I want to give you all an overview of what I expected coming into my first SMJHL season and how those expectations were the same or different from what was actually experienced throughout the course of the season. First, I will go through the similarities of what matched my expectations and then we will look into what was different than expected. Please note that my expectations of how the season and SMJHL would work may not be based in reality and that this is in no way a critique of how anything works or does not work, but merely my observations from my personal perspective.


In regards to the similarities of my expectations of the season, there were many. First and foremost, I expected to be an active participant in my community, whichever team I wound up on. I also expected the locker room to be a lively place, which ours certainly is. Coming into the season, I thought that I would be a leader of community and community activities, and this certainly occurred within the Falcons’ locker room, although I did not expect to have a technical leadership position, but alas, I get ahead of myself. Finally, the last expectation similarity I’d like to highlight is the professionalism of all the higher ups. When deciding if I should join or not, I first looked into the communication style of the leadership to see if people took their roles and responsibilities seriously. This is indeed a place where everyone has their job(s) and fulfills said job(s).


There were probably more differences than similarities. First of all, I expected this season to lay low and just be part of my team. I knew that I would probably wind up with a leadership position, but not during my first season. As it turns out, I couldn’t help myself, and have a leadership position in the Falcons locker room as well as within the IIHF (Erin go Braugh to my Ireland kinsfolk). This has created a lot more responsibility for me than I previously envisioned (although I must say the leadership positions is helping to make my time here a lot of fun!) Additionally, the season was a lot shorter than I expected it to be (or perhaps time flew by faster than I expected it to). This place really moves by at a rapid pace with so many games happening each week. I figured a season would take half a year or so, but it certainly was a lot shorter than that. Also, a major difference was that I did not expect my player, Quazon Brosonchi, to perform anywhere near the level that he did. It was a happy surprise as Quazon put up the 4th most points on the team with TPE in the low to mid 200s. Finally, while I did not expect to totally dominate the league, I definitely did not expect that we would get swept out of the first round of the playoffs, especially since the Falcons had an average regular season performance. Overall, the differences I found between my expectations and the reality were positive.

It was nice to have you for that short time in Ottawa, I see you've already moved up the ladder in Detroit! I'm excited to see what you do in the future

DEMIR BELLONA | RD | MONTREAL PATRIOTES
Name: Demir Bellona
Height: 5' 11''
Weight: 185 lbs
Number: 21

MATT KHOLIN | C | BUFFALO STAMPEDE | RETIRED 
Name: Matt Kholin
Height: 6' 1''
Weight: 205 lbs
Number: 15
Peak TPE: 2069
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Achievements
Round 4 #35 overall S45 SMJHL by Halifax Raiders
Round 1 #14 overall S46 SMHL by Tampa Bay Barracuda
S45 WJC Team Canada Silver Medal Winner
S45 Nominated for the Esa Anrikkanen Award (Rookie of the Year)
S46 WJC Team Canada Bronze Medal Winner
S47 WJC Team Canada Gold Medal Winner
S47 Jared Hanson Award Winner (Most Points)
S47 Roberto Martucci Award Winner (Most Goals)
S47 Ideen Fallah Award Winner (Regular Season MVP)
S47 Brandon Holmes Award Winner (Top Defensive Forward)
S47 Ron Bolt Award Winner (Most Sportsmanlike Player)
S48 All Rookie Team
S50 IIHF Team Canada Bronze Medal Winner
S53 Damian Littleton Award Nominated (Most Dedicated)
S53 Elias Armia Award Winner
(The Commissioner's Award of Excellence)
S54 Traded at the Trade Deadline to Buffalo Stampede
S54 Damian Littleton Award Winner (Most Dedicated)
S54 Jeff Dar Award Nominated (Best Two-Way Forward)
S54 Aidan Richan Award Nominated (Most improved)
S54 All-Star 2nd Team
S54 IIHF Team Canada Gold Medal Winner
S55 IIHF Team Canada Bronze Medal Winner
S56 IIHF Team Canada Gold Medal Winner
S57 IIHF Team Canada Gold Medal Winner
S57 Damian Littleton Award Nominated (Most Dedicated)
S59 Damian Littleton Award Nominated (Most Dedicated)
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SHL Statistics
S48 TBB: GP: 50 G: 14 A: 19 P: 33
S49 TBB: GP: 50 G: 9 A: 20 P: 29
S50 TBB: GP: 50 G: 11 A: 22 P: 33
S51 TBB: GP: 50 G: 13 A: 16 P: 29
S52 TBB: GP: 50 G: 14 A: 28 P: 42
S53 TBB: GP: 50 G: 15 A: 24 P: 39
S54 BUF: GP: 50 G: 32 A: 40 P: 72
S55 BUF: GP: 50 G: 19 A: 35 P: 54
S56 BUF: GP: 50 G: 20 A: 33 P: 53
S57 BUF: GP: 66 G: 23 A: 46 P: 69
S58 BUF: GP: 66 G: 24 A: 43 P: 67
S59 BUF: GP: 66 G: 36 A: 45 P: 81
S60 BUF: GP: 66 G: 32 A: 51 P: 83
S61 BUF: GP: 66 G: 40 A: 28 P: 68
S62 BUF: GP: 66 G: 20 A: 36 P: 56
Career: GP: 846 G: 322 A: 486 P: 808
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SHL Playoffs Statistics
S48 TBB: GP: 7 G: 1 A: 2 P: 3
S49 TBB: GP: 12 G: 2 A: 8 P: 10
S50 TBB: GP: 19 G: 4 A: 8 P: 12
S51 TBB: GP: 4 G: 0 A: 2 P: 2
S52 TBB: Eliminated
S53 TBB: Eliminated
S54 BUF: GP: 13 G: 2 A: 8 P: 10
S55 BUF: GP: 17 G: 4 A: 11 P: 15
S56 BUF: GP: 23 G: 6 A: 11 P: 17
S57 BUF: GP: 17 G: 7 A: 9 P: 16
S58 BUF: GP: 21 G: 9 A: 4 P: 13
S59 BUF: GP: 19 G: 12 A: 9 P: 21
S60 BUF: GP: 22 G: 5 A: 15 P: 20
S61 BUF: GP: 9 G: 5 A: 0 P: 5
S62 BUF: GP: 9 G: 1 A: 5 P: 6
Career: GP: 192 G: 58 A: 92 P: 150
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International Statistics
S45 WJC CAN: GP: 22 G: 2 A: 5 P: 7
S46 WJC CAN: GP: 29 G: 7 A: 23 P: 30
S47 WJC CAN: GP: 28 G: 7 A: 21 P: 28
S47 IIHF CAN: GP: 12 G: 2 A: 2 P: 4
S48 IIHF CAN: GP: 13 G: 0 A: 2 P: 2
S49 IIHF CAN: GP: 13 G: 1 A: 4 P: 5
S50 IIHF CAN: GP 14: G: 0 A: 3 P: 3
S51 IIHF CAN: GP 13: G: 1 A: 4 P: 5
S52 IIHF CAN: GP 12: G: 7 A: 3 P: 10
S53 IIHF CAN: GP 14: G: 9 A: 9 P: 18
S54 IIHF CAN: GP 17: G: 10 A: 9 P: 19
S55 IIHF CAN: GP 14: G: 6 A: 8 P: 14
S56 IIHF CAN: GP 15: G: 3 A: 13 P: 16
S57 IIHF CAN: GP 15: G: 7 A: 5 P: 12
S58 IIHF CAN: GP 15: G: 3 A: 7 P: 10
S59 IIHF CAN: GP 12: G: 1 A: 5 P: 6
S60 IIHF CAN: GP 13: G: 3 A: 8 P: 11
S61 IIHF CAN: GP 15: G: 3 A: 6 P: 9
S62 IIHF CAN: GP 15: G: 1 A: 4 P: 5
Career: GP: 302 G: 70 A: 138 P: 208
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SMJHL Regular Season
S45 HAL: GP: 50 G: 15 A: 17 P: 32
S46 HAL: GP: 50 G: 10 A: 17 P: 27
S47 HAL: GP: 50 G: 24 A: 24 P: 48
Career: GP: 150 G: 49 A: 58 P: 107
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SMJHL Playoffs Statistics
S45 HAL: GP: 11 G: 4 A: 6 P: 10
S46 HAL: GP: 13 G: 3 A: 5 P: 8
S47 HAL: GP: 4 G: 0 A: 2 P: 2
Career: GP: 28 G: 7 A: 13 P: 20
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@JBeckQuest Approved