It's not the way I'd hoped to be writing this piece, but life never quite works out the way you expect, does it? I could spend a thousand words trying to tell you what the last four seasons meant to Justin Time, and how he'll use this as motivation going into what's likely going to be a rough start to his SHL career, but I think it's more important to talk a little about what this journey has meant to me. Eight months ago now, I was in a pretty bad place. Depression was absolutely kicking my ass (still is, but the future's getting brighter), and I found myself really needing a new social outlet. I'd stumbled across the SHL a few times in the past but never really worked up the courage to take the plunge and give it a try. I still couldn't tell you what was different about this time, but I actually followed up and tried to learn more. A few short messages from @Drokeep over Reddit and I found myself starting the career of junior goalie Justin Time.

It took a few hours to get things sorted and figure out what I was doing, but I don't think it took more than a day before I got my first scouting message, from none other than @Aleris and the Nevada Battleborn, who ironically would be the team that really got my junior career started and the ones to end it with a dominant four game sweep in the finals. The culture that Aleris and @sköldpaddor have put together in Nevada is incredible, and it was their combination of excitement and professionalism that blew me away in the pre-draft scouting process. As someone who knew literally nothing about the SHL but loved hockey, they gave me my first taste at what it felt like to be a real, professional hockey player. As a fresh rookie with no sim league experience, that rush of excitement is something I'll never forget. Nevada was circled heavily as one of two destinations I was secretly hoping for in the draft, and if I have to lose out on a championship title to anyone in this league, I'm really happy our loss at least meant a title for a team that deserves it for their incredible contributions on and off the ice.

That other team I had circled, though? Well, that's a story that's still just getting started. I'll heap praise on a lot of people and teams in this league, because they're all amazing, but Quebec City is something else. That locker room is the best place in all of discord, and I'm honored just to be a part of it. @Evok and @Faelax have poured their hearts into making this team the perfect place to start an SHL career. When they took a massive chance on me with the 5th overall pick in the S63 J Draft, I was determined to prove it wasn't a mistake, and while my career has had its highs and lows, I hope I was able to live up to those expectations and do everything in my power to make my time here positive for everyone. I've had the best teammates anyone could ever ask for, starting of course with my first captain, @mer, who was the QCC scout that first got me excited about Quebec and is still one of the most active members of our locker room. I can't possibly mention my teammates without a shoutout to @The Roope Hintz Effect, my draft class buddy in both QCC and EDM, and the many Time/Versi road trip adventures that carried us through media and CW prompts. The S64 class kept getting bigger in free agency, and we struck gold when @Valpix joined us halfway through that first season, and her energy has carried the whole team through rough patches in the season. That rookie season was a wild series of highs and lows, with a rowdy bunch of rookies overachieving at every opportunity to ruin our GMs' plans of a high draft pick as we went all the way to OT in game 7 of the 2nd round after a regular season shootout win that carried us into the playoffs by a single point. 

What a difference a season makes, though. I went from an overwhelmed but excited rookie at the start of the season to a member of the team front office by the end of it, and even got to join the GM server to fill in for Faelax on draft day and made our first official pick, taking @boom just a week after she took a chance on me with the 6th overall pick in Edmonton. Getting to learn the ins and outs of running an SHL team through the QCC war room has been a really special experience, from test simming in vain to try to beat NL (and then rejoicing in not having to test sim since the ban) to planning a draft board to the constant battle to make sure that the goalies in the war room outnumber the skaters. Seeing our plans pan out on the ice after drafts, trades, and waiver claims adds another level to the whole SHL experience, and that first step was what put me on a path to wanting to GM someday, though I never could have known at the time that I'd get the chance to take that step here in Quebec. Evok and Faelax have been the face of this franchise for its entire history, and while we still have our FHM wizard and master of trade deals at the helm, Evok left behind shoes that I'll never fill.

So here we are. After four incredible seasons, there's definitely regret that we didn't take home a Four Star Cup, but I honestly wouldn't change a thing we've done to get here. I have had the best eight months I could ever ask for in Quebec, and while Time is off to the SHL to help jumpstart the Edmonton dynasty we're building, I also get to stay here and build for the future. Quebec will have to go through changes and build for the future again, but we've got what matters most: the culture and community needed to develop great SHL players, and great people. For every name I've tagged here, there's a dozen I've missed. Every prospect, every teammate, and every alumni of this great organization has become a part of my life, and I never could have dreamed how much that would matter when I first arrived. Being a Citadelle has helped me through so much more than just winning hockey games, and I'm proud to be one for life.