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Anchorage Armada: The New Captain
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1072 words - 50/50 split between @KenitohMenara and @bluesfan55

Not just any player can be a captain of a team. It requires being a leader not just on the ice but in the locker room. Any failure on the ice and you will be the first man who is blamed, if your team falls behind in a game you will be looked upon to lead the charge. As the toughest position in one of the toughest sports to play, selecting the right captain is instrumental to your teams future. As Season 53 loomed ahead, the Anchorage Armada held their traditional players vote for that spot. A lot of names were in the ring. Ulrik Bergstrom is a leader on defence and is well respected by players and management. Stan Hanson, the power forward whose offensive instincts have led the Armada time and time again. Maybe one of the three former rookies should take that role, de Siren, Lowrie and Rasanen all have points to prove and want to take significant steps forward in their game.

At the end of the day the vote was cast and the players made their decision. They turned to a veteran and undisputed leader in the locker room. Mitchell van der Heijden won the majority vote and in his fourth season with the Armada will lead Anchorage going forward. An assistant captain last year, van der Heijden has had many memorable moments in Anchorage and has been a constant professional through the good and bad times with the team so electing him to the captain's position was a fairly obvious choice for the players who voted. It was an easy decision for them but Mitchell was still flushed with pride at the vote when speaking to the Armada Charter:

"It's an honor to have been voted as captain by my teammates. I've spent three seasons in Anchorage and have loved being here, so knowing that this season my fourth, is my last, I wanted to get the C to lead the team back to the top. It's something I honestly never thought I'd get. Having the A last year probably helped."

When van der Heijden was announced as the Captain, a lot of the residents of Anchorage cheered. The fan favourite finally got his due after being one of two A’s last year. Even as he tries to focus on the play, Mitchell did share with us his thoughts about Anchorage and the people who support the Armada:

"The fans live and breathe Armada hockey. I know they really wanted a team so when the Firebirds moved here from Prince George the fans were stoked. There's a reason why we play to sold out arenas every home game; the fans love us and we love them back. And Anchorage has bred players like Jake Primeau, Gabe Johnson, Darnell Johnson, Daniel Bischoff, Samuel Michaud and Augustus Wang, all of whom are really good young guys playing in the SHL. I think people sleep on the city because it's so northern but it's a great hockey town and I'll be sad to leave."

All the same, this year will not be easy for the Armada. After last year's massive turn over of talent, the team has had to scramble to find talent which they did at the draft and in free agency. In all, 6 rookies joined the team including rookie goalie Sccochie Stratton. For any captain this would be a difficult task but when you are focused on the grand prize in the junior league, the Four Star cup, reaching for it now seems impossible. However, when talking about the rookies on this team, van der Heijden didn’t seem worried. In fact when asked if he thought the team was possibly “too green” to handle a deep run at the cup, Mitchell responded:
"No, not at all. The rookies are raring to go and they've been working hard all preseason. I think Stratton is going to be our starter, and we have Sawful, Petrikov, and Lazer at the back, where we struggled last season, so I'm hyped to see how they're going to do. Rigler is going to be a steal, and I think Gunnarsson and Yzerman add depth to an already stacked offense. We've got ambitious rookies and experience, and I think a deep run can happen with this team."

He followed this up by talking about the former rookie trio from last year. Mitchell knows which pieces need to step up in order for the Armada to make one big run at glory but he highlighted the rookie trio when asked:


"I think everyone improved, but the 2nd years especially. Rasanen is probably the hardest worker on the team; he just goes out there and grinds. Manhattan will be a good landing place for him when he goes up, cause I know he wants to win. Lowrie impressed me, and the kid's got a scoring touch. I'm really excited for de Siren though. Kid was our highest SHL pick last season and landed with Calgary where he'll fit in just fine as a rookie. I think he'll be our break out player this season. Actually all of them will; they may not have had impressive stats last season but I know they've been putting the work in."

Mitchell was part of the roster that finally ended Anchorage’s curse and brought the Four star trophy home but new challenges beckon him in the senior league. However before he can move on to that, he wants to end his SMJHL career on top. He wants one more four star cup, not just for himself but for all of Anchorage. For him it would be the perfect ending to his time in Alaska.

"It would mean the world to me to go out on top with Anchorage. Of course, as you mentioned, we won it before in S51, which was great. I knew we were a great team going into that season, and I had us pegged to win it, and we just did our thing. This season a cup win is definitely possible if everyone keeps working hard and growing like they have been so far. The GMs have a strategy that they're working on and I think if everything goes right for us like it did in S51 we'll have rings on our fingers by the end of the playoffs."

Good luck to Mitchell and indeed all of the Anchorage Armada as they enter season 53.
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I approve of this

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