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DeletedAtUserRequest · 04-22-2018, 03:22 PM

These past few seasons have begun to shape what is now the 7 season journey in the virtual career of Mike Izzy. I had written down blurbs and thoughts over the previous 2 seasons.. which ill call a 'Memoire' in honor of the french <a href='index.php?showuser=1157' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-14'>.bojo</a>'s wedding.
Cheers

Season 39:
it was an honor to play along side the immortal Esa Anrikkanan for my 1st 2 seasons. Frankly, we were a better 3rd line then most teams and my job was rather simple.. Hit a lot of people and make room for Esa to do his thing. But i knew going into 39 that my role had changed with the Dragons.. After a strong post season in 38 and the honor of being named an alternate captain in the off-season, i was now being asked to perform at a higher level.. a notion that was solidified with the promotion to our teams 2nd line and my new linemate.. Randy Randelman. Playing alongside Randy is exhilarating and worrisome... the man is so good on the ice that if the lines not playing well.. it's definitely your fault!

but i felt good with my starting build moving into S39, i had a strong offseason of adding TPE and i finally moved into a range that i could cause some trouble out there. One of the defining moments of my season came before we even played a game...

I was talking to our team captain Joe Kurczewski about the upcoming season and my thoughts on how i should enhance my physical game which should open up room for Randy .. Joe said to me 'Izz.. hitting everything out there was fine for the first few seasons, but you're an 'A' now.. and you have to become more than that out there'

Words that really resonated with me.. and the moment that i decided to work with Randelamn instead of deferring to him. We turned out to be a serious unit in season 39.. Randy, Izzy and another hall of famer in Nicholas Pedersen who seemed revitalized with this new opportunity late in his career. Our line clicked hard from day 1!... we were dominating just about every shift we jumped on.. the numbers began to rack up and more importantly the wins began to make a difference as Calgary was a top flight team looking towards another run for a title.

With the line playing so well and Izzy progressing into a serious player out there, I decided not to add TPE to my build until my game began to dip.. turns out that i didn't add TPE for the whole season.. This put me in an interesting position on that last update before the playoffs... Do i stick with whats worked or do i add what was about 80 TPE to my build? I struggled with that for little bit....and ultimately decided on the Sunday before the playoffs to add the extra firepower. A move that ill debate for the rest of my career as i played Horrific in that 4 game sweep at the hands of the Panthers! (4 Gms, 0 G, 0A, 0P, -4, 11H, 8 SH)

All in all it was a disappointing end to an exciting season. The good times on the ice and the good times in the locker room will be what i try to remember about S39... and on a personal note Izzy had a year that i will always look back fondly over, ending with 48 points and 209 hits in my 3rd season in the SHL."

Off season S39:
The Off season began with the drafting of Slappydoodle and the signings of Adam kaiser and Louie Garrett.. 2 star studded free agents which for the team marked the end of a successful retooling of our roster. Calgary's been a post season participant for all but 1 season since S24.. a tenor of success that may have made our rebuild hard to visualize or even 'illegitimate' to some because we never endured the pain, sweat and losing that typically goes with a rebuild. The Signings were met with a fierce push back! it was a reaction which seemed misguided to me as we were being criticized for doing things well..

The reaction also took Calgary's newest members by surprise after there long courtship with the league through the free agent process... making those first few days as a new team a bit odd. But like any league issue the site moved on and we went back to our day-to-day routines and the task of assimilating our newest members into our collective.

Season 40:
There was an excitement in the air moving towards opening day! Expectations were high as Kaiser and Augustus took there spots as the team's top defensive unit and Garrett was pegged as a 1st liner along side Forsberg and Kurczewski. as for Izzy.. I was back with Randelman and #ZombiePeds on the teams 2nd line.. but the roles had changed as i had officially moved past Randelman in TPE and had changed my build to mimic Randelmans old role as the alpha dog within the unit. The fans pegged Garrett, Izzy, Forsberg and Kurczewski as 'The Awesome Foursome' and we were ready to do something special!

While we weren't scoring allot the 1st 10 games resulted in 7 wins.. and Izzy began strong scoring 12 points with a league leading 56 hits! ....... and then came the infamous re-sim day. Ninja

.. We had won those games against LAP and the Jets but 2 goals and 2 assists were erased off of my stats due to the newly generated box scores. While the franchise continued to win after the resim, My momentum hit a brick wall and my game fell off a cliff.. as i went scoreless in 11 straight games!!

[Image: MTZhdG4.jpg]

The hits kept on coming... but I didn't score a point for 20% of the season...I was happy that the team was winning but it was the most difficult stretch of my career. only 1 line was generating points and that burden fell directly on Izzy's shoulders. On a 26 point pace, 3rd on the team in shots and a 5.23 shooting percentage... i felt the weight of every loss we had.. as well as the virtual guilt of living up to most people's 1st or 2nd pick in their drafts.

Moving towards our 3rd update i made the decision to change my build back to the strategy that had worked for me in the past...a task that would take 2 updates to complete. Week 3 i began to pick up the pieces.. Calgary continued to win low scoring games and i was chipping in with some assists.

Moving into the 4th update the coaching staff concluded that if we were to make a real push in the playoffs we must reach a higher level of play.. the answer that they came up with was moving dynamic forward Dani Forsberg to the 2nd line along side Randelman and i. The 4th update also moved my build back to a place i felt at home with... the results of these changes was a franchise that finally took off!

Forsbergs talent was a welcomed addition as we clicked instantly on the ice...I went on to have one of the best runs of my career scoring 17 points in 9 games and for the first time this season the 'Awe 4' were all clicking at the same time! The Calgary Dragons won 11 of our last 13 averaging 5.08 goals per game moving into post season play. On a personal note, Izzy ended up with 40 points, 200 hits and a +10 on a 10.86 shooting percentage.

The conclusion of S40 is about to be written... but its been an exciting few seasons within my career... the changing of my role within the organization, the increased expectations, the highs of lows of a season and the unity and comradary within our locker room. When i think back on my career these 2 seasons will definitely stand out as important times in that Journey.

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Steelhead77 · 04-22-2018, 06:01 PM

Nice recap of Izzy's last 2 seasons, was happy to see you get hot down the stretch this year and the team do well. You've definitely developed into one of the best power forwards in the league and I think there's still another level to be reached!

Cheers

---> ParmBorg Highlights <---

#1 All-Time SHL Goal & Point Scorer
- First 2,000 TPE Player in SHL History -
- First 400 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- Only 500 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- First GM to Win 5 & 6 Challenge Cups -
Esa Anrikkanen Award - SMJHL ROY - Est. S34
Vidrik Onoprienko Award Winner - S45

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