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Number 66
#1
(This post was last modified: 04-07-2021, 02:15 PM by Moreorless89.)

So there I was, the Season fifty-four entry level behind me with no interest from any team. My career was dead in the water. Not really anyone's fault but mine. I struggled to adjust to the rigors of the league. I had fallen off while the rest of my draft class was off being successful and winning accolades, applause, and the adoration of the cities they played for. More importantly, they had all been drafted. I took the off season to refocus and contemplate if this league was truly for me, I Luffy Richard. My first season in the league was full of mental and physical strain. When you start with high hopes and and crash and burn the moment you step on the ice, it can really mess with your head. Luckily for me, I had Ryosuke Sato to talk to and refocus. 
     Season fifty-five saw me gain momentum and pick up my productivity. My stats didn't improve right away, but the team around me did. The Vancouver Whalers started to pick up steam in my second season, though we were still a struggling team. The energy around me reinvigorated my love of the game. The tone of the locker room and the culture management and Will Hartmann started to instill gave me the restart I needed. Still, there were few teams interested in an unproven player who the season before had been the biggest slacker in his draft class. But I was having fun, and I was starting to get the hang of my role on the team.
     So as the entry level draft for for season fifty-five was approaching, well I was a little nervous. And by little, I mean a lot. I had no expectation to be drafted. I was not great at the few interviews that came my way, and they quickly dried up. I can't even imagine what my reputation across the league was. I was probably some sort of simulation pariah because of my very slow start. But I kept my head high, because season fifty-six would give me a chance to prove that I had my head on straight and was worth a second (in this case, third) look at. And the Whalers were really coming along. We were going to be a force the next few seasons--even winning the cup in season fifty-six--so despite my career not looking like it would go beyond Juniors, my spirits were up.
     I have always been a team first guy. I believe that anything I do accomplish on a personal level I achieve because of the people around me, so personal glory has never been high on my priority list. I take pride in the hard work I am able to put in, and how I am able to help my team. I take pride in the calm I bring to the locker room, as in "I can't believe Luffy is so calm as he causes chaos in this locker room with his divisive opinions on what is a greater novel: Charlotte Lennox's Euphemia, or Jane Austen's Persuasion." Truly, the debates went long into the night. But I digress. 
     The day of the drat, I was in my apartment with my roommate eating ramen and playing a riotous game of Castle Panic, not even paying attention to anything the league was doing. I was just getting my head ready for another season. The phone had stopped ringing weeks ago. My email was empty. Not a single text or anyone slipping into my direct messages. I was at peace. Little did I know that my whole life trajectory was going to change. 
     It was late when I started getting texts. Teammates started congratulating me. The management in Vancouver were telling me how far I had come and how proud they were that the faith they put in me as a player paid off and was being recognized by others. This confused me because I did not know what the heck was going on. I was neck deep in some riveting board game action. Ryosuke Sato texted me telling me we were going to be teammates for a long, long, long time, so I thought maybe I had gotten a job cleaning locker rooms in Toronto and that was why their management was calling me. Mikhail Lokitonov is a general manager with a great reputation. He is an analytic god, by some accounts, and well...he was willing to draft a slacker like me.
     "Listen here, comrade, big things are happening in Toronto. The North Stars are at a turning point, and you are going to be part of it," he said to me over the phone.
     "Um..." was my beautifully poignant response.
     "The Great Lakes is a terrible division for anyone that has not been gift wrapped first rounders, but I have been pulling all the pieces together, comrade, and we are at the cusp of greatness. All I need is a few more reliable pieces that can get the job done, while being cheap enough so I can headhunt some star power. You are going to be my shiny lump of coal--not pretty to look at, but a piece of fuel that helps us ignite our dynasty. Now, what you say to that?"
     "So I get to keep playing hockey?" I asked. Really, I am a sharp one.
     "Yes, but one thing I am going to need you to do."
     "What is that?"
     "Can you skate backwards?"
     "No."
     "Perfect! it is great for young men such as yourself to learn new skills. I like your defensive game, but it is going to need much improvement if you are going to be the very tiny cog in the big machine I am building here in Toronto."
     "I can do that. I like the penalty kill."
     "Great. You are going to be a defenseman. I will be keeping in contact with you as your junior career comes to an end. You have two more years to convince me you are a shiny piece of coal!"
     "I can be coal."
     "Good!" And then he hung up. 
     So there I was, mouth agape with shock, unable to get thoughts percolating in the old noggin. I had been drafted. I was the sixty-sixth pick of the draft, Toronto's last pick. Apparently the only reason I had been picked was because my good friend Ryosuke Sato had been in managements ear telling them they knew a kid who was better than an inactive and just as cheap. Yup, I was a bargain bin add with more upside than downside. More upside because I was already at the bottom.
     Fast forward past the Vancouver Whaler dominance and cup win, and my switch to defense and here I am, heading into my third season as a Toronto North Star. My second season was a vast improvement over the first, excepting my dip in points (but I do not get paid to score [I barely get paid at all]) and I am gearing up for the best season of my career, the North Stars are ready to push it all the way to the cup. 
     This is life as a fifth rounder.
     I may not leave the biggest impact on the league, but you bet your ass I am going to be the best sixty-sixth pick in the history of the Simulation Hockey League. I hope those of you who have just been drafted take the opportunity to reassess your personal goals, and enjoy the moment, and be happy you're not stuck with a roommate reporter who is so bad at reporting he did not even know I was going to be drafted. Man there was literally ten passes before I was drafted. That makes me chuckle. You gotta love this league and take it in stride or you will drive you crazy. Now if you all will excuse me, Juni is coming to bully me because he was drafted higher than me by two rounds. He never shuts up about it. Well, jokes on him. I ate all the nachos.

Luffy Richard, out!

(1370-ish words of draft goodness. Plus research. Took me like ten minutes to find when I was drafted).

[Image: WzzhGnr.png][Image: image0.jpg]

[Image: image0.png][Image: UMRTITC.gif]
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#2

@Moreorless89 Solid article. Always great to see a character's backstory.

Unfortunately this is not elligible for double draft media. It's explicitly said that it's for talking about the current draft class.

[Image: Zoone16.gif]


[Image: 9QVaMRC.png] [Image: canybyK.png] [Image: sXDU6JX.png]
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#3

04-06-2021, 07:05 PMZoone16 Wrote: @Moreorless89 Solid article. Always great to see a character's backstory.

Unfortunately this is not elligible for double draft media. It's explicitly said that it's for talking about the current draft class.
No worries :D couldn’t make my original idea work and kind of gave up. I should have changed before posting @Zoone16

[Image: WzzhGnr.png][Image: image0.jpg]

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#4

You're so much more than a shiny lump of coal, More. So much more, not equal, and certainly not less. You're the Best Luffy because you're Our Luffy.

[Image: olivercastillon.gif]



Thanks @enigmatic, @Carpy48, @Bayley, @Ragnar, @sulovilen, & @dasboot for the signatures!



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#5

04-06-2021, 09:54 PMCapt_Blitzkrieg Wrote: You're so much more than a shiny lump of coal, More. So much more, not equal, and certainly not less. You're the Best Luffy because you're Our Luffy.
Thank you, ILY bud!

[Image: WzzhGnr.png][Image: image0.jpg]

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#6

Love it. Glad to have you in the room! Plus you’ll always be the best LUFFY in the league don’t worry

[Image: gurbs.gif]

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#7

04-07-2021, 02:47 PMgurbs Wrote: Love it. Glad to have you in the room! Plus you’ll always be the best LUFFY in the league don’t worry
*hugs* I won’t let you down.

[Image: WzzhGnr.png][Image: image0.jpg]

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#8

What the heck my nachos!?!

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#9

I confidently say that you are the only player in the SHL EVER, to be drafted 66th OA and get a point in the SHL

[Image: 0XJkcN5.png]
Czechoslovakia PROFILE || UPDATE || RAGE. Rage 
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