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KenitohMenara · 02-19-2021, 11:36 AM

**869 Words**

To say that the first part of the Vancouver Whalers season has gone to plan would be laughably inaccurate. The last surviving member of the SMJHL’s original teams whose legacy in the junior league is treasured highly was hoping for a better season than last year's disaster. While they entered the season with high hopes, they have struggled tremendously. With a 6-7-2 record as of the time of writing, the rebuilt whalers were thrown to the wolves in the first few games and have blown leads in games where they should have won. It’s been a rough start for Vancouver but recently they have started to turn the season around with a recent 3 game win streak. The main catalyst is the team finally finding their feet and starting to get into better offensive rhythms. At the heart of this change is the highly regarded first round draft pick, Alexis Saint-Michel.

The former DFA winger for Vancouver returned to the Whalers with the 9th overall pick in the draft. He returned hoping to have the same splash impact that he had during his DFA campaign, but like the rest of the team, the start of the season had been disappointing. Before his recent two game run of points, he only had 4 points in 13 games. No matter what kind of player you are, this sort of run can be a nightmare for a player's confidence. It was around this time, however, that things were changing in the locker room. After some talks with coaches, including some impassioned words from Alexis’s mentor and team captain, Valtterri Kauppinen, ASM was allowed to be part of the power play units.

It was during this that Alexis would not only be mentored by Captain Koopa but also Vancouver’s resident alien, Narboza Manyhands. Narboza is Vancouver’s Power Play quarterback, scoring 3 of his four goals this season on the man advantage. Valtterri and Narboza would start to help further refine Saint-Michael’s game, helping him build on his strengths from his DFA days. There was a feeling in the air around the locker room, everyone from the management to coaches to other players could feel it. Alexis was due a big performance soon enough. Then the game against Carolina happened.

ASM was hoping to build off his performance against the Maine Timber where he scored the game tying goal on route to the Whalers would win 4-3, but no one could have predicted what would come next. As the 2nd period started, Vancouver was down 1-0 and needed to respond to the Kraken’s early lead and within the first two minutes, Saint-Michel would show the fruits of his training. Keisuke Suzuki would flash the pads on Vincent Wolfe to rob him of a goal before pushing the rebound out to Saint-Michel. Alexis saw that Ako Zillow had the step on the Carolina defenders so Alexis relayed a long pass to Zile. He caught it in stride and would score five hole on Ragnarsson-Tremblay, levelling the game.

After that goal, the Vancouver offense came alive, attacking Carolina with renewed the vigour. The rookie line of ASM, Wile Coyote and Robot Sunfish in particular would attack Ragnarsson-Tremblay all game long and eventually they broke through. Sunfish would pass the puck through traffic to Wile Coyote who saw Saint-Michel rushing towards the slot. Coyote would pass it straight and true with ASM, redirecting into the net. His second goal in two games.

The fun didn’t stop there, as the third period started, Vancouver would continue to attack, showing that their early season struggles were over and they were not a team to be messed with. Sunfish would have a golden chance stopped by Ragnarsson-Tremblay but Coyote would find the rebound as pass the puck slightly backwards for ASM to shoot it at full speed. That one Ragnarsson-Tremblay wouldn’t stop, giving Alexis his second goal of the night. For the remaining part of the third period, Vancouver wanted to help Alexis get the hat trick, to join the illustrious ranks of Whalers past that have done so but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be this game. This didn’t stop him from putting up one more point before the game ended though. Alexis had tried to get Zayne Rotzbua on the board but after his shot was saved, the rebound got to Wile Coyote who would score his third of the season.

Vancouver would hold strong for the rest of the game and would win it 4-1. ASM, for his four point performance, was awarded the games first star. As he skated in front of the home crowd at the pacific coliseum one more time, it was clear that management was right about the Trois-Rivieries native. He was due a big game and he delivered.

With 9 points on the season, Saint-Michel now ties Fedor Sotakov(Colorado Raptors) and Sanzhar Molochtovoi (Detroit Falcons) for the rookie points lead and with his five goals, he ties Robert Black (Newfoundland Berserkers) for the rookie scoring lead. Things are starting to come together for the young right winger and with a lot of the season left to play, the Whalers organisation and fanbase are hoping for more awe inspiring performances from Saint-Michel.

Kraagenskul · 02-19-2021, 12:02 PM

Good stuff!

Nokazoa · 02-19-2021, 12:22 PM

Nice

steveoiscool · 02-19-2021, 12:26 PM

ASM ASM ASM

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