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Huck24 · 12-11-2024, 10:51 PM

This has been a very weird off-season for me. Ever since I joined the league, I have always had a player taking part in the WJC / IIHF tournament. For one season, my first player, Lyle Odelein III played in both the WJC and the IIHF tourney! So this off-season, with my current player, Lyle Odelein IV, I was lost, without a team to play for. It didn’t clue in to me until it was really too late, I’m sure if I knew that I would have been in IIHF no man’s land, I could have done some scrambling to see if I could help a team out in the tournament. But, I only realized that I hadn’t been named to Team Canada’s roster when the tournament picks tasks was put out. I threw a hail mary chirp out there, saying that I would be happy to play for any country that could use me, but no one reached out, which I totally understand, rosters were already made.

I can only blame myself, I played 4 tournaments in the WJC with Team Canada Red / Black, and I knew that there weren’t two teams in the IIHF tournament, I should have realized that my rookie SHLer wouldn’t be getting the call from Team Canada. But I have never said that I am the smartest person, and that was on full display here. I sat on the sidelines like a chump, not having done anything about it. Well that changes now, this is my introduction to all of the IIHF Federation Heads, my player is Lyle Odelein IV, and he would like to play in next off seasons IIHF tournament.

A little bit about Lyle Odelein IV, he is the son of retired SHLer, Lyle Odelein III as I had previously mentioned. He has a lot to live up to when it comes to international success like his father, who won multiple medals in both levels. The elder Lyle won the gold medal in his first WJC tournament, back in S47 and then followed that up with another gold medal in S48. He also won the Harvey Danger Award that season, being named the top defensemen in the WJC tournament. His final WJC tournament did not allow Odelein to get his third gold for his country, Team Canada was left off the podium all together.

Lyle Odelein III then moved on to the IIHF tournament, in which he had great success. He won his first medal in S50, a bronze medal. A few tournaments passed without any medals for Odelein, but then in S55 he won bronze again for Team Canada. The next tournament is when the fun started for Team Canada. Winning the gold medal in S56 started the run of three consecutive gold medal finishes in the IIHF tournament, it was a special time with some special players. That gold in S58 would be Lyle’s last gold, but he did keep filling his trophy cabinet with a bronze in S61, silver in S62 and then 2 more bronzes in S63 and S64. Bringing his international medal count to 6 golds, 1 silver and 5 bronzes. A pretty impressive international career in deed.

Now that is Lyle Odelein III’s international story. It is already quite different than his son’s international journey. The little Lyle, as previously mentioned, suited up for Team Canada Red / Black for 4 WJC tournaments, from S75 to S78. Team Canada Red did not fair all that well during Lyle’s stint with the national team, his first tournament saw the Red Canadians finish the round robin portion in 5th place, with a record of 6-4-2. They defeated UCORCAL in the first knockout stage, but fell to the World team in the 2nd round. And then lost to team USA in the bronze medal match up. Lyle finished the tournament with 2 goals and 2 assists, he also recorded 1 blocked shot and 9 hits.

In his second tournament, Lyle and Team Canada Red finished with a record of 5-6-1, finishing 10th overall in the standings, which kept them out of the knockout rournds. Lyle himself improved slightly in the stats department, scoring 2 goals again, but adding another assist on his previous tournament totals, to 3. He blocked 6 shots and had 15 hits in the 12 games that he played.

Third time is a charm, right? S77 saw Lyle suit up for Team Canada Black this time and they finished with a record of, 5-7, which was good enough for 8th place after the round robin. The 1st knockout round had Team Canada Black face off against the team from UCORCAL. They lost this match up, denying Lyle a chance a medal for the third time. Lyle did have his best tournament this season, by far. He led Team Canada Black with 11 points in the tournament, 4 goals and 7 assists. He also had 9 blocks and 20 hits in the 12 games he played.

S78 was Lyle’s last WJC tournament and he was back with Team Canada Red. The team ended up with the same record that they had the last time Lyle was on team Red, 5-6-1, which unfortunately left them in 10th place, and ending any chance of Lyle gaining a medal at the WJC for his career. Lyle had an ok tournament, scoring 3 goals and 3 assists. He also had 2 blocked shots and registered 12 hits.

So, Lyle finished his WJC career with Team Canada Red / Black with a record of 21-23-4 and he amassed 11 goals, 15 assists (for 26 total points), 18 blocked shots and 56 hits.

Lyle then started his SHL career and by most accounts, had a terrific rookie season for the New Orleans Specters. He finished 6th in team scoring, with 18 goals and 28 assists was a +10 and blocked 54 shots and also had 100 hits. And that was playing 3rd line minutes for the majority of the season, averaging 16:04 minutes per game. Not too shabby. But he has spent the offseason wanting to play more hockey and that is why we are where we are today, he is looking for a country to play for in the next IIHF tournament and he hopes that a team might want to take him on.

This is not in order of preference by any means, this is just me going down the list of teams and trying to sell Lyle Odelein IV to them. So here goes:

Team Canada
His current nation, and my actual home country, a team that he would play for in a heartbeat. But he understands that there are many players above him on the list. If there is a spot for him next season, that would be amazing, but I don’t think that will be the case seeing the roster that they currently have. Also, congratulations to Team Canada on winning gold this past tournament!

Team Czechia
This is a team my second SHL player, Bavel Pure, was apart of. But I dropped the ball with Pure and went IA, because of life. I enjoyed the short amount of time I was here, and would be happy to rejoin them if there was a spot for Lyle, but I totally get it if they are hesitant since I already bailed on them once, sorry for that Czechia. Looking at there past tournament, I fear that they are like Team Canada and are stacked with some great players, which may make it hard to have room for Lyle.

Team Finland
I personally love everything hockey related from Finland. My favourite all time hockey player is Saku Koivu, and being a die hard Habs fan, Patrick Laine is quickly becoming one of my current favourites! Looking at their past roster, they have some very solid players, but I would like to think I could help them if they could take a chance on me.

Team France
A heck of a roster here, might be another line up very tough for Lyle to crack. But the one and only Luca Pane is part of this team, and if he is on a team, Lyle would love to be there too!

Team Germany
They had a solid tournament this season and have some great players. There seems to be a good mix of established players and some new comers. If Lyle was to transfer to Germany, he could grow as a player with this team, and potentially become a mainstay with the Germans. I also like their beer quite a bit.

Team Great Britian
When Lyle Odelein III played for Team Canada, Great Britian was part of the top tier of teams that competed against Canada. Like Germany they seem to have a solid mix of veterans and young players that Lyle could fit in nicely with. They also have Darnell Mohamed Johnson II, another player the Lyle currently plays with and would dig the opportunity to do so in the IIHF.

Team Ireland
Ireland had a solid showing this past tournament, finish third after the round robin portion of the tournament. They have a strong line up which includes some younger players that Lyle could gel with. And like Germany, I like their beers, especially Guiness, which I wish I had a pint of right now.

Team Japan
A yet another team with a decent amount of young players that Lyle could grow with. Japan has never been the top of my list as hockey nations, but this is the SHL where a old guy like me can pretend to be a professional hockey player, so why couldn’t this player play for the country know as the Land of the Rising Sun. I’d be down the wave the Japanese flag from the medal podium one day!

Team Lativia
I honestly don’t know too much about the country of Latvia, but I’d be down to learn. Latvia had a solid tournament and a roster full of solid players. Might be difficult for Lyle to crack this lineup, but if the Latvians would want to bring in some young blood, Lyle would be all over that.

Team Norway
A Scandinavian country that isn’t quite known for their hockey teams, Norway seems to be a good team, with a mixed roster with some young players as well. I am a big fan of the tv show Workaholics, so most of my knowledge of Norway comes from Anders, I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing for my chances to get the call from Norway.

Team Quebec
Lyle Odelein IV would be eligible to play for Team Quebec seeing as his birthplace in listed as Montreal Quebec, his great great grandfather is the original Lyle Odelein who was drafted by and played for the great Montreal Canadiens. I actually missed a DM from Artermis asking if I wanted to transfer to Quebec a while back. I didn’t see it on time and I would have jumped on the opportunity but I missed that boat. If that boat was still available, I would hop on. I know they had a rough tournament, but I would dig the opportunity to try and help get the Quebecers to the top of the standings down the road.

Team Sweden
Another nation that I always think of when I think of the top hockey nations. Like Quebec, they had a rough tournament, but they seem to have a little more established roster. The Swedes would be an interesting team to join and I would definitely be interested in seeing if they’d be a fit for Lyle.

Team Switzerland
They seemed to have a great tournament and they have a solid roster. The Swiss is a nation that I have always cheered for, since Mark Streit was a Montreal Canadien many moons ago along with Rapheal Diaz and Yannick Weber. They may been known as the ‘neutral’ country, but it wold be fun to see them dominate in the IIHF tournament.

Team United States
Team Canada’s main rival, for what seems like my entire lifetime. They have a very strong roster, which would most likely be difficult to crack. I have never thought or pictured Lyle in the red, white and blue (bleu, blanc et rouge, is totally different!), but stranger things have happened!

Well, that it is it, my introduction of Lyle Odelein IV (and a good opportunity to cash in on some 2x draft media!) a young SHLer looking for a IIHF team to paly with for years to come. If any federation heads are at all interested, please let me know. I don’t want to miss out on another IIHF tournament experience and would love to help a team play some great hockey on their way to a gold medal!!

Thanks for reading!

Word count - 2172

2x IIHF media

Nictox · 12-12-2024, 08:49 AM

Hopefully Lyle IV finds an IIHF home!

Specters

RIP Dangel #AD26 | RIP TDZ

By-Tor · 12-12-2024, 08:58 AM

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, tweedledunn, and jaypc8237 for sigs

spidey · 12-12-2024, 09:58 AM

Amazing write up! While I do not get to make the decisions for team Canada, by my estimation, if you keep earning at a consistent pace, you will make the roster next season. I would check with @KaleSalad to confirm because you will be close.

@Huck24 Good luck any which way you do go!

Huck24 · 12-12-2024, 11:23 AM

12-12-2024, 09:58 AMspidey Wrote: Amazing write up! While I do not get to make the decisions for team Canada, by my estimation, if you keep earning at a consistent pace, you will make the roster next season. I would check with @KaleSalad to confirm because you will be close.

@Huck24 Good luck any which way you do go!

Thanks @spidey!

Troy_McClure03 · 12-12-2024, 11:50 AM

You owe Czechia no apologies. Glad you are back!

Huck24 · 12-12-2024, 12:50 PM

12-12-2024, 11:50 AMTroy_McClure03 Wrote: You owe Czechia no apologies. Glad you are back!

Thanks Troy and very glad to be back!

Tate · 12-12-2024, 04:58 PM

Any team would benefit from adding Odelein asap to their team and Huck to their LR, what a joy to have around, and a killer player for the ice. Good luck in your venture, Huck!

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