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*Otrebor13* · 02-09-2020, 02:25 PM

I hope nobody forgot about this! After quite a lengthy break, we’re back with our SIXTH edition of “Visiting the Office of…”! For those readers who have enjoyed the series thus far, thank you so much, and I apologize for the delay since the last one. I will say though, I’m sure you will all enjoy this one!

For today’s episode we have one of the longest tenured GMs in SHL History, and a GM who has had a tremendous amount of success as GM of his team. Someone who was very happy to take part in this for all of you. It wasn’t easy, but for today’s episode of VTOO we have the GM of the Calgary Dragons: Esa Anrikkanen!

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I'd like to start out on the lighter side of things and look at something besides hockey. The Chicken Parm. It is absolutely incredible. This is something everybody knows you love and has become synonymous with your name. What I'd like to know, as I'm sure our readers would like to know as well, how did your love for the chicken parm come about?

My love for chicken parm developed as a young boy growing up in an Italian family. Eating was always heavily encouraged and my grandmother made an incredible chicken parm, it was always a special meal at her house and became one of my favorites. Then later when I was in high school I worked at an Italian deli & pizza place that had awesome chicken parm, both dinners and sandwiches. They let us eat whatever we wanted while working so I obviously dominated chicken parm in all formats. It was a match made in heaven. Since then I’ve just always been a big fan of chicken parm as an adult and it’s become a fun thing in my circles of friends. Everyone knows it’s one of my go-to orders, so it just naturally was something that I had fun with here in the SHL media as well. Never thought it’d get as big as it did for my player or team, but it’s been a lot of fun to have a story line like that which mostly everyone knows about.

The chicken parm. An Italian classic and Esa’s favourite. Perhaps this is what gave him the ability to break all those records…

Ah, I must agree with you there. I love a good Chicken Parm, especially as someone who grew up in an Italian family as well.

Now I think we’ve covered that, we can get to something a little more serious. You've been around the SHL a very long time. Would you like to tell us a little bit about how you got started here?

Pretty simple really, I saw a post on dobberhockey.com back in February of 2014 and since it was winter and I was bored I checked it out. I’ve always been a huge fantasy hockey guy, so this kind of was right up my alley and I also enjoy writing. I used to write a lot more back in my first couple years, but as with many veteran members now it’s more auto-pilot for me and then of course GM’ing, player management, etc takes up the majority of my time, I really enjoy that aspect of the league though, obviously.

I'm sure many are aware, however for those unfamiliar with your accomplishments, your previous player, Esa Anrikkanen has many SHL records, including having the most career goals - and the only SHLer with more than 500 career goals – and most career points with 1,063. My question is, when you created Anrikkanen, was it your intention to break these records, or was this something that came about during your career?

Yes Esa Anrikkanen’s career was probably most known for accomplishing a lot of 1st’s. Like the 1st player to 2000tpe, first to 400 goals, first to 500 goals, almost the first to reach 1000 points, lol and of course most all time points in the SHL and IIHF. As well as being among the most cups ever by a single player with 5 and then standing alone as the only GM to win 5 and then 6 cups. It’s definitely been a good ride and I’ve had a lot of fun.

When I started I never had these specific goals in mind, I just wanted to try and make a good player and enjoy myself. After that 1st season when I won 6 SMJHL awards as a rookie, I thought hey maybe I can be pretty good in this league and really caught the bug. I didn’t start thinking about all-time points lead until late in Anrikkanen’s career and I figured if the team still needed me then I would stick around to try and help us win as many championships as possible. We won a couple more and I was a consistent scorer that ended up with a lot of points. I would have retired earlier if we had a hoard of young players coming up, but a hometown discount 800ish tpe scoring winger was always needed in our line up so I stuck around until we had a solid next generation ready to come up.

Anrikkanen winning one of his 5 Challenge Cups as an SHL Player

Do you believe your goals or point records will ever be broken? Also, if you had to choose one player who you think could break either your goal or points record, who do you think would be able to do it?

As they say records are made to be broken, Joe McKeils 926 points stood up for a long time until I was fortunate enough to pass him. My 1063 has stood up for a little while now and should last a bit longer but I’m sure one day someone will break it. Looking forward at who has a chance to possibly catch my points record, Jason Visser would have gotten there if he didn’t retire, now I think the only veteran guy who’s close is Terrance Nova but I haven’t checked bojo box in a while. Nova’s had a great career and if he stays in a good situation to rack up points long enough he could have a shot at it. I’d be the first to congratulate anyone who breaks my records. The 514 goals may be harder to break as I’m the only player to ever hit the 500 mark and I think there’s only 3 or 4 players in history with more than 400 goals, so it’s rare but we’ll see.

It won’t be easy, but I’m sure everyone is looking at who might be able to do it. I’m sure many people also picked Visser, and his retirement really took a lot of people by surprise.

I'd also like to focus on your GMing career, because this too is nothing to be scoffed at. You have been an SHL GM for 28 seasons with Calgary, this being your 29th. You also just surpassed 800 career SHL wins. In those 28 SHL seasons you've gone to the playoffs 26 times, often going deep. What's your secret?

Thanks, it was a great feeling to hit 800 wins, I believe only Wasty and Leafs4Ever have more wins as well as longer tenures as GM’s, both are members I respect greatly. I think average wins per season I’m probably the highest with an 800-468-115 record over 28 seasons and certainly have the highest goal differential at +545, which I’m very proud of. That’s a good measurement of how successful the franchise has been during my tenure. I work very hard at it and I’ve always been able to get the most out of my teams. Winning 6 Championships and going to 9 finals in 28 seasons is a pretty good stat also. I don’t really talk about it much because nobody outside the team really cares or wants to hear about it, lol, but I’m proud of my work as GM and very thankful to all my players over the years that made it possible.

My secret? Nothing crazy, just studying the trends of the sim, building strong player/GM relationships, creating a good environment that people want to be a part of for their careers, treating people with respect and handling yourself with class around the league. I’m certainly not perfect but have always tried to be a good example for other GM’s and league members to follow. From a GM standpoint I spend a lot of time analyzing data from the sim and I think as a GM you’re managing as much against the trends of the sim itself as you are against other teams and Managers. Do your homework, analyze the data at hand, but also follow your gut. Treat people well and remain committed to setting a high bar and you will find success as a GM. Also, you can’t really ever take a day off and you need a good Co-Gm who can step in and steer the ship when needed. I’ve been lucky to have a great Co-Gm in c00kies for 28 seasons now.

I’m sure everyone knows there’s work that goes in to being successful and you’ve carried yourself well over the years for sure. You’re a well-respected member of the SHL community.

Many GMs have different points of view when it comes to building a team. For someone who has consistently built good teams, do you prefer building through the draft, through trades or in Free Agency? Do you think it's possible to rely on the FA market and trades to be successful?

I have always built through the draft and developed my players. Sure, sometimes you have to supplement with trades or use free agency to boost your roster over the top for a cup, but my preference is to develop all my own players and get them to stick around for their careers. Our most recent cup roster in S50 had 17 active Dragons draft picks on it, the only two who weren’t drafted by us we acquired as prospects in Izzy and Dash. All our current players are home grown which I love. If you look at my team history, you’ll see most of my top players over the years and my core groups were Dragons’ draft picks. There’s been a few times I’ve brought in free agents when we had spots available like in S40 to put over the top. My core has always been Dragons born and bred though, and I feel that’s the best way to build a team. Develop and foster relationships and a player will want to stay their entire career.

Teams that rely only on trades and free agency to be successful can surely have some good rosters when things go right, but these players often don’t have the special attachment to the team and you may not find longevity. I think you’re better off building a strong core from the draft and supplementing through trades and free agency when necessary. I don’t make a lot of trades or sign free agents often, only if we have an open spot and someone really stands out as being a great fit in the room. I’m very big on bringing in the right people and that philosophy has served me well over the years.

The Dragons’ success is a true testament to the system in place to grow and retain talent. Something many people look forward to is the draft, especially the excitement that comes with going to a new team. You were drafted somewhat recently in the S47 Draft, but you automatically get drafted by your own team. Do you miss just being a player and having that sense of uncertainty on draft day and where you might end up?

I really enjoyed being a player again and getting drafted to Halifax 1st overall in the SMJHL. It was my first draft in 30 seasons and my only one for another 20 probably, so it was a lot of fun. As for the SHL draft, on one hand it’s cool to get a top player added to my team for free, but yes it’s kind of anti-climactic. As a GM though it’s more about the team than your personal player so I’ve gotten used to it. I guess I’d say yes I miss it, but I’m obviously happy to be able to be auto drafted to Calgary and glad I had an enjoyable SMJHL draft experience with Halifax. That team really treated me well and I appreciated it greatly.

Parmborg during an interview prior to the draft, getting ready to live out his dream as a SMJHL prospect

The SMJHL recently went to a 425 TPE cap for players in their 3rd season. As a GM of an SHL team who deals with prospects and the SMJHL directly, do you like that idea and how do you think it’s working out?

I do like it, especially since the league has more prospects spending longer time in junior. I think being able to bump their players from 350-425 keeps things fresh and allows them to make a change so their build and experience doesn’t get stale. It’s always nice to add TPE to your player. I stayed down the full-time in the SMJHL at 350tpe with Parmborg and I know I would have enjoyed going to 425 TPE those last 2 seasons. I think it’s been a good change for the prospects, I know my send downs have enjoyed it and having a chance to be elite stars for their junior teams.

You were the first GM to win 5 and then 6 Challenge Cups. Between your GM accomplishments or your accomplishments as a player, which are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of my accomplishments as a GM because I think I’ve really set myself apart from anyone in the history of the league on that front. My career winning % and goal differential as a GM are probably the best in league history. As I mentioned earlier at the end of S51 I have a regular season record of 800-468-115 (+545) in 28 seasons with 26 playoff appearances, 9 finals appearances and 6 Challenge Cups. That’s a pretty great resume and it was not easy to achieve by any means. It took a lot of hard work every day in various facets of the league and a lot of relationship building with my players, but I’ve really enjoyed it all. I’m definitely very proud of what I’ve achieved as an SHL GM in my 28 seasons and how I’ve conducted myself in the league over the last 6 years in real time. I’m obviously also proud of my player accomplishments but being a successful GM and leading my friends to championships is the thing that I’m most proud of and have enjoyed the most.

Thanks for having me do this, I don’t post much media about myself anymore, so this was a nice way for me to reflect on my player and GM career.

Absolutely, it’s always a pleasure to speak with you and here at VTOO, and all of our readers, we thank you for taking time out of your schedule to answer our questions and give us a glimpse of your SHL life.

Just like that we wrap up our 6th edition of VTOO. It was one that was a long time coming, and it was a little difficult to plan to have this posted for you all, but I’m glad I finally got this one out for the readers. If only people knew the planning and the back and forth that went in to this one! Once again, a big thank you to @Steelhead77 for his participation in this. I hope the readers enjoyed this one!

To you, the readers, who keep coming back and enjoying the content we bring you, thank you. We will try to get another edition out to you!

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