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Among the many Phantoms players who hail from different
and oftentimes far away hometowns; nobody on the
team is from a place quit like Shane Harper. While
most of his teammates come from Canada or the northern
United States, or even Europe; Shane Harper comes
to Adirondack from the hockey hotbed of Valencia,
California—a suburb of Los Angeles.
Harper has defied the odds and is in is second
year in professional hockey despite coming from
a part of the country where “skating”
usually refers to something out of the X-Games.
Harper left home at age 16 to play junior hockey
for the Everett (Washington) Silvertips, who play
in the U.S. Division of Canada’s Western Hockey
League. Although undrafted by the NHL, Harper used
a very impressive final season with Everett—when
he produced 42 goals and 38 assists in 72 games—to
land a contract with the Flyers organization. Harper
finished his Major Juniors career as an Everett
legend and the all-time leading scorer in Silvertips
history.
After splitting the 2010-11 season between the
Phantoms and the ECHL’s Greenville Road Warriors,
Harper has established himself as a regular in Adirondack’s
2011-12 lineup.
Check out this impressive shootout goal that Harper
scored for the Everett Silvertips!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQPGDFZ03WM&feature=fvst
Q: Who was your favorite hockey player growing
up?
A: Wayne Gretzky. He played such a huge role in
ice and roller hockey becoming popular in California,
in the 90s. As a matter of fact, he actually came
to my birthday party when I was seven. By some coincidence,
his son and daughter ended up on the same hockey
team as me one year, and he ended up showing up
at my party. He was always my favorite after that.
Q: What was your best hockey moment?
A: When I was 17, I made the U.S. National Team
and won a silver medal at a tournament in the Czech
Republic. Whenever you can represent your country,
it’s always a huge honor.
Q: What’s the toughest part of playing professional
hockey?
A: Definitely the travel. Some of the bus rides
we take are pretty long, and it’s especially
tough when you play two or three days in a row.
Q: What would you be doing (for work) if you weren’t
playing hockey?
A: Well, I’m still young (Harper was born
on February 1, 1989), so I’d probably be going
to college somewhere in California.
Q: Glens Falls is very different from California.
Do you get back there (California) often?
A: Yeah, as a matter of fact, I work out there every
summer. The weather is great and I’m really
lucky that I live right next to an ice arena. Get
to enjoy my family, some good weather and training
(in California) every summer.
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