I have yet to have the honour to have my player, Lyle Odelein III raise a cup in the SHL.  That goes for both the Four Star Cup and the Challenge Cup.  I have been able to put a gold medal, 2 in fact, in my virtual trophy case, playing with Team Canada in the WJC.  But that elusive cup win has just been out of reach for Lyle and the teams he has played for.  So I can’t write a piece on a championship run that I have been involved with, but I can write about my former SMJHL team, the St. Louis Scarecrows last few championship seasons, I got a lot of stories from the veterans and alumni when I joined the Crows in S47.  The Crows were fresh off their third Four Star Cup win in row and I joined them as a rookie with our sights set on a unprecedented 4th consecutive cup.  The follow media piece will give a quick recap of those three cup runs, as well as a rundown of my first ever SMJHL playoff experience.  So here it goes:

S44

The Crows had a solid regular season, posting a 28-15-7 record good for 63 points and second place overall, following their rivals, the Detroit Falcons.  This team was led by captain Nicholas Williams and alternates Adam Taylor and Bernard Freeman, other notable Crows in S44 were Aleister Cain, Alex Winters, Phillip Winters, Slip McScruff and the one and only Jerry Larry.  The Crows, having finished 2nd overall, received a bye to the second round, where they faced off against the Vancouver Whalers, who had defeated the Anchorage Armada to advance.  The series did not start off as St. Louis had hoped.  Playing the first two games in front of their home crowd, they were beaten by the Whalers, 4-2 in the first game and 5-3 in the second.  Home ice advantage had disappeared quickly, the favoured Crows were down 2-0 and were in a tight spot.  The series moved to the west coast and the Scarecrows found their legs, winning game 3 with a score of 5-2.  With the series at 2-1, the Whalers were determined not to do the same as the Crows and lose both games at home, they were successful here, winning game four at home, 5-3.  The Crows found themselves down 3 games to 1, on the brink on elimination, with the series heading back to St. Louis for a must win game for the Crows.  The Crows came through for their fans, winning a very tight game, breaking a 2-2 tie in the third period with the goal on the power play by defenseman Kiko Rytmeyr, keeping the Crows playoff hopes alive.  This goal / win started it all.

The series went back to Vancouver where the Crows were once again able to win in a close contest, beating the Whalers on home ice for the first time in the series, the momentum had swung, the Crows had tied up the series with this 4-3 win, and set up the deciding game 7 in Vancouver.  Once again, the game went into the third period tied at 2-2 when the Crows alternate captain Adam Taylor scored the game winner 7:35 into the final frame, sealing the Crows series victory.  They were down 3 games to 1, but somehow turned it all around and won three straight, propelling them to the Four Star Cup finals.
The finals saw the Scarecrows face off against the Colorado Raptors, they once again started the series at home, but the home fans saw a much different outcome from the previous round.  They shut out the Raptors in game 1, with Cain turning away 19 shoots from his opponents.  Game 2 was a little tighter, the Raptors and Crows played 3 full periods only to find themselves tied at 2 goals apiece.  Half way through the overtime period, Bernard Freeman scored infront of his home crowd, winning the game 3-2.  The series heading to Colorado, with the Crows on a 5 game winning streak, they did not take their foot off the gas pedal.  They won game 3 with a score of 3-2, taking a commanding lead of 3-0 in the final series.  The Crows took their game to the next level in game 4, defeating the Raptors with a score of 5-1.  Brock Nuch led the way with a goal and 2 assists, and the Crows capped off S44 with and 7 game win streak and the Four Star Cup.

S45

The next season the Scarecrows had a new captain, Nicholas Williams got the call up to the big leagues and Slip McScruff got the ‘C’ put on his sweater.  The defending champions finished in 6th place in the regular season with a record of 28-21-1.  They also introduced some rookies to the team, with Michael Fox and Gordie Boomhover to name a few.  They entered the playoffs with a round 2 match-up versus the Kelowna Knights.  They made quick work of the Knights, beaten them in 4 straight games.  Game 1 saw the Crows win on the road 4-3, then followed up with a 3-1 win.  The series moved back to St. Louis and a game 3 OT winner by rookie defender, Basil Magnicotta.  Game 4 had the Crows closing out the series with a 4-1 win. 

Next up was another matchup with Vancouver, St. Louis took the first game 4-2, but fell to the Whalers 6-2, ending their 12 game playoff win streak.  They two teams split the next two games as well, bring the series to a 2-2 tie.  Game five saw the Crows beat the Whalers in Vancouver with a final score of 5-3.  Game 6 in St. Louis was the Crows chance to end the series and prevent another game 7 between these two teams.  It was a great game and a high scoring affair, with the Whalers tying the game at 4-4 in the third, sending them to overtime.  Mid way through the 2nd overtime period, St. Louis forward Nicolas Flemming scored for the Crows, sending them to the Four Star Cup Finals for the second season in a row.

The finals match-up was one to remember.  Bitter rivals Detroit Falcons had also punched their ticket to the finals, setting up this showdown between the Crows and Falcons.  The Crows started on the road and did so by beating the Falcons at home, 6-4.  Detroit took game 2, 4-2, evening up the series at 1 game a piece.  The series then moved to St. Louis, and the Crows took control.  Winning the next two games at home with a 4-3 OT win (winner scored by rookie Gordie Boomhover) and a in game #4 St. Louis edged the Falcons 3-2.  With a 3-1 series lead, the series shifted back to Detroit and the Falcons kept the series alive with a dominate 4-1 victory on home ice.  With a 3-2 series lead, the Crows flew back to St. Louis.  They took it right to the Falcons, scoring 4 goals in the 1st period, en route to beating their rivals 5-3 and were able to raise the Four Star cup in front of the home crowd.  The Crows were back to back champions!

S46

S46 saw another change in team leadership, fresh of their back to back, the Crows named Michael Fox their newest captain with McScruff taking one of the alternates and Gordie Boomhover the second spot.  Some other new faces in the locker room, rookies like Nicolaj Muller, Noah Gallagher and Charlie Serpe put on the Scarecrows jersey for the first time. The season saw the Crows play some great hockey, finishing 2nd overall with a record of 31-18-1, finishing 6 points back of the leaders, the Kelowna Knights.  The playoffs started and the Crows first match-up was against the Halifax Raiders.  Halifax won the first game, but St. Louis won the next three.  Halifax pulled out a 2-1 win in game five, but St. Louis closed out the series with a 3-2 OT win, Valeri Tikhonov scoring the eventual winner. 

Next up for the Crows were the Anchorage Armada.  The Crows and Anchorage split the first two games in St. Louis, the Crows taking the first 5-3 and the Anchorage winning the next in OT.  The series moved to Anchorage and the two teams once again split, St. Louis winning game 3, 2-3 and Anchorage tying the series at 2-2 with a 5-1 win on home ice.  Game 5 had St. Louis winning at home with a score of 3-1 and game 6 in Anchorage saw the Scarecrows close out the series with a 5-3 win.

The Four Star Cup finals in S46 pitted the top two teams in the SMJHL regular season against each other. Kelowna vs. St. Louis.  Kelowna took the first two games at home, beating the Crows handily in game 1 with a 4-0 shutout.  Game two was closer, but Kelowna ended up winning with a score of 3-1.  The series hit the road and shifted to St. Louis, where the Crows took game 3 in OT (winner by Nicolas Flemming) and went on to win the next game, 4-3, evening up the series at 2, turning these finals into a best of 3.  Game 5 back in Kelowna, saw the Knights win another game at home, beating the Crows 4-1 and taking a 3-2 series lead.  Kelowna couldn’t close out the series in St. Louis, the Crows wouldn’t go down easily, they took the #1 overall team to overtime, scoring a goal with only a few minutes left in the third period.  Jerry Larry was the overtime hero for the Crows, scoring on the powerplay after Kelowna’s Nathan Explosion took a hooking penalty two minutes into the extra frame. 

A game seven showdown was set up.  This series had seen the home team win ever single game, so the Knights were by far the favoured team in this match up.  It was a back and forth game, both teams scoring once in the first, and then once again in the second.  Third period of game seven started out 2-2, but Tyler Tougard scored early in the 3rd period, and a few minutes later Gordie Boomhover added another, giving the Crows a 4-2 lead.  Just 16 seconds later, Kelowna scored one of their own, but they could add any more.  St. Louis won on the road by a score of 4-3 and completed the three-peat. 

S47

This is the season when my player, Lyle Odelein III joined the Crows.  I joined the team with fellow rookies Mika Kandinsky and Barrett Blackwood.  We joined this amazing team that had just won 3 Four Star Cups in a row and we wanted to help win a fourth.  We had an amazing regular season, secure the top spot going into the play offs, with a record of 33-14-3.  We went into the playoffs with very high hopes.  We squared off against the Detroit Falcons first, this is when I got my first real taste of the rivalry.  We ended up winning the series 4 games to 2 games and moved on to the next round.  We were matched up against the Anaheim Outlaws, and we had a hell of a series.  We won the first two games, and Anaheim won the next 3.  We took the sixth game on the road, forcing a game seven to decide who made it to the finals.  We fought hard, but ended up losing the game 3-2.  It was a tough loss and it was the end of the St. Louis reign as the Four Star Cup champs.  Anaheim went on to defeat the Montreal Militia in the finals.

St. Louis had a crazy good run throughout these seasons.  This three-peat was an amazing thing, and I was definitely in awe joining a team that had been performing so well for so long.  I had really hoped that I could help bring a fourth consecutive cup to St. Louis in S47, but it wasn’t in the cards.  My player spent two more seasons in the SMJHL, in S48 we lost to the Halifax Raiders in the 2nd round of the playoffs and in the following season we beat Anaheim in the wild card match up and faced Kelowna in the 2nd round, but we fell to them in game number seven.

So my rookie season was the closest I got to the Four Star Cup, the closest I’ve been to any trophy in Lyle’s career so far.  I’m still looking to change that, and hope to very soon lift the Challenge Cup for New Orleans and who knows, we might just start our on cup winning streak that will top the one that the S44-S46 St. Louis Crows displayed…

Double Media - wk 2 - Word count - 2212