Excitement was growing. It was draft day in the SMJHL and a trio of new players were set to debut their rookies in the SMJHL and SHL as a whole. With some research, there were some thoughts about who could go where. It was fun to talk to the GMs and get interviewed, then take that information and try to gauge interest and draft position. Yoshinobu Ishii went first of the trio, 30th overall to Great Falls, their fifth pick of a big rebuild draft for them. Ishii plays Center and focuses on a two-way game, which may have made him a little more attractive to the decision makers than his scoring winger and defenseman counterparts, but at this point it's a crapshoot.

15 picks later, Patrick Rail, Left Wing went to Anchorage. Rail took up a focus in scoring attributes and, as we'll see later, that came through significantly in his rookie season.

12 picks after Rail, Oskar Svenguard went to Nevada. The Right handed defenseman favoring his strength rounded out the trio's draft, and they set forth together on their inaugural season in the SMJHL together.  How did it go?

Rail took off like a bat out of hell and paced rookie scoring for much of the season, surviving a long, late slump to put forth an impressive rookie campaign. Ending with 53 points, including 25 goals. He also led the entire league in hits, adding a physical element to his game as the season went on. His Offensive Game Rating average for the season was 73, while his Defensive Game Rating didn't sag behind much at all, finishing at a 66. His total average Game Rating was 71. The playoffs didn't last long for Rail, unfortunately, as Anchorage was ousted early. He had 2 points in 4 playoff games while still averaging a strong 70 OGR in those games, and a very nice 69 overall Game Rating. He added 6 hits and an impressive 6/7 on faceoffs in the playoffs too, doing whatever he's asked to do, like a great team player.  Rail's Power Play Time on ice average in the playoffs took a concerning dip from his regular season total while he averaged a shift per game on the penalty kill.

For Svenguard, he helped pace the backend for Nevada all season, ending the year in the running for the Masters, but with 15 points. He put forth a strong Defensive Game Rating of 70 for the season, while his OGR slipped behind a bit at 53, dragging his overall GR down to 61. Maybe most impressively, or curiously, was the fact that Oskar too 61 faceoffs this season, quite a bit for a defenseman. He even won 18 of them!  While is numbers for the regular season weren't earthshattering, winning is what counts. And Oskar got to keep showing up to the rink and playing in the playoffs while his cohorts were on the golf course, as Nevada made a decent little run. Svenguard played in 7 games in the playoffs, tallying 3 points, and carrying a very impressive 80 DGR! He even took 9 more faceoffs, winning 2.

As for Ishii, the first of the draftees of the gaggle of friends, he spent the year centering Great Falls' 3rd line and had a steady, if not inconsistent season, with 33 points. With a focus on two-way play and playmaking, he was happy to have 22 assists and an impressive shooting percentage of 15.1 percent, which at one point lingered around 30 percent earlier in the season, yet late enough to not be a small sample size.  A stickler for faceoffs, Ishii ended the season at 52 percent from the dot, among the lead leaders for rookies. Overall he's not thrilled with his OGR or DGR, at 60 and 64 respectively. The onus on defense boosted his average total GR to 64 though. This is something he's eager to improve next season. Yoshinobu's playoffs were similar to Rail's; short and not as productive as he hoped. He finished with a goal and an assist, ended as a +1 and a 51.8 faceoff win percentage for the Grizzlies. More importantly to Ishii, he boosted his DGR to 83 in the playoffs and had more takeaways than giveaways, unlike the regular season. Something to build off of, for sure!

The trio are excited for whatever comes their way next. They hope for the chance to play together, if that opportunity ever presents itself at the professional level. They're excited to grow their players beyond the Rookie level TPE's and focus on specific attributes that really put a specification on Rail, Ishii, and Svenguard. And they're excited to launch a podcast together and share their experiences and stories with the public regarding their time and growth in the SHL.

Stay tuned for what comes next!

Awesome deep dive! Excited to write the next chapter!

Great read!

Approved for 5 tpe.