I've been on the site for about 1 1/2 years at this point but that has been plenty of time to make memories. I have worn a lot of hats in my time on the site so far and I am happy to have made so many great friends from the SHL.

Things started when I was first drafted before S45 to the brand new Anaheim Outlaws in the SMJHL. I didn't know if the SHL was really going to be something I would stick too but I was looking for something new in my life and it came about just at the right moment to capture my attention. I will credit the prospect tournament for really giving me my first taste of excitement over what the league could be. Being part of the first draft class in Anaheim we were starting out at ground zero but @Dangles13 did an amazing job crafting a great LR environment with the early outlaws including @Segi, @Thunfish, @chetib, @wumaduce, @GCool, and more. We quickly became a great LR and we would only grow from there as we gained more great people next season like @BDonini, @SDCore, @JNH, and @bbjygm. We slowly gathered great talent and in my third season I was able to take over the role of Co-GM. S47 was a special one where we had some new guns in @shutdown, @DieselJ and @tedlamotors enroute to our first Four Star Cup. I cannot begin to express the excitement I felt when we won but I couldn't share it with the team yet. We had an amazing playoffs that season starting by eliminating the rival expansion team from Lethbridge, knocking out the defending 3 time winning STL team, and then beating the Montreal Militia in Game 7 to win it all. I knew we were likely losing a lot of talent after that season so it was amazing to be able to see the payoff for those early players.

At this point Dangles had already told me that he wasn't going to continue as Head GM much longer and after a bittersweet return to the finals the following year, he announced his retirement. I think it was obvious I was the heir apparent for the new Head GM spot but I was still unsure how ready I would be for the job. I got it and not long after added Donini as my Co before looking to rebuild after our championship team had mostly been called up and depleted. The rebuild took a bit longer than expected but by this point I was busy GMing as well as seeing my player on the Chiefs start to break out as a future star. I of course want to thank @Shmurph for listening to Wuma and bringing me to my home in Minnesota. I always wanted to play for only one team and going to the same place that had 2 other Outlaws in the same draft was a great transition. I have made tons of friends through my time with the Chiefs like @Leppish, @BadWolf, @TheHockeyist, @fever95, @KlusteR, and @drodger91. It was great people like this that led to me signing an 18 season contract to keep me with the franchise.


Things began to change as we could all see a change in the Chiefs management was likely incoming so I had to make a tough decision to go for the Head GM spot in the SHL. While I still love my first home of Anaheim, I could tell that the Chiefs needed me more. I had also gotten really sick in real life at this point but the great people I had in my management group in Anaheim proved to be more than capable of running the franchise. So I knew it was time for me to move on in a way. I still pop into the Anaheim LR and love their successes. I just know I had to allow the management after me to pave their own path and success without me meddling. I also know if I did try and keep super involved I would probably try to keep running the team out of habit.

Since then it's been a rocky road at times on the site but I have enjoyed so many of the discords and people I talk to and that have given me great opportunities to give back to the community. I'm excited to see where the future takes the SHL. Despite all the drama, there are some amazing people here.

Just some more names to shout out for being awesome in my interactions that didn't fit as well into my stuff above but still deserve shout outs for being awesome. @Evok, @notorioustig, @nour, @hhh81, @Nictox, @Flareon, @JKortesi81, @Blastmeaway, @ml002, @Grapehead, @Wasty, @Kalakar, @Inf1d3l, @"Luketd", @Tomen, @UrsinZ, @thiefofcheese, @bk1689, and anyone else I forgot but it's late and I'm tired.