Quey Letter-Story #1

Andy Bromage - Managing Editor
New Haven Advocate
900 Chapel Street, Suite 1100
New Haven, CT 06510

Contemporary American culture is founded on social convening at popular
gatherings. In Stockton, California, the Thunder have opened the city’s eyes to hockey in a place where it isn’t very popular. Hockey has come to be well known over the years for the physicality of the sport. Hockey fans see the physical endurance and athleticism required by the great hockey players of our time, but few people realize what goes on behind the scenes. Most people do see the extreme sacrifices made by the players on an emotional and familial level. In my article “Dreams Can
Land You in Stockton,” I seek to delve into the true lives of hockey players.

I’ve talked with players about their journeys and how they deal with the hectic travel and relocations that the sport requires. Players have to make sacrifices for the sport and it means ever-changing distance between them and family. Troy Bodie and Liam Reddox of the Thunder both grew up in Canada and now reside in Stockton until hockey takes them elsewhere. Bodie is from Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, a small, quiet town much different than Stockton. Reddox is from East York (Toronto), Ontario, also different from Stockton.

Lucky for these players they can find comfort in one another and in their fan base. They have been joyously welcomed by the city of Stockton and have made the best of their living situation far from home. They have come to see one another as family by enjoying time together off the ice. Also, they have maintained close ties to family through regular phone calls. I want to offer readers a perspective on hockey that most people take for granted by giving them a behind-the-scenes view into the daily life of the hockey player. My article seeks to show hockey fans how much the players give of themselves for the love of the game.

They are part of the contemporary culture of Stockton where crowds of all ages attend games and qualify as the best attendance of any team in the ECHL. This will appeal to your magazine audience because it will diversify your articles by touching a unique subject. Young Canadian men are the heart of one of the popular cultural fads in a growing town in Northern California.