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Trautner · 02-20-2020, 03:37 PM

Michael Scarn had an interesting time in the SMJHL. Drafted by the Colorado Raptors, he immediately found himself at home, living in Denver, Colorado where he had previously moved after moving on from his branch manager position from Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Scarn was familiar with the area, but struggled on ice to perform relative to his abilities. Eventually, after the Raptors had a horrible start to Scarn's second season in the junior leagues, he was traded to the Halifax Raiders. Scarn has always had an affinity for international travel, having especially enjoyed his business trip to Winnipeg. Scarn knew that the ladies of the night in Winnipeg were fun, and he had good experiences in Canada even though in the end he ended up telling his boss, David Wallace, that he had done a bad thing by sending him on a business trip just to distract him from transferring Holly to Nashua.

*fishy* · 02-20-2020, 04:12 PM

Fish aka Captain Aron Hernadivic had a mental breakdown upon learning his final SMJHL games were coming up, and abandoned his team to take off to Fort Myers Beach in Florida to regroup. He has been steadily gaining weight through frozen daiquiris, white claws, and other American goodies, and will come back fat for the ploofs. This was similar to Fish coming over to St Louis from his small town in Czech Republic. It was about the end of June when he came over, so it was just in time for Fish to celebrate the Fourth of July. He used this as an excuse to get hammered and abandon his team as a rookie, disappearing to some small town in the Ozarks where he did nothing but drink and eat. Again, he came back fat and ready for the season. It seems this young European is an alcoholic and needs some help. However, he’s consistently put up elite numbers in the juniors, so it seems his routine of abandoning his team is working.

ryan cvit · 02-20-2020, 04:52 PM

After Cvitkovich’s stellar junior career, it was time for him to take that leap into the SMJHL and then eventually the SHL. He declared for the S51 draft and was taken by the Anchorage Armada 29thoverall. He came into the season with high hopes and believes he made a solid impact in his rookie season with 24 points (10 goals 14 assists) He was welcomed to the team with open arms and built a good relationship with the players on the team. The great chemistry carried over into the playoffs seeing the Armada win the Four Star cup championship. A rare feat for a rookie to capture that title in his first season with the team. Wrapping up his second SMJHL season he saw himself finish with a new career high in points with 31 (11 goals and 20 assists) he looks to build on this performance in the playoffs and capture another championship.

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*kenvald* · 02-20-2020, 06:54 PM

Being drafted into the SMJHL was a dream come true. It got me one step closer to the big league, the SHL. I really thrived in Vancouver from the first day. Management and the other guys on the team were really welcoming and helpful as I got my bearings.

My first season was a disappointing one, personally. I did not do as well as I would have hoped, but that was probably what I had expected anyway in the back of my mind. Everyone wants to be the rookie that enters the league that tears it up immediately. The McDavid.

I had my parents fly out to Vancouver for our first home game of the season, against St. Louis Scarecrows. They were really excited for me and might just have been even more nervous than I was. And even though we lost that game I could tell that they were, and are, proud of me.

Bruins10 · 02-20-2020, 08:12 PM

Honestly, it was very tough. First of all, testing free agency was one of the most nervous and mind boggling experiences ive had to deal with. The stress of being contacted by teams, talking with your agent seeing who is a good fit and keeping GMs in the loop of how things are going was very stressful. Also, the culture I was surrounded in the J was a very good one. Whether I talk about my time with the Whalers or my time with the Kraken organization, I was with a good group of guys who either I worked hard to impress in Vancouver or like in Carolina, I had a lot of people to please. I was on the top pairing and was acquired to make a difference in that lockerrom, and that was what I tried to do every game.
Being successful in the J was also awesome. I had gone on a 3 peat and knew that it was not going to be the case in the pros. The structure of teams are built a lot differently and I knew that the league was not as opened as the J was. You needed everyone to build into the program and to really understand what was at stake. Everyone you are playing against is getting better and making changes to their team while you have to battle through to keep your spot. Its a challenging time but I know that I was mentored by great people in juniors and it is their reason that I am here today in the successful career thusfar

***Vandy*** · 02-20-2020, 09:43 PM

My experience in the Junior Leagues was nothing short of amazing. Colorado didn't win a Four Star Cup but the friends I made along the way made it all worth it. I didn't expect to be the best Defenseman ever, but I got to room with and learn from one and that was Cass Darrow. When I got drafted to Buffalo a year after him I felt like it was fate. So when I finally got my call up to the show and it was for the Challenge Cup Playoffs I was so excited. I didn't see any ice time but learning from the guys who had been in the league awhile and of course my fellow rookie brethren made the experience that much more bittersweet. Especially when I got to lift the cup over my head. I had just gone from soul sucking defeat in the race for the Four Star Cup to holding the biggest prize in our sport over my head in 3 weeks time.

What tops that?

Jenny · 02-20-2020, 10:23 PM

Olivier started his SMJHL career in a very dark place, but he ended it an almost entirely different person - or rather, with friends and a support system that let him truly be himself. He made his very best friend in Leo Lockhart and learned from him that it's possible to love yourself exactly as you are, and that you should never hide that away because of the word of a bunch of dead guys who wrote a book. He made that first step for himself with his first boyfriend, but he couldn't have begun to without the unfailing support of his teammates, who made him feel safe enough to speak bad English and crack jokes and generally come out of his shell enough to be the kind of guy who could take on the mantle of team captain. And also he got better at hockey and crushed the league in his last season because he Resented being sent down that last time.

Boomcheck · 02-21-2020, 01:54 AM

I was drafted by the Pringe George Firebirds who were a tire fire of an organization at that point having missed the post-season and required a savior. This team straight up lacked any actual centers and had some wingers that looked solid in the SMJHL but likely would not make strides towards the SHL. The team traded for skilled, but limited center in Grayson who was eligible for only one more season after this. The Firebirds staff asks CC2 to make a switch to center for the season, which he did. This was definitely a rough experience since CC2 could not play with the best player on the ice since he shared a position with them and had to play with weaker wingers, to the point where PGF were picking random players that had been tossed aside to try on Carter's wings. PGF missed the play offs and CC2 was fuming.

The team makes a move to Anchorage and draft a group of talented players, but they were all pretty young. It became pretty clear that CC2 was just better than everyone on the roster and put in more work than the other veterans on the squad. The Armada almost missed the play offs again until CC2 had enough of this clown fiesta, held a private training camp over the span of a few weeks and spent extra hours on the ice until he was just steamrolling opposing lines with physicality and his goal scoring touch. There was no one better than CC2 during the final stretch and he carried a young Armada team to a post-season appearance. So the Anchorage squad has some struggles against Kelowna in the next round and the coach decides to drop CC2 down the line up, despite protesting that he wanted to go head to head with the best players on their team. The coach demoted him after game one and refused to put CC2 back despite the team still getting hammered. Carter was pissed and despite winning the best two way player of the year award and being nominated for MVP, he refuses to report to Anchorage in the off-season.

260 Words

Thelastheraclid · 02-21-2020, 02:21 AM

I have said it before but the start of my career in the SMJHL did not start as planned. I sat all wide eyed during the draft waiting anxiously for my name to be called only to be left completely heartbroken when my name wasn't called. I was thrown into free agency and kept training in the hopes that some team would notice. Luckily I didn't have to wait all that long before somebody came calling. The Detroit Falcons reached out to me and we inked a deal for me to start straight away. After joining the Falcons is when my training really jumped and I started to truly develop as a player. I stopped being a slow as shit kind of goon and added speed and passing to my game. I learned to always keep grinding from that experience. If you want something keep working for it and it will come. My biggest regret in my time in the SMJHL is coming close to winning the four star cup but falling just short in the finals.

JRed94 · 02-21-2020, 03:03 AM

180 words

As Jack Kennedy looks back upon his time in the Simulation Minor Junior Hockey League, it is with all positive memories. Playing for the Vancouver Whalers--a very tight knit group, at the time--Jack Kenney saw both immediate team, personal, and international success. Taking a season to find his footings, he still found a way to contribute in his rookie year by making his few goals count at big moments, gaining the reputation as a clutch player. Jack Kennedy would increase his total points each in of his season, I believe his may still place decently highly on some of the all-time records (such as: goals, and power play points. The highlights of his junior career were undoubtedly his four star championship trophy and his gold medal won with Team Canada, which he added to his already earned bronze medal. It's bittersweet that Jack Kennedy saw so much team success so early on his career, considering as he's made the leap to the Simulation Hockey League, the team success has dropped off significantly with Chicago Syndicate.

JuOSu · 02-21-2020, 06:42 AM

NSFL CW

**RomanesEuntDomus** · 02-21-2020, 10:42 AM

His time in the SMJHL was one of the highlights of Philipp Winters career and this still holds true many years later. In the past most Winters passed through juniors rather quickly, seeing it as just a stepping stone en route to their SHL career where they will hone their skills for a season or maybe two, but then quickly move on as soon as they are ready. Philipp was the first of his family to spend a prolonged time in the SMJHL and you can't say that it didn't work out for him. After a good rookie season he was able to take on a leadership role for the Colorado Raptors as a send-down and, along with many others, shaped the team and helped in creating an identity, not least as part of the famous "Cold Pizza" Line (Winter-Winters-Pepperoni). His time in the SMJHL came to a bitter-sweet ending though as in his last send-down season, the Raptors were poised to start a rebuild so they sold off most of their veteran pieces, including Philipp, only to then go on a miracle run in the playoffs and make it all the way to the finals, where Philipp and his new team, the St. Louis Scarecrows, had to beat his old team to win him his first and only Four Star Cup.

Julio Tokolosh · 02-21-2020, 12:10 PM

Julio Tokolosh was taken 14th overall by the Colorado Raptors in the SMJHL entry draft. With his heavy work ethic and laid back social outlook, the locker room transition was seamless. the hazing wasn't too terrible, and the structure was good for the young cow. The franchise used to be called the Mammoths, so having the rookies to elephant walks was the tradition, but this wasnt too traumatizing for Julio because he was used to having his udder groped.
On ice play was a little more difficult for Julio, as it took him 21 games to register his first point. hits and ice time did not come as readily either. It was a difficult trudge between the third and fourth line, registering small amounts of ice time. Coming in dead last was not good for morale, nor was getting swept out of the first round, but the seasn (or two?) prior, the Raptors had made it to the finals despite scrapping the team at the trade deadline. That luck did not follow in season 46.
It was a relatively smooth transition, as Julio got more comfortable on and off the ice.

Massive Coiler · 02-21-2020, 01:51 PM

I was drafted by the Lethbridge Lions at a very interesting time for the franchise. I was sort of a mediocre prospect, and fell to the 3rd round, where Lethbridge was looking to make their first pick of the draft, having traded their 1st and 2nd already. I went from being a standard prospect to the #1 in an organization. That alone would have been enough to light a fire under me, but I also found myself on the top defensive pairing right out of the gate. The team struggled that first season, but I managed to string together a decent rookie outing. By the end of the first year, the team was under new management, and I was proud to be wearing the "C" for my team. I never could have imagined going from a player of virtually no note to a the #1 D man and leader on the team. The next few seasons had ups and downs, but I always loved every day I was able to play on the Lions. While my time in the SMJHL is ended before this season, I'll always remember what a great organization and league I was lucky enough to be involved in as a young player.

Briedaqueduc · 02-21-2020, 05:40 PM

Getting drafted to the SMJHL was unreal for LeBlanc. It felt like a dream. He thought that he was just an average player playing some decent but still barely above average collegial hockey. Turns out he was wrong. Scouts in Kelowna believed in him enough to draft him in the second round. The roughest part for LeBlanc was to move from Montreal to Kelowna. Simon had lived his entire life in the east coast before being drafted by the Knights, and it was also the first time he was going to live far away from his family and friends. LeBlanc also obviously knew no one over there. Making new friends was something he had to do really quickly so that he doesn't feel too lonely. The easiest part was to play with the Knights, that LeBlanc knew how to do. Playing hockey actually helped him very much dealing with his anxiety of being abroad and playing on a serious team.

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160 words

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