As I sit in my locker, I wasn't able to comprehend what was before me. It was only once I started out towards the Juniors and World tournament to represent my home country of Sweden that I was able to reflect on my time so far as a professional hockey player. The season didn't end how any of us wanted it to. A loss in the finals and getting blown out in games 5 and 6. Not an ideal way to lose as you end your SMJHL career. It feels like only yesterday I was working out in Europe after the SMJHL draft to get an invite onto someone's roster. Anaheim was only one of a couple of teams that thought I was worth the time to bring onto their roster. While I didn't play a whole lot in my first year, I learned more in this first year than I had playing hockey up to that point. How to be a professional, how to work and train as a professional, and how to get used to the grind of a full season of hockey. Up until that point I had only played for fun or in local leagues that weren't half as physical as the SHL and SMJHL. Boy would they spoil me in Anaheim my rookie year! A championship in my rookie year was a blessing and a curse. Every year the goal was to get back to the finals and win it all. We had a solid core with Donini at the helm. Veterans were always chomping at the bit to root us on as soon as the playoffs started. Once an Outlaw, always an Outlaw is what they say.

Apparently I did enough in that first year to make the Junior and World team for Sweden. Not only did I get championship trophy I received a medal in both international tournaments. 6 months a pro and already filling up my trophy case! My sophomore year didn't yield as much success as my rookie year but it was still a solid season overall. We made the playoffs and won a first round series, but the buck stopped there. I shot a measly 2% and was hardly averaging a half a point per game as a second liner. Good enough to win some more international medals for my home of Sweden. It was after this second season that I really tried to step my game up to another level. Toronto was on the horizon and I needed to do more on the ice this year to show my teammates I was worthy of playing on the second line, and to show the brass in Toronto that I was worthy of the second round pick they had spent on me.

Year 3 was quite a whirlwind of a season. After shooting out of the gates and winning most of our games, we had a massive losing streak right before the halfway point that slapped us right back down to Earth. Rikard, my Swedish counterpart was absolutely scorching on offense. I too had quite a year offensively. I had already equaled my career goal total in half a season, while also playing some top notch defense. It looks like all of that hard work was paying off, but the team was struggling. Donini went all in. He knew we had the talent, and veterans to carry us to another championship so he went out and acquired guys to give us the best shot at doing that. We ended up finding our footing down the stretch and ended up with a decent seed heading into the playoffs. We steamrolled right through the first two rounds but Carolina provided a taller task. In the end we just couldn't defend up to the level we had shown in the first two rounds, and what seemed like another championship turned into heartbreak at the snap of a finger.

After careful consideration and talking to both the GM of Anaheim and Toronto I have decided to move up to the SHL. I believe I have given all I had to give to my Outlaw teammates and I think it's time I try and see what I can do against the best of the best. I'll also get one more crack at WJC gold before I'm a full time member of the World team. As I look back on my time in Anaheim it's hard to know what my legacy will be. I never made an all star team. I never won a personal award. I was never the top scorer in any year. Fan favorite? Probably not. Rikard was by far our best offensive player and Strom has been a staple forever so most jerseys in the stands were for Strom. I guess I'm just a dude that showed up every night and played my hardest. Maybe did some cool things, but also some dumb things. All in all I'm happy with how everything has worked out and I hope that the Outlaw family will welcome me back whenever I return to watch them fight on. So thank you to all of the Anaheim fans for the time we had together. Toronto..... I'm going to give you everything I've got so I hope you are ready!