Good Afternoon SHL world (I wanted to get this done in the morning but did not have a chance), we are now mere hours away from the Season 71 draft! See tried to get it done in the morning. You can tell the whole SHL universe is excited. The stars of tomorrow have been plying their craft to be recognized by the GMs of today. They have all just completed their first SMJHL season, and quite a few made major impacts and have become noticed by many through out the league. I am your host Spidey at the pre-draft warm up news hour. Let’s take a look at the season that was and how it will affect their draft status moving forward.

Last season we first met many of the rookies at the draft, and here is how it played out:

S70 SMJHL Entry Draft
Round 1
1: Vancouver Whalers - Bob Wehadababyitsaboy
2: Colorado Raptors - Oliver Castillon
3: St. Louis Scarecrows - Dominik Winters
4: Great Falls Grizzlies - Levin Schattenaxt
5: Regina Elk - Just-to-Buy My-Love
6: Nevada Battleborn - Thomas Sawschuk
7: Anchorage Armada - Finn Weiß
8: Great Falls Grizzlies - Andre Latreille
9: Kelowna Knights - Crystal McLeod
10: Maine Timber - Mick Mayhem
11: St. Louis Scarecrows - Jay Bryzi
12: Newfoundland Berserkers - Adelbert Steiner
13: Yukon Malamutes - Furious Chicken
14: St. Louis Scarecrows - Marshall Madden

Round 2
15: Regina Elk - Mercedes Baylé
16: Detroit Falcons - Theodore Svatos
17: Vancouver Whalers - Bellamy Blake
18: Carolina Kraken - Filip Svatos
19: Colorado Raptors - Foggy Nelson
20: Nevada Battleborn - Max Carnage
21: Anchorage Armada - Barg Hazbite
22: Carolina Kraken - Alexej Kastrba
23: Quebec City Citadelles - Net Man
24: Newfoundland Berserkers - Erik Erikson
25: Great Falls Grizzlies - Andren Akerson
26: Kelowna Knights - Logan Webb
27: Maine Timber - Shootin Blanks
28: Carolina Kraken - Matt Stro

Round 3
29: Yukon Malamutes - Jordan Tanner
30: St. Louis Scarecrows - Kyle Baretto
31: Vancouver Whalers - Inactive Forever
32: Regina Elk - Ally Mathieson
33: Newfoundland Berserkers - Luke Labrie
34: Nevada Battleborn - shnopple lopple
35: Anchorage Armada - Xavier Ali
36: Colorado Raptors - Scary Jerry
37: Vancouver Whalers - Johnny FourStar
38: Maine Timber - Merle Van Nistelrooy
39: Great Falls Grizzlies - Dave Richardson
40: Vancouver Whalers - Thomas Liebold
41: St. Louis Scarecrows - Todd Bowers
42: Colorado Raptors - Drew Sureshot

Round 4
43: Detroit Falcons - Martin Csiszar
44: Yukon Malamutes - Donny Dangle
45: Vancouver Whalers - Marko Zajc
46: Maine Timber - Michael Adams
47: Carolina Kraken - Aaron Ranger
48: Regina Elk - Thor Odinsson
49: Anchorage Armada - Theodore Lauzon
50: Carolina Kraken - Extra Magic
51: Carolina Kraken - Bryce Mitchell
52: Newfoundland Berserkers - Paul Matz
53: Great Falls Grizzlies - Bryson Basham
54: St. Louis Scarecrows - Will Nason
55: Detroit Falcons - Ryan DeSharkie
56: Detroit Falcons - Khris Ray-Thiago

Round 5
57: St. Louis Scarecrows - François Bersier
58: Yukon Malamutes - Matthias Reis
59: Vancouver Whalers - Larry Johnson The 3rd
60: Regina Elk - PASS
61: Colorado Raptors - Nate ESJAYKAY
62: Nevada Battleborn - Alex Crosswell
63: Anchorage Armada - Peter Lasma
64: Carolina Kraken - Apollo Peed
65: Quebec City Citadelles - Lionel Messi
66: Newfoundland Berserkers - PASS
67: Great Falls Grizzlies - Michael Cordero
68: Kelowna Knights - Morgan Delfield
69: Maine Timber - Chad Chadwick
70: Detroit Falcons - Drew Meyer

Round 6
71: St. Louis Scarecrows - Dean Ventresca
72: Yukon Malamutes - Royal Pizza
73: Vancouver Whalers - Nate Gray
74: Regina Elk - PASS
75: Colorado Raptors - PASS
76: Nevada Battleborn - Joebammmm Farf
77: Anchorage Armada - PASS
78: Carolina Kraken - Auzzie Chambers
79: Quebec City Citadelles - PASS
80: Newfoundland Berserkers - PASS
81: Great Falls Grizzlies - Aron Mahon
82: Kelowna Knights - PASS
83: Maine Timber - PASS
84: Detroit Falcons - PASS

Round 7
85: St. Louis Scarecrows - PASS
86: Yukon Malamutes - PASS
87: Vancouver Whalers - PASS
88: Regina Elk - PASS
89: Colorado Raptors - PASS
90: Nevada Battleborn - PASS
91: Anchorage Armada - PASS
92: Carolina Kraken - James Supercard
93: Quebec City Citadelles - PASS
94: Newfoundland Berserkers - PASS
95: Great Falls Grizzlies - Michael Doucet
96: Kelowna Knights - PASS
97: Maine Timber - PASS
98: Detroit Falcons – PASS

The biggest stories from each round were:

Round 1 – Crystal McLeod going in the first round. Crystal was a relative unknown coming into the draft. Many expected her to go in the earlier half of the draft, but few had her in the first round of their board. The Kelowna Knights had Crystal high on theirs often choosing to go against the grain and pick up character players who will strength their locker room and less about who the player is or was. This pick while questionable has turned into solid returns. Crystal may not be the media darling but she is a consistent worker and has remained active all season.

Round 2 – Net Man was the first goalie selected, with only a handful of goalies available in this year’s draft the Quebec in a bit of a desperate situation in goaltending and only a few picks to get one made the move to bring in who they felt would be their franchise piece between the net. This may have turned into a great decision as Net Man has been one of the few goalies to continue to improve through out the season.

Round 3- Vancouver strikes GOLD, getting a top earner in the first or second round is not unheard of or a real surprise. Getting a top earner in the third round is fantastic and great drafting. Getting two of the top earners in the third round you may have just won the draft that year. Getting three top earners in the third round, you have either entered GOD MODE or you read Nostradamus correctly and were able to position yourself correctly to reap the rewards. Vancouver entered GOD MODE in this draft picking up Thomas Liebold, Inactive Forever, and Johnny FourStar in the 3rd round all pacing with the top earners in this draft class. Talk about making your picks count!

Round 4 – Lots of names left but the talent starts to run thin. It was an amazing draft through the first three rounds, and there are still a few gems left to be talked about, but the talent in the draft started to get sparse. A lot of hopefuls couldn’t find their path and the 4th round as a whole was a bust. I don’t believe anyone from the 4th round is still active at this point, hopefully I am wrong.

Round 5 – The Knights find a hidden GEM, Maine Timber polish it – Morgan Delfield has been active the entire season, you may not realize it through the season as the player did not improve for the first three weeks. First congrats to the Knights on finding a late round active player. The Maine Timber made a late season trade to bring in Morgan and found a way to unlock the players abilities and get him training.

Round 6 & 7 – Came and went without much fanfare. There were a few hopefully moments, Nate Gray seemed to be a potential player to stay active, but that didn’t happen. All in all the teams that passed probably did the right decision as the only players left were ones that went inactive shortly before the season even started.

With last season’s draft in the books, we started the regular season on up and there was a ton of great action. The biggest stories involving your rookie class were:

- Finn Weib came out of the gates hot in this season but cooled right down as the league year continued.
- Vancouver’s young players are the real deal! Including one of the best defenders in the league (not just rookie) Bellamy Blake
- An inactive member lead the rookies in scoring! WHAT!
- Scary Jerry seems to be the best goalie from this rookie class.
- The Champs (Quebec) fell apart this season.

This was an amazing season that wrapped up with Newfoundland Berserkers taking the cup. As a whole we have a great looking draft class and I am excited to see where we will be going next.