Elijah Dotran - The road to VHL and more

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Elijah Dotran in an exhibition match with Team Germany, photo by Deutscher Eishockey-Bund

 

FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FIRST STEPS IN BECOMING A HOCKEY PLAYER

Elijah was born and raised in Nuremberg, Germany. He is the youngest of 3 children. His mother is a well known German doctor while father is a professor in University of Erlangen-Nuremberg but his older siblings are studying in Technical University of Munich. So there is still no real explanation on why Elijah decided to persuade his dream of becoming a hockey player and not continue his life the way his whole family has. You can even say that he is the odd man out, but his family is his safety cushion. They have helped Elijah throughout his career not only with equipment and ideas where he could play and evolve his game, but mostly by helping him mentally.

Dotran first stepped on ice when he was 5 years old, he and his family went ice skating in the local ice rink and since that moment they just couldn't get young Elijah off the ice. A few days later his dad took him to a free hockey practice and Elijah fall in love, literally, a lots of falling and stumbling, but after an hour on ice he wanted to get right back on it no matter what. He started training with the younger boys first to learn how to skate and behave on ice but a few weeks later he was ready to train with boys his age. Elijah was a late bloomer, but what a growth it was! At age 11 he played with 4 years older boys and was one of the best defenders on the ice. After a few years Elijah got even bigger and was considered one of the best new players in Germany with a big future ahead of him. 

 

"HOW CAN YOU BREAK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

At age 15 he has already played for the German National U18 team and was on the radar for the U20 team and then a disaster struck. On his way back from practice he was run over by a truck and suffered a skull-base fracture which led to his left ears eardrum being shattered, fractured tight bone and several bruises on his body. A complete surgery for both the skull base and thigh bone fracture took 10h with the longest being thigh bone surgery where his femoral bone was put together with steel plates and nails. He was sentenced to a one year rehabilitation programme and it seemed like his career in hockey is over.  Only a month after the accident he was able to go home from the hospital yet his leg needed at least 4 to 6 months to heal completely. His movements and coordination was off for the next few months. Numerous visits to hospital to check his brain activity, hearing and rehabilitation course for his leg and spine. After a year and a half he was once again allowed to step on the ice at the age of 17.

 

WHEN YOU HIT THE GROUND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY BUT UP

After the accident and the long rehabilitation process there was no team to come back to. It was like Elijah was forgotten. The once promising new German hockey player has disappeared from the hockey stage - at least that was what others thought. Half a year into his training he got an invitation from German Hockey League team Kölner Haie. He moved from Nuremberg to Kölne to get back on track and return to his glory days and evolve even further. He started slow, the coach and defensive player trainer kept Elijah from playing in regular season games for half of the season just to make sure he is both physically and mentally ready to get back on the ice and not worry about his leg or head being injured again. In mid season he finally got his shot and started in the 3rd defensive pairing. In his first game after the injury he showed that he is no longer afraid of injuring himself because he felt completely in control over his body and how it moved on the ice. He ended up having one assist in his return game. And everything went up from there! At the age 19 he was the captain of the team and was again noticed not only by the U20 national team but by the big German National team that were about to host the World Championship.

 

Elijah Dotran in a Kölner Haie jersey. Game against Krefeld Pinguine. Photo by Deutsche Eishockey Liga

 

NATIONAL TEAM AND THE START OF HIS CAREER OVERSEAS

After a great season with Kölner Haie in the German Hockey League he was asked to be a part of the new German National team and play a part in their quest to glory while hosting the World Championship. Team Germany managed to get all of their big stars together and was determined to reach at least the 1/4 finals of the competition. With names like Dennis Seidenberg, Leon Draisaitl, Tobias Rieder, Tom Kühnhackl, Korbinian Holzer, Thomas Greiss, Philipp Grubauer, Christian Ehrhoff and Marcel Goc it would be a disgrace to suffer a loss and not get past the round robin. Elijah had his first big break on an international stage and everybody knows - when you show off your skills in World Championship, than it is sure like hell that someone will see you and who knows, maybe your career will flourish into something amazing. Dotran was paired together with Ehrhoff and ended up having 5 points in the tournament and leading his team in +/- rating. He was certainly noticed and later that year he got an invitation from VHL. He was drafted by a team from VHL minor league and ended up in Oslo Storm who later traded him to Brampton whit whom he won the Founders cup and was one of the frontrunners for the VHL draft.

 

Elijah battling it out with Team Latvia defender Aleksejs Jerofejevs in World Championship. Photo by IIHF

 

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN -  ELIJAH DOTRAN

After his Founders Cup victory with Brampton Elijah was ready to hit the big league. He was drafted with the 6th overall pick in the season 50 draft by Stockholm Vikings. His first season was filled with ups and downs but he put his name out there and later got traded to New York Americans. Playing in the second line he did show he is a force to be reckoned with in the VHL and later won the Continental Cup with the Americans in season 52. Now all he needs is a gold to become a member of the triple gold club. He has a great chance to achieve that this off-season with Team Europe who are considered to be the frontrunners for the cup. Also this season Elijah said his goodbyes to New York Americans after entering free agency and signing with Riga Reign. We all know that Riga is closer to Germany then New York and home has always been Elijahs safety cushion.

 

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[Banackock 7,634]

Nice to see you back and kicking ass. 

 

Stick around so we make @Kendrick's heart smile a little more each and everyday. 

[Kendrick 4,714]

8 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Nice to see you back and kicking ass. 

 

Stick around so we make @Kendrick's heart smile a little more each and everyday. 

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