The patience of Alexis Gravel | The Press

Good things come to those who wait for. Alexis Gravel wants to be a professional hockey player. But there is no rush.

Katherine Harvey Pinard
The Press

The 22-year-old goaltender, who played with the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes last season, recently took part in the Seattle Kraken development camp. Initially, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning that he was to participate in.

“The day before I left, my agent called me and said, ‘Eventually, you’re going to Seattle, we think there’s a better chance for you to get a contract there,’ he explains at the end of the line. They have just arrived in the league, so there were more open doors. »

Things went well. The goalkeeper left the Emerald City feeling like he had shown the Kraken leaders what he could do.

Currently, his agent is in talks with the Kraken. He tries to come to an agreement. The former Halifax Mooseheads therefore does not know where he will play next season. Surprisingly, he feels he should return to the Patriots. “But if Seattle offers a great contract, I would have to ask myself whether I take it or not,” he said.

In other words, Gravel is “open to go, but on good terms”.

Incredible course

Barely 11 months ago, Alexis Gravel was invited to the Canadiens’ rookie camp under a trial contract. Two weeks later, he was cut off and found himself at the Laval Rocket. However, the squad in front of the net was already full.

He then received a call from the Americans of Allen, in the ECHL, with whom he presented himself. But the experiment only lasted three weeks due to the unexpected return of the club’s first goalkeeper. Rather than becoming a nomadic player who roams all over the place, Gravel decided to join the Patriotes de l’UQTR in order to continue his bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“I thought to myself, ‘It doesn’t make sense, doing this all my life. Go and do your studies, spend three or four years with the Patriots, ”he then told The Press.

This decision, Gravel has never regretted it.

When he arrived with the Patriotes, he shared the net with Tristan Côté-Cazenave. At the holidays, the team had played only seven games, three of which were with Gravel in front of goal. With the league forced on hiatus due to COVID-19, Côté-Cazenave left the team to join the Reading Royals of Pennsylvania in the ECHL. The door was wide open for Gravel, who defended the goal in all of his team’s games thereafter.

In the grand finale of the Canadian Championship, the Patriots beat the Alberta Golden Bears 5-4 in second overtime. The keeper was smoking hot, blocking 66 shots in the win.

If he arrived at the Patriotes without too many expectations last November, the masked man ended the season as champion of the Queen’s Cup and the Canadian University Championship.

“I really enjoyed my year, not just because we won. Overall, it’s a really good program. »

“That’s why if the option to go pro is there, I’ll think about it, but I’m in no hurry to leave at all,” he adds calmly.

In a good situation

The university circuit is not the most followed by recruiters of professional teams. Alexis Gravel is not afraid that his years in it will slow him down in his goal of playing for professionals, on the contrary.

“I think it’s a good league for the springboard to the pros. […] I wouldn’t see it as a cemetery. Guys want to improve. They don’t have to, but they train, keep in shape.

The Cerberus does not make scenarios. With his scholarships acquired when he played in the QMJHL, he is not “badly taken”.

“I am in a good situation. I’ll see if Seattle offers anything no worse. But otherwise, I have no problem coming back to the Pats. »

The future will tell if his patience will bear fruit.