Salem Johnson '23 Recruiting Profile

Expect Nothing, Earn Everything

https://www.themhl.ca/red-wings-salem-johnson-named-2023-24-mhl-scholastic-player-of-the-year

2024 - 2025 Currently top 5 in MHL among defensemen based on points (on rebuilding team - last in league)

2023 - 2024 MHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award 

2022 - 2023 MHL Community Engagement Award

My name is Salem Johnson and I was born on August 26th, 2005. I am currently living in Fredericton, New Brunswick, although, I lived the first 13 years of my life in Oakville, Ontario, my hometown where I was first introduced to what is my greatest passion today, hockey.  I am fluently bilingual as my mother’s side of the family is French-Canadian, and my father’s side is English-Canadian. Overall, I consider myself to be a very fortunate young person as I have had the privilege already of living in multiple provinces. I have attended a number of both, French and English schools and have had the opportunity to play hockey, on many teams and with amazing athletes. Because of my unique experience, I am strong academically, in both French and English and I have learned to adapt better to new situations. 

In this essay, I will be talking about my experiences in hockey, my academic accomplishments, what other players and coaches think of me, and my personal goals for the future.  In my hockey career, I have played in many leagues, and I have played in almost every single province in Canada. Some of the leagues include the GTHL, the New Brunswick Major Bantam League, and the CSSHL. This year, I am playing in my hometown for the Fredericton Red Wings Junior A team. In my career, I have played for the Oakville Rangers, Mississauga Reps, Mississauga Rebels, Fredericton Blues, Notre Dame Hounds, and Mount Academy Saints. I had the opportunity to live away from home, in Saskatchewan and in PEI during U17 and U18 years.  Living away from home was the greatest obstacle that I have had to overcome in hockey, and I learned how to be more mature and independent. 

I can certainly thank my coaches and all of the opportunities that each team provided me over the years, but I also think that my success also comes from the extra training that I have been doing since back in Oakville. Since my first year with the Rangers, I have trained with many hockey experts and have taken part in great hockey programs. In Ontario in the summers and during the hockey seasons, I would always work on power skating with instructors, such as, Cindy Bower and the Russian professional figure skating coach, Dr. Smushkin. Having participated in many skating programs, I can tell you that these two had unique styles and skills. I am proud of the fact that I was trained by experts who have for many, many years trained professional athletes such as NHL players and well-known figure skaters. I also trained in defensive skills with former NHL defensemen, Jamie Allison, Wayne Gagné, as well as other trainers who also offered specific and high-level training. I was also very fortunate to have been introduced to great training off the ice. 

To me, the most important training I did that got me hooked on off-ice training was dryland and working out with Twist Hockey while I was living in Oakville. I started going to Twist Hockey when I was 9 years old and at that gym, I was introduced to weightlifting, as well as speed and agility training that I still do today. As a matter of fact, training off the ice has become part of my life.  When my family moved to Fredericton three years ago, I was immediately introduced to more amazing trainers which allowed me to continue training and improving my skills. I have been working out at UNB with TMT Fitness Group.  Lastly, when I am in Fredericton, I continue to improve my skills both as a 2-way defenseman by spending a lot of time on the ice with the Champions program as well as the Prospects Hockey program. Both help me improve different aspects of my game

As mentioned, I am very strong academically. I did very well in both, French and English. I am an honours graduate and was accepted with academic scholarship to one D1 College.  I am now hoping to convince them I can make a difference to their hockey program this season! 

By learning where I have played in hockey and my academics, it is important to know my playing style and my personality. I am a left-handed defensemen. I love to play 200 feet, and I love getting involved offensively. I can perform in all situations; power play, penalty kill, even strength, and last minute of a game. I am very consistent in my play, and I am known for my high hockey IQ, as well as my playmaking ability. On my hockey report card from Notre Dame, my coaches said,

“Salem has a great hockey IQ which helps him adapt to each situation. Salem also has a great tendency to get in great situations to use his shot. Salem’s shot was one of the best ones this year. He also was a great pillar to have on the back end” as well as “I really enjoyed having Salem on the team this year. He was a solid player and if he can add to his communication, I believe that Salem could be the captain of his future teams. He has skills, work ethic, and dedication that a captain needs but he is also liked by his teammates and respected by everyone”.   To that end, I have worked on my leadership skills and was selected Assistant Captain for the U17 Mount Academy Saints when I was there.  I continue to work on my leadership skills as I enter my 3rd season in Junior A hockey.

In my opinion, my areas of improvement are physicality, communication, and quickness.  Personality-wise, I am quiet, respectful, humble, and hardworking.

To be good at something, it is important to set goals to push yourself. My goals for the future in hockey are to demonstrate in junior hockey that I can be dominant and to commit long-term to a Division 1 University.  From there, I will play in the NCAA, obtain my degree, and go on to play in the NHL. 

To conclude, since I was young, I have been living by a motto that inspires me.  This motto was introduced to me by Twist Hockey; 

“Expect nothing, earn everything”.