Dave Grimson is far too young to worry about any eternal footman knocking at his door. But the Mozart native does feel this may be his last year in professional hockey - and thus, it's his last chance at another league championship.
The 26-year-old defenceman is in his second season with the Central Hockey League's Rapid City (S.D.) Rush. As a rookie in 2010, he helped the Rush win the league's President's Cup with a thrilling double-overtime victory over the Allen (Tex.) Americans in the sixth game of a best-of-seven series.
It looks like Rapid City's road to a second consecutive CHL title may run through Texas again this year, but first they'll have to contend with another defending league champion, the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Komets.
The Komets were champions of the International Hockey League last year, but moved over to the CHL when that league absorbed the IHL's five remaining teams during the off-season.
The Rush and Komets begin their best-of-five series on Friday in Rapid City. Grimson likes his team's chances.
"We're pretty physical, and we like to keep it simple," he told the Humboldt Journal recently. "We're strong all-around, and we've got three solid lines that can score. So we can keep rolling the lines, and keep coming at you."
Rapid City swept the Dayton (Oh.) Gems in three straight in the opening round of the CHL playoffs. Grimson had a goal and two assists in the series.
He said winning the President's Cup last year was a "phenomenal" experience, and he'd definitely love to do it again.
"We had a great team last year, a great group of guys," he noted. "And the whole run through the playoffs was an amazing thing to be a part of. It was a lot of fun."
Although the Rush aren't quite as powerful this year as compared to last, they still managed to finish tied for second overall in the league standings with a 40-22-4 record, good for 84 points. The Allen Americans topped the league with 97 points.
It was also a strong year personally for Grimson, as he saw his own numbers improve.
The 6'1", 192 lb. blueliner played in all 66 regular season games for the Rush in 2010-11, scoring 34 points (seven goals and 27 assists). Last year he had 19 points (four goals and 15 assists) in 53 games played.
"I think a couple of things have changed" from last year, Grimson noted. "Last season being a rookie in the league, I didn't get as much playing time. It increased as the season went on, but it still wasn't as much as this year.
"This year I've been getting a lot more ice time, and I've been playing on the power play a lot, and that's where a lot of my points come from. I had a little bit of PP time toward the end of last year, but this year I've been basically full-time."
Grimson said having another season under his belt has also helped, as he's started to become much more comfortable with the speed and physical demands of the pro game. He agreed that might be one reason for an increase in his penalty minutes (61 minutes, up from 35 minutes last season), as he has become less tentative with his play.
"Going from college to pro is a really big jump," he noted. "In pro, you play so many games, you improve pretty quick.
"Mostly I have to keep working on my defensive play," he added. "I've always been offensive-minded, and quick to jump in on the rush. But sometimes doing that, you can get caught. I have to be careful with that."
Another adjustment from college has been the incredibly long road trips. While Grimson said Rapid City is a truly great city to play hockey in, and the Rush routinely sell out their 5,100-seat arena, life on the road can really take its toll. In terms of geography, Rapid Ciy isn't exactly Hockey Central.
In fact, the next closest team, the Colorado Eagles, are still a good six hours away.
"We go down to Arizona and Texas, then all the way out to Ohio," Grimson said, noting 16-hour road trips are not uncommon in the CHL. "We bus just about everywhere. Once in a while we'll fly if the price is right."
Still, it's maybe not quite as bad as it sounds. Grimson noted the Rush team bus is fitted with bunks for every player, and has three satellite dishes on the roof. If bus travel can ever be considered "luxurious," this is about as luxurious as it gets.
Past, present and future
Grimson - who is a distant relative of former NHL enforcer Stu Grimson - plied his trade as a junior with the Swan Valley Stampeders of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. His strong offensive skills from the blueline helped earn him a partial scholarship to Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he majored in business administration with a concentration in marketing. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree last May.
The Sacred Heart University (SHU) Pioneers compete in the NCAA Division-I Atlantic Conference.
"It's maybe not at the top (calibre) compared to some college hockey, but it's still pretty good," Grimson said. But he stressed that his primary interest in attending SHU was in the quality of education, rather than in hockey itself.
"I had been talking to some other schools as well, but they weren't offering as much in terms of scholarships," he noted. "Plus Sacred Heart was supposed to be a really top-notch business school. I'm really happy with my decision to go there."
Sacred Heart is also where he met his girlfriend, Brenna daSilva. DaSilva lives in Hartford, and Grimson plans to join her there as soon as the season is finished. He said he intends to settle in the Hartford area, and possibly go into real estate.
So while he's still quite young as far as professional athletes go, Grimson feels he's already got his future outside of hockey mapped out. And he'd like to get started on that future ASAP.
"I could probably play hockey for a while yet, but I think it's time," he said. "Whether we win or lose, I think I'll be done at the end of this year."
