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[Double Media Week - Holidays Edition] NL GM Interview
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NEWFOUNDLAND BERSERKERS GENERAL MANAGER GENERAL INTERVIEW

Welcome to 2021, SHL and SMJHL fans! Here’s a seasonal Beeg Yoshi media piece about the Newfoundland Berserkers! This piece will be detailing the team’s brand new GM pair that has been in charge of the Berserkers for the past season.

Ahead of the beginning of the fifty-seventh season of the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League, the Newfoundland Berserkers, Four Star Cup champions of Season 55 and finalists to the Vancouver Whalers in Season 56, saw a shake up in their organizational front office by hiring new general managers NHamlet and Juke.

Ham and Juke both have experience with the Berserkers franchise; their players, both first generation players, spent their time in the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League with the Berserkers, with Ryuuji Minamino being a co-captain of the Four Star Cup winning team.

With their first season at the helm of this franchise nearly in the books, with only a few regular season games left in hand for Newfoundland here in Season 57, we asked the GM duo a couple of questions with regard to their experience being at the helm of the Newfoundland Berserkers.

Q: What would you describe as the biggest challenge heading into the regular season?

Juke: [The] biggest challenge for us heading into [Season 57] was just getting everything up and running and setting ourselves up right to take over the team. We probably had the most challenging offseason of any J team, [after] losing the bulk of our players from the back to back finals appearances, as well as 2 noobs taking over as first time General Managers. The draft and subsequent budget/free agency signing period was probably the most daunting process, as we both had FHM and lines experience with NL a few seasons before we took over, as well as [we] both know the LR and team really well.

Ham: [The] main thing that has made this season a difficult one before the start of the season was trying to piece together and find line combinations that would work for us as a team, as well as try to help each player reach their maximum potential or individual goals. After a few seasons of largely having the same core group, with some pieces on the fringes being swapped in and out as a couple players move here and there, this large scale departure made it so that while we still had a significant portion of talent left, there was a much larger onus on a rookie involvement in significant roles right off the bat. As great as many of our rookies have been, there's only so much that can be naturally expected of them and throwing them to the wolves as exciting it could be to see them blossom, wouldn't be a recipe for success most of the time.

Q: This season isn’t necessarily a contending season for the Zerkers, with many veterans getting called up to the Simulation Hockey League and having their spots filled with rookies. With that being said, where do you picture the state of the team in Season 58 and 59?

J: As is the cyclical tradition of the J, I picture the state of the team as NL was in S52/S53 when I was first drafted. We got a good crop of players in the draft and FA, and since we sold at the deadline we have a few extra assets at our disposal to help [us] keep building. We shouldn't be [in the] bottom of the league again, but we won't be a cup favorite yet either. One or two more successful drafts/seasons down the line [and] we should start to see us competing like we did in Season 54 to 56.

H: Going forward into Season 58, I would anticipate as we continue to move into our new core going forward with the addition of S58 SMJHL pick selections along with the ones we've drafted and developed in S57, we would be able to trend upward. Naturally, given that we look like we'll be starting at the bottom, there really isn't anywhere else to go but up. Thankfully, this just means that the trend is going to be in a positive direction, rather than this weird foot in both doors type where we could have contended if we decided to mortgage our future for one last short term hail mary but chose to rip off the bandaid and make the most of putting ourselves in a better position going forward. Season 59 is probably going to be too hard to tell because as we've learned over our first season of GMing, nothing can go to what you expect and even week to week, your outlook on a team can change drastically between a single player's development trajectory, gaining new players or even losing ones you might have penned in from before.

Q: What do you think is the biggest need that the Berserkers will have to address during the off-season to get back into contending shape?

J: [The] biggest need will probably be focused on improving the blue line, and just adding depth everywhere else across the board to plan for future call ups. The goal going into the next season is to just improve, and see as many people as possible reach their 350/425 caps.

H: It's tough to pin down one specific spot that the Berserkers will need. I think that it'd be fair to say that just about every position is an area where we'll be looking to address. It's likely we'll be ending up with one of the top 2 or 3 picks by the time the draft rolls around and without looking at it too closely, positional need may not force our hand. There will be some questions like potential early call ups that could blindside us and change plans immediately, but at the end of the day we're in the business of finding both great players and great users who will be part of the Newfoundland organization long after they move on. Earning potential is always attractive but long term sustainability comes from the investment in people.

Q: Has managing a team been different than what you expected, or has it been very similar to what you predicted the job would be like?

J: It's been about what I expected, only because I was introduced to a lot of it already as an advisor [in]the past few seasons prior. There's a few things that are more intricate than what I was exposed to before, but overall it's about what we expected I think.

H: Going into  this with maybe less experience than one might want out of their GM duo, I think we both continued to find new experiences and learn things along the way. There were some things we had originally anticipated being challenges for us such as becoming immediately familiar with the rulebook, but then other things that weren't originally up our alley such as drafting, player management and even how we philosophically debated about how this locker room should look compared to how it is right now. I think all of these new experiences and constant dialogue is a good thing because it means that neither of us are resting, knowing full well that there are multiple venues that we continue to pursue to improve the team and while the wins might not show on the ice right now, that that we continue to put in all the effort we can to eventually make those victories a reality like it was for the Berserkers for the past 3-4 seasons before this most recent one.

In conclusion, it is safe to say that the Newfoundland Berserkers organization is in very good hands. Juke and Ham are both extremely passionate for this team, its values, and the locker room. With a roster full of budding younger players, this team is on its way to returning to contending status within the next few seasons of play. They’ll have a few callups in the next few seasons, but for the most part they have established a strong future core to address these callups, which will likely come in fewer numbers than the great exodus that they saw in the past two off-seasons.

And as for the Newfoundland Berserkers squad itself, the team still has 5 more games to go in the regular season. Could they be a dark horse in the playoffs? We will find out soon enough.


Final WC: 1415 words. Beeg thank you to Ham and Juke for their help with this piece.

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