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Tsunny · 03-30-2024, 09:44 PM

Where do I even start with my reflection? I could easily start at the beginning. Go from game one and go through the whole of the regular season but there is little to nothing I could say about early to mid-season. Sure we were going into the season with high expectations. We wanted to erase some of the bitter memories from last year by finally winning the cup. But other than that and doing as well as I can throughout the whole season there was not many difference in my expectations from last season. Though I must say I still consider last year to be my breakout season in terms of finally starting to develop into the complete player that I can be. Long gone are the days of „maybe they are not teaching defense in Norway”. I can now confidently call myself one of the best Defensive Forwards in the J. That being said, this year my offensive numbers were finally going up. I was doing so well that by the second half of the season, there were realistic shouts at me not just hitting the magical 100 points mark but also breaking the all-time assists record for the J.

And I suppose that is where I should begin with my reflection. By the end of the regular season, I was comfortably leading the assists leaderboard with 55 assists with my sister, Frøya in second place with 49 assists. Looking back now, I had no idea at the time just how different things would turn out to be. But lets not get too ahead of myself. At that moment in time, there were still 12 games left of the regular season and my goal was to hit at least 69 assists by the end of the season to break the 68 assists mark that was shared by Bender and Alekss at that point. That meant 14 assists in 12 games. Which was a tall ask, looking back but I believed that I could.

In fact, that was the first time I really believed that I could do this. Until then I tried to hush any thoughts inside of me and just focus on each upcoming game. And I guess it showed in my play because that was the first rough patch in my season. Because in the next three games, I was nowhere. As the slang goes, I started ghosting. I only managed to hit 1 assist against the Malamutes. And even that one assist was nothing more than a fluke. A rebound slotted home by someone else. I was getting frustrated as after the game against Kraken I actually broke a stick on my way into the dressing room. I had 9 games left of the season and I needed 13 assists. But thankfully the rough patch was followed by a 3 assists game against Saint Louis (Ps.: Sorry about slamming you against the wall Alexa but that was retaliation against you doing the same to my sister). Now I needed 10 assists in 8 games so things looked much better than a game before. In the next three games, I managed to net two more assists which wasn’t anything special if I wanna be really honest with myself in fact if anything it only made my job all the more difficult once more. But I still had hope. I still believed that I can net 8 assists in 5 games. In fact, if I may say, as a professional you have to be a little bit delusional. You have to believe that you’re the best and that you can do anything. Of course, you have to back that belief up by working as hard as you can. Which I was doing so I was confident in myself. Next up we had two games against the Knights where I once again only managed to net 2 assists this time in 2 games. That was the point where I really started to doubt myself. Maybe for the first time in my whole career up to this point. Now I needed 6 assists in 3 games which meant I needed to net 2 assists every single remaining game. Nevertheless, I still pushed on, I still had the belief that I could do it. Even if I started doubting myself I tried to push those thoughts behind and push on. Up next was the game against the Whalers. One assist in one game, not ideal but it can still be worked with. I just needed 5 assists in 2 games. As Neymar once said, it’s 1% chance and 99% faith. I remember saying that to myself so many times around that time. Then the game against the Raptors happened… and that was the game that really broke me. Sure I have managed to score a hattrick which any other day would have made me very delighted. But scoring was not my goal at this point, I wanted to assist my teammates but that didn’t happen. And as a professional i of course didn’t even think about not scoring those goals and winning was above everything else. And if I ever decide not to score when I have the chance to, I might as well stop playing altogether. 1 game left of the regular season. One game that was by this point half meaningless. Still, I managed to get a further 2 assists to finish the season at 66 assists, 3 assists off of the record…

I guess it’s time to address the elephant in the room. Up until now, I was only talking about my own numbers. However, my sister, Frøya had an incredible season as well. She was smashing it out there, leaving the rest of the league and crucially me behind as well. She was in a league of her own. And in a quite cruel twist of fate, she finished the season on 71 assists. Even though I vividly remember that she was not gunning for the assists record at all because she knew how important it was for me. However the games did not pan out as either of us would of wished for. But she absolutely deserved it. There were games where she managed to get 3, 4, and even 5 assists in a single game. And I must admit, I was very envious of her. Which is of course not the right thing to feel as her sister however she has been the one I have chased my whole life. She was the reason I got into hockey in the first place because she wanted to play with me. Out of the two of us, she was the naturally talented one and I was the one who made up her lack of talent with hard work. That’s why I’m still the first one to hit and the last one to leave the ice every single time. She was the one to go 7OA while I only managed to go 15OA in the J draft. Then a season after she would go 1OA while I only managed to go 12OA. I still vividly remember reading an article that belittled me and said that the only reason Calgary drafted me was because Frøya wanted to play alongside me, basically calling me nothing more than a package deal and that my ceiling was a 3rd liner. That article really has upset me, I have never felt as angry as I have felt in that moment. As they had no idea of the amount of hard work I had put in and the amount of sacrifice I had made since the very first day that I have stepped on the ice. But in the end that article only motivated me to push myself even more, to prove all the haters wrong. That was the moment when Sonja „El Bicho” Solberg was born, as my good friend Juan has called it. In fact, to this day I still have that article on my wall to remind me that I still have much more to work for. And that’s why I wanted that assists record so badly. To finally show something to the haters and tell them „If you’re with me that’s good, if you’re against me that’s even better”. So failing my goal was really painful. I was once again nothing more than the second-best forward on my team, the second-best forward in the league (in terms of points anyway), and the second-best Solberg. I was once again stuck in Frøya’s shadows. I even started doubting if I’d ever be able to make it out of her shadows. And that’s something I have never told her. I didn’t want her to worry about me. I want her to do the best she can because only then will it actually be satisfying if I manage to beat her. I do not want to finish in front of her simply because she had pity on me. If that were to ever happen, I would likely lose all my motivation. Because at the end of the day, she is my motivation. She is the one who pushes me to go further than I ever imagined that I’d be able to go. And I like to believe that I have the same effect on her. I like to think of us like how Messi and Ronaldo motivated each other all those years. Natural talent vs hard work. Just like them, same with us.

But that’s enough talking about the regular season. I didn’t want to sulk too much about it as there were still the playoffs to win, to redeem last season. And most importantly we all wanted to do it for Ryland Murphy who was in his last season with us in Québec. Sure we would meet up again in Calgary but I wanted to send him off with a playoff win. That’s why the semis against the Raptors hurt so much. We started great, won the first two games but then, it felt like everything was going against us and we had little to no luck. We lost every single remaining game and lost 4 to 2. So that was that, once again we come off an impressive regular season only to fuck it up in the playoffs. I vividly remember that I was so upset about our last game. We were absolutely obliterated with an 11-2 score, which I don’t even remember if I ever lost that badly. I didn’t even shake hands with anyone, I just straight up went to the locker room. I remember punching a wall on my way in. At the time I didn’t feel it due to the adrenaline and the anger I felt at the moment but I managed to break my knuckles. However, I didn’t tell anyone, I tried to hide it. Heck, I even vividly remember when Frøya found out. She was both upset and extremely worried. I remember her calling me insane for trying to train with such an injury. But that’s just how I am I guess.

So yes, it was another disappointing season. There was really only one thing left for me to look forward to before the new season and that was the awards. I was hoping that I would at least get a nomination after such a season I had. So when I was constantly told by various people outside of the awards committee that I could not be considered for MVP because my sister completely outshined me, it made me sad but I understood. What really made me upset and fuming was when I found out that I was not nominated for anything at all. Which I felt was really cruel because I had such an impressive season. I was one of only 3 other players -including my sister- to hit 100 points or more in Québec’s history. On top of that I worked extremely hard on my defensive game as well so to find out I once again wasn’t even nominated for best defensive forward made me really upset.

I suppose there is only really one thing left to talk about, and that’s the three people who really managed to help me push through all my setbacks. Of course, the whole team was helping me one way or another and I could be here all day if I thanked everyone one by one. I’m very grateful to be part of this team and I’m looking forward to my final season in Québec. Now onto the three people who helped me a lot throughout the whole season.

First, there is of course my sister, Frøya who has been here for me throughout my whole career and this season was no different. I kind of feel bad for the amount of time she had to cheer me up, especially at the end of the season but I’m very glad and thankful that she is my sister. There is a reason I was so happy to be drafted by Calgary. I wanna retire playing alongside her after all.

Second, there is Rotvik Seveergrah who while not always around and spends a rather limited time with the team, he is one of the nicest person I have ever met and is always ready to help however he can. And despite being rather young he has given me so much advice already that I’m very thankful for him. Though I must say I’m still to this day not convinced that he isn’t just Victor Hargreeves with a mustache. The similarity between the two in terms of looks is scary.

And last but not least there is my other boss whom I only call the Chief. I have already respected him from the moment I set foot in Québec. After all, he was the one who had scouted me and decided to take a chance with me. I remember how nervous I was during the draft and how happy I was when I received his message where he congratulated me and welcomed me as part of this team. Then I remember him calling me when the team learned about that article that was belittling me. His words meant a lot to me and I can still recall every single word he said. It meant that much to me. That being said, this season he grew even bigger in my eyes. We already had a good relationship with one another just as I said but I remember I spent so much time in his office this season. Be that for various reasons such as looking for advice, looking for ways to improve myself and just looking for motivation as well as looking to be cheered up after certain setbacks. It is safe to say that he is the one I look up the most to and he is the one I go to if I’m looking for almost any kind of an answer. Without him, I don’t even think I would be half the player I am right now and that says a lot when one considers the fact that I have only spent 3 seasons under his guidance. So yes, it is safe to say that he is like a father to me. In fact, I haven’t told him yet, but I do think of him as my „hockey father”. So yes, I’m very thankful for everything he has done for me.

(2570 words)

***boom*** · 03-30-2024, 10:15 PM

You had an amazing season! Thankfully just one more season of having to play against you and then we'll be teammates soon!

Tsunny · 03-30-2024, 10:19 PM

03-30-2024, 10:15 PMboom Wrote: You had an amazing season! Thankfully just one more season of having to play against you and then we'll be teammates soon!

Oh no doubt about. I'm still very proud of my season, despite the shortcomings. And it sure helped me to grow a lot as a player. Looking forward to playing with you in Calgary.

- Sonja S.

*NaomiMannequeen* · 03-30-2024, 11:23 PM

I really hope none of us end up in each other's shadows. I really want us to be both in the spotlight together. I don't wanna be the best on my own. I wanna be the best duo together. Let's crush the next season and then make some noise our rookie SHL season, kay?

- Frøya

***RAmenAmen*** · 03-30-2024, 11:47 PM

The only shadow worth mentioning is the one somebody's going to have to fill once you age out next season. FHM, and awards in particular, are pretty harsh on wingers, especially on a team as dominant as we've been lucky enough to be. You just played one of the greatest seasons in the history of the team, and there's nobody I'd rather have take your place.

skyrrhawk · 03-31-2024, 12:25 AM

@NaomiMannequeen @Tsunny why dont you shut up both of you eh dot gif

Tsunny · 03-31-2024, 06:24 AM

03-30-2024, 11:23 PMNaomiMannequeen Wrote: I really hope none of us end up in each other's shadows. I really want us to be both in the spotlight together. I don't wanna be the best on my own. I wanna be the best duo together. Let's crush the next season and then make some noise our rookie SHL season, kay?

- Frøya

That's the goal Sis Wink

- Sonja S.

Tsunny · 03-31-2024, 06:26 AM

03-30-2024, 11:47 PMRAmenAmen Wrote: The only shadow worth mentioning is the one somebody's going to have to fill once you age out next season. FHM, and awards in particular, are pretty harsh on wingers, especially on a team as dominant as we've been lucky enough to be. You just played one of the greatest seasons in the history of the team, and there's nobody I'd rather have take your place.

It means a lot to hear that from you, Boss.

- Sonja S.

Tsunny · 03-31-2024, 06:26 AM

03-31-2024, 12:25 AMskyrrhawk Wrote: @NaomiMannequeen @Tsunny why dont you shut up both of you eh dot gif

I'll shut up when you convert more of my passes Wink

-Sonja S.

TonyW19 · 03-31-2024, 04:30 PM

Yeah!

***cake307*** · 04-01-2024, 04:20 AM

I'll hit anyone if that's what it takes to win, Sonja, and you damn well know it.

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