Going into my third season with the Newfoundland Berserkers, my expectations were high. Jukka Timone moved on to the SHL and I strongly felt that I was going to be relied upon as the top guy, but that didn't end up happening.

Jack Klompus was used as more of defensive guy and put up decent numbers point wise but I was awfully surprised at how good he was defensively this time around. In the off-season I worked on his offensive stats to even him out some more so it surprised me when he was putting his body on the line more and blocking more shots than almost anyone on the team.

Overall, I feel as though Klompus was really a guy that Newfoundland could count on for some solid play. It wasn't anything spectacular, but he got the job done and was a solid part of the team.

Going into the next season there is a big question of if I will go to the SHL. If that's the case, then we have a whole bunch of TPE to play with and I will definitely focus on defense before offense to make sure I'm not just holding Minnesota back. If I stay in Newfoundland it's going to be redistributing some points and hopefully becoming more of an offensive presence.



I think I am more interested in seeing which players are going to be taken from the teams rather than who are the expansion teams going to select. My eyes right now are on New England and two players of interest, even if neither of them get selected.

Igor Volkov has one of the most out-spoken player agents in the league, fighting for everyone to behave themselves and hold themselves to the standard that a major league should (not that many agree with this). Volkov entered the spotlight last season when he publicly demanded a trade from the Minnesota Chiefs to go to a team who would have a post-season run. New England picked up the defender for a low cost and placed him on the third pairing.

Fast forward a season and the defender now finds himself hurt as his new team has determined him to be expendable. Is there an expansion team willing to take on this play and his out-spoken agent?

The other interesting player is Andrei Kostitsyn. Clean has been an icon in the SMJHL for the Berserkers in his quest to find his brother and now he finds himself as one of the rare S53s that are up for grabs.

The interesting thing here is his public updating protest since the firing of Ace. Is there an expansion team willing to take on this prospect?



The Edmonton Blizzard are the best team to not make the Finals, without a doubt. Through various tests, this team time and time again stood tall above the rest and on paper looked like a favourite to win it all.

FHM seems to take any knowledge that we pretend to have with how things will play out though and throws that out the window. I gambled on Edmonton winning the Cup and now I'm going to lose TPE over that but that is not the reason I write this. I think they have a very strong roster and easily could have been the #1 team.



The world's hottest app is not something that has caught the attention of Jack Klompus, however it is something that has caught on in the Newfoundland locker room.

Andrei announced that he was leaving when the team had a week off to go on a camping adventure and that he would post updates on TikTok?

The guys were delighted every time to find the oddest TikToks anyone has ever seen. Andrei did not attempt to dance in any of these clips but he did send some questionable videos on how to pitch tents and running through a forest screaming "SERGEI," which was terrifying... but entertaining.



I would love to see some sort of mock-up of New Orleans and Buffalo coming together to take a stand for the Black Lives Matter movement. In a time where the news is getting more and more depressing by the week, imagining these two teams coming together for some sort of benefit brings a smile to my face.

The Hockey Diversity Alliance had some fantastic ideas which I would love to see here. Painting the blue lines black with a BLM logo on the ice to bring simple awareness to some viewers would be a fantastic start as well as a donation from each team to get this whole movement going for the SHL.

The teams could have some sort of virtual Finals festival for fans to take part in. A look into the team's locker rooms in both cities, interviews with players and staff, stuff like that to give people incentive to pay to attend. All proceeds could then go to any hockey development programs in the two cities and anti-racism programs. The SHL community came together to take a stand and to see the two teams in the Finals continue that fight would be something as a member of the community that I would be very proud of.



Toast