Quote:Ready for grading!

<center>Roman "The Legend" Morenov
Biased News with Bilbo</center>

Here at Biased News with Bilbo (BNB), we try to bring you the greatest and latest developments in most things important to bilbo. BNB is a for-profit organization dedicated to getting that sweet, sweet TPE.

It was just announced last week that Roman Morenov of the New England Wolfpack will be retiring after season 37. With three cups under his belt, two of them won with the outstanding Dieter Dominique on the team, we sat down with <a href='index.php?showuser=725' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>drodger91</a> to talk all things Montreal Militia, the Pack, and The Legend himself before Morenov signs off for good.

Quote:[b]bilbo: First thing’s first, I’m eating spinach pie right now. If we went to a Mediterranean restaurant for this interview, what would you order or would you make us leave to go someplace else?
drodger91: Spinach pie sounds very interesting, I'm not a very big fan of trying different things, but you always should, so I'd say stay, and then let me Google the menu. One second… I found a local restaurant's menu, so I'd start with the Escargot Mushrooms, those sound delicious, I am a big fan of stuffed mushrooms, so this should be good, and then for the main course, would have to be Chicken Souvlaki. Anything chicken to me is fantastic, add some souvlaki to it, and you got a delicious meal. To wash all that down would be some sort of red wine, preferably Merlot, and aged a few years at least.[/b]

This was the most insightful question we could have asked drodger. Here at Biased News with Bilbo, we say No to escargot, but Yes to chicken and Maybe to red wine. So far, this interview was off to an interesting start.

Quote:[b]bilbo: Your new player is Artemi Berezin on the Militia. Obviously he is different from Morenov because he’s a center, but what made you decide to switch to forward and how do you intend Berezin to be different from Morenov?
drodger91: My very first player on here was a goalie, that's a position I've always wanted to play, but never have, Morenov was basically the player I am in real life, a big, dumb, shot blocking and hitting machine who puts the puck in every now and again. I wanted my third player to be a forward to complete the lineup of players. The reason I chose center was because Montreal needs a center bad, and when I got talking to my Russian brothers, we also need a future center for IIHF, so it just worked out perfectly for everyone! Berezin will be different from Morenov because he won't be that big body out there, he is a smaller guy who is going to use his smarts to win games for his team. And like I said, I'm a defensive guy in real life, so being that smart forward is what everyone wants, not those selfish snipers! [/b]

Yeah, who needs those selfish snipers anyhow? Not I. Obviously not Dieter, who can’t shoot if the Wolfpack winning the season 36 cup depended on it…

Getting back to the topic, we can only imagine how fun it will be for drodger to picture his new skater going down the ice. Moving away from Morenov’s 6’ 4” 220 lb. build, Berezin is four inches shorter and thirty-five pounds less, so he’s hopefully going to have the ability to maneuver easier but stay grounded with his strength and defense as strengths.

Quote:[b]bilbo: Since the SMJHL Entry Draft hasn't happened yet, I want to know more about your role outside of just drafting. A task that SMJHL GMs have that SHL GMs do not necessarily have is trying to keep brand new players interested and active on the site. What are the ways you found are most successful to retain players (i.e. bugging them to train, mandating locker room game nights, etc.)?
drodger91: Well we don't have our target players set just yet, still in the talking phase with most of them, but there are a handful as of right now that have really stood out talking to them, and all seem like great people for this site, and should have great careers ahead of them. The reason I love the SMJHL so much more, when it comes to being a GM, is exactly what you said, trying to keep these new kids active and coming back for more. It is the biggest task most of us have, and is always top of my list. My approach is treating them like an actual person, and getting to know my players, on a real level, not a website level, find interests they have, see if I have them too, and talk about them. It's something this site is seeing taking over because of Discord coming on in the past little while, it has made it very easy to really get to know people, and it is something I really love, especially being in New England. Other than that, another thing me and my co love to do is tag the inactives in forums in the locker rooms, in hopes they come back. Eggy did it to me a few years ago, and here we are, 3 cups later and I'm a GM now![/b]

A favorite New England past time has been tagging @The Legend: Morenov at random times, so it’s nice to see that this is an effective strategy. Listen Militia rookies, drodger is a gem and should be cherished.

Quote:[b]bilbo: You are the GM of the Montreal Militia with ConnorTanner as your co. He’s recently been interviewed by BNB and had great things to say about GMing. Have any passive comments you want to make about him or just compliments?
drodger91: I haven't been in any real roles to make big hiring around this league, in graphics I basically took over by default and hired any warm body to help out, hiring a co was the biggest and most stressful thing I've done on this site to date. I had some very good applications, and some of those people have gone on to get GM jobs right along with me and I couldn't be happier, but I really broke the SHL that day by hiring Tanner, and if you look back, you can see how mad I was at a few choice members around here that always have something to say, but yet since he has now gone 1st overall in the SHL, and everyday is always looking for ways to improve this team, I honestly can't keep up with him some days. He could honestly run this team on his own, and has a crazy amount of ambition I remember I had when I first got here and I hope he can keep that up. So basically, he’s a great person and a future star in this league. [/b]

Since ConnorTanner asked for a BNB article, he is now on our Great People list, so we couldn’t agree more on drodger’s choice for Co.

Quote:[b]bilbo: How’s it having triplets on the Militia’s roster? Hard to wrangle them in or does it create a nice team locker room atmosphere?
drodger91: It's hilarious. They all have very different personalities, and when they get going at each other, I love to just sit back and grab the popcorn and watch the madness happen. But seriously, they have done more work behind the scenes for this team then I could ever imagine, or ask for, and they have also been great cheerleaders for the whole team, and always willing to help out whenever and however they can.[/b]

With Connor Tanner and Jack Tanner going first and second overall, and Barbie Tanner getting drafted at a humble second spot in round two, we can only imagine how these triplets will change the face of the Militia and the SHL for good (or incredible evil).

Quote:[b]bilbo: Is it annoying to have to click on Page 2 on the Wolfpack roster page to look at your player page? Did it make you feel older? Asking for a friend.
drodger91: I love it! It makes you feel like an OG for sure, but then you see the people you are hanging with and realize you actually suck, haha. They either have a million TPE or are league legends that are still stuck on the roster, and we can only hope they come back one day to the league![/b]

Quote:[b]bilbo: Getting back to your recently half-retired SHL player, Roman Morenov started his junior hockey career with the Impact. Can you tell us what it feels like to have your SMJHL team name ripped and renamed from under you? Obviously you have forgiven them (?) by staying with the Militia, but tell us the deets (and we don’t mean Dieter Dominique).
drodger91: I loved my days with the Impact. We had a really good group of people, and most of them went on to have great careers in the SHL, and to be honest, when the name change happened, I was inactive. I came back to find the Impact had changed, and heard it wasn't welcomed by everyone which is always going to happen, but to be honest, they did share a soccer team name anyway, haha. It's funny because when I took over for Grapes, I was asked about renaming the team back to the Impact, or at least redesigning the logo and jerseys to pay respects to the Impact, and I turned it down. Not because I don't want to, but because if I am to ever entertain that thought, I want to bring in the people that were the Impact and do it right, get everyone involved in the process. It’s bigger than the GM at the time.[/b]

With the backlash that the San Francisco Pride received for changing their name from Portland Admirals (no matter how great lions are), it would possibly be an even bigger issue for long-time fans of Montreal to see their SMJHL team name change again, even if it was to go back. Folks love their SMJHL teams, and like drodger said, ya gotta do it right for the Impact.

Quote:[b]bilbo: You’ve spent your entire time in the SHL in the Wolfpack locker room and have three cups under your belt with them. Want to tell the good people how you feel about the softest pack in the league?
drodger91:It has been one hell of a ride with the #softpack, and I have enjoyed every second of it! We had one hell of group to start here so many years ago, I went inactive for a while, and I guess that's when the shit storm happened that I missed, and I'm glad I did. The lil brigade that took over really turned the team around, and it has been a great ride since then. The people that stuck around the team really banded together and made this a great place to be. Every time my contract was due, and I'd see people post about their top destinations, I was always like, yeah I'd like to try that, and yet, I always came back because it's just a great place to be, with amazing people that really make this place fun to be apart of. I hope I'm drafted back here with Berezin! [/b]

You heard it here from The Legend himself, folks. #awooooo

Quote:[b]bilbo: Others in the SHL might not be aware, and now they hopefully will be - Roman Morenov is known as “The Legend” on the Wolfpack. Do you recall when you first started being named this? Also, as will be stated above in this interview, The Legend is retiring after this season. What has been his/your favorite part of playing under his role?
drodger91: The person who dubbed that I'm pretty sure was Eggy. And I'll give you a funny back story with him and me. Back in the SMJHL when we both started our careers, he started in Detroit, and I was an Impact, he used to write those huge articles about, I can't even remember, maybe game recaps, they made him all his money I'm pretty sure, but I hated them, and was like, dude is prolly a douche, thank god I don't play there, then, he got traded to Montreal to help us take a run at the cup, great I thought. We now have turned into great friends on here who share Sunday's watching Buffalo disappoint us, but back to the question, I was inactive and Eggy thought it would be great if he could get me named assistant captain in New England, he ran a furious campaign, apparently, and I got it, then he tagged in that random post, and there I appeared! So that's when I think it took over, then I became active, and nobody gave a shit about me, haha.[/b]

There is nothing we don't love about that answer.

Quote:[b]bilbo: You've been on the site since the end of 2012. I'm curious to know, have you seen any significant patterns or changes in the SHL culture from then to now? And if so, for better or worse?
drodger91: How big it got. VHL was the big league when I started here, but I got used to the format here so I stayed, and I'm glad it turned out the way it did, 37 seasons later is incredible, with that growth comes with bullshit and that's to be expected, but it seems the big cheeses around here always stay on top of it, and it's the people that I've met over those many years that has kept me coming back, and that should be the marketing campaign of this place! [/b]

Quote:[b]bilbo: Have anything else you’d like to say to the SHL or any shout outs to give?
drodger91:Honestly, my list would be insane, I thought about making a big post when I retired Morenov, but those people should already know what I think of them, and how awesome they are on here. [/b]

Thanks goes to drodger for reaching out to us for this interview. We've learned a bit more about Wolfpack and SHL beginnings, and have an annoying new-found appreciation for the Montreal Militia. It has been a pleasure of everyone at BNB to get to know him better through this process, and now that he's active, we look forward to hopefully seeing him and Berezin in the awoo locker room. Dieter will be waiting.

Homework for everyone: Raise a glass for Roman Morenov and watch The Legend go out in style.