Draft day was unique for me. I was one of the few players that decided to stay home. So instead, I was training in the hockey rink with my personal trainer and former SMJHL standout, DJ Stanley. Luckily for me, the wall had the livestream of the analysis and just when I saw winger after winger taken before me, the management from the Kelowna Knights called me phone and it was set in stone then and there. Right when we hung up, I was on the first flight to meet my new teammates and get introduced to the fans. When I arrived in Kelowna, it was a strange feeling being in a new place but I love the opportunity to make a name for myself for a new team. I feel my style of play will be a fan favorite but also a huge negative attraction from the fans where ever I go. So many things were going through my head as I ran into some fans that had no idea who I was, but once I arrived to the draft party, I heard nothing but cheers and it filled me up with a warm feeling like I finally arrived home.

I had to be up very early in the morning in Kathmandu to watch the draft from the call centre. I was expecting to watch it all by myself, or maybe with my brother, but when I got to work there were a whole bunch of people there waiting for me and ready to watch it with me. I went and threw up in the bathroom because I was so very nervous. When I got out of the bathroom my friend Gupta had got for me a burning hot cup of black Himalayan Arabica and I gulped it too fast making my tongue get burned.

There we sat, all of us huddled around the computer watching the stuttery live stream of the draft. I was sad that maybe I would not get picked and all of my workers and family would think I was a failure. I knew they would not show it but they would be disappointed if that happened.

When my name got called and I found out I would be moving to Vancouver everyone cheered like it was a cricket match. I got bumped and spilled coffee on me but I did not mind because I was so so happy. My mom did not come but when I got home she was in tears of joy.

I will never forget that day.

Niklaus, were you surprised to go in the 1st round?

St. Croix: I wouldn't say I was surprised, but I wouldn't say I wasn't surprised either. I had multiple teams contact me about playing for their franchises and I would say that all talks were productive. I had no huge preferences on where I would want to play, although I did prefer to not play for a team that my agency had already been a part of, thus eliminating the Falcons, Scarecrows, and Knights. Thankfully, that goal ended up being achieved when the Mammoths called my name at 7th overall; I'm honored to be a part of their organization and I hope me playing for them only benefits both myself and the team greatly.

So what do you think you can bring to the Mammoths this season?

St. Croix: Well, I think I definitely bring a very strong defensive presence with me when I step out onto the rink. I hope to provide some rock-solid defense in my time on the 2nd pairing; I think we can definitely scrape up some big wins against better offensive teams by grinding it out in close, defensive games. I think a lot of people count us out simply because we're Colorado, but in the end it's about the team thats able to grind out tight wins, and I think I can definitely help the team in that area of the game.

Of course I am very excited about the S34 SMJHL draft, it is where you get to go on the stage and start the amazing carrer of being a hockey player, even though it is the junior league, it definitely gives us experiences before being the part of big SHL family. However, I have no luck to be apart of all these, or you can call that destiny is working against my favour. Here I am going to share my "draft experience" on the day I left. On the flight to the draft stadium, there was this incident where a passenger was being asked to leave the airplane, which doesn't really make sense to me even though it is in the law. He apparently is a doctor, and intially accpeted the offer the company gave, but refused to leave the plane once he realized that the next flight is not there until next day. What happened the next day I am sure you guys have heard of, and it costed this wonderful draft experience that could have been mine. Yeah, I was very unlucky. So after that I contacted some teams and vice versa, I got picked up by the Vancouver Whalers organization, which I find is a very nice team, playing for your hometown is always one of the dreams of mine when young, now I have fulfilled it!

Word count: 230

Well, no draft day for Trucker Grogan, but he did receive a phone call that would change his hockey career forever about a week ago -- right around the same time the SMJHL draft hopefulls were finding out what teams they'd be playing for.

That phone call was to let him know his hockey team -- the Brisbane Blue Tongues -- would not be having an upcoming season this year, or any year for the foreseeable future. It was a phone call made by the disheartened Blue Tongues coach, since the Blue Tongues GM couldn't be bothered to offer the courtesy to what had been initially a lucrative investment but now a soured weight around his investment portfolios ankles.

It was the phone call that made Trucker truly believe he might not ever play hockey again, something he'd secretly dreamed of doing until he was old and decrepit or simply too damaged to attempt.

A cousin of his that had played for a sim hockey league in Canada called him a few days after that, and told him about the SMJHL, told him that they had open free agency and a relatively simple way of putting your name in for consideration provided you had the mettle to prove yourself in a trial by fire. He'd emphasized his point by rattling off some of the biggest, baddest names of recent draft classes -- Danny "Bananas" Foster, Chadathy Brodangleshlong, Alexsander Komarov -- and Trucker instantly recognized that joining the SMJHL would be no walk in the park, but that same same phone call sparked a feeling deep within him, a nervous energy not unlike anticipation, that wouldn't let him do anything but what his cousin was suggesting.

A few days later, Trucker made his decision and got on a plane headed for Vancouver, where he could stay for a week or two while he tried to join the league. The rest?

Well. Only time and the sim will truly tell.

Late. Again.

Late for class, late for work.

Late for practice, late for work. (Not games, though!

Late, late, late, late, late, late.

Who would've thought that I'd even be late for the SMJHL Draft? I certainly didn't. Sure, it wasn't exactly my fault. Buuuut, still.

You know, it would've been great to have been in the S34 Entry Draft. I'd be playing for a team already! But alas, here I am in free agency.

I'm not on any lists yet. No scouts have even muttered my name, but I still feel like the spotlights on me. I still feel like inking a deal that'll shake the league, regardless of how much of a rookie I am. It's why I came here after all. While some GMS have contacted me, it feels more like a plot to snag someone before anyone else can, whereas the draft would be a sign of true confidence in a player, considering the fact that there are generally over 30 other players.

I'm sitting in a Tim Hortons right now, collecting my thoughts. No one really knows me yet, as I haven't actually done anything, so it's a nice place to stay.

Where am I going to go? I don't know.

But hopefully, where ever it is that I end up, it'll all end up okay.

SMJHL GMs have an uncommon way of doing things. They tend to recruit players sporadically, if at all, and rely on the enfranchised methods of recruiting to cover their lack of effort. Interested prospects camps give them an opporuntity to see what players are simply available in the draft and write off the rest as useless or unable to play at this level.

Chuck Goody Jr., son of future SHL Hall of Famer, Chuck Goody, prepared for this draft day in the same way his father had. He layed low and waiting for draft night to come. Now, Goody's father was a former 1st overall selection. To say that Goody's expectations weren't high would be an understatment. Soon, the draft was upon the young star and he was awaiting his name being called. The first round went by without Goody's selection.

"I'm not surprised with the idiots running the show for these junior teams. They don't have a clue what talent looks like and half of them will end up with young kids who disappear when the hockey matters most"

Eventually, St. Louis would call Goody's name. The franchise undoubtedly taking a chance on the defensemen because of his strong SHL legacy and his relationship with second year Goaltender Jimmy Wagner. The two have been known to be longtime friends. In fact, Wagner's late uncle, Daniel Merica, was known as a best friend to Goody Sr. who helped bring Manhattan its first cup in the SHL. No doubt the combination of these two just may help the Scarecrows capture a title themselves.

Thanks to Merica for my sig

Maurizio Arrivabene had been training for several weeks with Ray Pejonis when the draft came. Just a month ago Maurizio was a total scrub, he could not even skate. Now, he is touted as one of the top players in the draft. As a fucking 60 year old, who smokes three packs of Marlboro a day. This guy is unstoppable.
On draft day, Ray talked to his old buds in Detroit. The team Ray won a cup with. He advised them to take Maurizio, just because he believed that a fucking 60 year old will be the next transcendent talent in SHL. So he was picked by Detroit, where in the first 5 minutes he gained his new nickname - The Dipshit.
He was approached by two teams - Montreal and Prince George. Montreal was an automatic no, just because the feuds has had with Montreal. And what the fuck is that name? Vive L Impact boys. Prince George was an interesting destination, just because of Ray's connections with some guys. But in the end, Maurizio went to Ray's junior team, to repeat his legacy. Falcons have not won sine Pejo with them, this has to be the season the teams wins the cup.

Draft day. The day every player looks forward to. I was no exception to this. I was one of three players that had smjhl experience already. I had won a Four Star Cup before most of the players in the draft even had chance to. I was on a high thinking that a Championship winning goalie would be a hot commodity in the draft. Oh how I was so wrong. Out of 5 goalies drafted, I wasn't even the first goalie off the board. Prince George picked up Arron Zhumbayav, Colorado picked Alexander Alexandrov, and Halifax picked Jordan Fourfour jr. It seemed like a joke to me. I had the most experience and training under my belt in the entire draft and I went 25th overall and was the 4th goalie selected. First pick of the fourth round. I ended up getting drafted to a place I'm familiar with in Vancouver and am happy about it, but man was I pissed off to see myself drop so far. Vancouver got a steal in me and the other teams that decided to pass on me for whatever reason are going to regret it. 25th overall. 25th overall. 25th overall. Winning my 2nd Four Star Cup is all that matters now.

George Walsh | Goalie | Prospect | 




- Profile Page - Update Page -

Draft day was something pretty ordinary for myself, I woke up in the morning and was just excited to hear my name finally called on the draft stage, the only difference this year was the fact I was unaware on what team was going to take me. Usually, I have had some notion on who was going to take me in the draft, but this year I literally had no clue what was going to happen. So as most people do, I checked out the mock drafts and they didn’t help me at all either. I was projected to go in the top 6 in many mocks, and I was projected to go in between 10-16 in a lot. I was also not in many mock drafts which at the time I thought was stupid and these people were missing out on TPE, but I also got 0 tpe on my mock draft so im stupid. Anyway, I heard Halifax call my name at 20th overall and there I was, ecstatic to start on my new team and I was just pumped to get the season going again. The ability to play in the SMJHL is a great one, and I am happy I got drafted to the Raiders.

(209 words)

Akashi SixNine Jr. Updates


Akashi SixNine Jr. | TPE: 473 | Detroit Falcons | Hamilton Steelhawks
---------------------------- SIGNINGS/DRAFT ----------------------------
(S61) Drafted 61st Overall by the Detroit Falcons
(S61) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Detroit Falcons
(S62) Drafted 44th Overall by the Hamilton Steelhawks
(S62) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Hamilton Steelhawks
(S63) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Hamilton Steelhawks
---------------------------- SMJHL REGULAR SEASON STATS ----------------------------
S61 | DET | GP: 66 | G: 16 | A: 24 | PTS: 40 | +/-: -24 | Hits: 95 | SB: 32
S62 | DET | GP: 66 | G: 21 | A: 16 | PTS: 37 | +/-: -54 | Hits: 141 | SB: 47
---------------------------- SMJHL PLAYOFF STATS ----------------------------
S61 | DET | GP: 6 | G: 2 | A: 4 | PTS: 6 | +/-: E | Hits: 17 | SB: 4
S62 | DID NOT QUALIFY

Draft day was a long one for Yuri Bakos-Markov, from an early morning to a late night celebrating. Yuri woke up at 7 am and had breakfast with his family who had arrived from Russia earlier in the week. He went out afterward to get a hair cut and pick out a new suit for the draft, the rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing. Once he got to the arena that is when the nerves started to kick in. He then took his seat and began to wait for the first few names to be called, Yuri was not concerned about going first overall. In fact, Yuri had no idea where he would end up, as the names kept being added onto the board he soon felt like he would slip too far, but when Montreal got to the stand for the twenty-first pick everything would change. Montreal, the team that signed Yuri to an underage contract, the team that would end up winning the Four Star cup that year. So Montreal called his name and Yuri went up to the stand, grabbed the militia jersey and placed it over his suit and all his nerves were gone. The rest of the night he spent celebrating with the rest of the other Montreal prospects

Broken.




One simple word.





That one word described the state of my young Antarctican heart as the night progressed at the Season 34 SMJHL Entry Draft.


I remember waking up and saying aloud, “Wow, I can’t wait to be drafted! I have so many connections to so many SMJHL GM’s. Raven, Jay, oh and of course Jenny as well! Oh the lovely banter we have… Surely they’ll be fighting over getting one of their good friends on their team. I have absolutely nothing to worry about.”



I got showered up, put on my best suit and kicked back in the back of my sleigh and played some candy crush.


When I arrived at the draft I greeted a few other players and asked around to see if I could sit next to any of my fellow draftees.

It did not go as well as planned as I got some comments like,

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I'd rather wipe my ass with 40 grit sandpaper after a case of the runs and inflamed hemorrhoids then have you sit here.”

I’m not going to name names here, but you know who you are.




Anyways I took my seat in the back corner away from any human interactions and waited as the first few picks were announced.

“I’ll show those bastards,” I grinned to myself, waiting for my name to go nice and high where I belonged.



Pick 1: Robert Phelps

Ok, that’s expected.

Pick 2: Sophia Bennett


Alright, saw that coming.

Pick 3: Tomas Toothsome

Wow, uh, okay. That hurt a bit.

Pick 4:

Alright, here we go, my good bud-

“Finn Kruger”

dd Jay… Oh. Ok.


And then it kept going and going….

Pick 9:

RAVEN! OLE BUDDY OLE PAL! SURELY YOU’LL TAKE ME AND WE CAN DOMIN-

“Scotty Steele”

TRAITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!



….



Pick 12:

Jenny. Come on. We’re tight as fuck. No way you pass on me. In fact I’m going to pack my bags right now and hit the next flight to Kel-

“Fedor Shirobokov”



I was born and raised in Antartica, and my heart had never felt as cold and it did in this moment.






But finally.


Pick 13:

“Spitfire”

Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooots.


So yeah, that was my draft day.

san francisco group of cats - mikael koskinen
quebec city citadelz  - mikael koskinen