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KenitohMenara · 03-16-2020, 05:04 AM

**1802 words - x2 Draft related media**

This is it. The day had finally arrived. The day that every young player gets excited and gets nervous beyond belief. The day that they dream about and the day that they dread. When the teams in the greatest hockey league of all finally stop their scouting and actually start picking players. For the young players that wake on this day year after year, it can often feel like time seems to go in slow motion. Like children in school forced to face the reality they have to take that daunting test, they feel every minute of every hour heading up to the show.

For these players the wait can be almost unbearable and for good reason. These young players have worked day in and day out for pretty much their entire lives. Thousands of hours put into training camps, scrimmages, junior league games and international meetups when other kids are sitting at home, playing video games and taking a slower pace to life. That’s not even counting for the injuries they might have suffered, the setbacks given to them by teams that didn’t understand their talents or maybe they were forced to work harder than others because of family or financial difficulties. Some players entering this draft also didn’t even make it to the SMJHL draft which put even more pressure on their shoulders to succeed, to prove that this impossible dream that they held so dear wasn’t just that… a dream? A fantasy that they could never reach? It’s enough to make players sick with worry. All you can do at that point is put your bravest face on and be at peace with yourself, knowing that you have done all you can to impress the scouts. Your season, the pro days, the combine, they have all passed and it is time to see where your career continues from here.

Santtu Rasanen had flown from his home town of Turku just to be here with his fellow Anchorage rookies, Danny White and Chris de Siren. They were all deeply nervous heading into today but Santtu possibly had the biggest weight on his shoulders. Unlike Danny and Chris, Santtu had joined the season while it was ongoing, signing as an undrafted free agent. The pressure on him was immense, he had to succeed and get scouts to value him highly or everything he had worked for would have been for naught. For this young finnish player, it felt like he was back on that long road to Helsinki, the skis on his feet as he pushed himself towards the city as hard as he could to make it to the game on time. The pain he felt as he pushed onward, the bitter chill in the air that day, the fear of missing the game and letting his team down. Santtu never wanted to feel those feelings again in his life but here he was, walking into Montreal with that same fear.

Santtu had received some good news before the draft. Many scouting experts considered him a “Hidden Gem” prospect, someone who could develop into a great player given time and good structure, in the Undrafted Free Agent class, only Taylor Johansson was considered better than him. It was a good feeling heading into the draft but Santtu couldn’t hide how he was feeling well. He knew for a fact he wasn’t going first round, that was inevitable. The field of talent before him was too great to overcome in the short amount of time he had in the league. While that was a no brainer to him, he was still wondering about where he was going to land. Some had him pegged as an early 2nd rounder, others had him late 3rd. That kind of disparity was overwhelming but Santtu tried to keep himself calm as he watched the draft happen. No real surprises happened in that first round, the cream of the crop went quickly and Anchorage trio settled down together, hoping with all of their hearts that the second round would be where they would find their pro teams. Well, that was what Chris and Danny thought would happen, Santtu couldn’t help but have a lingering doubt in his mind that he might fall out of the 2nd round altogether. Then it started to happen:

“With the 25th Pick in the Season 53 SHL entry draft, the Calgary Dragons select Chris de Siren. (@Chrisda19) Left Winger, Anchorage Armada.”

All three Anchorage rookies jumped up and cheered. It had finally happened, the first of the big three in the Armada ranks was off the board. As Chris went up to collect his jersey and take pictures with the Dragons, Santtu couldn’t help but shed a tear. Ever since they had been paired together on a line, Santtu and Chris had become very close friends. They lived on the same street in Anchorage, worked out together and hung out after practice and games. Santtu knew just how hard Chris worked every day in training and how much energy he put into every game and thus, to see his best american friend get his reward after all his work was gratifying. Danny nudged Santtu in the shoulder and whispered:

“You and me next buddy. It’s our time now.”

Santtu smiled and nodded, the doubts were starting to fade a bit. Maybe they would all go in these next few picks. Then those picks started coming in, no Danny White or Santtu Rasanen being selected and that fear started to return to Santtu. He tried to remember old finnish sayings his grandfather had taught him to stay calm but then he remembered. If he was this stressed going into a draft day, he would never survive international games or the SHL. He instead remembered what his parents had always taught him about Sisu, about the finnish way of life and how they faced fear without regret. Santtu straightened up and smiled at Danny:

“30. You’re going pick 30”

Danny was taken aback by his friend's sudden turn around but nodded back. Then, just as Santtu predicted:

“With the 30th Pick in the Season 53 SHL entry draft, the Los Angeles Panthers are pleased to select Danny White. Defenseman, Anchorage Armada”

There it was! Danny finally got drafted! Santtu hugged his friend before Danny rushed down the steps to greet the Panthers. Danny was possibly the hardest working defender on the Armada not named Bergstrom, he put his all into every single shift and was building himself to be one of the best defensive defenders that the J had ever seen. That was two and now that left only Santtu to be drafted. The Minnesota chiefs came up and selected… Separa Borro. One pick left to go in the second round. Santtu kept himself as still as possible as… wait, the commissioner was heading up to the podium? What was going on?

“The Calgary Dragons trade the 32nd pick to the Manhattan Rage. Manhattan is now on the clock.”

That was surprising. Trading up like this didn’t happen all that often, especially for a later round selection. The Manhattan Rage GM stood up with his crew and headed to the podium. His eyes and Santtu’s eyes met for just a second. Was that just Santtu’s mind playing tricks on him? Or was it…:

“With the 32nd Pick in the Season 53 SHL entry draft, the Manhattan Rage are pleased to select Santtu Rasanen. Center, Anchorage Armada.”

For a second, it felt like the world had stopped turning. It was there, he was selected. Santtu Rasanen had made it into the second round. Then he just exploded with joy, he jumped up and down as the realization hit him. He walked down the stairs and onto the stage, shook hands with everyone and put on his new jersey. All of his hard work and all of his hardships had been validated. He was a member of the Manhattan Rage.

Santtu sat at the Rage table, answering questions from the media. He was obviously ecstatic to join the most recent Challenge Cup Champions and be a part of a great organisation that put a lot into developing their players. Then Santtu started hearing what the Rage front office though about him:

“We were ecstatic when we saw an opportunity to move up and get him. We knew his IQ, his ability is through the roof and it will only be a matter of time before he's lighting up juniors. You don't pass on getting that kind of talent and that kind of person in your locker room, so we took our shot and we're glad it worked out.” - JayWhy, GM of Manhattan Rage

"Seeing Santtu up there at 32, and having the opportunity to trade for a player like him is definitely worth it. Looking at our assets we knew that a future 2nd wouldn't be a major thing to lose to get a guy that dropped in the draft. We already were looking at him at 27, so seeing him 5 picks later at 32 we knew we had to swoop in and get him. We like what he brings to the table both on and off the ice, we feel that he will bring a lot more benefit than that 2nd in the long run." - Arnost Holub, Assistant GM

“You know, when you’re in the war room, you never know who’s going to be available, and when we saw a guy sliding down the board that we had a high grade on, we had to come up and grab him. Santtu is a talented player, someone we got to watch a lot in Anchorage, and we’re excited to bring into the team.” - Sebastian Frost, Head Coach

It was a humbling experience for Santtu to hear such high praise from the front office. It only made him more determined to be worth their praise and the assets they traded to get him. He would work hard in training camp to improve his skills and bring Manhattan a four star cup along the way. Speaking of that cup, Santtu met up with Danny and Chris after the media session and all three players hugged it out. Their dreams had all come true. They had all been taken in the SHL draft. It might be to different teams but they would always remain strong friends and even stronger teammates in Anchorage. Their new mission became clear, to head back to the Armada and win themselves the four star trophy. A young player's dream is to get drafted, a drafted player’s dream is to prove his pro team right. As the trio headed out of the Montreal forum, a new dawn seemed to come for them. It was time to work harder than ever before to win.