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*Otrebor13* · 03-06-2019, 12:51 AM

Welcome to the first edition of “Visiting the Office of…”, a new media segment brought to the SHL and SMJHL. “Visiting the Office Of…” (or VTOO for short) is an interview with a randomly selected GM/Co-GM of either a SHL or SMJHL team.

However, more than an interview, this series will aim to give the SHL a look at different angles of GMs/Co-GMs. Whether it be about their history in the SHL, controversial topics around the league, or just the basic hockey talk, I hope to bring you a different side of GMs we do not normally get to see.

The schedule for releasing these articles will not be fixed, but I will attempt to get them out within a reasonable time of each other.

And now, with all of that out of the way, I am pleased to kick off the series with Visiting the Office of… Luke Thomason, Co-GM of the Vancouver Whalers. I'd also like to thank @"luketd" for taking part in this series. Enjoy!

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So Luke, for the readers out there who don’t know you, when did you join the SHL?

I joined the SHL in the S43 Reddit draft. I was scrolling on reddit that day and saw that. I was on my summer break and I was bored, and I enjoyed MMO's and I like hockey, so I was like why not.

Joining a league like the SHL can have a learning curve due to the uniqueness of it. Prior to joining the SHL, did you have any experience in player sim leagues?

I had no experience in any sim league. This was my first one.

Did you have a hard time adjusting to it?

In the beginning it was a learning curve, I think it took a couple of weeks for me to get used to the site and where to find certain things.

Originally drafted in the 4th round of the S42 SMJHL draft by the Whalers. Now, fast forward a few seasons and you are the Co-GM of the Vancouver Whalers. Tell us a little bit how that happened and your reaction to getting the job offer for such a position.

Yeah, so I thought I had good conversations with the couple GMs that messaged me, I honestly don’t remember getting scouted by Vancouver, but I’m pretty sure they did. But anyway, I am a part of the Czech Republic on the IIHF team and I kept on seeing different members that were also in my draft class getting drafted, so I was a little bummed out that I wasn’t getting drafted. Then, in Vancouver this is pinned https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/2...nknown.png which is basically Beaty saying that Vancouver should draft me, and they did. But yeah, I told Adam that I would be the best steal in the draft, which I think I was one of them.

So how I got the Co-GM of Vancouver was pretty cool. There were a couple advisors in Vancouver at that time, Jcbey and Carbine, and they were getting taught how to GM and such so when Adamantium stepped down, one of them and his Co-GM, Glyc, would be the GMs of Vancouver. But what happened was that Carbine applied to be the Colorado GM when there was an application and he asked Jcbey to be his Co-GM and he accepted. With that, Adam and Glyc were out of Advisors, so they asked me. During that season I was an advisor and when Adam stepped down Glyc became GM and I became the Co-GM.

Luke celebrating being named Co-GM of the Vancouver Whalers

You’ve only been in the SHL a few short seasons, however, in your opinion, what makes a successful player? Especially as a GM in the SMJHL, what are the qualities you look for in members/players when coming up with your draft board or signing free agents?

What makes a successful player takes a couple things. One is that you obviously have to earn TPE, but put the TPE in strategically. Defense is what everyone is pushing with, because it does so much. But also, other stats need to be improved. But other than that, what I’m looking for is activity, if they are interested in the Sim, and start doing media/graphics then that makes me confident that they are putting time in, investing themselves into the SHL. When I’m drafting I look for the PM's that I send out, and the time online.

Also, another thing is what their signature is. For example. Arron Wilson was a great grab in the 4th round of the draft because of his time online but he had a sig already, which means to me that they took the time to get that set up. To add to that, we had a good back and forth in the PM's. For free agents, what I look for is if they are active, I mainly try to talk to everyone that gets approved and see if they are interested in signing with Vancouver, and if they had any problems I would help them. Even if they don’t sign with Vancouver, that initial talking to could keep them active in the SHL, which is the job of the SMJHL.

While you’re a GM down in the SMJHL and have the opportunity to watch players grow and mature, you’ve built a very good SHLer yourself. How has your experience been with your first player, Luke Thomason?

It’s going very well, I have the #1 TPE in my draft class and I’m having a pretty successful season so far. I plan on getting to 2k TPE, so I will be going for a long time on this player. I am having a great time, it’s always fun seeing your guy progress and get better.

Being a GM, you’re normally the one making moves to better your team. I see you were originally drafted to the San Francisco Pride in the SHL, but were later traded to Manhattan. While it seems as though you’ve found a home in Manhattan, with the signing of your most recent contract, how did it feel being traded so early in your SHL career?

Well, I asked for the trade, so I didn’t mind it. In San Francisco it just didn’t feel like the right locker room to me, so during this offseason I asked to get traded to Manhattan. I knew a little bit about Manhattan and had some friends there. When I joined I didn’t know how much I felt like home, so to sum it all up, I think I made the right decision. SFP gave 2 1sts for me, and I found a great LR to be in.

Thomason on his way to the rink on a snowy day in Manhattan

Let’s turn our attention to a topic that has been a talking point around the league recently: The SHL PT Cap. There have been a lot of opinions on what to do with the cap; what are your thoughts on the cap and, in your opinion, what should be done to it?

For me, the PT cap needs to get removed, it isn’t working anymore. So, there are 2 routes I can see HO going with: restructuring the Cap so it does allow casuals to not have to get every PT and still be fine; or remove it and keep the TPE gains the same, because realistically, the high TPE whores will only be getting 7-10 TPE more a season. So 70-100 TPE more, which basically allows you to fight off regression 1 more season. But for the people who are saying that they should have a longer career, I don’t get. Because people put all this time into a player just to have the same career of a casual demoralizes you. If you put in all that time into building a player and getting a good backstory (if you like to write media), you should be rewarded with a longer lifespan than a casual.

Lastly, to end this off, what advice would you give new users joining the SHL?

Have fun, if it doesn’t make sense in the beginning don’t worry, we all were there one time. Also, join the Rookie discord and ask questions.

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Word Count: 1352 Words
*Grader Note: Luke has agreed to let me keep 100% of the payout even though he contributed to the article. If there is an issue with this, contact me through PM