Hello and good time-appropriate greeting to you all. On this edition of Unfiltered, We will interview 2 of the hottest first gens in tomorrow's draft.

My first guest is very active in the rookie class discord and what I consider an underrated prospect, it's  @Rengoku

What first brought you into the SHL?

"I first got introduced to the SHL through the Detroit Red Wings reddit post (LGRW). I really wanted the be-a-pro experience that I haven’t felt in years and I can safely say that the SHL provides that."

You were taken in the first round, 10th overall by the Nevada Battleborn. How did the organization help you out to prepare you for the draft and the league in general?

"I was super excited and motivated learning about Nevada with their current state of the team and the operations as a whole. JFK is a fantastic leader and everyone in the locker room was extremely welcoming and informative. Fancey, JFK, Jess, Juke, Aleris… the list goes on but, everyone was always ready to provide an answer and give me the best route to succeed possible which just made my rookie season that much easier."

With the draft a little more than 24 hours away, you're probably feeling anxious about where you might end up. How do you cope with Anxiety in the SHL, and how do you express that with your teammates?

"To be honest, i’m not too anxious! I’m more excited than anything to have to assimilate into another organization, figure out the future direction that the team is going and how I can best contribute towards those goals. It also helps that I still have quite a bit of time before I move on out of the J so, more time to earn, make some damn money and hang out with the gang."


Let’s get back to a more relaxed topic. Who do you think inspired you the most in the SHL, and why this person in particular?

"I think my biggest inspiration to succeed in the SHL is probably between JFK & Juke. I was JFK’s first pick as the new GM for Nevada and him showing how much he valued me in a pick by trading up for me as his very first pick meant alot and definitely helped motivate me throughout the season. Juke is another example of inspiration simply because he’s a very well respected member of the community and is constantly doing everything he can to help out within the team and help all the first gens, like myself, to succeed and see the route to follow in order to be as best an asset as possible."

Draft season is always seen as a time of speculation and mystery. Where do you think your new journey will begin with?

"I’m not too sure where my draft is gonna take me! But, that’s what makes this experience so immersive and exciting. Trying to determine where i’m gonna go based off some good conversations, some dry conversation and even not speaking to anyone, you truly never know. I had no inkling of where I was going in the J draft and I expect more of the same with the SHL draft. All I can do is continue to show my activity as one of the higher end first gens and hope that teams see value in that and need a center!"


The creation process shows off the mind of the individual user. What was your vision with creating your player?

"My vision with creating Slava Kasyanenko was based off of my appreciation for two-way centers. I think in the current game most people just hard focus in on point production so, something like faceoffs I think is very undervalued as well as being essentially a 3rd defenseman on the ice during the PK is huge. I pride myself on stepping up to the challenge and being pitted against the harder match ups so that when we shut those players down, we can walk away heads held high knowing we had a huge contribution to the win."

One final question. Do you have any advice for any of the firstgens or any upcoming draftee? It's always good for a veteran to give out advice.

"My advice for the newest first gens is to just enjoy yourself. Assimilate into your lock room, make your connections early to help with money and really listen to what the vets have to say. Nobody is going to steer you in a bad direction and so long as you work at it, you’ll have a great time."

Thank you for your time.

Our next guest is one of the oldest users in the league but probably has the most notorious sense of humor I have seen in this league. It's @YetiTaz

We'll ask him the same set of questions.

What first brought you into the SHL?

"I came to the SHL via the ISFL via PBE. I first tried to start PBE in '22 but my laptop died and lost internet access for about half a year there. Got back to PBE in Dec '23 and am now interning to be a minor league GM over there. I just found these TPE-based sports sims to be a lot of fun and I get to meet new and interesting people. I do, however, think three is probably the limit of how many leagues I am willing to be in, especially taking on a GM role in one of them."

You were taken in the first round, 16th overall by the Newfoundland Berserkers. How did the organization help you out to prepare you for the draft and the league in general?

"As far as Newfoundland goes, burb has been absolutely critical to guiding TPE allocation and telling me where to distribute my points. This is also something I would look for from an SHL team. Building my player so that he can fit in with the direction that team is going."


With the draft a little more than 24 hours away, you're probably feeling anxious about where you might end up. How do you cope with Anxiety in the SHL, and how do you express that with your teammates?

"I've been through a PBE Draft, two ISFL Drafts, now a SMJHL Draft, so, actually, I'm not really anxious about it. I'm really not someone who has a problem with anxiety. So, no, that's not been anything I've been expressing. Some people are having more anxiety about me joining their locker room than I am. lol"


Let’s get back to a more relaxed topic. Who do you think inspired you the most in the SHL, and why this person in particular?

"I can't really say one person has inspired me. There have been several. Going back to burb helping me build my player. Then, there is Ruggsy, I will get to him in a little bit. And, I have to include kahri in this. The banter is a great time and keeps the game enjoyable."

Draft season is always seen as a time of speculation and mystery. Where do you think your new journey will begin with?

"As far as draft goes, I have spoken with just very few people so far. One team said that I won't be around by the time they have their first pick. I have had multiple conversations with people from Edmonton. I haven't spoken directly with their GM yet but, again, Manhattan has kahri on it and their boss left a post on one of my media pieces saying they would draft me just to annoy her. It's fun being me."

The creation process shows off the mind of the individual user. What was your vision with creating your player?

"Creating Ima Noobie's character was inspired by Ruggsy. When I first came in, Ruggsy brought me to the Ottawa team and created this little funny tidbit as my signing: "The Post In Question" Ottawa is signing some person who wandered in off the Strip and just started sitting in the locker room heckling the players.
I thought that was hilarious and to make an annoying character and nobody is more annoying in today's society than some "social media influencer". So Ima Noobie became a YouTuber turned hockey player. If you go back and watch the SMJHL Draft, he was called a "menace". And that was great! And, of course, the added annoyance of the KitKat bar worked perfectly."

So you have a notorious story about a KitKat. Tell me about it

"Many a year ago (from 2007-2021 until a new company came in), I worked a job where most of my hours were 6 pm to 6 am. Sitting a desk waiting to do something. So, I spent a lot of time just watching YT or something to stay awake. Well, so you know how YT can send you on a rabbit hole of videos and you can start with watching some music video and end up watching scare pranks before it is all done.

So, I end up watching this thing called Try Not To Get Mad Challenge. They would run pranks or videos or whatever and a group of people would watch these videos and have a contest and the person who got mad the least would win the challenge. Very funny to somebody like me.
And, one of the things was a KitKat that was not properly separated before being bitten into.
The reaction of everyone doing that challenge was so funny to me so I decided to do that, take a picture and put it on Facebook. And I normally don't eat candy. I'm old and my teeth are already bad enough. It's not something I do any more.

But I made that picture of the KitKat bitten wrong and put it on Facebook and tagged some people. This was years ago. 2018.
So, now, fast forwards to the scouting conversation with kahri. And we have a real nice conversation. Then she mentions the hot dog. Now, go back to that old job I was at that I just mentioned and there was a guy we worked with who loved mayo on hot dogs, And this girl who always gave him grief for it.

So, as an inside joke just to humor myself, I said..... If you put mayo on that thing, you are..... Blocked and Banned.

kahri then says something about a hot dog in Maine that has a sauce and makes mayo good on it.
Now, truth be told, I don't really hate mayo on a hot dog. It's like pineapple on pizza. I won't go out of my way to put pineapple on pizza but I won't throw it away because it has it on there either.
But, I started making comments in the S79 Discord like: "unlike certain people who put mayo on hot dogs,"
Finally, kahri said "if you're going to talk about me, at least tag me."
Meanwhile, back to Facebook and the KitKat picture.
Facebook Memories brings up the old picture of the KitKat I ate wrong and tagged people in back 6 years ago now.
So, just to be a nuisance, I saved the picture and brought it to the S79 Discord.
And that is the story of how the KitKat Bar took place and how I became kahri's bitter enemy.
?"

One final question. Do you have any advice for any of the firstgens or any upcoming draftee? It's always good for a veteran to give out advice."

"Finally, for new creates coming in. Advice.? Have fun. Get yourself out there. Post memes. Tell jokes. Get yourself out there with media and the Discord and let people know you exist. Don't worry about your hockey knowledge or your sim sports knowledge. If you got it, that's great. But don't think you won't be valued if you don't have it. Just be willing to listen and learn the game from the people who have been here. Engage, be active and, finally, and most importantly, be careful how you answer the Hot Dog Question. Unless you want to be labeled a menace like me."

Thank you for your time.

That concludes this edition of Unfiltered. If you want to be on a future Unfiltered article, please reach out to ValorX77 on discord.

(2122 words, please split between all three of us. Thanks!)