Login

Massive Coiler · 07-15-2022, 05:54 PM

A long forgotten player (which happens to be mine) came into the SMJHL way back in S25. Drafted by Kelowna to an incredible, high talent roster in the 8th round, at 46th overall, Tony Flow was placed into a bottom six role early on. Among his biggest impacts on the team early on was recruiting his friend “sludge” who was a giant defensive defenceman, and a two time Four Star Cup winner.

Led by Randy Randleman (Ballerstorm), Kelowna won the championship and most of the roster moved on to the SHL. Tony Flow, who played a bottom six, depth role during the championship run in 25, was put on a line centered by future Hall of Famer Jonathan Lundberg and flanked by future Hall of Famer Mikko Linna. So a third wheel on paper.

However, that season (S26), Tony Flow scored 22 goals and added 30 assists for 52 points in 50 games. Which may not sound like much these days, was good for the league lead in scoring. This season resulted in the player claiming the Ideen Fallah and Raymond Lindsay awards. The following season (S27) didn’t see any award love, but did result in another 21 goal, 50 point season.
As alluded to, his junior linemates went on to have Hall of Fame careers, while Flow… did not.

Drafted in the third round of the SHL draft, 31st overall by the West Kendall Platoon. Tony Flow was picked primarily due to the connection between Kelowna and WKP at the time. His former teammates were there and interested in having him around. He didn’t develop as they would have liked, however, and he was put in a 4th line role.

The player played just over 4 minutes per game in his rookie season. In his second season, these minutes were reduced to 1 and a half. That’s one and a half minutes per game. The season saw a barren statline, save for 5 PIMs from the result of a fight.

Despite this, WKP kept him around and he was more than happy to stay. He was given a slightly larger role in future seasons and at least received regular shifts. The player stuck around for as long as he could, always re-signing to play with WKP. From S28 through S36, he managed to have a couple okay-ish seasons hitting 26 points twice, in limited minutes. Despite loyalty to WKP and desire to finish his career there, they eventually didn’t have space to bring him back, and he was let go. In seasons 37 and 38, he played for Edmonton and played in a depth scoring role on a rebuilding team.

Here was a player that succeeded at the junior level, achieving far more than he thought was possible. In the big league, he struggled to find a regular place in the lineup. This is a cautionary tale for players who aren’t willing to put the work in. If there were a minor league under the SHL, this is where he would have toiled for the majority of his career based on skill level.

Word Count: 514