Dunedin Thunder centre Paris Heyd has inked a one-year deal
with division 1 French team Cergy Jokers. Photo by Craig
Baxter.
It is Paris Heyd not Paris Hilton.
He does not do catwalks, bad reality TV or work the paparazzi
for all they are worth.
But he does do ice hockey and our Paris is off to Paris to
strut his stuff.
The 20-year-old Dunedin Thunder centre has been snapped up by
a French division 1 side, Cergy Jokers. He has been signed on
a one-year deal and will join the team, which is based 40km
northwest of the capital, at the end of the month.
It is the stuff of dreams.
"It has always been my dream to make a living playing hockey
and so that is about to come true," Heyd said.
"Now it is about going and seeing if it is what I expected it
would be."
Heyd has "no idea what to expect, really". Division 1 is
actually a second-tier competition but he imagines the
competition will be unrelenting.
"I just think over there they will have more depth, whereas
here we lack the depth."
Heyd got the opportunity through the Thunder's assistant
coach, Kevin Arrault, who recommended Heyd to the Jokers.
Heyd talked it over with Arrault but needed little convincing
and the contract arrived in the mail at the weekend.
His accommodation and flights have been provided for and he
will get enough "pocket money" each month to enjoy his
overseas experience.
The Ice Black believes "a couple of roller hockey players"
have made the trek to Europe to play in leagues but he may be
the first ice hockey exponent to blaze the trail.
It is due reward for six years of hard slog. Heyd got his
start in the National Ice Hockey League as a 15-year-old for
the Southern Stampede. He spent 2006 training and watching
from the bench. But a shift to Christchurch saw him start to
get regular ice time for the Canterbury Red Devils.
For the next three consecutive New Zealand summers he
attended an ice hockey school in Montreal, Canada to hone his
craft.
Born in Alexandra but raised in Dunedin, Heyd shifted back to
Dunedin to begin a degree in business management at the
University of Otago last year and joined the Thunder. He
experienced his first summer in four years.
"That wasn't even a summer. I think we had about four days of
sun and it rained the rest of the time."
Some strong performances in the league this season propelled
him from the national under-20 side to the Ice Blacks.
Heyd's first name is Gino but he prefers to go by his middle
name, Paris. But when in Paris, Paris is thinking of
reverting to Gino.
"I might start introducing myself as Gino just to keep things
clearer," he said chuckling.
His French, though, is "non-existent" despite having three
French-speaking team-mates.
"I find it so hard to learn a language like that. I guess
I'll have to be put in the environment and then I'll have no
choice.
"It is three weeks before I leave so I'm not going to learn
anything before then, really."
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