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Blade Jenkins Carves a Path to Team USA

By Becky Olsen, 09/27/16, 11:00AM EDT

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Forward has been carrying a stick since before he could walk

There is a funny story behind how Blade Jenkins got his name, which surprisingly has nothing to do with the sport of hockey.

“Everyone assumes it was from my dad but it was my mom,” he said. “It was un-hockey related. My dad wanted to name me something totally different but my whole family was sitting in the room one day and my mom was scrolling through names and she saw Blade. My two brothers [Jordan and Tyler] and my sister [Savannah] popped up and said, ‘Yeah, let’s name him that.’”

Of course, not everyone was happy with his given name.

“My grandma was not a fan of my name. She always had a nickname for me,” he said. “It was just one of those things that everyone thinks is hockey-related but it’s not, my mom came up with it.”

With his first name, it should be no surprise that he has heard a little of everything instead of his original one. The most typical one he hears is “Blake” but his brother has another one for him too.

“I get Blake more than you would think. If I go to a restaurant and order something under my name, I will get Blake every time,” he remarked. “My brother used to call me Blazer from 'Dodgeball.' It was his favorite movie growing up.”

Hockey came naturally to Blade. He tried other sports but everything always returned back to his first calling.

“Ever since I was 18 months old, my dad would carry me around the ice and I would have a mini-stick in my hand,” he said. “It was one of those things that you get to hand out with your friends. It just turned serious from there.

“I played baseball for about six years as a pitcher and a first baseman. I quit baseball to become a serious hockey player and that is when things took off. I having been playing hockey exclusively for the last six years.”

The Jackson, Michigan, native has developed a special relationship with his dad Todd, who served as his hockey coach when he was growing up. It’s not always easy having your dad as your coach, but for Jenkins, it was a special bond that the two could share.

“He was a great mentor,” explained Blade on his dad. “He was my biggest fan but also my biggest critic growing up. Nothing came easy when I was with him. I was just another player on the team.

“My relationship with him was different on the ice then off the ice. When it came time to go to practice, I was just another one of the guys on the team. There was no special treatment. We had a player-coach relationship but away from the ice, he was my dad. I love him a lot.”

Jenkins is still more than willing to listen to his dad for advice. After all, Todd played collegiate hockey at the University of Maine (1985-89) and spent two years with the Nashville Knights of the East Coast Hockey League.

“It is all about the work ethic,” said Jenkins of his dad’s advice. “Pretty much from day one, he told me, ‘I don’t care if you have three goals and six assists, if you are not working hard, you are not doing your job. Your job is to work hard and play the game right.’ That is the one thing that has stuck with me. Even if you are not having a good day, he told me to keep working hard, stick with it and get better every day.”

Jenkins, a 6-foot, 173-pound forward, grew up playing with the Compuware organization at what is now USA Hockey Arena. He’s been impressed by the changes at the rink, something he has come to appreciate.

“This rink has changed a lot,” he remarked. “USA Hockey has done a tremendous job with the new facilities. Across the board, there couldn’t be anything better. The way this place has changed, Compuware has always been a great organization but USA came in here and did some things to the rink, and it’s a great organization to play for. It’s been my home for almost 13 years now.”

It also a part of where one of his top memories occurred when he was growing up.

“I think my best memory is winning a state championship with Compuware,” he said. “Back in 2012, you are a little kid and this is something you always wanted to win. When you win it for the first time, after we lost in the finals the year before and that was heartbreaking. You come back the next year and you win it. You are just a kid and that is something you dream about winning. We went to nationals and did well there. We had a great group of guys.”

One thing is for sure, Jenkins will never forget the first time he walked into the USA Hockey locker room and saw the jerseys hanging up in the stalls.

“It was a surreal moment,” he recalled. “I kind of went into the room and saw the USA jersey. I thought to myself I can’t wait to throw it on and represent my country. There is nothing better. You go on the ice and you are wearing the USA jersey and representing your country.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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