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***Toast*** · 08-07-2023, 02:49 PM

Howdy my fellow tycowboys! I am back and late for the latest update for the San Fran Pride team awards. Same drill as always with us having our team vote through the pre-season that the GM did not forget to start until after all the sims most definitely... anywho, the team finally returned to the post-season! I think that the rebuild has shown a lot of promise with rookies constantly putting up some fantastic numbers for the team. That's a large part in thanks to the efforts of Coach Caleb who has done a phenomenal job finding what works for the team. While Winnipeg did send us packing fairly quickly I think I speak for the team that we were just thrilled to get back to the post-season.

Again we were active in the trade market and continue to collect the PBE members of the league by trading with NOLA to get unconfident on the roster and then our big splash to acquire Bayley from Toronto. It's no secret how much I love Bayley and how well we get along having been friends outside of the league for a very long while now. I'm confident that the team is fully loaded for a fantastic run (to the point of sacrificing a 5mil bet to Luke) and I'm really looking forward to seeing what heights this team can reach.

This season we get to get back to something that was a big part of the team awards during the prime of the team in the past generation. I like to give a part of this thread to shoutout the players who received nominations for league awards and with the success of our young players it's not a surprise that we had a rookie receive a nomination for the Jesster. We had some huge chemistry success between the youth on the team and that saw a standout working perfectly with someone who likely should have received a nomination the previous season. Viktor Hargreeves has been one of the best prospects in our system since the franchise-defining draft in S68. Hargreeves got 72 points this season and while he may not have won the award this season I'm super happy to see the nomination and acknowledgement of a fantastic career start.

Before we get into the team awards for the season there is one announcements I want to make. This will be the last time I'm typing up the team awards and captaincy announcement as I've made the decision that I will be stepping down following S72. It was an absolute honour when I was selected to take over for Henrik and then with all the great users that were forced happy to be my co-GM with Smith, Sota, Birdman and now Caleb we were able to have some runs with a group that should have had the chance to lift the Cup, tear it down and rebuild the system into the best in the league in my opinion. When I took over I knew my job was to do what I could to keep the team competing in their prime and lead it through a rebuild. Now that I'm confident that this team is all set to be the top of the league, it's time for me to step aside. There is someone I'm hoping will take the reins from here and get the spotlight he deserves but we'll have to see how things to go with the posting! Thank you to the fellow GMs who made this run feel like a 180 from when I doomed Minnesota way back when. It was fun to get back into management but I'm looking forward to moving along and passing the torch like Henrik did to me way back when.

With that out of the way, lets get onto the awards...

The Alex Petrenko Award
Same format as always! We're going to start with the award that goes out to the person that helps lead the Discord locker room the best and is someone the rest of the team looks up to. There are many, many people in the community now who fit this bill but there are a few standouts that the team wanted to mention. Our S71 nominee group:

Viktor Hargreeves @lore
Slavakov Vladimirashenko @Bfine
Sven Svenson @LordBirdman

I for one am absolutely shocked that the entire captaincy group for S71 managed to get nominated for the Petrenko! The reason these three were selected as captain and our alternates is that they are leaders in the room and are active daily offering support to their teammates and guests while driving the discussion to help create one of the best servers in the league. The team wouldn't be the same without them so it makes sense that the team selected two winners for this season! The winners for S71:

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Slavakov Vladimirashenko and Viktor Hargreeves! pride

Sota is now a back-to-back winner for good reason with him being one of the most active voices in the room and someone who gets along with absolutely everyone. He has become one of my closest sim league friends and I look forward to eventually meeting in person! Old man Slava will continue to lead the youth movement in SanFran. Lore is someone who wow'ed me during the scouting process and since being drafted to San Francisco has been an absolute delight to get to know better. One of the best first gens to join the SHL and deserves all the recognition in the world.

The Kelly Rivet Award
Now we’ve got the Kelly Rivet Award to award! This trophy goes to the MVP on the ice as voted by the rest of the team. With the new era if the team starting to fire up it's going to be interesting to see which players are the ones that get the most nominations over the next few seasons. Let's take a look at the S71 crop of nominees:

Viktor Hargreeves @lore
Slavakov Vladimirashenko @Bfine
KyIe Murray @Jimmysmo27

I added a username field to figure out who the Sota simp of the group was and I'm not surprised whatsoever. Not to discredit Slava's performance as he always gives it his all but there were two clear standouts here. The chemistry between Lore and Jimothy is unmatched and that was the first season that they had to build on. Things continue to heat up through this season so far and if these two keep working together for the primes of their careers then there is no ceiling for them I'd imagine. The team selected one winner though and that player is...

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KyIe Murray! pride

With boom taking the Calgary opportunity we needed someone to stand up and become the new face of the franchise. We drafted Jimmy in the late 2nd of S67 by trading into the draft. A few seasons later we've apparently got one of the best offensive players the franchise has seen. KyIe has been absolutely phenomenal since arriving in California and apparently found great connection with the squad. With over 40 goals and almost 80 points, Murray was crucial two our offense and helped bring the team back to the playoffs. We're incredibly thankful that we have a player of this calibre on the roster and we're just getting started.

The Jack Tanner Award
Now we’ve got the Jack Tanner Award! This award goes to the player that the team felt was most underrated with their performance on the ice. With a younger roster there is plenty of talent that can be overlooked and here are the people that the team wanted to shout out this go around. Our nominees:

Greg Davies @Spartan
Slavakov Vladimirashenko @Bfine
Ignacio Garza @Rancidbudgie
Chuchichaschtli Zopf @Aneeqs

We have a great balance here! In the truth of the younger players that are making their debut for the team and the veterans that have been relied on to lead these players it seems the team values both sides of the coin. Garza spent a season on the hottest line in the SHL and Zopf has found a place on the first pairing showing a youth movement for the Pride. Then there are also the experienced players! Slava led all defenders in points through the regular season and Davies in his first season with the team was able to use his experience to immediately find his place on the team. It's nice to see that acknowledgment go all around but the team did only select one winner and that individual is...

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Chuchichaschtli Zopf! pride

Aneeq's first award with SFP and well deserved! Zopf being one of the younger players in the league did not show it. With almost 200SBs and one of the few positives on the team, Zopf is showing the potential to be one of the best defensive players in the league. An early pickup during the rebuild by the Pride they're now seeing the success for betting on someone their original team did not believe in.

The Henrik Lekberg Osterman Award
For the main event of the post we move along to the HLO presentation. Initially called the Pride of the Pride award this was renamed two seasons ago to the HLO award. Henrik is one of the most genuine users the SHL has and this team award encompasses that. The team votes for the person who was a shining example throughout the season of someone who represents what the Pride are all about. They are someone the team will rally for and someone they respect as a leader. As a tradition lets detail the honoured users who received votes this season:

Viktor Hargreeves @lore
we have been waiting a long time for Lore to be a member of the pro roster. Ever since the draft and the scouting conversations I think Lore is someone who has posted daily in the SFP server and has shown commitment to seeing through the painful development years of the franchise and now we're getting to see the reward for our patience. Lore was an absolute steal for us and seeing him move on to be a Co-GM in QCC and a respected HO member outside of SFP stuff fills me with pride (hehe). Lore is an incredible user and he deserves all the honours here.

Slavakov Vladimirashenko @Bfine
There is not a season that Sota plays for San Francisco where he will not receive a HLO nomination. It's sad that we're approaching the end of that statement but he's someone whop believed in this before the rebuild officially started. He's responsible for many of the great draft picks in this era of the franchise as someone who was willing to put in the scouting work and I will never be able to give enough thanks. Since we traded for Sota with Edmonton hde has been one of the bonafide leaders of the franchise and gets a solid portion of the credit for getting the franchise to where it's at right now. Have a helluva final lap pal.

Sven Svenson @LordBirdman
When people talk about San Francisco there are two people who deserve the spotlight in my opinion. Henrik for his endurance to turn the franchise around and Birdman for persevering through the rebuild. Without Birdman's determination there is no post right now. Birdman buying in way back when led to where the Pride are now and we can never say enough thanks. Unfortunately we've see the last of the Sven games for San Fran but we'll forever be thankful for the Captain.

This season’s winner is…
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Viktor Hargreeves / @lore! pride

I'm yelled my praises for an actual year everywhere I can (that really just aged me). Lore is genuinely one of my favourite people on the team and the Pride agreeing with that is not a surprise. Hargreeves will go down as the best pick at that 68 draft and the fact that so many teams went into that without understanding how nice of a user was right there in front of them was shocking.

Lore immediately got involved with the front office of the team and has helped us navigate the rebuild to the point where we can see our "rookie line" absolute run over everything that stands in front of it. In the locker room Lore is someone I absolutely adore and someone who helps keep the locker room the way it is. Regardless how toxic a situation may be Lore will defend his teammates to the end.

——

Usually after the team awards we get into the captain announcement but we have one more announcement. Im mentioned it in passing earlier but without this individual I'm probably not here making this announcement. There was someone who saw promise in the tandem of Henrik/Smith way back when and decided to see things through and be someone that the rest of the league would notice. Sven Svenson is arguably the greatest player in San Francisco history and is someone that the entire league knows. Bringing the Mexico trophy was a highlight for the franchise when it happened but lets add one more accolade to a storied career...

We are thrilled to announce that Sven has joined the prestigious Pridelands group. There was no doubt the second that he retired that we were going to get to work on this induction as its the least that can be done by the franchise for someone who has been a captain for a good chunk of his career and someone who helped shape the Pride what it is today. I will work on an official breakdown of all the franchise records Sven set during his career with the Pride to be posted in the locker room but in the meantime, Birdman, you've been an absolute pleasure to get to know since I joined the team and you've been a leader to all. Thank you for riding through two generations of this team and for being who you are. We appreciate you immensely and you've deserved this honour for seasons.

Moving on to the final announcement of the post, I want to present the captains for the season for those who have not been paying attention through the sims thus far. Our captaincy group for the season...

Captain

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Viktor Hargreeves - @lore pride

Caleb can probably copy and paste this for the next two calendar years. Lore bought into this franchise during scouting and since has been one of the most involved voices for the team. He is constantly participating and encouraging teammates and has a hell of a player to add to that. Lore will be someone that can represent this new era with Sven heading to the retirement home and I can't wait to see what is accomplished in this new era! Congrats Lore and thank you for being part of this new era :pride love:

Alternate Captains

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Slavakov Vladimirashenko / @Bfine pride

KyIe Murray / @ Jimmysmo27 pride

Somehow the busts have taken over the alternate captain duties. The bust group in the SFP LR has been a blast to see develop over the seasons and these two are the biggest busts since its inception. It seems fitting to acknowledge how much they add to the bust community in SFP and we'll see how the next three weeks of these two wearing the As goes.

Goodbye and good night!

!rollpride