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The S54 Klompus Diary - Printable Version

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The S54 Klompus Diary - Toast - 07-12-2020

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DOES HE LOVE ME OR LOVE ME NOT?
Jack Klompus releases season diary to public giving fans insight on his season and future

Hello SHL and welcome the the diary of Jack Klompus. I am going to be recording my thoughts here for every game of the SMJHL season and include anything from the locker room that is also worth mentioning. If you take the time to read all of this, thank you.

PRE-SEASON
I have been working hard on my training over the off-season. Being at the absolute max a second-year player can be, there were a lot of options for what type of player I want to be. My goal has always been to be an offensive defenseman, mostly setting things up, but after discussions with the team the focus right now has to be on defensive stats for the team’s success.

We played around with some fun lines and I got to play with Tinke @Snussu for a few games. We saw some success on the ice but there were certainly some troubles with the results. Regardless, it’s clear that Klompus is doing better than the first year of his career.

GAME 1 - VS. MAINE
Coach revealed the lines for the season and I will be paired up with Souppan @thevoicelesscreator again! I’m very excited to see what the future holds for the both of us as we ended up being drafted to Minnesota together. Hopefully we’ll stay a pairing for seasons to come.

Coach also told me they want me in an “Old School” role for the season and I’m not sure about that as I know that I am leaning towards more of an offensive build, but maybe they know more than I do.

We started the season with a massive 4-2 win. With 47 shots it seems the the team is definitely going to be something this season after some bumps in the road during S53.

The first-overall pick, Liam Slate @Tylar, got a big goal in his very first game and the rest of the team was fantastic, especially Cale @Wally. Cale turned away 27 out of the 28 shots!

My own game was decent. Finishing with a +1 and a shot on goal. Nothing too crazy in the first outing and the game ratings reflect that, but I’m starting to doubt if they’re even worth paying attention to.

GAME 2 - VS. ST. LOUIS
The guys were looking forward to this one. After being eliminated by the Scarecrows last season in Game 7 we wanted to come out in our first S54 game and really show them that we have stepped our game up.

St. Louis had nothing in response to us. It was a difficult first two periods but we got on the board, but in the third? Yew! Poor Scarecrows. We ended up winning this one 5-0 and outshot them 43-25, absolutely ridiculous.

Cale keeps up the fantastic performance and gets his first shutout of the season, showing why he took home two trophies last season. A massive performance from Ryuuji @Nhamlet with the two goals as well.

I was able to get an assist and ended with a +3, which is a career high I think. A blocked shot and a takeaway too! While the game ratings don’t reflect it, I’m convinced that the head office of the team knows better than I do. The team is performing better than expected to start and no one is complaining about being 2-0 to start the season.

GAME 3 — VS. CAROLINA
We continue to get a look at the other teams in the East with a game against the Kraken. They’re expected to be some trouble for us this season with some veteran players in the SMJHL, but we were looking forward to the challenge and to show what we had to prove.

Another game here where the opponents didn’t have much to show us. Carolina only managed 25 shots against us with one squeaking by Cale but it wasn’t enough to keep up with our guys. The fourth line is proving to be a real force early on with Slate and Lassi Suhonen @teztify scoring his first of the season. We ended up winning this one 4-1 to make it three in a row.

I was getting frustrated out there. Not really the start of the season that I was looking for. I remember getting a few good hits out there and it turned out to be 6 for the stat column. Ended this one with a +2 but no points on the board. Hopefully things will pick up with the success of the team.

GAME 4 — AT ANAHEIM
Our first game on the road and we seem to hit a bit of a bump. Getting out of Newfoundland for the first time this season, Andrei @CleanAndreiKostitsyn insisted that we go around the city asking people about his brother. I tagged along and we didn’t end up getting back to the hotel until late into the night.

It was clear that we were dragging in the morning practice. We put up some decent offense in the game but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Outlaws unfortunately. They ended up taking the win 4-3 in a really close game so we just need to figure out how we are going to be better next time.

Souppy got a goal and seems to be playing some of the best hockey on the ice but I’m not sure why my feet have been dragging. Soup carries me to a +2 in the game but it’s hard not to notice the articles are coming out calling me out for not living up to my hype out there.

GAME 5 — VS. CAROLINA
We come back home for another game against the Kraken and some of the guys are convinced that they just play better in front of the home crowd. I don’t really believe in stuff like that but it’s nice to see the team in good spirits after a random loss on the road.

Steve Harrington @NeonLime was all over the ice out there tonight ending with a goal and two point effort. His five shots and all-around domination of this one was the story of the game as we doubled down on 4-1 wins over Carolina. They only managed 24 shots in this one and clearly need to sort some things out.

This time I was able to get an apple on the powerplay and it felt good to be on the scoring sheet again but something still doesn’t feel right. Ah well, as long as the team is winning and we are well on our way to a Four Star Cup win then that’s the last of my worries.

GAME 6 — AT CAROLINA
A quick overnight flight to Carolina because we are on the back-to-back against the Kraken. A lot of the guys are talking about the league schedule and how it seems to be punishing us with a lot of these situations. Little sleep doesn’t really bug me. I spend the flight looking over game footage trying to figure out why I don’t really feel like myself.

Carolina comes out in front of their home fans not looking fantastic but overall they definitely have a bit more energy. Jukka Timonen @"Smalinowski7" is phenomenal in this one. I’ve always wanted to be like Juke. He’s only a year ahead of me but is the most exciting prospect for the Rage and an absolute leader in the locker room. His two points help us take this one 5-3 and we are back on a winning streak thanks to Carolina.

While it’s a huge win for the team, this might have been my worst game in the Berserkers uniform. I got burned twice as these guys just seem to be out-pacing me. A -2 and the articles the next morning are calling me out for being a defensive liability on a Cup favourite team.

GAME 7 — AT MAINE
We continue our road trip into Maine and even got a day of rest to check out the Portland area. The team seemed rested up but the criticisms of my game are getting to me. I stay at the hotel and keep to myself as I worry about the upcoming game.

I don’t know if I’m over-thinking things or what but tonight was another ugly one for me and the rest of the team as well. While we out-shot Maine they stole this one from us 2-1, taking away our winning streak already.

Again I’m the worst player on the ice by a long shot for some reason. The big article that sticks in my head for some reason is one that breaks down how the rookies on the team with less than 10 games played are already proving to be better on the ice than me. I need to be better.

GAME 8 — AT ST. LOUIS
Another overnight flight with little time to sleep. The young guys are tired and I can hear Slate talking to Lassi about how the pressure of being first-overall is getting to him. I can hear the Co-GM J @JNH making a call to the league or someone talking about how this schedule is unreasonable.

We get to practice in the morning and it’s clear the fellas are feeling the road trip. We start off slow and the stupid Crows come flying out of the gate. Trey Nets buries one in the first two minutes of the game but the Captain takes the game on his shoulders. SLATT gives the team energy with his third of the season and with some help of a shorty from Patty @Patty we actually take this one 2-1. Articles after the game praise Mats Marner @leafsftw1967 on a hell of a game.

However, Souppy and I aren’t working. The article mentions how I am the worst on defense by a wide margin and how the Berserkers should maybe consider letting more youth onto the team for a shot instead. I need to figure out what is wrong with me.

GAME 9 — AT COLORADO
Three days off before the next one gives us time to head back to Newfoundland and there I request a meeting with the General Manager/Coach Core @SDCore. I ask if I can maybe try a different role on the team to try to spark my performance on the ice but Core assures me that they are not holding it against me and we’ll figure it out together. That’s a relief.

We fly back to the height of Denver, Colorado for our first of the season against the Raptors a fifth of the way into the season. The Raptors had nothing against a recharged Newfoundland team and Cale got his first shutout of the season for this one! Juke had a phenomenal game again and so did Niccolo @bbp who in a post-game interview says that he is going to use the rest of the season to prove he’s the toughest guy in the league? He got into a scrap against Carlos Brown in this one and dummied the guy but I’m worried maybe he’s a little scrambled.

Meanwhile I seem to find my footing out there but it’s nothing noteworthy. There was no article talking about how awful I was on the ice but no points to talk about this time. There was a nice shot on net but I was absolutely robbed. Starting to feel a little more confident so hopefully there is improvement coming.

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Looking my finest at the start of the season ceremony. Wonder if we could just play in suits instead? I look much better here.
GAME 10 — AT MAINE
These overnight flights are brutal. Off to Maine this time and the flight is pretty quiet. The guys are starting to get into the habit of keeping to themselves to get some rest. Lots of people in their own worlds focused on the upcoming game against the Timber.

There is a section of the Portland crowd who are dubbing themselves the Livius Army with signs that say stuff like “KNOCK EM OUT” and that seems to motivate Niccolo beyond anything I’ve seen. He goes out there and sets up two goals, one going to first-round pick Liam Slate! Hopefully that’ll cheer the kid up.

Again nothing noteworthy happens for me. I don’t know what I need to do to show that I have improved on the ice. So far this season I’m getting less time on the ice than I was in my rookie year and it seems like almost nothing has changed. This is getting a little ridiculous.

GAME 11 — VS, DETROIT
We’re finally back home after five on the road and of course it’s against the team that wouldn’t stop pumping its own tires last season. While the Detroit Falcons are the defending Champions, we have always thought that they looked at themselves in the spotlight a little too much. The guys are fired up to get out there and do some damage.

This one is actually insanely close. We control majority of the game getting 40 shots on them, but for whatever reason we just can’t get them past Jobin. Mina gets us on the board first but then it’s my future teammate Cal Labovitch on the powerplay that ties it. This one makes it into overtime where Slate manages to set up Mina and he buries it for the win. The crowd goes absolutely nuts and it’s awesome to see it.

The only thing that could have made it better was if I could actually be a part of the success on the ice. Six times (yes, I counted) I got a shot on net but they were lazy attempts just to say that I can actually shoot the puck. I was on the ice for the first goal of the game, but no points to show for this one either.

GAME 12 — VS. ANCHORAGE
Our second game in two days trying to defend the home turf. We wanted to give the crowd something exciting again but if you told the guys that this one was going to go to overtime again, I’m sure a lot would have rather end this one early… especially me.

Mina gets us on the board early in what becomes a game of no defense. Offense is breaking through for both teams and between the two there ends up being over 70 shots in this one. It goes back and forth for all of regular time but the Boats are getting some key faceoff wins that are holding us off from finishing this one off. Then it was off to overtime.

This might be the lowest part of me for the season so far. I was defending in overtime and I saw a breakout coming in so I tried to cover TURG, who already had two in this one. I aimlessly swung my stick back with my eyes on the incoming pass and I felt the stick tug. I turned around just as I heard the whistle and saw TURG cursing on the ice. I got sent to the box with a lazy penalty in overtime…

The Boats didn’t waste it. About a minute after the penalty a massive breakout starts thanks to Thorbjorn and Braden Lowrie is the one who manages to beat us. We still leave with a point but the loss is entirely on my shoulders and the media doesn’t let me forget.

SEASON CHANGING POINT — A TEXT
We have three days off before the next game and I was dreading getting back to the ice. Maybe I could get away with calling it a career now. I try to get a hold of my agent to talk about options but he’s nowhere to be found. Apparently this guy likes to disappear for months at a time and put no real effort in minus reminding everyone of his Hall of Fame client in Brett Broadway.

Anyways, it might be too soon for my to call it a career but it’s clear that I can’t keep up with my team or the rest of the league. They are skating circles around me and I’m exhausted out there. Sure, Minnesota spent a first-round pick on me but they’re a young team and will recover with the amount of players that they have coming up through the system. No one will notice if I just step away.

Except Core, apparently. I woke up to a text asking me to come to the rink on my day off. You don’t say no to the manager and I wasn’t going to do anything with my day anyways. When I got there he was waiting at the player entrance and seemed angry with me almost. When he saw me coming he headed in and led me to the locker room where he had our TV set-up.

We talked about my concerns about how I can’t keep up on the ice and Core mentioned how he thought it was a sophomore slump. We ended up talking for an hour about how he has seen this all over the league before and how he wanted to remind me why Newfoundland took a chance on me. We watched clips of my games prior to the SMJHL and it motivated me to get back to the point when I was having fun with this game.

It helps that the locker room is one of the best I’ve ever been a part of too. So many positive guys who just want to succeed together. Core helps me out with some drills on the ice before I leave to rest before the next game.

(Outside of this in character stuff, Corey saw that my player had not been updated so far. He was still playing at his 250TPE build from the previous season instead of having the 325 build that we worked on. It was extremely frustrating and something that I should have noticed much earlier but I definitely appreciate the fact that Corey caught that one. Cheers bud.)

GAME 13 — VS. MAINE
Now we’ve got yet another game against the Timber. They are coming to our rink this time and I know now that this is a game that I have to get out there and show the world that I am one of the best players on the team. The spotlight is on Soupy and I’d be lying if I didn’t want to use that spotlight on our pairing to show everyone that I’m just as good.

Maine has nothing against us again and looks like a team that may not even make it into the post-season. We out-shot them 41-21 and saw some offense all over the ice. CLEAN Andrei was the star this time around as his goal is one that’s going to played on the highlight reels for the week.

I had a lot of confidence going into this one but couldn’t get on the scoring sheet. Articles talk about how it seemed that I was playing with a new interest and there was not criticism of the game I played, which is a start I suppose. We just need to get back on the board.

GAME 14 — AT CAROLINA
Our season is absolutely fantastic so far. We are playing just how we thought we would and it seems that we are set for one of the biggest runs a team in this league has seen. The morale is at an all-time high as we head to Carolina for another game against the Kraken. The boys don’t seem to be concerned at all until the plane lands.

People’s phones start going off and we get word that the Kraken’s Jimmy Wagner called the team out saying that we’re just a fluke team. He seems to be aiming for likes on Twitter and talks about how the Kraken are the team to watch. That gets the guys fuming and we get ready for tomorrow’s game.

Practice goes fine but it’s the game that doesn’t go as well. A sloppy penalty to start lets Wagner get on the board with a bomb and for the rest of the game we were playing catch up. It wasn’t enough despite out-shooting them 43-26 and they took this one 6-5. The Carolina crowd is loving this and the guys are pissed clearly.

I need to still step it up. I let the past bad mood leave me but I haven’t found my game yet. I got an assist and managed to block four of their shots which will leave a mark probably, but I need to start scoring to show that I’m not some waste of a sophomore player.

GAME 15 — VS. KELOWNA
We leave the Carolina party and Wagner behind us to head home. We’ve got a big challenge from the West looming as the Kelowna Knights were coming to town. Kelowna has been playing lights out throughout the season so far and has a lot of the S54 guys on their team as well. I’ve recently been watching clips of Rotticus Scott, trying to figure out how to shut his game down, but he always seems just a couple of practice hours ahead of me.

We mostly rest before this game to make sure that we’re ready but the locker room before the game is insane. The guys are pumped and they go out there to show in. Andrei yells at Laforest for a hug in the first period and gets called for holding? Sure. It seems to light the team up as Atake @Justice gets a bomb off the saucer from Clean to start the second. Patty adds another in the third and off our total of 14 shots, we actually take this one 2-1. It’s clear the Knights are not to be messed with though.

This one was a bit of set-back for me and it’s discouraging that I still can’t find the back of the net this late into the start of the season. I got called on a bad penalty but it didn’t cost us and I was able to get a +1 with a huge hit too. We’ll build on it for the next one.

GAME 16 — AT DETROIT
It’s November and the weather in Newfoundland is getting a little rough but we’re starting the month with a mini road trip. The managers are still losing it over all these back-to-back games because we have another one coming up right after this, but the guys are still in good spirits.

Coming up against the Falcons and they seem like a shell of the team that they once were. While we spent our off-season in team training camps trying to figure out a style that best works for us, it seems the Falcons stars all focused on themselves and they were not clicking as a team.

Same deal in this one as we out-shot them heavily and ended up with a huge 5-3 win. Again, still looking to get back on the goal column but Soupy was the first star of the game with his two assists. Hair had another huge game and looks like someone we are going to rely on this season.

My game was all right. Trying to get back in that goal column but nothing is happening yet. It was a decent game though. With an apple and a +2 I am well on my way to getting there. I know it’s right around the corner now.

GAME 17 — AT COLORADO
On the flight to Colorado there was a big episode where Slate lost it over the pressure of being the first-overall pick. He called himself a bust and the guys tried to tell him he’s doing fine. In the pre-game before the Raptors it seems Slate got to his locker before the rest of the team and taped ‘Bust’ as a fake nameplate. The guys had another rally about how great it is to be on the team and Slate seemed happy with that. He also lost privileges to team tape and markers.

The Raptors should have had us here with the back-to-back but we steal another one here. The first star of the game was ‘Justice’ Atake with a nice set-up and a phenomenal game overall, and I think that I need to see how he is pulling it off so consistently these days. The bigger deal is that we had Junior Guarda @Loco in the net for this one and Colorado lit us up. Junior was phenomenal making 27 saves to keep the win for us and we took this one 3-2.

Unfortunately I fell into the trap of being exhausted from the flight it seems and played one of my worst games of the season here. The media was pretty easy on me the day after because it was a win but it really felt like there were some changes coming around the corner for the team.

GAME 18 — VS. ANCHORAGE
A long break as we head back to Newfoundland for this one and I fall into the trap of checking all the news feed to see what people are thinking of the team. While overall the Berserkers are phenomenal it seems that not many people have confidence in me or the Soup - Klompus pairing anymore as Soupy is well on his way to leading the league with his fantastic performances.

This game becomes a bit of a disaster as the team spent more time in the locker room laughing about the Boats team name than worrying about what we were going to do out on the ice. The Armada control majority of the game and win this one 4-2. Majority of the blame seems to be on the pairing of Tinke and Juke this time and that’s just adding on to my concern.

In terms of my own game it was surprisingly good but the loss clouds all of that. With three shots that actually made it to the net I think I was doing a fantastic job of finding my place on the ice and taking some chances. We’ve got this almost figured out.

GAME 19 — AT ANAHEIM
An iconic moment in the season for me was tonight. We arrived in Anaheim with plenty of rest and the guys went around exploring the city. It was a good time and I was feeling confident going into another game against the Outlaws. People were starting to realize that we are here to take this season and there was nothing that was going to stop us.

That attitude carried into the game on the shoulders of SLATT. The captain led the way as the first star of the game with his goal and two assists while Hair and Tinke had some great games as well. We were all over Anaheim and the only sour note was they scored three goals on 17 shots. We took this one 6-3 overall in the end.

The highlight of it all though… I FINALLY FOUND THE BACK OF THE NET. 19 games into the season is not how long I predicted it would take me to show that I was here to play, but here we are. I found my chance in the start of the second and with Souppy’s 9th apple of the season the puck came back to the blue line and I found the corner of the net. I’ve never felt such a relief.

GAME 20 — AT CAROLINA
The talk going into this game is that Soupy is on pace to have an MVP season. He has been lights out so far in all of his games and that’s fantastic but I would be lying if I didn’t want that for myself. At the end of the day of course the goal is for the team to succeed, but I need to get in on that spotlight too.

We have a growing hate towards Carolina as they’re clearly the biggest threat to our division title this season and anything to upset Wagner would be great too. Carolina is putting everything into this game and end up getting 39 shots against us for one of the biggest efforts against us, but it wasn’t enough.

I went into this one motivated beyond belief and that was displayed very early into this one. With a great pass to the blue line from Clean I managed to find the back of the net again. Goals in back to back games! It’s a great feeling that my game seems to be coming together now.

Despite the goal it seems that my defensive game is still leaving something to be desired. Giving away the puck in any game is frustrating and I need to figure out a way to make sure that I’m better in the next one. Andrei, Soupy and Cale were all fantastic and took home the Stars for this one.

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Slate struggled at the start of the season and was often seen looking like this trying to keep up with us.

GAME 21 — AT ANCHORAGE
We got a day break after that game but have to head out all the way to Alaska for a game against the Boats and after 21 games so far this season, this one would go all the way to the shootout!

It was a pretty slow game overall. Andrei took his second first star of the game in a row home after opening the scoring after a fantastic dish from @Matty7478 and it seemed that this was putting thoughts into Andrei’s head as in a post-game interview he would talk about how he wants more time on the ice but everyone kind of brushed that off as usual Andrei.

Since nothing resulted from overtime, the Managers had to decide who was going out for the shootout. Surprisingly I wasn’t selected for this but got to cheer on Potts as he sent home our first chance on the shootout. Everyone else missed and we were able to take the two points home with us.

Nothing happened for me this game. I mean absolutely nothing. No shots or hits or anything. My gme was fine overall though, so I guess that’s okay and now I’m just hoping to get out of Alaska as soon as possible.

GAME 22 — AT VANCOUVER
We get a two-day break for the first time in awhile and only have to head over to Vancouver. Spirits are a little hit though. I woke up at 6 in the morning to the group messages going off. Squinting to see what the heck was going on all I could see was Andrei continuously pinging Core. The vibe was tense as Clean made his demands to play first line but they were only met with a “No.”

It seemed the guys forgot about it as we got ready for the game against Vancouver and yikes… this was something. The Whalers are easily the worst team in the league tonight but I don’t think anyone expected the offense that we brought out.

The guys took this one 7-0 with a fantastic performance from our first line and Soupy was able to get in there for a bomb of his own and two points total. The most exciting thing for us in this game was the fact that Junior got on the board for the shutout! Not too many rookies find success in their first season and we knew this would be a highlight for Junior.

Everyone had a great game this time around and I was able to assist on one of the Potts goals. I did take a dumb penalty but feel like I canceled it out by getting a takeaway too. It’s nice to see the guys playing so well again.

GAME 23 — AT DETROIT
An awful overnight flight from Vancouver all the way to Detroit really pissed off some of the guys. It’s not the comfiest sleep on a flight and to play a game right after, I think the guys were expecting a loss from this one.

I’d be lying if I said we didn’t play sloppy in this one. Four penalties should have done us in but Detroit made their best effort to keep up with us in that column. They couldn’t keep up with the offense though.

Another huge game from SLATT and the first line is looking fantastic lately. Overall we won this one 5-2 despite a lot of the guys being tired. We only got 26 shots but thankfully Cale is much more reliable than Jobin and our lead on the conference grows more.

After the game though I’m called into a meeting with the Managers. I wasn’t counting but I ended with a historic terrible game myself. Four giveaways was my highlight in this one and Core told me if I want to keep my spot on the second pairing then I need to work on my conditioning because they need to rely on defense for these back-to-back games. That one hurt.

GAME 24 — VS. ANAHEIM
Back home top defend the winning streak and I had a lot to think of. It was clear that the team was getting frustrated that I wasn’t playing to my best ability so I did the one thing that I thought would help. I used my off day to watch clips of Juke and try to figure out how I could help out more offensively.

The rest seemed to recharge our batteries for this game against Anaheim. Andrei was going around asking people how much they value points per minute and Slate was back into a slump talking about how he is a bust but it seems that people are trying to ignore his negativity.

It’s clear on the ice there is nothing to worry about though. Anaheim matched us shot for shot at 39 a piece but the end result of this one was Berserkers 9-1. The artciles the next day were hilarious as they compared the god that is Cale to Storm who got chased from the game after 6 goals against.

This may have been my best game with the team too. Despite taking a bad penalty I was a +3 and got the primary assist on two goals, which was huge for me. I really feel like I could take on any challenge now after turning my game around like that. The challenge is to just keep it going.

GAME 25 — AT VANCOUVER
Halfway through the season and the team was rolling along nicely. We had an off day before our flight back to Vancouver but we got told that there would be a meeting with the team’s defense when we landed. We met with J and Core and they announced that Soupy was being promoted to the top pairing and Tinke would join me on the second pairing.

I was definitely caught off guard by this one as I felt my game was really coming together after that turn around but it seems management had other ideas. I loved the idea of the Soup and Klomp pairing being a force in the SMJHL and then in the SHL with the Chiefs but that has come to an abrupt ending. Tinke seemed to be caught off by  the news as well and not really someone I talked to on the team either. He seems like a guy who is really fixated on his own game but maybe it’ll work… we have a good talk before the game and get to work.

Vancouver is the same as we remember and they don’t have a chance against us. An eventual 4-2 win with Guy @Steve taking home first star honours. It was annoying seeing a rival in Ryosuke Sato taking home second star but there was nothing wrong with my game.

Furious with the change I guess the second pairing came out swinging. Tinke scored the first goal of the game and then I got one myself three minutes later to start the 1st period. We kept control from there and the win streak carries on.

GAME 26 — VS. MAINE
Never, ever doubt the Managers. Tinke and I had a good chat on the trip back home about how good we felt about our games in Vancouver and wanted to keep building on that. We used the next team practice for scrimmage so the new lines could build some more chemistry and we were just clicking.

Fighting to keep our winning streak we were going against the Trees this time and this would become the best game that I have ever had in the Newfoundland uniform. Maine scored in the first two minutes and we knew we had to get to work.

I found Mats streaking into their zone and with maybe the best pass I’ve ever made, he easily popped that one into the net and then we caught the Timber napping to close the first. Tinke slid a pass over to me with 15 seconds left and I easily put that one into the back of the net and then within 10 seconds of the game starting again I found myself in the same spot situation. I creeped towards the net with our second line breaking in and Mina made a perfect cross crease pass to me and I easily put that one in too!

The game would end 9-3 for the Berserkers and it was my first star of the season. Not only that, but my four points was good enough for first star. It felt great to see the success of this new pairing so far and Soupy was still doing well with two points of his own.

GAME 27 — VS. COLORADO
Being on a back-to-back wasn’t ideal when we were defending an eight-game win streak but at least we were at home. I was getting obsessed with the spotlight watching clips of the fantastic first period from the game and was a little tired going into the next one.

Colorado was playing a decent game but it was like we copy and pasted the offense from the Maine game into this one. We had so many chances for Huuveri was playing like a million bucks in what would turn out to be a first star effort by the end of it.

Thankfully Potts put in his tenth goal of the season with five left in the first and from there it was just trying to finish this one off. Nothing really happened all the way until the third where Matty would score one within the first 17 seconds of the period thankfully. From there the team hodl the lead and we were able to extend the win streak to 9!

I think I stayed up too late living in the past because this game was nothing special and I had two giveaways. It’s clear that I need to work on my stamina because I was absolutely gassed this time.

GAME 28 — VS. CAROLINA
Going for the tenth win in a row against the team that had to be our only real threat in the Carolina Kraken. St. Louis and Detroit are falling behind and we need to solidify our spot on top.

This game was brutal for some reason. As if Carolina had been studying our game leading up to the end of the month but for some reason they were simply all over us. They got 38 shots against us to our 22 and Cale played like a legend but it simply wasn’t enough.

The Kraken scored one early in the second and from there we could not get anything against them. We had been playing lights out for nine games straight so it was reasonable that the team was pissed off in the locker room afterwards.

This was another dud of a game for me. It’s clear that I have the ability to find my spots now with four shots on target this time but nothing was beating Frans. While the winning streak unfortunately came to an end, we can easily get this back in the future.

GAME 29 — VS. DETROIT
The guys were ticked off with the loss and that would be clear in our next game on this homestead. Total penalties for the two teams would end up totaling 30 minutes which is insanely higher than what we were used to this season so far.

It was all terrible calls that started with Detroit charging Cale and then getting sloppy with a hooking call. Usually Steve is one of the most level headed guys on the ice but he tripped a guy up and then it was essentially chaos.

Thankfully our PowerPlay showed up with all of these calls. Mina got the first one and then in a blast from the past Soup gave me a nice shot from the blue line and I got another one on the board. It was clear the slump that I was in to start the season was behind me.

We got back to our winning ways with a 3-2 win but there was nothing pretty about it. We out-shot them with almost 50 shots so this should have been much more of a margin, but a win is a win… especially against the Falcons.

GAME 30 — VS. DETROIT
The schedule was pretty nice to us over the next few days. We got to stay in Newfoundland as the December weather started to set in and the guys were getting motivated as the next game was going to be against Detroit again.

It seemed that the pairing of Tinke and I was working out decently. I really did not think at the beginning that our play styles would work out but it seems that we were both succeeding in offensive and defensive areas of our game. There’s still 20 games of the season so hopefully we’ll continue to build on this.

It seems that Detroit’s motivation is just shot. Despite having some of the best players in the league they simply can’t keep up for whatever reason. They were able to score 3 on just just 24 shots somehow but out 43 shots blew them out of the water. The penalties weren’t as crazy in this one but we still took six which needs to get better. Juke had one of the best games that I’ve seen from him and he was rightfully named First Star.

Tinke got called on a penalty and the wrong Jutila ended up scoring in this one. My game was nothing to write home about either. Shots are definitely getting to the net more easily but I seem to be missing the net more too. Hopefully that gets better.

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Cale stoof on his head for us each and every game he played. I haven't seen a better goalie.

GAME 31 — VS. COLORADO
We got an entire weekend off so the guys decided to head over to J’s where he had set up a golfing simulator in one room. I guess this is the kind of stuff that you can get away with when the player’s you agent for are massive successes in the SHL. I was not great at this and J really wanted to just show everyone how good he was at the sim.

It was a late night but thankfully we had a couple days off until the next game. I think a lot of us were looking to fix our game because we felt that Detroit had no right to score 3 in that last game and thankfully we felt Colorado would be a bit easier to take on.

This would end up being a pretty quiet game with just three goals total. Marner got one from Steve and in the second Tinke and I found ourselves playing with the fourth line that was still playing consistently.

Slate passed one back to the blue line and I saw Niccolo breaking in and slid the puck over. He made no mistakes and bullied his way to the net. He celebrated the goal by trying to fight the closest guy to him but we kept it under control. Anyways, the win streak is starting up again as we took this one 2-1.

GAME 32 — @ CAROLINA
An overnight flight to Carolina after having a full weekend off was more than enough to take the foot off the pedal. You can tell in the pre-game skate that guys were just exhausted and I was really feeling it too. Meanwhile, Carolina came in swinging. They are coming off their break week and were ready to make us pay.

Carolina controlled the entire game with a massive powerplay goal from Wagner to start things off. We tried to respond to their chances but things just got away from us very quickly. In the pre-game, one of the Kraken players announced their name was now Keith Lee which was a little odd but who is to judge because he popped off with four points in this one.

Dwight Knight, Wagner, Friedland. It seemed that all of their star players were making a mockery of our team. We ran out of gas early in this one and eventually would lose 8-3, killing our drive to revive the winning streak.

Considering how bad the goal differential was, this game could have been a lot worse for me. I wasn’t exposed at any point and feel my energy was decent considering the trip and back-to-back games. We definitely need to work on improving our game for the next one though.

GAME 33 — @ ST. LOUIS
I don’t know what it was but definitely that game against Carolina is going to be looked back on as a turning point in the season for us. We were the most confident team in the league going into it, but after that humiliating loss you could just feel the vibe of the team was a little off.

We got a day rest but has to head over to St. Louis for a game in two days so some of the guys were still trying to gain their composure.The locker room in the pre-game was quiet as the guys were seemingly focused on getting back to our winning ways.

Well, it seemed like that just wasn’t meant to happen. This game would end 2-1 for the Scarecrows to beat us for the first time this season and funnily enough, all of the goals of this game came on the St. Louis powerplay. Marston got one early into the game and Potts scored a short-handed goal in the second trying to motivate us but it seemed our energy deflated.

The Scarecrows stole it with two quality chances on the powerplay compared to our 34 shots. My game was actually pretty impressive considering the loss. I feel like I’m getting a better hang of my defensive game as I was able to get on the Scarecrows forwards and got myself four takeaways in this one. I did take two penalties (neither led to the goals) so that needs work.

GAME 34 — @ KELOWNA
A huge game against the leaders in the West and a chance for us to show that we were going to make sure that we end the season as the regular season champions, but at the airport after the loss in St. Louis, J tells the team that it’s very important that he gets back to NEwfoundland to prepare for a virtual golf tournament.

Core does his best to keep the team in good spirits but people are miserable on the flight over to Kelowna on another one of these back-to-back games. People spend time trying to lift spirits by figuring our what each player’s catch phrase is or text that should show in the group chat. Slate keeps recommending things for himself but the team keeps pretending that we just hear him say bust. He doesn’t seem to take this well.

Maybe we started goofing around too much because we were not ready for the Knights. We didn’t even manage to pass 20 shots and they slaughtered us with a 5-1 win. We had no response and it seemed all hope was lost throughout. One highlight was at the start of the third Renji yelled out “for justice!” on the bench and went out and picked a fight with Justin Keahi.

I suppose another bright spot was the only goal in the game for the Berserkers came from your’s truly. There wasn’t much hope for the team but it’s nice to know that I was the reason that Kelowna couldn’t brag that they shut us out. Defensively though my game was a mess and that makes three losses in a row for the team. Something needs to change.

GAME 35 — VS. ST. LOUIS
We get back to Newfoundland with a few days to take a break and try to process what the heck is happening with this team on the road. J returns to the locker room to tell us about all of his findings with his golfing simulator and seems to have no idea what is happening.

The managers break down some new strategies for us and hopefully the rest is going to be enough to fix whatever is going wrong with the team. A few of the guys are in a slump but I’m still feeling pretty confident about my own game.

The Scarecrows come into town trying to capitalize on our poor play but it seems that us being able to hear the cheers of the home crowd really helps. We end up winning this one 5-0 with Mina taking home first star with two beautiful assists and Cale gets another shutout on the season but no credit in the stars of the game.

My game was fine. I was able to get in on the first goal of the game setting up Patty. Other than that things seem to finally be consistent. I’m not worried about what people are saying post-game and the team played great. That’s all that matters.

GAME 36 — VS. ANAHEIM
Some of the guys are convinced that there is something about the games on the road that we can’t get past and we spend some time trying to figure that out but ultimately decide that’s it’s just the travel from the games instead of being able to relax and focus. We’re told to just get some rest and try to fix it for next time.

Thankfully though the next few games are going to be at home anyways and it seems that our confidence is coming back after such a huge win against St. Louis a couple days ago. I need to keep finding ways to get on the scoring sheet because ultimately it will help us win more and I would love a shot at the scoring leaders for defense.

This time we find ourselves against Anaheim and this one is a mess defensively. There isn’t much scoring but Anaheim almost get 40 shots and we end up with 52. Mina puts on another clinic with a goal and three points, looking like he may take home the league scoring title as we approach the last few games here. Matty had a great game as well as the second line continues to click.

Nothing special really happened for me. It seems Tinke and I are struggling now after a hot start. Sure, shots are getting to the net but we can’t seem to capitalize on anything. A win is a win though and hopefully we’ll be able to keep that up.

GAME 37 — VS. VANCOUVER
Back-to-back games for us again for the 100th time this season as it seems that this schedule is just out to get us at this point. Thankfully though the last place team in the league is coming to town so we should hopefully be able to take home another W.

I spend some more time watching highlights around the league and get fixated on the play of Rotticus Scott from the Knights. Also from the S54 Draft Class I would love to find ways to shut his play down when we face off, but that’s not coming for a bit.

As expected, Vancouver doesn’t have much to offer us. They get some chances and Snail gets the first goal of the game but it doesn’t take us too long to respond. Andrei seems to be all over them this game, starting a clean chant from the crowd. We score three with the fourth line getting involved again to take this one 3-1.

I feel like a did great job of shutting Vancouver down and Tinke was on them as well. It felt like a rebound from our previous game. I keep getting lazy penalties though and that’s something that I need to figure out before it gets us into trouble in the post-season.

GAME 38 — VS. DETROIT
With an entire weekend off before we’re to take on the Falcons, the S54 guys decide to go out around the city for something. Cale, Soupy, Tinke and I end up going to the mall to help Tinke find some clothes for a date. We find him the perfect fedora and he is going be an absolute catch. I will be adding clothing consultant to my resume now.

The weekend goes by pretty quickly but the team gets a practice in where Core and Andrei get into another argument about getting first line minutes. Core storms off and later comes back to introduce the “Top 10 most annoying members of this team”. Andrei makes the list nine times and takes the top spot! Impressive.

The Falcons struggle against us and really seem like a different team than they were last season. We end up beating them 4-0 in this one and nearly doubled their chances. I was able to get on the scoring sheet early with an assist to Marner, so that’s good.

In the post-game Cale was supposed to be named first star but the announcer accidentally called my name instead. I’m forced out for an awkward wave to the crowd on the ice but really my game was nothing that special.

GAME 39 — AT MAINE
Another overnight flight with a game immediately the next day pisses the team off. Core spends the flight yelling on the phone with someone named ‘BW’ from head office it sounds like and it seems his complaints are getting nowhere. After the call Core reveals to the team that Patty is actually a head office mole and has been outing our complaints to them the whole season. Now we can’t get any schedule changes approved.

Patty apologizes to the team and promises to make it up by playing like a legend against the Trees. Maine has been equally as bad as Vancouver so we were hoping that maybe we would get away with this on tired legs… but no.

Maine controls majority of the game and we can’t seem to get things going in this one either despite dominating at home. The offense is lacking in quality chances and we kept getting burned. We get a couple on the board but lose this one 5-2.

My game wasn’t terrible but nothing to gloat about this time either. I’d say overall Tinke and I just aren’t working like we did before the strategy changes during the away skid so hopefully that will change. Tinke and I ask to meet with the managers to chat after the game.

GAME 40 — AT KELOWNA
We get a few days rest before we’re supposed to take on Kelowna. Tinke and I meet with Core and J to discuss some more ice-time for the two of us. I feel like I can focus more on offense and Tinke loves shutting down the other team. We get told that this late in the season there won’t be any big changes and to just worry about playing our best game.

I know that I have more to offer the team. I have been putting in as much work as possible to improve but I feel like that I’m just not being valued as much for the work that I’m putting in. A lot of the love is going to Soupy and it’s fantastic to see him excelling but I need to show that I can be that guy too.

Kelowna on the road is everything that we were worried it was going to be. We put on some great offense but Cillian is insane in this game and the Knights shut us out 2-0, putting our league title at risk.

For whatever reason I was named the second star of this game but the only thing that I can remember after all of this is done is the fact that I wasn’t able to get that huge hit on Rotticus that I have been looking for since watching his clips. We’ll get it next time.

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That away game skid was brutal. It was great being back home and seeing Hair score a beauty. Really helped get our energy back!

GAME 41 — VS. ST. LOUIS
Back home the team organizes a Christmas event for all of the fans. We take some time to volunteer for the food drive and that refreshes us I think. We could get a huge win to end the year here.

St. Louis is definitely one of the options that we could see in the post-season and it would be fantastic to get a huge win here over them especially with the lingering feelings about last year’s playoffs.

We gave them quite the preview of what they could expect if it becomes a thing. A massive 7-3 win is absolutely what we were looking for and the captain led the charge again for this one getting three points himself.

While the third pairing of Justice and Kierkegaard @Count Chocula ended with +4s, Tinke and I were -2 in a game where we should be nowhere close to that. After the game J says that our play wasn’t acceptable and threatens to take our ice time away. Definitely not what we were hoping for after requesting more time just a couple days ago.

GAME 42 — AT KELOWNA
Our New Year’s Eve was spent preparing our flights because we got the honour of being the New Year’s Day game against the Knights and after being burned earlier this week by them hopefully this was going to be the game where we turn everything around.

I really was hoping to come alive for the last stretch of games as we have a month before the playoffs now and I need to show that I deserve to be the number one guy here with some huge games. I still haven’t gotten that big moment against Rotti yet either!

The game is a disaster though as the team can’t pull a win on the road to save our season. Core updates his Top 10 Most Annoying to be everyone on the team and tells us to figure our games out. Definitely not a great way to start the year.

I did get a goal in this one thanks to Tinke, who had a fantastic game despite the loss. I feel like I held our pairing back but we were still +2s with the third pairing not faring out as well. We get told after the game that there will be no time on ice changes.

GAME 43 — AT DETROIT
New year, same old crap. Our schedule over the next four days has us playing in three games and I’m exhausted already just thinking about it. Especially when we have to fly from B.C. to Michigan overnight. Patty is taped to the seat at the front of the plane so Core can keep an eye on him.

Detroit players are taking shots at us over social media throughout the night knowing that we are going to be gassed. I try to get some extra sleep as the drama plays out.

It seems that a few of the guys stayed up trying to get back at the red birds and that was enough to cost us because Detroit controlled majority of this game and showed that they should not be doubted.

A 5-3 win for the Falcons brings us to six losses in a row on the road and something is not right. How can a team that has played so well through the entire season suddenly fall apart like this? I got an assist in this one but end -1 and the losses are just getting more and more frustrating.

GAME 44 — AT ST.LOUIS
We get our Sunday off but I’m too bitter and stay in the hotel trying to figure out what is wrong with the team. It’s one thing to blame all of the traveling with a schedule that is so packed together but it has to be something more than that.

This time we’re set to take on the Crows and I know that we are able to beat them but the morale of the team seems to be at a low point for the season. We need a huge game to close off the season on a high note because the Kraken are gaining on us and the Knights could easily take the season title.

We don’t come out swinging against the Crows unfortunately. We out-shoot them and seem to have more heart in this one but it isn’t enough. On 25 shots, St. Louis finds the back of the net 4 times while we can only get three for our 35 shots. The guys are getting mad. Andrei breaks a stick against the boards.

Tinke and I have a good game ratings wise but I took a penalty that led to a goal for St. Louis so I’m not feeling good about that. I’m doing whatever I can to get the puck back but clearly my play is too sloppy lately.

GAME 45 — AT DETROIT
Despite just leaving the city we are on our way back to Detroit for hopefully a better result. This is another back-to-back game but the guys are doing their best to stay in good spirits. We chat about the “Petrov Army”, a group of prospects who came out of nowhere demanding that teams sign them to give them an opportunity.

Tinke and I spend the pre-game working on shutting down offense trying to break into the zone and that seems to be going very well. Between that and the good energy of the guys we are ready for tonight.

It was a ridiculously close one, but we finally grabbed another W. Cale is a little frustrated with the final score of 5-4 with Detroit’s 33 shots but the energy of the locker room post-game is that we deserved that win.

My own game was fantastic! I knew I had some new-found energy in this one. Clapped home a bomb and got an apple. Closing in on 10 goals is exciting and it’s clear that my game has definitely improved since my rookie season. I just have to keep building on this.

GAME 46 — AT MAINE
It’s the road trip that never ends… off to Portland with a few days of rest and the guys are hoping to keep our winning ways alive with especially how close the standings are becoming.

Unfortunately, it seems that the road bug got us again. A lot of the guys are missing Newfoundland being away from their pets, all of whom were shared in the group chat a fair deal. I think the low energy is what did us in.

Maine somehow got another win against us this month as they suddenly started stealing wins from all sorts of teams trying to force their way into the playoffs. They only managed a 2-1 win but it was enough to steal two points from us.

Coming off a huge game against Detroit I feel like my game was fine overall but I didn’t get another goal despite three shots. I think Tinke and I are starting to click again as people are praising his play defensively.

After the game Andrei announces that he is going to go on a camping trip to recharge. We have plenty of nights before the next game, so no one really thought much of it until we were pinged at 3 in the morning a few days later…

GAME 47 — AT ANCHORAGE
I slept right through the initial Andrei message but a meeting was called by the team before our flight to Anchorage. Overnight Andrei sent us two pictures. Andrei did not appear in either picture but one showed him at a path in the pitch black and the second showed a tarp of sorts.

The managers said they were working with the authorities to find Andrei and that we were to head to the game and get an update there. Our nerves were shot so not much talking happened on the flight over. We landed and headed for the rink.

There in the locker room was Andrei. Looking a little dirty but as normal as ever. Core yelled at him asking what the hell the pictures were to which Andrei responded with “I pitch tent,” before heading to the ice. This team is wild.

The game was terrible because we were all terrified. We kept firing pucks at the net but there was no overall great chances. We gave Scoochie an easy 1-0 shutout and that was that. Post-game Core updated his 10 most annoying to all Andrei again.

I had two bad giveaways in this one because I was so worried about this whole Andrei thing but with only three games to go we need to figure out a way to finish strong.

GAME 48 — VS. VANCOUVER
We finally get to go back to Newfoundland for the last three games of the regular season. Carolina is sneaking up on us so we need some huge wins to make sure we get 1st in the East.

Before the game the managers introduce us to Slava Petrov @ckroyal92, one of our free agent signings and part of that Petrov Army group. As there is no spots on the ice to fill it’s announced that he will be our mascot for the rest of the season, much like Slate the season before.

We slaughter the Whalers this time around and show we are ready for the playoffs. A massive 703 win with the biggest game of the year going to Tinke. He played lights out and got four points in this one showing that he can play offensively too I guess!

I tried to keep up with a goal of my own to get that 10th of the season I wanted but I’m happy to end at a +4 alongside this guy. It’s a huge win fopr us and hopefully we’ll be able to carry that over into the last two.

GAME 49 — VS. ST. LOUIS
We get one days rest before having to get ready for the Crows again, who have secured the 3rd-place spot at this point, so it’s possible still that we could end up facing them in a couple of weeks.

The Kraken are just a few points behind us and could easily take 1st from us if we’re not careful but it seems that we’re all motivated to finish out the season on a strong note.

And that motivation does work out because we’re able to get one back from the Crows with a 3-2 win. Matty continues to be absolutely fantastic and is dominating in assists this season, adding two more in this one to help get two more points, basically guaranteeing our top slot in the East.

My game was pretty boring after scoring my 10th in the last game. Tinke is consistently playing some fantastic games defensively so I need to use that as some motivation.

GAME 50 — AT MAINE
For the final game of the season it’s clear that the guys are ready to finish strong. We are in good spirits on the flight over despite our 1000th back-to-back game of the season but we needed to win to make sure that the Knights weren’t going to end in first and the Kraken weren’t going to take our spot.

Petrov motivates the guys with some mascot nonsense before the game and Slate complains that his season has been awful but overall the mood in the room is that we’re ready to take home the Four Star.

Maine have no counter for us. Marner was also in a slump recently and bummed the first line wasn’t performing but did it ever in our last game. An 8-4 win with the only hat trick of the season coming from Mats is a fantastic way to close things off for the regular season.

I got one last assist to end the season and after the game we all rushed back to the hotel to watch the Knights game to see if they were going to tie us in points or if they were taking the regular season title.

They would tie us in points and unfortunately due to the goal differentials of our teams after that slump on the road, the Knights were declared the regular season champions. We were disappointed but still motivated… the playoffs are around the corner and it’s time to take what is ours.

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Toast - 07-12-2020

[Image: jason-spezza-watches-play-with-chris-phillips-otta.jpg]
I often have dreams of one day being an alternate captain for the Berserkers. Don't be surprised if the rest of my pictures here show an A on my jersey!

REGULAR SEASON OVERVIEW
The beginning of the season was a low point for me as a player. I thought I had put in more than enough work and I wasn’t seeing the results for it which was pretty upsetting, but after that 20 game mark things really started to go my way.

I was thinking that maybe I wasn’t being played in a role that complimented my play style and was becoming bitter instead of just trusting the system. I was also caught off guard when Soupy was promoted to the top pairing with Juke and Tinke and I were just left as second thoughts it seemed. The Tinke and Klomp pairing took off though.

What I learned from all of this is that I need to be comfortable with whatever role the team has in store for me. If they need me to play defensive then I need to trust that and do whatever I can to support the team. It’s obvious that the team overall is much better with a focus on a more physical defensive type of game and while that does hold me back from individual stats, the team was well on pace to make a run for the Four Star Cup.

The second half of the season is what’s worth talking about for me. After starting with a measly six points and being at the bottom of the scoring for the team my game really exploded. I was finding the back of the net a ton more and seemed to be on the ice for majority of our offensive success. Had I played like this for the first 20 games of the season as well I’m convinced that I would have led defensive scoring. My overall +29 too was almost enough to take home the league lead.

Overall, I think my season was fantastic. If you look around the league at the other second-year defensemen who were taken ahead of me in the Draft you can see that I had a season to remember while the others… well, not so much. Sure, Soupy left me in the dust but it’s nice to see my success compared to others similar to me. I fell just short of the 30-point mark which is what I was aiming for after getting the extra practice over the off-season. My special team game leaves something to be desired with being one of the only players on the team without getting a short-handed point. 11% shooting for a defenseman is nothing to scoff at either. I definitely improved a ton compared to my rookie season.

I think the biggest surprise for everyone was that Juke cooled off when my game started popping off. We don’t know if it was a chemistry issue with Soup or whatever, but the timing was definitely odd about it. Soup still ended up scoring more than me but to see a pairing that had just over 10 points each last season end up being the top two defenders on the ice was absolutely crazy. Looking at the fantastic stats of Soup, I would not be surprised if he takes home the Agante for Newfoundland this season.

The scoring on this team was absolutely crazy. The success of our second and fourth lines was something that took the lead by storm. The rookie sensations in Lassi and Slate were incredible while Niccolo became a thing to watch as well as people were left wondering if he was going to drop the gloves each and every game. While they ended up short of 20 individual games the line played so fantastic and the bench went crazy every time one of them made an amazing play.

On the second line it just seemed there was no force in the league that could compare. Matty was the absolute definition of playmaker all season and Mina took home the scoring title. Everything that this line brought to the ice just seemed to click and teams kept paying for it time and time again. I remember the guys getting together to watch the final game of the season to see if Wagner was going to be able to pass Mina but fortunately he was only able to tie which wasn’t enough to take home the scoring title honours.

Between the pipes for us this season was another highlight with Cale playing strongly again this season. As the team really embraced a more physical play not too much was getting through to Cale but teams were finding a way to break through for more quality chances. It makes sense that Cale’s stats dropped a bit from his rookie season but he is still one of the best on our roster and is going to be an absolute force in the league as well next season. Another one of the rookies on our team, Junior, played fantastic throughout all of his starts. Finishing off with a shutout is probably one of the highlights of the season as well.

The most frustrating thing is that we lost out on the top of the league after tying with Kelowna. There was a lot of discussion about what was going to be the deciding factor for determining which team was going to be number one and we fell just short when it game to regulation/overtime wins and goal differential. Regardless, we topped the East conference and that is something to definitely be proud of. There is no one in the league now that doubts what this team can do and with that comes a lot of people rooting against us. That doesn’t matter though.

Overall off the ice a lot of the guys are saying that this is the most fun that they’ve ever had playing the game. The spirits of the team are at an all-time high despite the best efforts of a certain rookie. My favourite thing about the season is J telling us all that we’re going to be a team five or six seasons from now that people look back on and wonder how we had so much amazing talent on the same team. Everyone is putting in their best effort and we’re going to have a solid team in the post-season. We just have to hope that it’s going to be enough to take it all home.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 1 — VS. DETROIT
The home ice advantage in a series against the defending Four Star Cup Champions is something that is going to be huge for us I think. We have a ton of time before Detoit comes into town so we spend our time breaking down the season with the managers to figure out how we can win this series.

We’re called into another meeting as the defense and it’s decided that I will be getting back on a pairing with Soupy. This catches me off-guard for the second time this season because I feel like Tinke and I were starting to click at the end. The hope is that this will lead to Juke playing like a million bucks.

That’s fine though as long as Soup and I can figure out how this will benefit the both of us. Hopefully we will be able to figure out a way for the both of us to have some fantastic games. I’m bummed out that I’m not getting a chance to play on a pairing with Juke, but I’m excited to be back with Soup too.

The rest of the team is staying relatively the same and a lot of the guys are seemingly motivated to take down the Falcons. Andrei continues to call them Red Pigeons despite being corrected and Patty hangs up “faLcons” signs around the locker room which the team embraces quickly as how we’ll refer to them.

In the game itself though, I don’t think anyone knew just how much we were going to have to rely on Cale. Detroit came out with a refreshed offense that we couldn’t keep up with and we struggled big time trying to get back into it.

Thankfully this one went to overtime as we kept it tied at 2 after three periods. Slate got the first goal and Tinke assisted on the tying goal and overtime was magical. Just three minutes into extra time and Soupy sprung Mina on the breakaway and we finish game 1 with a lead in the series, which is all that we wanted.

Being on the ice for the overtime winner was such a rush of excitement but I need to work on doing more on the ice. Hopefully we keep the wins going.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 2 — VS. DETROIT
We’re officially in February hockey and the team seems to think the brooms may need to come out for this one after only getting one win. We talk about how our struggles on the road to end the season may resurface but the focus seems to be on just doing whatever we can to shut down the Falcons.

Potts has a fantastic pre-game speech to motivate the guys are we are all ready to go for this one. My goal is to get back on the scoring sheet and to make sure that we are leaving St. John’s with two early wins in the series.

This game goes better than the first in terms of shutting down the Falcons offense but it was still a close one after they got some early goals. Thankfully SLATT put us all on his shoulders and led us to a 5-4 win with two goals from himself.

My own game is still lacking and while my defensive game was rated highly, I missed four of my shots that could have helped make sure that this one wasn’t so close. A win is a win though and now we just have to look towards Detroit to put this one away after four.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 3 — AT DETROIT
Heading over to Detroit it was clear that there were some nerves from the guys about how we were going to play away. We struggled late in the season with most of our games on the road and we didn’t know what the cause of it was, and it was certain that Detorit were going to do whatever it took to capitalize on that.

A few of the guys tried to motivate us in the pre-game, mostly Petrov and Lassi, so that we would go out there and shut down anything that Detroit had. It seemed like there were some doubts in the locker room though.

Detroit used that to get back in the series. With a phenomenal game from my future teammate in Minnesota, the Falcons were back in this one and it was clear that we had some work to do. It wasn’t that our game was terrible. Patty had another strong game and the offense was there but we just didn’t have the luck on our side.

I don’t know if I’m still getting used to being back on a pairing with Soupy but my game is feeling a little off. My first shot of the game was tipped by Andrei and found the back of the net but other than that I struggled to get involved with the plays.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 4 — AT DETROIT
It seems that our struggles on the road are still an issue. We spend a lot of hours into the night trying to figure out what exactly is the probably and the blame seems to be bounced around until we accept that it’s no one’s fault specifically.

Our game is lacking physicality and if we want to make sure that we send the champs home then everyone needs to step it up offensively and show that we are not just going to let the faLcons run us over.

In this game we do a good job of that but it’s still not enough. We hold Detroit to fewer shots but we can’t seem to beat Jobin for whatever reason. Another first star for Labovitch and the series is suddenly right back to where it started.

My game wasn’t anything special either. Juke has been playing great since the shuffling of our pairings and Tinke is looking food too, but Soup and I are losing the spark that we had at the end of the season. Hopefully the trip back home is going to be enough to get us back in the lead.

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After every loss, Andrei would demand song requests and play some beautiful music on his guitar to cheer us all up and keep us working towards the Finals.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 5 — VS. DETROIT
On the trip back home I find out that in effort to get the scoring back we are going back to Tinke and myself on a pairing. It’s frustrating bouncing around but hopefully this is going to be the spark that I’m looking for to get back on the scoring sheet.

We decide to have a players only meeting to try to get us in good spirits and Andrei shows up with a guitar and starts playing some songs to help get our spirits up. We all write a song together and hash out how exactly this team is going to be Dancing Clean into the second round.

I don’t think Detroit had any idea what they were getting into coming back to Newfoundland. We were full of energy and motivated that we were going to get the lead back in the series and send them packing in game 6.

This game was phenomenal from top to bottom. It was clear the energy was back and the crowd was in love with that. Juke and Soup back together stole the show with assists on every single goal and Slate almost scored a hatty with his two goals. You could tell the first-overall kiddo was overjoyed.

Tinke and I didn’t get to the start that I was hoping for the two of us but it was hard to be upset with the fact that we had clipped the Falcons wings and they were going to be feeling that on the trip back to Detroit.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 6 — AT DETROIT
Maybe there is something in airplanes that just suck the energy out of us? The team was motivated after that win and we wanted to keep it rolling and end the first round. Carolina officially eliminated the Crows at this point so we know that Wagner and his crew would be waiting for us if we could finish this one off.

It seemed that we were a little deflated after giving it our all in Game 5 to take the lead back. We weren’t creating the chances that we had in the last game and it  seemed that the Falcons had an answer for everything that we were putting out towards them.

Andrei tried to keep us motivated and an early goal from Guy made it seem like we could take this one but the Red Pigeons were all over us for the rest of the game and officially extended the series to 7 with a 2-1 win.

I really don’t feel like I’m the same player that I was in the regular season and I don’t know if it’s just the nerves of the post-season but I need to figure out whatever the hell it is to make sure that we are not going home after one round.

EAST SEMI-FINAL GAME 7 — VS. DETROIT
Game 7. It’s not anything that any player wants to have to go through. There was a mix of feelings in the locker room. You could tell some of the guys were terrified of the possible outcome while some of us were using it as motivation to play our best games.

We hadn’t succeeded through the entire season just for it all to fall apart on us now. We had built a family together and our journey was not going to be falling to the Detroit team who struggled to click all season together. We knew we had what it takes to be the champions of this league and wins in games like these is what people look back on and say that’s what made them.

The first two periods of this game were nail-biting as both teams struggled to keep control of the game. Detroit went up very early with two goals in the first five minutes and the crowd was booing with the lack of effort th at we were putting up.

By the end of the first we had responded with Mina scoring two in the span of 30 seconds late so we were up 3-2 going into the first intermission. The locker room was quiet as we focused on keeping that play up.

Detroit kept the pressure on throughout and Andrei tried to get into their heads by clipping Jobin while skating by, sending him to the box. Thankfully we were able to hold them off for that one.

Finally in the third I was able to score my first goal of the post-season thanks to Potts and Marner. It felt good to break that slump and of course Soupy and Juke chime in with their own tallies. The final whistle came soon after and for the first time in my career, we were advancing in the playoffs.

We were celebrating in the locker room afterwords and it was a fantastic feeling, but we didn’t get too carried away. The real challenge was around the corner. We had a date with the jellyfish.

EAST FINALS GAME 1 — VS. CAROLINA
After the first round of the SMJHL playoffs and the 1 and 2 seeds from each conference are the teams that are left standing, unsurprising to anyone I guess. We were ready to take on the Kraken and really felt like the overall talent on the Falcons roster were going to be our biggest challenge.

After taking home the series against Detroit at home we got to rest up for almost a week and recharge. Hopefully that means that we were going to be able to have a real strong start to the series. Our main issue is the fact that we continue to lose games on the road but are strong at home. With the home advantage in this game as well hopefully that means we’ll be able to take this one as well.

Carolina have a very strong roster as well as a vocal one. A few of their players are quite happy to share their thoughts with the media and it’s clear that they feel that Newfoundland is overrated. I don’t know if it’s an opinion that was developed by people in the league frustrated with our season, but we’re aiming to give them something to be upset about after game 1.

We start out this game strong, having come in at full energy. SLATT and Mina score goals in the first and give us an early lead to the point where we think we can cruise for the rest of the game. There is absolutely nothing to worry about in the second period but things quickly spiral out of control in the third.

On some weak shots, Nilsen and Dakari get on the board and tie the game up just 5 minutes into the third. Juke tries to go on a rush and charges Eller accidentally and is the second defender of the post-season to get a goalie interference call. Am I a trend setter?

We hold on for the rest of the third with emotions bubbling up. Patty gets into a fight with Friedland right at the end to take the Kraken’s top defender off the ice.

In overtime things just don’t seem to click. Carolina is shutting down our offense and within 10 minutes, disaster struck. Nilsen got his second of the game and we dropped our first game of the post-season at home and quickly found ourselves in trouble.

So many defenders had fantastic games and mine was the highest rated for the Berserkers, but that doesn’t matter when we give up three goals in 22 shots. We need to be even better next time to make sure Cale isn’t left stranded.

EAST FINALS GAME 2 — VS. CAROLINA
We have two days off before game 2 and have a team meeting to try and figure out what exactly went wrong in the last game. A lot of ideas are thrown out like potentially sacrificing Petrov to the demons that Andrei camps with, but in the end we decide to just give it our all in the next one as well.

We have relied on Hair so heavily throughout the season with his fantastic games but he never really got the credit that he deserved. Time and time again he was our best player on the ice so it’s nice to see a game where he gets his moment in the spotlight.

We showed up strong in this one as well, ending up peppering 40 pucks on the Carolina net and we would end up getting back into the series with a huge 4-1 win in this one. Hair got two goals and Slate got on the board again as well.

One of the biggest things is seeing how much Slate has improved in just one season of play. With a bit of extra ice time he is finding great quality chances and making sure to take them.

I got in right at the end of the game to get an assist on Hair’s second of the game and I’m still playing strong defensively. If we can keep this up on the road then we stand a great chance of taking this series.

EAST FINALS GAME 3 — AT CAROLINA
We head to Carolina early since we have the entire weekend off again but want to make sure that we stay practicing. The energy in Charlotte is insane as you see the city has embraced the playoff run of their Kraken. Billboards around the city of Knight and Wagner give me enough energy to hopefully have a huge game.

We could tell that the Kraken had some sort of new motivation because they were playing at home and I think that got to our nerves a little bit as we saw the result during the pre-game skate. I have never seen this many people in attendance for an SMJHL game and they were all here to root for our elimination.

Carolina fed off this energy and there wasn’t much we could do. Overall, they doubled our shots and simply controlled the game. They had a strong first from their stars, specifically Vitecek scoring two in 15 seconds towards the end of the first. Carolina would end up taking this game 5-3 and we find ourselves trailing again.

Niccolo tried to get us going by challenging Friedland to a fight. I will say that I’m impressed the Friedland has been willing to go at it twice so far this series. Maybe I need to find some more grit in my game.

This ended up being my lowest rated game with the team this year and I don’t know what it was. We were rested but Carolina was all over my. They seem to be getting very physical so I know that through the off-season I need to work on that but right now we just need to focus on getting back into this game.

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Having to watch the Kraken find ways to shut down our game and score time and time again might have been the lowest point of the season for us.

EAST FINALS GAME 4 — AT CAROLINA
Another huge break before the next game, something that we didn’t have through the entire regular season. We spend time trying to figure out how to use the energy of the crowd cheering against us into motivation. Wouldn’t it feel fantastic to just listen to stunned silence?

Well, that’s basically what the team ends up doing! The turnout in Carolina is about the same but everything about our game is clicking tonight. The second line shows up in full form and Juke puts on a clinic and shows just how valuable a rushing defender can be.

We almost double Carolina’s shots this time and there is offense spread out through the team. While they didn’t get stars, Niccolo and Soupy got two goals this time around while quite a few players were +3s in a huge 9-1 win. We feel like partying in the locker room afterwords but the series has simply been reset like it was in round 1 against the Falcons.

With so many points for the team in this one it’s disappointing that I couldn’t even get on the board for an assist in this one. Something has changed from my game in the regular season and playing on a team with Juke and Soup should be more than enough to get me going offensively, but there’s nothing. A +2 in this one isn’t terrible but we need to keep this going.

EAST FINALS GAME 5 — VS. CAROLINA
Coming back to St. John’s for this one the guys kept talking about how great that huge win was. We talk about our favourite plays from the game and rejoice in the fact that we have figured out a way to completely shut down this Carolina team. Now we get to return home and take this lead before we go back and end this series in front of that packed crowd.

The Newfoundland crowd doesn’t match in numbers but the passion is there from the Canadian fans. We need to give them a performance like the one we managed in Game 4. The team is super motivated with a Dancing Clean performance in pre-game and we head out.

And completely fall flat. None of us expected that in one game the Kraken would rework their play book and figure out how they were going to shut our game down in turn. Defensively they look exactly like they did in Game 3 and they completely shut us out 5-0 to take the 3-2 series lead.

Knight has another fantastic game and seemingly can’t be stopped while we were held to just 19 shots. If we can’t figure out exactly what went wrong it’s basically guaranteed that we are going to be going home when we head to Carolina.

Defensively my game was much better in this one with three shots blocked. They sting a lot more when there is nothing you can do to help get your team on the board. I’m becoming more and more frustrated with my play because I know that I can be better.

EAST FINALS GAME 6 — AT CAROLINA
Back to Carolina now with our season on the line meant the mood on the flight over was very tense. Nobody wanted to joke around because that’s what led us to falling apart the team believes. The crowd is roaring for the Kraken to advance to the Finals, but we weren’t going to go down easily.

A motivational speech in the locker room beforehand from J seems to motivate the guys but it’s hard to tell when Cuddles gets on the board within the first minute and a half. Thankfully, we were just get started.

The roar of the crowd cheering against us is finally being used against our opponents and the offense comes to life. Slate pops in his SIXTH of the post-season somehow and we have huge games from our stars. Patty adds another in the first but Carolina keeps things tied.

In the second Carolina manages to get a two goal lead on us and you can tell the team was worried that this would be it. Matty, who has been in the center of everything all game, manages to get one in from Patty and I and we are back within one going into the third.

During the second intermission Petrov does some cart wheels to motivate us and the team focuses by listening to some hype up music. We head out with a mission. Slate gets another to bring his total to 7 for the post-season (same amount as Knight I want to point out) within the first two minutes and then the magic happens. On a great pass from Matty, Mina puts one past Eller and we get the lead!

The team chants HODL from the bench which is the most confusing thing to the Carolina crowd but is just another thing this team has picked up through our season together. We hold on for 10 more minutes and it was set… a Game 7 date in Newfoundland.

My one assist was nice to see. I’m glad to help out the team offensively again but it seems to come at the cost of defensive play. I need to find a way to be perfect in both ends of the ice for the deciding game.

EAST FINALS GAME 7 — VS. CAROLINA
The energy after game 6 was off the charts. Maybe I was feeding off of Andrei’s energy but all I remember is that we were both very vocal about wanting to get the zamboni out and getting right into Game 7.

It wasn’t long before the entire team was on board with this idea leaving Core with basically no choice but to call up the head office and see if this was an option. When he got off the phone he told us that it was agreeable by all parties and that we’d have to head home and wait for the next game.

Frustration hit an all-time high for the team and we got ready to leave. As we were leaving the arena Andrei and I yelled ‘COWARDS’ towards the Kraken locker room to which Core had to pull us aside and have a chat about respecting other team’s wishes. I stand by my thoughts.

We get back to Newfoundland and it’s nothing but practicing to make sure that we are ready for the next game. The day of rest passes by in the blink of an eye and the puck was being dropped for Game 7.

This was the most even game of the series. Throughout the last six we have traded games where we absolutely shut down each other’s games. With the effort of both teams here it really could be anyone advancing to the Cup Finals. We amp up the physical play to make sure Carolina doesn’t body us but that leads to some sloppy plays.

Juker gets called on a trip in the late first which leads to Dakari breaking the scoreless drought and suddenly the panic was at an all-time high. We have a good chat in the intermission and come right out of the gate with a huge goal from Patty to tie it up! Patty then celebrates by dropping Vitecek to the ice and gets sent to the box 10 seconds after scoring.

Lee scores on a feed from Vitecek and suddenly we’re back in the same spot as just a minute ago. Carolina stayed on the advantage with Knight getting on the board and our spirits were pretty shot just trying to get into their zone for the rest of the 2nd, until Hair did his usual heroics. He got in with three minutes left and made no mistakes to tie the game up.

Renji demanded justice for the series and dropped the gloves with Friedland and we went to the third motivated. The captain tied the game up quickly in the third but Panda was able to get Carolina in the lead again right away.

This is where the heartbreak hits. For the rest of the period Carolina lock it down and kill time. Juke gets called for hooking after some frustrating play but we keep it out. Keith Lee viciously swings his stick at me and gets called for slashing in the most terrifying moment of my career, but again, smol pp energy.

The Kraken hear the final whistle and celebrate the fact they are moving on. I’m defeated. I sit on the ice against the boards and wonder why I couldn’t do better. The Four Star Cup was meant to be ours… what went wrong? Were we too over confident? It’s upsetting.

The guys head to back locker room where Andrei plays us one last toon to close out S54. Kudos, Kraken (and congrats on the Four Star Cup even though this doesn’t match the diary time line).

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Toast - 07-12-2020

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Just of few of the choice beverages Cale and I consumed after Game 7 to help cope with our loss.

POST-SEASON OVERVIEW
Cow arse.

The game of hockey can be an absolute dick. Going home for the season after Game 7 and failing to capture that Four Star Cup that we thought we were guaranteed is just heart breaking. The mood in the locker room was just filled with frustration after the game. The Managers tried to make some post-season speeches to cheer us up and keep looking ahead but you could tell that a bunch of the guys were just pissed with the result. Cale especially seemed to be taking it hard.

Surviving Game 7 against Detroit filled us with a ton of energy. We thought Detroit was going to be our hardest opponent in the quest for it all but the Kraken managed to steal a couple of games from us. After the 9-1 win we really thought that the rest of the series was going to be ours but we seemed to be struggling for no real reason. Maybe it was the pressure of the post-season but a lot of the guys, including myself, just weren’t playing like their old selves from the regular season.

When the first game was about to begin some changes to the line-up were announced and the Managers decided that Soupy and I were going to be paired up together again. I don’t know if that messed with my head or something but ever since we were drafted in our SMJHL draft I was excited to see what our pairing was going to do together. Then we both got the call to Minnesota and it looks like we are going to be a pairing to be feared with for seasons to come, but it wasn’t meant to be in the S54 Four Star Playoffs.

Soupy kept hot for the post-season and ended falling just short of a point-per-game with his 11 in the 14 we were able to play. I ended up near the bottom of the scoring for the entire team though, only finding the back of the net once and getting a total of 4 points. When the playoffs started J said that he wanted me to play more of a defensive game and that pressure might have gotten to me. Too many times I can recall turning the puck over with a stupid move or not being able to get the jump to keep control of the puck.

My four points was not enough. I know that my focus was supposed to be on my defensive play and to keep control of the puck but I couldn’t keep up for some reason. I ended at only a +4 which seems to be a polar opposite of how I was performing in the second half of the regular season. There were some highlights like ending with 17 shots blocked but it’s clear that my defensive game needs work, which is going to be the focus going into next season. Juke and I shared to honours of being give-away machines in the post-season with a team-leading 12 each so next season I need to learn to play smarter. At least there were still some highlights of the post-season for the team though.

Liam Slate popped off. For a rookie going into his first post-season and taking into consideration that he was not confident in his play through the regular season, you would have expected the fourth line was going to end up cooling off, but instead? Slate went god damn bonkers through our 14 games. He almost had 27 per cent shooting! 27!!! Averaging a goal for every two games is something that no one would’ve seen coming and I can’t wait to see what he is going to be bringing to the ice next season. I predict Slate is definitely going to be huge for us next season.

It was stupid mistakes time and time again that held my game back and I can’t help but think my poor play is part of the reason that we are going home before the Finals. A lot of the guys are swearing off the rest of the playoffs, not caring who is going to take home the Four Star. I get that entirely and I was just as angry when the final horn went off to confirm that we were going home, but I’m keeping my eyes on the game. Why? So I can be better next season.

Yes, it’s a complete bummer that we won’t be moving on to the Finals and holding the Four Star Cup to end S54 but really? This team is getting started. We heard it throughout the league that people were cheering against us as is common against the favourites, but this team is young. I will and the rest of the team will get even better over the off-season. We are going to kill the competition in S55 and show that it’s our season, and I think staying focused on that goal is what’s going to set us apart from the rest.

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One thing in my game that is lacking is more moments like this. I will make sure that over the off-season I put on some muscle so I'm ready to land a few more hits in S55.

A lot of the teams in the league are going to be hurt by players moving on to the SHL next season. Detroit is taking some massive damage specifically. Newfoundland though? We’re set to lose one. Our captain SLATT will be making the jump to Texas and yes that’s going to hurt the first line big time but losing only one talent with the rest of the team improving day by day is absolutely crazy. Imagine a defense where everyone is practicing as much as they can. Imagine a fully trained Cale… next season is going to be an absolute blast.

The only thing that we have to worry about is that the SMJHL will be expanding as well, so Newfoundland is likely going to lose a player to one of the expansion teams as well. No one knows who the team is going to protect going into this thing so I think that is going to be the thing that most guys are worried about but we are going to be all right. We are going to get some new youth from the Entry Draft and we are going to keep improving to prove to the rest of the league that there is nothing that is going to stop us.

Yes, we’re leaving a little sooner than we expected but our heads are held high still. We have the greatest locker room in the league and that’s what’s going to motivate everyone to keep working their hardest to be the best player that I can’t be. My favourite S54 memory is going to be Game 3 against the Falcons. We’re sitting in the locker room waiting to head out for the pre-game skate when Andrei gets a stack of papers out from his bag. He goes around handing these sheets out which I assumed was just another “Where’s Sergei?” but on the top of the sheet read “DANCING CLEAN!”

Andrei had written a playoff song for us. The guys embraced it right away and before every game we would blast Dancing Queen on the Bluetooth and sing these lyrics that Andrei created for us. It’s moments like that why I love this league. It’s moments like that which are keeping me motivated to be the absolute best player that I can be. I want to show the world how great this team is and then represent the Newfoundland system in the SHL. We have a lot of work ahead but we’re only getting better from here.

༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ BERSERKERS TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ

THE OFF-SEASON
With the off-season here I’m able to improve on a few stats and hopefully become an even better player for the Berserkers. I was happy overall with my regular season but the playoffs were an absolute mess. I think the best idea for me is to focus on more defensive stats and worry about offense when I make it to the SHL.

The next season could end up being my last in the SMJHL. I am confident when I saw I’m one of the hardest working prospects from my draft class and I could easily be in a spot to join Minnesota after the upcoming season as long as I make sure to do everything that I can to continue to grow as a player.

I would love to stay in Newfoundland for another couple seasons to see if we can get the Four Star Cup we know we deserve. The team will relatively be staying the same with only the mystery of the expansion draft looming. There is still another week to go before we even find out who was unprotected by the team and will be joining Quebec or Nevada.

We also found out that Juke will be joining the Rage, which broke my heart. This was a rumour for all of S54 but I always wanted to believe that Juke was just making lame jokes. When I first joined Newfoundland I wasn’t even sure if I was going to stick to this hockey team, but Juke is one of the main pieces in a locker room that became a family. He did everything he possibly could to help the team and he was the type of player that I was trying to become. Him leaving the team is going to be a massive loss and I don’t know exactly where we are going to go from here. The defense with Tinke, Soup, Renji and I is still strong but we need to find a way to step into Juke’s shoes which I don’t think is possible. I will definitely miss him but know we’ll meet on the SHL ice in a few seasons.

The WJC and IIHF tournaments are also starting to get going. While waiting for the next season to get started, this is the perfect way to continue growing as a player. Last season I made the decision to declare for Team Japan as I saw it as an opportunity to help build an up-and-coming nation. Team USA is in good hands and who knows when I would make their squad.

WJC
It was announced that I would be part of Team World for the second season in a row, which I was happy to jump at the opportunity. Team World features a ton of stars and gives me more time with Mina after our season was cut short.

After the amount of times Knight scored against us through the season I’m happy that we have the opportunity to work together towards the WJC. We definitely have some major competition if we want a medal to become a reality but it should be a fun tournament as we give it our all for Baba Yetu.

Along with Knight, I’m really excited for the opportunity to play with JMac and Grapefruit, two of the guys who I will be meeting in Minnesota in a couple of seasons. This tournament gives us a ton of opportunity to show just how exciting the future is for the Chiefs so I’m hoping that we are going to see some success from these two.

The defensive core of Team World is quite exciting too. After keeping tabs on them throughout the season to see how I compare with them, now I get the opportunity to play with the likes of Scianna, Sondergard and Sato. The S54 draft class had a lot of defensive talent and to all be on the same team could mean some exciting things for Team World in this tournament.

I find myself on a pairing with Axel Meszaros and was told that I need to focus on my offensive game to try and keep up with the more talented Junior rosters. While I want to work on my defensive game over the off-season, it’s exciting to have the opportunity to help lead the offense.

At this point, all of the exhibition games have been played. I feel good about the team since we were able to pick up some wins against teams that we theoretically did not compare to. It seems that the team is adjusting to their new roles but we are seeing some chemistry. I have no doubts when I see Niccolo or Mina ahead of me on the ice that I will be able to count on them.

After our 7 games for the exhibition round it should be no surprise that the team is going to be counting heavily on our first line. Knight led all of our scoring with 4 goals and 10 points while Mina and Hellquist were also up there as well of course. Scianna led the defensive scoring and Niccolo surprised everyone with three goals as well.

Cillian Kavanagh was counted on for all 7 exhibition games but it’s safe to assume that we will be counting on Redacted to step in at some point throughout the round robin as well.

My own game seemed to rebound from the Four Star Playoffs with five points through the games. My penalties are still a concern but if the team is finding its way to get these goals then that’s really all that matters. I’m excited to see how far of a run we can make in this tournament and hopefully we will be able to head back to our junior teams with a medal to show off.

[Image: 220px-Flag_of_Japan_%281870%E2%80%931999%29.svg.png]
I didn't expect to get the call to the IIHF. I was so focused on the SMJHL I wasn't keeping tabs on my future teammates but I guess it's time to step up!

IIHF
Right after we were eliminated from the playoffs, I got a call that I wasn’t expecting. In just my second season I had been named to the Team Japan roster and would get the opportunity to play against some of the SHL’s greats.

This was the highlight of the off-season of course because now I will have the opportunity to meet some of the guys that I hear of so constantly in the Berserkers locker room. This is also an opportunity for me to show that I am going to be ready to make the jump to the pro level in the coming seasons.

Team Japan is still relatively young. Some prospects like myself are declaring for the nation from their home country and the pros on this team are either in their prime or just reaching it. While Team Japan may not be of any concern to the top nations right now, we certainly could be in the coming seasons and I hope to be a huge part of that future as well.

I was one of four SMJHLers who got the call to report to Japan after the WJC wraps up. With the invite came a list of the other players who would be on the team with me and I’ll be honest, the pressure of playing with some of these guys may end up getting to me.

Going into the SHL Entry Draft one of the teams I wanted to end up on was the Chicago Syndicate just because of the younger roster they have. They are primed for success and Japan shows many of those players responsible for that. I’m not sure how I will know which Smeb is which and playing with Ren and Westbroek will be awesome as well.

There is too much talent on this team and it’s clear that I’m likely not going to be able to keep up, but at least this will prepare me for getting to the point that I need to be. Playing with guys like Chico and Dayudie gives me the chance to pick their brains on how to grow into a better player.

One of the other SMJHL players to make this team is Sato, a S54 rival/friend who I will likely end up sharing third pairing duties with. Having the chance to go for gold with Team World and then reporting for my first IIHF tournament gives a ton of excitement for the season and I can’t wait to see how everything plays out.

My agent says that this is the most fun that he has ever had while working in this league and things are just getting started for us. I can’t wait to see what next season brings.

Code:
19, 987 words. 11 pictures. WJC bonus media.


RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Nhamlet - 07-12-2020

Yes HO, this man is responsible for the murder of the media grading department.

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Lime - 07-12-2020

20,000 words toast you absolute mad lad

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - JumpierPegasus - 07-12-2020

toast comin for wasty's bank lead

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - juke - 07-12-2020

wow only 22 mentions, it's like you've already forgotten about me

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Toast - 07-12-2020

meant to edit whoops

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Wally - 07-12-2020

Look Toasty... 1) You didn’t even hit 20k. 2) My twin. 3) Fuck all. 4) Repeat.

<3

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - Wearingabear - 07-16-2020

holy. shit.

RE: The S54 Klompus Diary - SewingWithNancy - 01-12-2022

[Image: shocked-mouth-open.gif]