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Fluw · 07-31-2023, 09:16 AM

Throughout his SHL career Kristjansson can be described as somewhat of a journeyman playing for 4 teams during his 16 season career. Kristjansson never intended to play for any other team aside from New England however as time progressed, management changed and things seemed in somewhat of a limbo in New England Kristjansson made the tough decision of hitting free agency.

Even though Kristjansson was the captain of the New England Wolfpack at the time, he had felt that after so many changes with the organization, and not really finding his rhythm there, he would see what else was out there and decided to sign with the Chicago Syndicate for the next 3 seasons. This was probably the best decision of his career, as he ended up having some of the best season of his career notching 71 assists and 92 points during the season he led the league in scoring winning the scoring title and jeff dar award. In his time with Chicago Kristjansson also managed to win his first ever Challenge Cup and bring it home to his hometown in Iceland.

So why would a player who played his greatest seasons in Chicago, with hardware to show for it hit free agency once again one his contract was up? Well at the time the Winnipeg Aurora were on the rise and were slated to be one of the best teams in the league for the next few seasons, and Kristjansson started to get slightly greedy and figured that was his best chance at getting another cup.

On top of that, the GM of the Winnipeg Aurora at the time was Ace, who had drafted Kristjansson to the New England Wolfpack when he started his career so it was a match made in heaven.

Upon joining the Winnipeg Aurora Kristjansson had hoped that he would continue to produce at the rate that he was with Chicago, however with different linemates and different responsibilities in Winnipeg, Kristjansson numbers dropped.

Following his 92 point season, he notched a measly 58 points in his first season with the Aurora followed by a season with 69 points in S67. It continued to drop from there, and Kristjansson has hovered in the 55-43 point range a shadow of his former 69 point season. On top of that, Kristjansson has been to the finals with the Aurora 3 times in his 6 seasons there, losing all 3 times.

While this was crushing, Kristjansson did turn it up in the playoffs, except maybe one season. In S69 where he had 13 points in 24 playoff games. However in S70 Kristjansson had 22 pts in 22 games in the playoffs, and the following season in S71 had 19 pts in 22 games. It’s safe to say that the reason the Aurora added Kristjansson to the roster was to bring experience during the playoffs, and Kristjansson honestly brought exactly that but was unable to ultimately win his 2nd Challenge cup with the team.

At the end of the S71 Season, Kristjansson had ann]ounced he would be retiring following the upcoming S72 season, and the Aurora made a tough decision. As Kristjansson’s ability had been slowly declining due to age, the Aurora decided to move on and shipped him off to the Eastern Conference to the Hamilton Steelhawks where Kristjansson is slated to complete his final season in the SHL, before retiring back home to Iceland to take up his father’s sea fishing business. (576 words)

*CptSquall* · 08-04-2023, 12:39 PM

Approved, +5 TPE to @Fluw

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