Former Hudson Hockey Player Now Skating in the NHL

After a serious high-school injury left him with two broken vertebrae in his neck, Davis Drewiske wasn't supposed to play contact sports again, let alone forge a career in the National Hockey League.

Determination can be a powerful motivator.

"Sports is everything to me, and [the injury] may have been a blessing in disguise," said Drewiske, now in his third year with the Los Angeles Kings. "It brought balance to my life and gave me perspective."

While skating in the championship game of a holiday tournament in Duluth, the then junior collided with another player at just the wrong angle, breaking two cervical bones.

Doctors initially declared his athletic pursuits over, and a daunting  rehabilitation would follow.

Drewiske sought a second opinion and along the way received a supportive phone call from Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke, a friend of Drewiske's baseball and football coach while at Hudson. Weinke had suffered a similar injury while at Florida State.

"He helped keep my head up," Drewiske said. "It was a long road back, but I found some good doctors and therapy specialists. I learned a lot through the ordeal. My neck is stronger now than before the injury. It had to be in order to play."

Though he only regained 90 percent of his mobility—a byproduct of having two vertebrae fused together—there's no pain. Ten months after the surgery, he returned for the final five football games of his senior season, then resumed hockey activities with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League.

From there, he spent four years at the University of Wisconsin—winning a national championship in 2006, his junior year—then signed with the Kings as an undrafted free agent. He made his NHL debut on Feb. 3, 2009, and recorded his lone career goal eight months later, an empty netter against San Jose.

Though he dreamed of wearing the green, yellow, gold and white of his beloved Minnesota North Stars—or later, the green and red of the Wild—the third-year defenseman is fine with the purple aluminum crown of the Kings, because he reached his premium goal.

Drewiske, 26, gravitated to the ice like any Wisconsin boy, despite his father's desire to see him wrestle. His love for the sport sprouted further when he attended his first North Stars game and watched defenseman Mark Tinordi check an opponent into the Met Center boards, shattering the glass.

"That sealed it for me," he said. "He was a hard-nosed defenseman and I wanted to be like that."

Access to the local rink afforded him the chance to skate for hours each day, where he invented games with friends—posts, two-on-two, shooting and passing competitions. These competitions often began at 10 p.m. and lasted until 1 or 1:30 a.m.

"Whenever the ice was free, we'd stay as long as we could," Drewiske said. "My parents liked that because they knew we weren't out there running in the streets. That was the only time we could break curfew."

Around this time, Drewiske began writing down goals of athletic desires. Most were hockey oriented, but he also excelled in baseball and football.

"He'd cross one off when he got there, and then set higher goals," said David Drewiske, Davis' father. "He has so much drive. If you get your drive from goals you set, more power to you. I told him that, but I told lots of people that. I don't know how many actually do it."

One goal card declared that he wanted to be remembered as a better athlete than fellow Hudson graduate Jim Bertlesen, a former college star and a former running back for the L.A. Rams.

"I don't know if I'll get there, but you have to dream big, right?" he said. "I have a ways to go to catch him. He had a pretty successful career."

Drewiske still sets goals, though they're largely short-term. While already having met his goal of reaching the NHL, the focus now is on staying there.

"I've learned over the years that it's important to focus on the process and how you're going to get there rather than the end result," he said. "Writing down goals has worked in the past. I've transitioned to big picture, and focus on what I can do every day. It's good to look back and keep yourself focused. It's good for young kids especially to have something to work toward."

His most valuable lesson may have come from the perspective gained from the goal he didn't meet. The year he planned to qualify for All-State in three sports, he missed football because of the neck injury that forced him to miss the first half of the season. He said he came back "better and stronger and more focused," and determined to let nothing stop him.

That youth has risen from Hudson High School to become a take-charge NHL defenseman, and he keeps making lists.

"It's important to look back and stay focused on the future and doing what it takes," he said. "I don't think I'm much different than a lot of guys who want to stay here. You have to be goal-oriented."