C.J. Franklin (Forest Lake, Minn.) leads the Sioux Falls Stampede in scoring with totals of 22-20--42 in 44 games. Photo: Chad Phillips Photography
Last Updated on Thursday, 21 February 2013 12:33
By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
C.J. Franklin is the reason I miss coaching this year. To be honest, he is not the only reason I miss coaching, but he is certainly one of THE reasons I miss coaching. His teammate Zeb Knutson is another.
C.J. is a young man who just a year ago was part of the Forest Lake High School hockey team. Our staff in Sioux Falls first took real notice of him just over a year ago when C.J. was playing for Team Northeast in the High School Elite League.
Our head of scouting in Sioux Falls, Craig Sarner (aka Chief Blackcloud), was the first to put our organization’s eyes on him. Craig had gone to watch a number of players we considered prospects on Team Northeast.
I remember expecting to hear reports on Dylan Steman and Isaac Kohls but then The Chief tells me about his intrigue with C.J. I remember calling Team Northeast Head Coach Chris McAlpine to ask about C.J. At the time there were a number of players on his team that were considered by many to be better prospects.
“I have to ask you about C.J.,” I asked. Coach McAlpine told me at the time, “I love him. He is not considered the most skilled player on our team, but he gives you what he’s got every night.On top of that, his skills are still plenty good.”
I liked hearing that. A player achieving and even overachieving.
So often we all can be seduced by a player with good or great skills, which of course are very important, but there is nothing more important than heart and desire. C.J. seemed to have that. In our homework, we found out he is a very good athlete, especially a very good baseball player.
After the high school season, when the Great 8 and various USA Festivals were put together, we had a another wave of scouting opportunities. At that time, we had sent assistant coach Dallas Steward out to assist our scouting staff. Dallas attended the Great Eight where the best Minnesota high school seniors compete in a tournament of the state’s best seniors. There are many players with great reputations.
When the call came back from coach Steward, he said there is one kid who competed harder than everyone else. “I love the way this kid plays,” is what he said. The “kid” of course was C.J. In a tournament with a number of arguably more skilled players, it was C.J. who stood out for his compete level.
For the first time in my career, I had a team that did not make the playoffs and this allowed me and our whole staff extra time to go out and see players we would normally not have had time to see. Coach Steward had as a priority for me to get out and see C.J. in the USA Festival at Plymouth Ice Arena.
In watching him, I also liked what I saw, so I invited C.J. and his mother, Cheryl, to join Coach Steward and my wife, MaryBeth, for lunch to get to know them better. At lunch we saw a bright young man, full of life, eager and without a question in my mind “unspoiled.” He told us hockey was his priority as a sport.
After an hour conversation over lunch I recall saying to Cheryl and C.J. that the very first thing C.J.’s mom said to me was the most important. When I asked her to tell me more about their family, the first thing she told me was that they grew up on a turkey farm in Forest Lake and that C.J. had grown up shoveling turkey manure. Cheryl said matter of factly, “He knows how to shovel turkey crap!” I had never met anyone who claimed to have shoveled turkey dung before but I was pretty sure I loved anyone who had. I really wanted to coach this unspoiled young man.
In our world today, our young people have been increasingly spoiled by lots of things that are good and well-intended. Unfortunately and not through anyone’s fault, the more we have, the more we all take for granted. I believe that Minnesota kids grow up in the nicest hockey system anywhere. They are treated well, get to play with their friends and receive plenty of praise for their various accomplishments. There aren’t enough kids, however, that are required to shovel turkey droppings.
I suspect that a year ago many would have predicted more success for many of C.J.’s Team Northeast teammates, but it is C.J. who is excelling most. I am happy and pleased to report that C.J. is the leading scorer for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and has a college commitment to Minnesota State. Leading a USHL team in scoring is a rare feat for a first-year junior player.
Before C.J. accepted a scholarship to Minnesota State, a number of college recruiters showed up to do their homework on C.J., as well as a number of his teammates. Coach Steward would be asked by these recruiters, “What kind of player is C.J.?” Coach Steward would tell these recruiters that, “C.J. is the whole package; he can score, he’ll block shots, kill penalties, make his teammates better and is a quiet and humble hardworking WINNER.”
I have got to give credit to Mike Hastings. Two of the very best prospects playing in Sioux Falls came from humble beginnings and Mike and his program successfully recruited both (the other is Zeb Knutson, a native of Sioux Falls and a natural goal scorer who also has excelled in Sioux Falls after two years in Kansas City playing midget for Russell Stover. He also is a unspoiled, hard-working winner).
I am proud of C.J. and wish I would have had the chance to coach this unspoiled young man. His work ethic will allow him to reach his potential, just what a coach wants to do – help hard-working young men reach their potential.
In the end, his being unspoiled is also what makes him a winner. He’ll do whatever is necessary to help his team and his teammates ... even if it means shoveling something a bit smelly.
