by Connor Lawrence | AHL On The Beat
It was a late November night when the straightforward query was posed to Lehigh Valley Phantoms ahead Alexis Gendron.
“When do you know you needed to play skilled hockey?”
“I all the time simply form of knew,” defined the speedy 20-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect with amusing, whereas chatting with a gaggle of youth hockey gamers.
Sharing tales of his profession, Gendron mirrored on his personal expertise rising up within the sport and one of many individuals he credit with making ready him essentially the most: his father. Because the son of Martin Gendron – present Quebec-based newbie scout for the Flyers and former AHL All-Star winger – Alexis noticed his love for the sport sparked from a younger age.
“I all the time seemed as much as him as a hockey participant and as a father, after all,” stated Alexis. “He performed the sport the identical method I do. He was an offensive ahead – a small ahead, too. He confirmed me the way to shoot the puck after I was younger, all the time telling me to shoot onerous.”
Now in his first full skilled season with the Phantoms, Gendron nonetheless vividly remembers the numerous hours he spent perfecting his shot within the driveway together with his father by his facet.
“He performed an enormous function in my profession, for positive,” Gendron stated.
Raised in Côteau-du-Lac, Quebec, however born in Switzerland whereas Martin was enjoying abroad, Alexis developed a love for hockey early on as he watched his father, hoping to at some point observe in his footsteps.
By the point he reached junior hockey at 16, he started to consider an expert profession of his personal was inside attain.
“I didn’t count on to make the staff,” Gendron recalled of his first 12 months with Blainville-Boisbriand within the QMJHL. “It was form of a shock, but it surely made me understand it may occur. I simply needed to preserve working. Two years after that, I bought drafted by the Flyers.”
After racking up 60 factors in his first two junior seasons, the onerous work lastly paid off on July 8, 2022, when Philadelphia chosen him within the seventh spherical of the NHL Draft in Montreal – simply an hour away from his hometown.
The second got here full-circle, because it additionally meant he could be partially reunited together with his childhood hero, now working in the identical group – his father.
However the journey into the skilled recreation over the previous 12 months wasn’t essentially as easy for the youthful Gendron, who skilled – and overcame – his fair proportion of setbacks en path to incomes a gradual roster spot in Lehigh Valley.
After making his skilled debut with the Phantoms initially of final season, recording seven factors in 17 video games, Gendron quickly discovered himself out and in of the lineup and heading again to the QMJHL in his ultimate 12 months of eligibility by January. Solely a month after becoming a member of Drummondville, he confronted yet one more impediment as he suffered a fractured ankle that may sideline him for many of the common season.
Regardless of the damage, Gendron returned to the lineup in time for the playoffs, recording a hat trick in Sport 1 of the ultimate sequence to assist lead his staff to a league championship and a berth within the Memorial Cup event.
“It’s been a loopy, roller-coaster of a 12 months,” Gendron admitted. “Beginning the 12 months [in Lehigh Valley] and never enjoying a lot, I used to be nonetheless capable of play juniors. It was a enjoyable 12 months to have the prospect to go to the Memorial Cup and be taught a whole lot of issues.”
Now again in Lehigh Valley, Gendron has embraced the challenges that include maturing and adapting to the skilled recreation.
“Developing from junior, I actually wanted to work on my defensive facet,” he stated. “I believe it’s gotten higher. I’m simply making an attempt to be the very best 200-foot participant I will be, and proper now it’s moving into the appropriate path.”
Offensively, he has utilized his pace and lethal shot to his benefit all through the primary half of the season, showcasing his goal-scoring capabilities on quite a few events.
“He’s coachable, he desires to be taught, and he desires to be higher,” stated Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere. “He’s making large strides. He’s a goal-scorer, and he desires to attain each evening.”
Gendron has drawn inspiration from his teammates, significantly fellow Quebec native and veteran ahead Anthony Richard – a participant whose fashion he needs to emulate on the ice.
“Once I was youthful, one among my coaches informed me to observe Anthony Richard on the web as a result of we have been comparable gamers,” Gendron shared. “So now to play with him, it’s form of a comic story making an attempt to be taught from him. He’s a mature participant. He can skate as properly, and he can play offense and protection. I’m simply making an attempt to be taught from him to develop into that form of participant.”
Off the ice, Gendron emphasised the significance of giving again to native youth gamers aspiring to at some point attain the identical stage.
“It’s all the time good to work together with children,” he stated. “Once I was their age, I seemed as much as professional and junior gamers. It’s all the time enjoyable.”
As Gendron continues to develop his recreation with Lehigh Valley and work his technique to the NHL with the Flyers, his drive, dedication and confidence stay unfazed by means of the adversity he’s confronted to this point in his blossoming profession.
“Proper now, it’s a dream to play professionally, but it surely’s simply the beginning.”
