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Jericson · 11-02-2020, 04:04 PM

Ready to be graded. Approximately 880 words.

With the first round over, Elwulf Jericson decided to sit down and chronicle the very emotional first round matchup against his former team, the St. Louis Scarecrows.

When I was first asked by my then General Manager Capt_Blitzkrieg about possibly being traded to pursue a championship in what appears to be my final SMJHL season I was both excited and nervous. I had spent my entire career with this team, moving from being a lowly rookie to eventually becoming captain of the team, and had wanted to pursue the championship with them from Day 1. At the same time, I knew this was most likely my last chance.

When I heard that there was interest from Maine I agreed to the proposal if both sides could meet on terms. Growing up in Maine, it would be amazing to win with my hometown team, even if I had spent the majority of my 4 seasons in St. Louis. I was happy to hear both sides reached an agreement and was nervous and excited to join Maine.

Luckily for me, Maine welcomed me with open arms. The locker room has been great and the final push for the playoffs, while difficult, was well worth it. I quickly grew to know my teammates and made bonds with them as I had with St. Louis.

When the season ended and the final standings came in, my heart sank. We had been matched up against St. Louis. Not only that, but we had not taken a single win against them all season, both before and after I had joined the Timber. It was a weird feeling knowing that there was a strong possibility that I was about to be eliminated from contention by the very team I was traded from in order to pursue the championship.

The series started out not great. We dropped the first game 2-1. The game was fairly even matched but we just were not able to tie the game back up and claim victory. The second game we came back with a vengeance, winning 6-2. Interestingly, this was possibly my worst game of the series. Too many chances were taken while not playing the soundest game.

Then, things went south quick. The next 2 games we lost to St. Louis, 4-3 and 5-1. I scored during the first one and we took them to overtime, but we were unable to make the comeback and win the game. The second game was even worse, with us heavily losing. We appeared to be beaten bad with that game and it took a lot for the team to come together and figure out what we could do to come back. We were behind in the series 3-1 and needed to win the next 3 to continue our drive for the championship.

Going into Game 5, we knew we had to do something. We quickly fell behind in the first but persevered. It was a dirty game but we eventually eked out a 2-1 victory. Something had triggered inside of me and I wouldn’t let them beat me on the backend. In doing so, I heavily relied upon my teammates to do the scoring, but made sure my former teammates couldn’t score on me.

Game 6 we put on an even better game, winning 4-1. After leaving the first tied, we came in during the third and ran town, scoring 3 in the third. I was able to help out more on the offense, scoring a single goal, while still not allowing St Louis to score. I had figured out how to use all those games together to exploit their offense and stifle them.

Game 7 came, and we managed to win the series with a 4-2 victory. It was a stressful game but we managed to take the lead in the second and hold onto it. This was a team victory through and through. We had faced elimination the previous two games and we knew what we had to do to continue our season. Everyone pitched in and we managed to continue our season.

After the game, there was a lot of adrenaline going. Facing elimination on 3 separate nights from my former team was a hard thing to manage. This was the team I had grown with and who was not expected to compete in the playoffs. The end result was bittersweet as I had a lot of good friends in the St. Louis locker room and knew how much they wanted this as well. Facing the shots from Colin Lambert, my former defensive partner and also a Tampa Bay prospect, was a sight in itself and something I was glad I didn’t have to deal with on a regular basis. The fight with Bud was also a strange time. This was someone whom I had played with all season and respected. It was nothing personal, as we both knew, but it was still a strange thing.

As my season continues I know I will eventually be incontact with my former teammates and tell them how much I both loved and hated that series. I am obviously glad that we continued on, but if I had to be eliminated by anyone, my former teammates and (still) friends would have been okay in my book.

***JKortesi81*** · 11-02-2020, 04:51 PM

<3

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