For every peak TPE, high fantasy scoring, sexy skate wielding hockey player there are many more like me. Well, maybe not as bad as me but I'm sure there are others out there. I'm not a max earner but I have done almost everything since I have created. I live paycheck to paycheck, and I try to make ends meet to afford the equipment and training that I can and don't miss anything else. Hell, I even finished first in my fantasy group for the first time. The best teeps are the free ones they say. So while not max earning I am max active. I was one of the first ones to get called up to the SHL from my draft class yet I have less points than those same players that only have 1 season in the league. So what is it like to be unknown for the most part and part of the minutiae of everyday SHL life? Lost among the forums and threads, never to be heard from again? A little dramatic, but I digress. 

To give you a background of my career so far, let's start at the beginning. I entered the league after the Season 52 SMJHL draft sometime right before the preseason. Joined an Anaheim team that was pretty deep and picked up some 3rd/4th line minutes. I had 7 points (2 G 5 A) in 50 games and we ended up making a deep playoff run, culminating in a Championship. Pretty sweet first year if you ask me. The year after I played more and made strides. Ending up with 21 points ( 1 G 20 A) in 50 games. A pretty slick 1.43% shooting percentage too! My last year in the minors I improved yet again. Bumping my points up to 38 (9 G 29 A). In all 3 seasons I spent in Anaheim we were competitive each season and ended up getting a ring in my very first season. I ended up scoring 12 Goals and had 54 Assists in 150 games. 66 points or a little less than half a point per game. Pretty good but not good enough for any awards or even consideration for an award. Nonetheless, I got a ring and to me that was pretty dope. My first sim league championship. I loved that team and met some great people, some people I'm fortunate enough to still play with up in Toronto. After that 3rd year I was given the opportunity to play in the SHL on a rebuilding Toronto team. Would it be rough? Sure, but getting to un bank and finally play in the SHL was good enough for me so I told management I was leaving and headed across the country to join the North Stars.

To say things were rough is an understatement. After making the playoffs for 3 seasons straight you forget just how long the playoffs are. The playoffs, or off-season as I like to call it, feels like a drag and honestly if it wasn't for IIHF I'd forget when the start of the next season is. Despite the losing it has been a ton of fun and the Locker Room has been a great place, winning or losing. They pay me for some reason so I try to skate around with some semblance of hockey knowledge and/or skill. Back to the stats, Season 55 I managed 13 points (4 G 9 A) in 50 games as we continued building up from the bottom. The biggest difference was that there is no 4th line in the SHL. In my first Anaheim season I could kind of hide, but not up in the big leagues. Plus/Minus of -36 is all you need to know about that rookie season. I made minuscule improvements in year 2 but the team was better. 15 points (3 G 12 A) with a shooting percentage of 3.75%. I'm not sure if there is an award for worst accuracy but I'd have to be up there in my career. This past season in Toronto we had, easily our best season of the rebuild. Technically also a career year for me. 30 points  (8 G 22 A) in 66 games and my first positive plus/minus, +5. Still shooting less than 6% but hey we can't have everything. Still averaging less than a half a point per game too, even playing on the first line couldn't get me up to half a point. For those of you counting at home that is 15 Goals and 43 Assists in 166 games. Maybe Season 58 is the year I finally break the half point per game club.  I average a goal every 11 games. Should be free Tim Horton's coffee every time Johansson scores in Toronto. Sounds like a nice giveaway to me.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that we all have MVP aspirations. We all want to win awards, or win championships, be the #1 fantasy player, etc. Shit, I can't wait until the day my player is somewhat fantasy relevant. That in itself would be cool. However, there are those of us that will never win awards or get the headlines and hope to just cling to a team with some other cool cats and win while our player enters our peak years. So while I sit at 20 something in my class for TPE and start to get passed by other earners in subsequent classes I ask you to think about us little people. The players that may not be the big names on the team, may not ever get an award, or headline a premium match up. So when I see my name on a random 3v3 or Toronto eventually makes the playoffs and I can help however it may be, it very well may be the highlight to my career. At least until we win a Cup.  Maybe that early Juniors playoff experience will come in handy. Will I ever be a franchise cornerstone player? No, and that's fine by me.