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Tylar · 01-01-2021, 11:07 AM

Liam Slate - The Story So Far (S53 to S56)

Introduction and Creation

I joined Simulation Hockey Leagueback in 2011 probably around June or July possibly, I cannot remember but since then I have created a few players. Julien Dupont, Rufus Reinhart, Christoffer Bjornsson and Sami Owens. Throughout my 9 years on Simulation Hockey League I have tried all positions and have been on many different teams and have made a lot of friends. Before creating Liam Slate I had Sami Owens who was an overall decent player and hit over 1.2k TPE at his peak I believe. Owens was probably my most overall successful player in the Simulation Hockey Leagueuntil that point although Dupont was pretty good as well but I ended his career too early. I went inactive the last few seasons of Owen’s career, although I was still around. I still logged into the forum and everything but just did nothing. I was always around on different teams' discords that I was not even on their team but was an alumni of. That is how I kept my connection to the Simulation Hockey League. When the pandemic hit and I was back working at hell aka superstore I had a lot more free time on my hands and was just bored. Sami Owens came off a cup win with the S51 Steelhawks a few seasons prior. In the season of S53 I believe Sami Owens was an unsigned free agent. At the time I figured I might actually try to recreate for my own entertainment. I had been raking in those inactive/active free agent contracts over the inactive seasons of Owens and had a really good bank account. I decided to retire at the S53 trade deadline to give myself a head start. On April 19th, 2020 I decided to create again. I was trying to think of names and really like the first name Liam so that was for sure. I knew I wanted to be from Great Britain so I started looking up last names. Some of the options I debated included Onyx, Stone, and a few others. The last name Slate ended up standing out to me and it kind of sounded nice, “Liam Slate” - so I went with it. After I recreated, I realized a lot of the teams in the juniors had changed and most of them were new to me. After creating, I did not really hear anything from anyone since I remembered that they had like undrafted unrestricted free agents in juniors for people after the trade deadline. I did not really recognize to many of the usernames of junior General Managers at the time, but there were a few who I was familiar with. I believe I messaged my good old friend Toast on discord and asked him if his team would sign me. I did not know Toast recreated as well and that was the one team where I knew quite a few people. Then Mr.JNH messaged me to sign me and it was very nice. After being signed and invited to discord I realized there was ALOT of old friends from many years ago and people who I still casually chatted with in other Simulation Hockey Leaguediscords. Their locker room in Newfoundland was kind of crazy and super active. It felt like a really good fit. Their locker room kind of hooked me back into the Simulation Hockey Leaguelike no one has in awhile and I felt like it would be fun to max earn again and try to actually create a top Simulation Hockey League player. With all that, I was hooked again after being inactive for the last few seasons of Sami Owens career.

The SMJHL Draft

The Newfoundland Berserkers ended up winning the S54 Simulation Major Junior Hockey League Draft Lottery giving them the first overall selection in the draft. The draft had a lot of good re-creates including myself of people coming back due to the pandemic and a lot of good new first generation users. I believe it did not take long for Newfoundland to decide who was going first overall, because I believe it was myself the whole time especially due to the fact I was pretty active in the locker room and I feel like most of the people liked me at least somewhat? Leading up to the draft was not really that exciting because I knew what team I was going to be on, but at the same time It was somewhat nice to know where I was going and be able to plan ahead for the season. I was interested in a few teams, particularly the Colorado Raptors because Lordbirdman seemed like a cool guy, but I knew I was not going to be playing anywhere other than Newfoundland at that point. It felt kind of weird not really having a normal “draft experience” and it felt strange to be going first overall even though draft position in Simulation Hockey League is basically irrelevant since teams draft users.Ultimately my goal with Slate was to get as much TPE as possible and actually create a good player and win. Although the Newfoundland Berserkers draft class was extremely small with just myself and loco who was another old Simulation Hockey League member. The brightside is that we were able to land Simulation Hockey League owner and long time friend of mine Tez via free agency which was a nice surprise. It seemed like the team was collecting all my old friends and Simulation Hockey League users which created an amazing environment in the locker room with a great mix of their current new players and old Simulation Hockey League members.

Season 54 and S54 Draft

Heading into my first season back in the Simulation Hockey Leagueit was weird to not have SimonT as the sim engine. SimonT has always been a good friend of Simulation Hockey Leagueso to see him get dumped was a bit sad, but FHM seems to have brought in a new exciting era of Simulation Hockey League. I watched a little bit of sims during the S53 playoffs which was fun especially with a locker room as active as Newfoundlands. Going into Liam Slate’s first season I kind of wanted to perform well, although I knew I was going into a deep team and playing fourth line minutes. I was secretly hoping to be able to perform well enough to get rookie of the year consideration and everything. Liam Slate’s rookie season was probably considered good by most, scoring 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points in 50 games on the Newfoundland Berserkers fourth line averaging 9:07 minutes of ice time per game and no special team minutes.. His defensive play left a lot to be desired with 10 hits, 17 giveaways, 12 takeaways and a defensive game rating of 52. As a team the Newfoundland Berserkers did extremely well finishing tied for first in the league with a record of 34-13-3 for 71 points. The playoffs were a coming out party for Liam Slate as he scored 7 goals and 2 assists for 9 points in 14 games. The rookie had a big season versus the Detroit Falcons with a multi-goal game. Ultimately the Berserkers were bounced in the playoffs.

This first season was definitely a whirlwind and it felt extremely good to be on a winning team, although my own personal success suffered which kind of sucked, but at the end of the day the team won a lot. Throughout this first season I developed a negative shtick and would normally call myself a bust. It was basically just an act because it was kind of funny, but there was a bit of truth to it especially being a first overall pick, but it was mostly just myself being playful and trying to be funny. Overall my first season in Newfoundland was extremely fun, especially being in the locker room and getting to know some of the people I never previously knew better. I think we went into S55 feeling like it was probably our season and our roster was basically full and capped and ready to win. The roster was pretty much built for Season 55 and anything less than a Four Star Cup would likely be a major disappointment for many.

I was also excited because I was trending in the right direction TPE wise and basically near or at the top of the class throughout the season. I basically maxed earn and was looking forward to the draft. I was not really sure what was going to happen at the draft but I kind of was hoping for a new experience but also figured maybe someone who knew me might decide to take me. Leading up to the draft the team I was most interested in was Toronto because they had a younger team and was looking on the rise by the time I would be an Simulation Hockey League player which is why they were at the top of both my draft ranking articles. It kind of took me by surprise on draft day and leading up how little interest there was in me but I guess I was a bit risky. It was also weird how people were mocking and discussing other recreates who had been inactive longer than myself and or have never created decent players recently like I had, but it was whatever. The draft happened and I ended up going in the second round at 18th overall to the Toronto North Stars which I was definitely excited about but also surprised at who went before me and why so many teams avoided me. I kind of wondered if that many people disliked me or I was toxic or something but it ended up being fine. I ended up on the team I was most interested in and a team I have yet to be on in the 9 years on Simulation Hockey League so everything was good. I was looking forward to the future and my goal was to just continue to earn and be near the top of the class in TPE.

Season 55

The Newfoundland Berserkers went into Season 55 with a full squad and multiple star players in their last years of eligibility in Timonen, Minamino, Harrington, Clean and LeGrande. The Newfoundland Berserkers management and players knew that this season was their season to win if there was one and felt this group deserved to win a championship. The Berserkers came out in the regular season guns blazing and finished top in the league and in the Eastern conference with a record of 35-9-6 for 76 points. Liam Slate was in his second year of eligibility and was playing on the team's third line. Liam Slate posted a solid season of 14 goals, 20 assists for 34 points in 50 games with an average of 13:10 minutes of ice time. Liam scored a whopping 5 of those points on the powerplay. Liam struggled defensively with 29 giveaways and a measly 53 defensive game rating. Slate’s advanced statistics were pretty good though with a 65.5 corsi for percentage, and a 100.3 pdo. Overall, Slate’s regular season was solid for a second year player and gave the Berserkers good depth scoring throughout the regular season. The Berserkers went into the playoffs as the heavy favorite and made it all the way to the Four Star Cup Final which they faced the Maine Timber. The Berserkers were able to take home the Four Star in a tough six game series.Liam Slate scored 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in 17 games in the playoffs.

“It was a good season from me I think. At the end of the season, we held the Four Star Cup which is really all that matters. I really wanted to win a Four Star Cup in my career, so I am pretty excited to been able to do it, not everyone gets to. I was pretty excited, as if everyone else that this group got a cup. This group is special and will likely be one of the best if not the best team the Berserkers franchise has and will have. There are so many star players and just great people here. I think we deserved it and I am grateful they drafted me to this team and I was able to contribute.”

Season 56

Season 56 was an interesting one for Newfoundland Berserkers forward Liam Slate as he was heading into his first season as one of the Berserkers best players and as a leader since he was named Assistant Captain of the team in the offseason. Throughout the off-season Liam Slate worked hard on becoming more of a leader and being mentally in it. Coming off a Four Star Cup, Liam Slate came into this season feeling like he needed to prove that he was not just carried by a good team and that he himself was a good player. The former first overall pick had put up 16 and 32 point seasons previously and was looking to hopefully hit a point per game pace in his third season. Overall the Newfoundland Berserkers had an up and down season which is ultimately how Liam Slate’s season went. Liam Slate started out his season really well and after around the 20 game mark, his game and points began to slip a bit. Slate played in the top six but mainly on the second line. It could be stated that Liam Slate was rather inconsistent this season with his second half categorized as disappointing by some. Liam Slate's end of season statline was 11 goals, 30 assists for 41 points in 50 games. Of those 41 points only 10 of them were from the powerplay.Slate averaged 18:22 minutes of ice time and recorded an average offensive game rating of 69 and overall game rating of 65. One area of play where Slate seemed to have improved was on the defensive side. Slate recorded 38 hits, 22 takeaways and 20 shots blocked which is up a lot from last season. Slate’s advanced statistics were also pretty good starting with his 99.7 PDO which shows he may have been a tad unlucky. Slate had 2.6 goals for per sixty and an impressive 1.9 goals against per sixty minutes. His corsi for percentage was 58.7 and his corsi rel was 6.3. Overall his advanced statistics were pretty good this season. It seems like this season some of Slate's slow offense was balanced out by an uptick in defense which for most would be considered good. In the playoffs Slate recorded 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 16 games as the Newfoundland Berserkers lost in the Four Star Cup finals. Overall, Slate had a bit of a disappointing season considering what he projected himself to do in the offseason, but this time Slate is taking it in stride and knows it happens and the fact the team still managed to finish top in the division and second in the conference is excellent.

"I know I came into this season wanting to be a point per game player and that did not happen, but at the end of the day I was pretty close and other parts of my game improved. I am happy that I was able to be more effective on the defensive side and round out my game. I think defensive play is a bit underrated and the fact I was able to progress as much as I did is something I should celebrate. I think I should be pretty happy with my season when I look back on it. I wish i maybe could have gotten more points, but it is what it is. I am just thrilled with how our team banded together even though we lost a lot of good guys, we brought in amazing rookies. There is a lot to look forward to, and I look forward to seeing how next season goes. I hope maybe I will be able to eclipse the point per game mark. If not I will leave Newfoundland with many career wins, points and a championship so it's hard to complain really. The Newfoundland Berserkers are an amazing franchise and there are so many great people there, I really have no right to complain about my career so far.”

Season 57 is 50 games in and Liam Slate’s story in the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League is almost over. We will take a look at his S57 Season and complete the story at the end of the season. Liam Slate up to this point has spent the majority of his career winning in the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League regular season and as well at the World Juniors with one silver and one bronze. S57 could be an interesting one for Slate as the Newfoundland Berserkers are going to be looking at rebuild as well as Slate will be battling for a spot on the Great Britain IIHF team or he may have to consider transferring to be able to play in the tournament if he decides he wants to make the jump. Slate could be a player to watch as the trade deadline approaches with many teams looking to make runs this season as the cycle of junior hockey and the power balance shifts. This is Slate’s last season in the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League before he will be up in the Simulation Hockey League next season.

“I am excited to see what happens this season. I know it will be a bit weird with many of the guys I have played with my entire time here gone. I am excited to have a bunch of young guys join us though. There is also the chance I can end up on a top team via trade so theres that as well. I am just going to try and enjoy myself out there and do the best I can. I want to be able to prepare myself for next season up in the big leagues. That is really what I am using this season for.”

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juke · 01-01-2021, 11:37 AM

Peppos

**Rich** · 01-01-2021, 11:49 AM

Excited to see how you will do next season. Stars

*Carpy48* · 01-01-2021, 12:06 PM

Since you are - after me - the only other person I know that went through the same SMJHL team (more or less, different name/location, I know) and got drafted by the same SHL team, it's twice as exciting to see you come up to TOR next season. Looking forward to that!

Berserkers

***Patty*** · 01-01-2021, 04:13 PM

P E P P O S

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