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Noble · 01-21-2020, 06:33 PM

NOT FAR FROM HOME

West Kendall, Florida, USA

Written By: Nickolas Klaus

I don't do player tribunals about myself often enough anymore. I think after my time in Kelowna, it was hard to grasp everything that was going on around me. In the last five seasons of my career, I've undergone a lot of change. Starting in Minnesota with the team that drafted me I had a rather disappointing rookie season with less than twenty points. I followed it up with a forty-five point sophomore year with Tampa Bay after leaving the Chiefs in free agency. For three seasons, Tampa Bay was undeniably home. Not only was it a matter of my best friends being around me, players like Gunnar Soderberg (@sköldpaddor) and Nolan Sawchuk (@Jepox) who I spent time with while on the Knights as well as Flacko Lagerfield (@JSS) and later James Ronlain (@Rankle), but Tampa Bay was where my son was born, where I met my wife. It seemed like it would last forever, but following that dreaded game seven loss, things just weren't the same. We slowly fell apart from the inside, morale dropped, and suddenly the dream was all but gone. My involvement in the SHLPA CBA discussion only further pushed the idea on me that maybe it was time for a change, as even the fans of the Barracudas began to turn heel on me. Then came this last season, all time low totals in points and a feeling of isolation far greater than I have known since moving half way across the world from my hometown of Oslo, Norway.

And so now here I am, twenty five years old and amidst a new chapter in my professional career after signing a three year deal with the West Kendall Platoon. I didn't even leave the state, moving two hundred and seventy five miles away to the other side of the Florida Peninsula, and yet it feels like I'm on the other side of the world once again. There were a lot of draws to West Kendall, my old Kelowna Knights captain and one of the triplets, Sanyi Kocsis (@daBenchwarmer) was still drawing minutes on the Platoon's third defensive pairing. The team was on the upswing, ready for a star player to come in, and asked me to be their franchise man. I was more than happy to oblige. Despite their success, West Kendall is still a small market team, nestled into the heart of Miami. The money will be good, the city is beautiful, and the fans have been incredible. And yet as a player, there is still something missing. Maybe it's the intoxicating feeling of success that came with my time in Kelowna, where Kocsis, Sawchuk, and I ran the league for a few seasons back to back. I'm not alone in West Kendall anymore at least, my ex-Barracuda teammate Kristaps Ball (@jcfbey01) found his way to me and will be my partner in crime this season as we try to push West Kendall into a potential bubble playoff spot. I don't expect a deep run, but we aren't going to be complicit either.

I spent my first night in West Kendall with the team's young guys, getting to know what they were like and preparing myself to be a leadership figure for them. Ethan Ross (@JR95), recent draftee Sabo Tage (@Glyc) and I played Apex Legends on Ethan's couch while our future netminder Luca Del Vecchio (@Zoone16) say by and mostly made fun of us. It was the best introduction to the team I could ask for. Andrea and Nico were still in Tampa Bay, visiting Andrea's parents before they came here. Nico is five now, about to start his own little hockey career right as I begin my first season here in West Kendall. He's got a ton of energy, and reminds me a lot of myself when I was a kid. From skating on the outdoor rink back home in Oslo this summer I can already tell that he's going to follow in his dad's footsteps someday. We're taking the opportunity to move to West Kendall and get Nico settled into a good elementary school here, not too far from Andrea's family home. I didn't want her to feel like she was changing worlds the same way I did, it was a big reason I chose to stay in Florida.

There's a lot to look forward to in this coming season. By the current setup, I'm going to be manning the first and fourth lines at center, projected to be one of our key offensive contributors. Many are calling for me to step-up and expand my current personal best season from my sophomore year, and I feel like I have fifty points or more in me this year. I tend to be year on year off when it comes to offensive production, which would make this a year on. There is still some core infrastructure built around me heading into this campaign so I have a lot of confidence in this team to hold it's own and stay proud rather than relegating ourselves to a bottom feeding position. I must say, I never thought I would leave Tampa Bay, but I found the perfect option not too far from home. It's time to change the landscape of this league once again as West Kendall prepares itself for another dynastic run, and I plan to see that run all the way through, every single step of the way.

jcfbey01 · 01-21-2020, 08:17 PM

*Zoone16* · 01-21-2020, 08:46 PM

Toonza!

*sköldpaddor* · 01-21-2020, 09:02 PM

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