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S59 PT #5 - An Unexpected Surprise

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There have been plenty of surprises in my time here. Let's just face it, I have had a long life here in the SHL. So I'll throw together a few things.

First off, Jason Due becoming the first defenseman to win the Ron Mexico Trophy. While he was incredible as a player and had a fantastic season, it wasn't really the first great defensive season in the league. It was something that you would've thought would come sooner, realistically. It's a great surprise to see, of course. It's just surprising to find that a defenseman didn't win the MVP trophy until Season 14.

That's where we then get another interesting look, the first goalie to win the Ron Mexico Trophy came the season after. It makes sense that with so many fewer goalies in the league, it wouldn't be normal to see one winning the biggest award in the league. And yet, after the first defenseman wins it, the first goaltender does. And better yet for the surprise factor, it was me. I literally didn't even tune into the award ceremony, assuming I would lose automatically. Everybody had said for a while how goalies were worthless, how they'd never reward a goalie. Then there it went. It was huge.

How about we take a look at another shocker of my career, in that it was surprising that I was able to be the simmer for 12 seasons -- keep in mind that I was a bit of a more volatile member at the time and it was unlikely to see me get a higher ranking position. Then not only did I get it, I held it for longer than anybody else has.

Then comes one more big surprise to my career -- when I was named the Rage general manager. I've now held it way longer than anybody else ever had and won a Cup, but back when I got the gig I was working my way toward inactivity. I was beaten down after such a long time simming, and the then general manager left in what I'd say was a bit of a shocking situation and a hurry. There weren't many people on the team, but a few who definitely thought they were deserving of of the spot. However, I was asked to take over and I was able to turn things around with a plan.

That's where we end this because I'm just going on and on. I won a Cup after taking over a team with probably a handful of actives and no prospects and no picks, and really, that's a shock in itself. It's difficult to win a Cup, you need a bit of luck, and I just managed to get it once along the way.

An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.
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Thanks to Jackson, Copenhagen, and Harry Hans!

GOING DOWN IN STYLE. TOAST4LYFE

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Vlastislav Malik loves playing this free online hockey GM game, called Hockey Dynasty. A series of unexpected events happened this past season. His team, the Markham Knights, dominated the regular season and went into the playoffs as the #1 seed in the West. Surprised yet? No? Just wait. The Knights proceeded to lose Game 1 at home. Just 1 game right? Nope. Game 2, another L. It's okay! You'll get the comeback! 5-game series by the way. Eh, let's see. Malik thinks the season is over at this point. Game 3, got a W. A light emerges! Game 4, pulled out the W again! All important Game 5. Let's go. Knights pull it out! Moving on to the next round. Goes the distance, get the W in Game 5 again. 3rd round in 4 games. Nope. 3rd round in 5 games again. On to the Finals! 5 games again u say? Yup! Actually, nope. 3 game sweep, got the B2B Championship. What a comeback eh?

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When I think of unexpected, I would have to say my player’s career progression. I always had the mentality that I would continue to earn and try to be the best player I could be. With many seasons in Los Angeles trying to break out, I started to see progress, but I wasn’t getting to the level that I wanted to be at. After eventually getting traded to Edmonton I saw some of my true potential unleashed, where I broke the 30 goal mark for the first time in my career, scoring 37.

After a great season and eventually signing in Hamilton, I didn’t expect to have the seasons I did. My first season in Hamilton was a dream for any player, and I had – arguably – one of the best seasons in SHL history. Scoring 43 goals and adding 39 assists for 82 points in 50 games, which equates to an astonishing 1.64 points per game. I also took home almost all individual awards possible, including playoff awards.

And while that season was incredible, I would never have expected to have the season I had this past season. Being the first player in SHL history to eclipse the 100-point mark was incredible and nothing I could have imagined. To go along with that, I scored 48 goals, which crushed the previous record of 42 goals in 66 games. Now I hold the goal records in a season for both the FHM 50-game (43 goals) and 66-game eras.

Looking back at everything I’ve accomplished on an individual level, it’s incredible to see how far I’ve come and just how much I was able to exceed any of my expectations when I took the plunge and declared for the SHL.

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From my point of view, the craziest thing that happened to my player was definitely in the juniors. I was able to win 3 back to back to back championships all playing for different organizations. Yes, I know Montreal Militia and the Carolina Kraken were just a relocation and a rebranding but still a feat that would be difficult to recreate. Especially in the times of FHM.
But the crazy thing about the success I had in the Juniors was just how dominant I would become when the playoffs and the finals would come around. Off the top of my head, I know I won one Finals MVP trophy and was able to be a finalist for the other 2 seasons that I made it all the way to the cup. The sim gods were very generous when it would come to being a dominant player when the games counted. If only I was able to be that dominant in the pros, because it seems as if I do the complete opposite and just disappear when the playoffs start for the SHL season lol

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Thanks to @enigmatic , @Ragnar and @sulovilen for the sexy Signature

The biggest surprise for Jennings was on draft day. I went at a surprising 39th overall to the Syndicate. Why is that so surprising? you might ask. Well let me tell you. Jennings joined the SMJHL at the S58 trade deadline. This meant he only had a few weeks to catch up with the rest of his draft class. Although I worked hard, on draft day I was still well under 100 TPE down from the number one spot. I was fully expecting to go undrafted, or if I was lucky, as one of the latest picks in the draft. As it was, I ended up going at the very start of the 3rd round. Now, it's up to Jennings to live up to the potential that Chicago sees in me. This season was rough to start with, but I've picked it up and I'm looking forward to continuing to work to join the SHL in due time (although I love the Armada too Wink).

Being drafted 1st overall by the Tampa Bay Barracuda was a huge moment in Luc's career. Right up until the draft day he had no idea where he was going to end up. With rumors that the San Fran Pride were topping all other offers being made for the first overall pick it seemed all but certain that Blouin would end up a member of the pride. I know it is strange to call it unexpected when he seemed to be the consensus pick for first overall, but with multiple teams making offers for the pick and the Tampa Bay Barracuda were shopping the pick around the league. I was certain I'd end up on any team but Tampa until the last minute when they told me they were going to take me. It was a shock because they really didn't need defense, and it seemed like the obvious choice to move the pick for 3 1sts, but they shocked me by keeping the pick and selecting me.

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As some of you may know my name was not always Makrus. I was born Marcus Jager in Kassel Germany. I played hockey in Munich and would often rent movies with my teammates. When I returned from a trip to Kassel visiting my family an unexpected event occurred. I learned my teammates had not returned the copy of Goon and Mighty Ducks that we had rented from the local Blockbuster. I tried to do the responsible thing and return the movies as they are likely the best movies Blockbuster has, and they need to rent them in order to stay in business. When I went to the Blockbuster, I got another unexpected surprise. The store was out of business along with the Radio Shack next door. As this was clearly my fault, I had no choice but to accept responsibility for destroying the economy of Munich and likely all of Germany. Like I solve most my problems I faked my death in a freak unicycle accident.

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I think the biggest surprise happened very early in the site's tenure, before most of the people we have now were active, hell, before I was active my first time: the Jack Crasher incident. There are still a few folks around from that time, so ask them if you want to know the whole story, but from what I understand Jack Crasher was an elite player at the end of his contract, and he elected to test free agency. When the free agency period opened all the teams reached out to him (this was well before the cap troubles we have today). Unbeknownst to all other teams, Crasher had agreed to sign with each one, but telling them not to mention anything or he would go back on his word.

And then, nothing. He left the site. I think this fits because it was a surprise to so many people. GMs of lesser teams were probably surprised he signed with them in the first place, all of the GMs were probably surprised when he dipped, as were many players no doubt. Definitely the biggest surprise I know of.

Armada pride Armada pride Armada pride Armada pride


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Probably the biggest surprise I had as a player was when Wyatt Wollker was traded as part of a package from Texas Renegades to the Los Angeles Panthers back in S28. Just 2 season earlier, Wyatt had been selected first overall in the draft. after Texas made a trade to jump up to number one to be able to nab the future Hall of Fame defender. Wyatt joined the Renegades as a true rookie in S26, and was showing strong promise after his first 2 seasons. But then one morning in the offseason, Wyatt woke up to a message from his GM Deener. It basically said, hey you've been traded to LA, pack your bags! I was a bit stunned because I was under the impression I was going to be with Texas for the long term. When I flicked on the news to see what had happened, it was all everyone was talking about, called the Trade that broke the League, it involved 8 players in total being swapped, and all of them big names. I was pretty stunned about it all and was still processing what it meant for me, when I was then greeted and welcomed by Wasty and the rest of the Panthers. It was actually not a terrible move as I did enjoy LA, but needless to say it was one of the more surprising things that has happened in my time in SHL!

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Grizzlies      S76 SMJHL DRAFT 3RD OVERALL PICK      Grizzlies
Argonauts        S77 SHL DRAFT 4TH OVERALL PICK          Argonauts
Norway                     IIHF TEAM NORWAY                       Norway



I still say the most unexpected thing to ever happen to Ryosuke Sato is being drafted 16th overall in the 2nd round in the SMJHL draft. Sato was created late, just before the draft happened and didn't have much to show other than his little activity in the league. He didn't even show that he had consistent ways of earning, but for some reason the Vancouver Whalers (particularly their GM) took the chance on basically a nobody in the 2nd round. Speaking as a GM now, the prospect of drafting someone like Ryosuke Sato in the 2nd round is a ballsy move which of course came very unexpectedly. Sato was projected as a 3rd rounder at best but now that he was drafted earlier than expected, the pressure and expectations were on. Despite a lackluster first 3 seasons in the J, Sato eventually helped captain and lead the team to a cup win through hard work and dedication. This is not to mention of course being drafted 2nd overall in the SHL draft. Sato just continues to work hard and be the best he can for his team, including the Whalers even though he no longer plays there. But ultimately everything can be traced back to that one unexpected moment, being drafted in the 2nd round of the SMJHL draft.

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Thanks to @DELIRIVM, @Moreorless89 and @ValorX77 for the sigs!

So, this week I kind of started, kind of continued going through and auditing, sorting, updating some New Orleans Specters history. Well, when I was creating my own sheet for keeping track of every trade the Specters made, I was kind of referencing Luke's sheets to see if he missed anything. Surely he had, which I expected, not his fault, that was a massive project, anyway. Two that were missing were the first two Joe made, and in true Joe fashion, one was a three-way trade. However, what I had not expected at all, was Joe trading away the 69th overall pick. I couldn't imagine the GM of my team, let alone my GM partner now, could have made such a mistake. Now get this, not only did he trade the 69th overall pick away, it was to his former team! I feel like if you're going to at all, you either have to avoid your former team or get something back for it. He didn't do either. Well, he did, but in reality, both picks he got back were passed on. I could not believe it.

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This written task needs to remember the past a little. I've had several turns in my player's career, which seemed to me to be a surprise. As the first of these surprises was that I was chosen by the Scarecrows team, not through draft, but by a normal contract. I passed through the draft of the adult league to Hamilton. I thought I was going to spend most of my career there, but then I was switched to the Wolfpack team, where I was quick in the training camp, and I had settled on it, but then I was in another club. All this happened during the season, I was switched to Pride. I didn't feel good on the team and how my kind of save came to the extension draft, where I was chosen by the Seattle team, where I was still playing and would do it for at least 2 more seasons. It's not easy to replace 4 teams during the season, especially if you play Junior yourself and see your name on the trade post page.

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