HIGHLIGHTS
WEIGHT: 175
DOB: 1992
TEAM: Grandville High School
GAA: 2.26
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Article By: Western Michigan Sports Page
“I admire Jordan for his competitive spirit and how well he manages the highs and lows of being a starting goalie. It is very clear that Jordan understands that his team will rise and fall on his emotions and so no matter how good of a game he may be having, or how much he may be fighting the puck in other games, generally Jordan’s emotions never get the better of him. That is a sign of a very mature and character filled young man. That is Jordan.” – Grandville High School Head Coach – Joel Braezeale
WM Sports Page recently did an interview with Grand Rapids Catholic Central hockey player, Michael Dery. Michael was asked what area goaltender was hard to score against; his reply was that Grandville’s Jordan Wood was the top goalie in the area.
Grandville’s senior goalie has been playing hockey since he was about five years old, starting in learn-to-skate programs and moving on to House Hockey, then Travel Hockey at GRAHA. It was a pleasure to meet, and interview, this intelligent young man.
WMSP: When did you become a goalie, and why did you choose that position? Name a favorite memory from playing youth hockey.
JW: I guess my career as a goaltender started out when I was about 6 or 7 years old, playing house hockey. We would all take turns being goalie, and I loved it so much that I didn’t want to do anything else. My favorite youth hockey memory would be the two years of Silverstick Tournaments, as well as one year at Silverstick International (both years on the Grand Rapids Griffins Little Caesar’s team, coached by Todd Gallup). Those were some of the most fun weekends I can remember from youth hockey, spent with all my teammates and coaches.
WMSP: What is the secret to keeping track of the puck when there is a crowd in front of the net?
JW: For me, it’s just staying focused on the puck instead of the bodies around you. You have to constantly keep looking around the screens to keep your eye on the puck, stay out of the crease, and stay big and tight. I have to give credit to my goaltending coach, Joe Messina, for all the help and teaching he has provided me for six years. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for Joe.
WMSP: What do you like most about the high school experience vs travel hockey?
JW: My favorite thing about playing high school hockey, compared to travel hockey, is the exposure high school hockey gets – newspapers, blogs, TV; everything. Also, the big crowds with all your classmates cheering you on; it’s a big change from the travel days when most (if not all) of the fans in the crowd were parents, grandparents, etc.
WMSP: List your favorite team moment during high school.
JW: My favorite team moment during high school would be when we beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central 4-2 my senior year. I turned away 50 out of 52 shots, and my team played great in front of me. It felt good to show the whole conference that we aren’t a team to be taken lightly.
WMSP: You were selected for the West Michigan hockey team that played in the inaugural Meijer State Games this past summer and were in goal for the Bronze Medal Game. Describe the experience and intensity.
JW: Playing for Team West was a great experience. It was incredible to be a part of a team with so much talent and skill. It was exciting to play with all of the top hockey players from West Michigan, who are usually my opponents. The team had three days of practice, and then split four games to advance to the Bronze Medal game. I was honored to be in net when we beat Team Metro North, 4-2, and win the Bronze. It was unreal to me, throughout the tournament, how much skill and talent each team had, and it was definitely an incredible couple of days that I will never forget. I think the biggest thing for us was proving that West Michigan is a hockey powerhouse as well, and we can keep up with all the other top teams and players throughout the state. It was a big win, not only for our team, but for hockey in West Michigan.
Jordan has had some setbacks in recent years. We’ve already discussed the broken leg that prevented him from playing two years ago. Not long after recovering from that injury, he was dealt a more serious blow.
JW: During summer workouts with Grandville before the 2009/2010 season, my heart began acting a little weird. I knew it wasn’t just fatigue, because I had never experienced such a weird feeling in my heart before. After rushing to get it checked out, I was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia. Basically, the electrical configurations in my heart were not allowing my heart to slow back down to normal speed. The heart gets beating so fast that it cannot pump blood properly, which causes it to speed up more. When I got to the emergency room, about an hour after I had stopped working out, my heart was beating around 260bpm. After a month of wearing a heart monitor (both on and off the ice), the doctors told me that they could fix the condition through cardiac ablation surgery. They went up through a vein in my groin and burned some of the nerves inside my heart which control the muscle. The surgery went well, and I was back on the ice in about two weeks. Sometimes my heart will speed up a little bit during intense skates, or off-ice workouts, but nowhere near as bad as it would before the surgery. For the most part, the condition is all gone now.
To read the entire store, go to West Michigan Sports Page Article at: http://www.wmsportspage.com/article.php?id=1138
