Login

FinnRhys · 06-09-2020, 03:39 PM

Code:
words - 1,007

It is that time again, the time of the week where I look at my bank account and realize I have made a horrible mistake by not doing any media the last few weeks (or was it months) and that because of my atrocious lack of judgement i am now in the hole and my team and player will suffer for it. In fairness, I am not a total jackass for putting doing media off. I actually have been quite busy in real life living my best life and, like everyone else, dealing with the effects of COVID. That said, in this stressful time, the Simulation Hockey League has been a nice release where I can forget about how terrible humanity can be sometimes and instead focus my attention on how terrible my fake hockey player is. I have already written one article about how bad FR Finn-Rhys is so today, instead, I will focus on how awesome my teammates are, especially the forwards.

If you have not noticed, the Edmonton forwards are making waves this season, leading the league in goals scored with 111 through 25 games. That is an astounding 4.44 goals per game! If the Blizzard can keep this same pace of goal scoring for the rest of the season they will obliterate the regular season record (in the FHM era) for goals scored. Additionally, this 4.44 goals per game average is a whole goal improvement over last season's average of 3.44 goals per game, a significant leap in offensive production by a team that was already really good offensively. What makes this season's feat all the more impressive is how generally diverse the scoring has been, coming from many different goal scorers instead of only one. Halfway through the season Edmonton has four players with double digit goals scored and eleven players with 5 goals or more.

While the scoring has been generally well rounded and coming from across the team, one player in particular has been lighting up the goal nets and making the fog horns and sirens blair, wunderkind Julio Tokolosh (@Julio Tokolosh). Tokolosh, the diminutive American native (probably from the midwest based upon his affinity for heifers) has been on a tear this season and is tied for the team lead in points with 44 off 24 goals and 20 assists. At the halfway point of the season, Tokolosh has already eclipsed last season's scoring numbers where he had 42 points during the regular season. What makes his performance even more extraordinary is his innate ability to be in the right place at the right time to get open and slot the puck into the back of the net. On over 100 shots on goal Tokolosh has a shooting percentage right at 20% and his uncanny ability to find space is very similar to Martin St. Louis', which is good company to be in. Indeed, the young Tokolosh is on pace to more than double last season's points outpout and he could very well find himself in the running for a league MVP nod as he is clearly one of the best young players in the league.

One of Julio Tokolosh's greatest strengths, however, is not his physical abilities to skate, pass or shoot the puck, but instead, it is his ability to make his teammates sharing the ice with him even better. While it is clear from his numbers that Tokolosh is a play maker and involved in much of the play, it is his willingness to take a step back and find ways to creatively have the team involved in all facets of the game that makes him truly remarkable and special. His play on the ice has certainly made hockey fans everywhere take notice but it is his quiet charisma and calming presence that has been most noted in the locker room.

"Julio is one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. He is insanely talented and he makes everyone around him better at hockey. I know I personally have struggled this season and Julio has always been there to pick me up and knock the dust off me (or ice shavings in this case) and get me back up on the ice and playing better. It is just incredible to see someone so talented devote so much time outside of practice to making his teammates better." - FR Finn-Rhys

Other players have similarly high praise for Tokolosh's play this season. When asked how much of a difference there has been from last season to this season Connor Tanner @Keygan had this to say: "The change is huge! Everyone can see it. Julio put in a lot of hard work in the off season and it really shows. You can just see a spark in his eyes, a quiet determination that was not quite there last season. Please do not get me wrong, he has always played hard but I think losing in the finals last season really did something to him and really provided a little extra motivation. He worked his ass off this off season and he came in this year with a swagger. i think he figured out how good he really could be."

Tokolosh's play has been noticed off the ice as well with Edmonton #13 jerseys selling like hot cakes the last few weeks, supplanting perrenial top-jersey sellers as the "it" player to represent this season. It is clear that everyone in the hockey world and beyond has realized how great Tokolosh has the potential to be and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the pace this season and hopefully into the playoffs as well. Even if the young Tokolosh does cool off of the blistering pace he is setting, this season is already a career year for him and portends to even greater successes in the near future as the pieces in Edmonton slowly come together. One thing is for sure, however. This season will be one that Julio Tokolosh and the Edmonton faithful remember forever.