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***Acsolap*** · 02-12-2019, 09:54 AM

Another finals series and another finals loss. The hand shake line is done and all that's left is the echos of Edmonton's celebrations as they are presented the Challenge Cup on the ice while we traipse down the narrow corridor into the away locker room.

One by one the sticks are hung forlornly in the rack outside the doors until Dani Forsberg takes a two handed slash to it and sends the sticks skittering all over the place. "FUCKING BULLSHIT WAY TO END THE SEASON" he yells as he crashed through the doors. I throw my stick into the pile and file into the dressing room along with the others before sinking down into my booth. I don't even have the energy to undo my skates and so just slump into the wall and stare into the abyss. Two SHL finals in two seasons and both ending in losses. Before that an SMJHL finals loss with St louis and the season before that a loss in the WJC final with Great Britain.

Florence Clijsters is muttering about being cursed. She is in the same boat as I am, continually failing to take that final step and get your hands on the coveted trophy. I cant help but wonder if I too am cursed which can maybe be attributed to our famous British pessimism. Only one team can win and there will be many players that have miserable luck across their careers but at this moment it definitely feels like we are on the recieving end of some cruel joke.

Leafer Reilly storms out of the showers butt naked "I just want to say FUCK SIMON". Everyone looks confused, we dont have a Simon on our team and neither does the Blizzard but he is clearly pissed so no one says anything. "I'm done with this shit, one more season and I'm retiring" and with that he disappears back into the stalls but can be heard crashing around. "Knock it off" calls out Jon Ross and then goes back to staring at the ground. I feel most sorry for him as this was his last season playing pros and it would have been nice to send him off the right way.

This team has been a dynasty, it is a phenomenal achievement to make four cup finals in five seasons as well as to win two cups in that period of time. I am a little jealous that I missed out on the last cup win but have to remain hopeful that we will put this set back behind us and maintain the standards we have set for ourselves.

The media is hungry for misery pieces and keeps trying to get inside the room but there is no mood or patience to deal with them. Ludwig who for me was the playoff MVP regardless of the final result takes one for the team and shimmies his way through the door to speak to the assembled reporters. There was no way I was going to face up to the media so I took my gear off, got showered, put on my suit and went out the fire escape to the team bus. There is nothing quite like the empty feeling of having come so close to the championship only to see it slip away at the last minute. We had the series under our control in game six of the series and conceded a poor last minute equaliser after hitting the post shortly before. Those are the fine margins that many titles are won and lost on but that comes as no consolation to the loser.

Eventually all of my other teammates joined me on the bus and we began the long and somber journey back to Florida from Edmonton. Upon arriving home we had our season debriefing with the management and then headed on our separate ways to begin the off season.

I went back to the United Kingdom to see my family and friends and after a week or two the pain of the failure starts to fade. I take a bunch of my friends to Croatia and we spend a week sailing the coast, getting pissed and basking in the sun. The pounds pack on so I decide to head back to Miami a bit earlier than required and get down to the business of getting back in shape mentally and physically for the new season. We get a lot of shit from others because we play for 'West Kendall' but really I think people are just jealous because they live in frozen shit holes while we get sun, surf and cocktails for the majority of the year.

It's good to get back in the gym and it gives me a chance to pummel out any remaining frustration from last season. I finish up and as go to leave the facility the General Manager calls me into his office.

"Nice to see you back in early it's always good to see young players taking the start to the season seriously. Listen, we have decided to make a few moves this off season."

Oh shit, I'm getting traded.

"We feel like our window is starting to close with a lot of our veteran players starting to fade off. We are moving Aizawa out and bringing in Eqvist. At the moment we aren't looking to aquire another top pairing defenseman, Jon Ross has retired and Sven Brokstad was taken in the expansion draft so if you put in the work and show that you deserve it you'll be getting a shot at partnering Ludwig."

Top pairing. Playing with our best players matching up against the best the SHL has to offer. I've finally fucking made it. I must have had a gormless look on my face because the GM prompts me.

"Nothing to say? I thought you'd be ecstatic"

"Sorry sorry, it's just come as a surprise I thought I'd probably slowly make my way up the lineup. I've only been playing third pairing and penalty kill minutes and this is a big jump."

"Don't worry, you've shown you can hold your own in the league so you've earned the chance. Work hard and don't let us down."

I almost run out the door doing heel taps. Years of work has culminated in this and this is a huge step forward in establishing myself as one of the premier defensemen in the SHL. Not only that but it will be with West Kendall who have shown that they are routinely one of the best teams in the league. While we are losing a few players and will probably be retooling in an effort to stay competitive in the long term the new divisional format should give us every chance to be back in the thick of things come the end of the season. The arrival of a local rival in Tampa Bay will only bring added spice to next season and given the current status of their team we should be looking to take maximum points. The draft is next week and despite not having a large amount of picks there are supposedly loads of top drawer players so we should be able to make some great additions.

Despite the disappointment of last season the future looks bright and I will be a big part of it. I couldn't be happier.

Credit to Ml002, King, Wasty, Carpy, Bruins10, Rum_Ham, Turd Ferguson, Ragnar and Enigmatic for the sigs.
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Rabidsponge21 · 02-12-2019, 10:11 AM

You can't spell 1600 TPE anchor without LKS. I'm sure you'll be carrying me!

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