You just have to look at it at a positive way and know that you’re here for a reason.”
For Lodge, it was to simply get better. By the time the Moose came calling earlier this month, he was leading the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen in scoring.
“I think coming back here, he’s a little more confident,” Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said. “He’s a little more hungry in the fact he wants to show it here as well.”
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He wants to prove he can move forward from a small step back.
“My mindset is to just play every game, practice hard and do my things on the ice which I’m good at,” Lodge said. “To just compete and see what happens.”
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