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Steelhead77 · 05-17-2020, 11:40 PM

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Double Media - Week 2

Going into my 31st season as Dragons GM I thought I’d take a quick look back at each of the 6 cups and one bonus cup as Detroit GM. This should be longer and more detailed with pics and shoutouts, but figured might as well get that double media in before the deadline..

falcons-old

S23 Four Star Cup Champions falcons-old

My first Championship was as Head GM of the Detroit Falcons in S23 when we won the 4 Star Cup. This was a great experience as it was my first cup in the league. I was GM for 4 seasons in Detroit S20-S23 and was JayWhy's co-gm in S19 who taught me a lot. During my tenure in Detroit we won 3 president’s trophies in a row and went to the finals 3 times in a row, finally winning on my last chance in S23. This was very memorable because we worked so hard for it as a team and it was the first championship in the league for many members on that team. It was a good run as GM in Detroit and I learned a lot about running lines in sths and managing a group of players. We had some good players on those rosters like Mook, Nuck, Alex Mack, Bonk, Wannabefinn, LB, Big Titty Smitty and probably a few more that are still around that I’m forgetting. I still remember the excitement we had in the room when we finally brought the 4 star cup back to Detroit. That season was a lot of fun and very rewarding.

S23 Falcons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S27 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

My Next championship and first in the SHL was in S27 as Head GM and player for the Dragons. This one was pretty epic as the Dragons at the time had not won the Challenge Cup in 17 seasons. I thankfully inherited a roster in S24 with some good young pieces on it from my mentor 04L, names like Hunter Wong, Michael “Big Game” Boychuk, Zoidberg, Jagr, Zerchai stand out and some great veterans like Labsvards and Jalopski. I added a few more high draft picks like Randleman and McZehrl along with bringing in ofer’s recreate Martell and then Nicholas Pedersen and Alex Mack via trade. We had a strong roster and I think Anrikkanen was reaching his prime so that helped also. I remember we all wanted that cup so bad. We made the finals against Hamilton and although we played well we found ourselves down 0-3 in the series. As a first time Challenge Cup GM faced with a big hole.. I had to dig deep. I remember spending countless hours going over the games and analyzing the stats and deciding what to do, this was before anyone ran test sims. I followed my instincts and made some changes, new lines, new strats and we had something I was confident could work better. It worked! We won the next 3 games and forced a game 7. I can’t remember if it was on the road or home but amazingly we won game 7 in overtime on a goal by then rookie Michael Burch and completed the first reverse sweep in SHL history. You can’t get much more exciting than that in an SHL finals series. It was an incredible experience and we had so much fun celebrating in the room. Just an awesome group, it was a special cup and one of my best memories in the league, I will never forget it. Thanks to everyone on that roster.

S27 Dragons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S29 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

My second Challenge Cup was shortly after in S29 when the team was reaching it’s peak. It was pretty much the same roster but we added a big name in Bubba Nuck and called up a high end prospect in Shane Gagner. It was a pretty loaded roster from what I can remember. We had more confidence this time around and knew anything was possible after coming back and winning the cup in game 7 last time. We found ourselves playing Hamilton again, we knew they’d be hungry for revenge, but they would not have it! I believe won the cup in 7 games. I can’t remember who was GM of Hamilton at the time, I think it may have been Tanner. This was another exciting experience with most of the same guys on the team and was it incredible winning 2 cups in 3 seasons. It was a dominant time for the Dragons, we had a great group of players and I was hitting my stride as a GM. Big thanks to everyone on that roster.

S29 Dragons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S32 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

The 3rd cup came in S32, giving the Dragons 3 cups in 6 seasons and I remember at the time people were getting tired of us and New England winning. This Dragons roster was awesome, we had the same core roster with many players in their prime like Anrikkanen, Nuck, Randleman, Pedersen, Boychuk and we brought in Pierre-Luc Laflamme and Tommy Creller to put us over the top. The S32 Dragons had a dominant run that post-season going 12-2 in the playoffs, eventually beating Manhattan in the Cup Finals. Hunter Wong was spectacular and led us to our 3rd cup together. I also think this was LaFlamme’s first cup as a player after he came to Calgary to try and win, we were all happy for him. I also remember this was special for another reason because at the time Nuck had his 8yr old son Hunky Monkey on the team and they were able to enjoy this championship together, the first father son duo to win a cup in SHL history as far as I know. This team was a lot of fun, we also went the to finals the next season in S33 and eventually lost to New England. Loved that roster, thanks to everyone.

S32 Dragons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S40 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

The 4th Challenge Cup had to wait until S40 after we lost to the aforementioned Manhattan in the S38 finals. I remember this S40 team being very hungry for a championship. At the time we had some of our old veterans still on the team like Esa, Pedersen, Boychuk, Randleman, Mack and Laflamme but the roster was mostly new players we had either drafted or acquired. Names like Joe Kurczewski, Roman Augustus, Mike Izzy, Dani Forsberg, Louie Garrett, Ostap Maksimov Adam Kaiser, Casey Creller and Goody were prominent at the time. This was the season we signed Garrett and Kaiser in free agency and people lost their minds. This was a Dragons team for the ages, stacked from top to bottom with talent and we had Dick Chocolate in net. We knew the pressure was on after our big off-season moves and we had to deliver. We went 31-13-6 in the regular season, following it up with a 12-6-1 playoff run. Eventually delivering a clutch game 7 win over Minnesota in the cup finals. This was one of my favorite championships for multiple reasons, the opponent was a rival at the time, the team delivered under pressure, we won on the biggest stage during game 7 of the finals and it was the first championship for some of our high profile 1st gen players. Richard Hocolate winning playoff mvp as our goalie after waiting so long for the starting role could be the best part of it all. I also have a great memory of celebrating the game 7 win in real time with TDZ at 6am. This was a great one for the Dragons. I think if we’d lost that season Joe K would have imploded. Big thanks to all the stars on that roster.

S40 Dragons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S42 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

Season 42 brought my 5th Challenge Cup as a GM and player and more importantly was the 5th cup for 4 of my long time Dragons teammates Nicholas Pedersen, Randy Randleman, Michael Boychuk and Alex Mack. This marked the only time in SHL history 5 teammates had won 5 cups together with the same team. I really love that stat and it was a special run with that group of Dragons players. It also was the 5th cup my wonderful Co-GM c00kies and I won together, and I/we moved into #1 all-time in Cup Wins by a GM. While we had some veterans on the roster that season it was largely the same as the cup team in S40 with a few changes. We brought in Mikka Linna who was fantastic and also had called up Shooter McGavin and Otis B Driftwood. This was my good friend slappydoodle’s 1st championship in the SHL after working so hard for so man years. It was great to see him rewarded and special to win it together. We had a pretty dominant run in the playoffs, going 12-3-1. We beat New England in 6 games, Joe K was a stud and won playoff mvp that season which was well deserved. This was a very memorable cup for many people and had a significant mark in SHL history. Definitely one of my favorites. Thanks to everyone on that great roster.

S42 Dragons Roster: HERE

Dragons

S50 Challenge Cup Champions Dragons

The 6th Challenge Cup and most recent was a great one for different reasons. This cup was about coming back to the top of the league after a very quick rebuild. The Dragons got hit hard in the expansion draft of S45. We knew we were losing two of our biggest stars to become expansion GM’s and would likely lose another good player or two in the actual draft. So we moved some big pieces out for picks in the upcoming drafts and S46 was a key draft for us as we built a largely new identity. We took now core players like Brennan Kennedy Jr, Barry Batsbak, Chico Smeb, Bernik Vrzala and Oliver Klozoff that draft. We also got Parmborg, Rush and Devitt in the next couple drafts and we already had taken some young guys the years before like Bouchard, Choybuk, Nuck and picked up Rainbow Dash as a prospect. That was the new core of the team along with Kata Vilde in his prime and our veterans like Izzy, Driftwood, Shooter, Maksimov and Creller. It was a new look Dragons roster and a very hungry group. We actually made the finals in S48 but it was a bit premature and we got swept by a powerful West Kendall team, but it was a good learning experience for this new group. When we made it back in S50 everyone was pumped and wanted to win badly. Izzy went on a tear scoring like 32 points in 20 games and we stormed through the playoffs behind great goaltending from Vilde. We went 12-1 in the first 3 rounds including two sweeps, so we were playing great. We then faced Tampa Bay in the finals and somehow fell down 0-3 in the series. It was gut check time for the Dragons, we dug deep made some changes and came back to tie the series and force a game 7. We won game 7 completing the reverse sweep in the cup finals for the 2nd time in our history! It was unbelievable. I was so happy for this team, the first cup for many players and the Dragons were back on top. Great feeling, I can still remember it well. Was very proud of that group and thankful for the work everyone put in and still puts in every day. I think that roster had something like 16 Dragons draft picks on it so that's pretty awesome too.

S50 Dragons Roster: HERE

Overall it’s been an incredible experience being able to manage the Dragons for so long and I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of success, thanks to some great people and players. Each one of these cups is special for it’s own reason and while they go back quite a few years in real time they’re still great memories. Many of the players are still around in the locker room and on the Dragons today. I probably forgot a few elements of each run but hey I’m getting old.

I look forward to hopefully winning more championships with the new players in Calgary. The Dragons remain strong and while FHM is a new challenge we take it head on as a group and will do everything we can to bring the cup back to Calgary.

Well that it’s, hopefully 3 or 4 people enjoyed this. Thanks. Go Dragons.

Dragonite

Code:
2,100 Words - Double Media Week 2 - Submitted 5/17 at 11:40pm

---> ParmBorg Highlights <---

#1 All-Time SHL Goal & Point Scorer
- First 2,000 TPE Player in SHL History -
- First 400 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- Only 500 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- First GM to Win 5 & 6 Challenge Cups -
Esa Anrikkanen Award - SMJHL ROY - Est. S34
Vidrik Onoprienko Award Winner - S45

Dragonite

Slappydoodle · 05-18-2020, 02:03 AM

***JKortesi81*** · 05-18-2020, 03:16 PM

I'm one of the 3 or 4 that did.

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