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*WithTheMoose* · 05-22-2021, 11:20 AM

Split 50% between @WithTheMoose and @SchwarzNarr

All of the following interviews are heavily edited and not exact quotes. We did our best to keep the nature and intentions around all interview answers true to the originals while expanding on them a bit to make a better article. Not all teams responded or completed the interview with us, we’ve tried to give as complete and accurate an account as possible.

Detroit Falcons

If you have a moment, my friend and I would love to talk to you about the Detroit Falcons. We’re trying to piece together a series where we really get to know the teams to try to help hype both us and the other rookies up for the draft. We kind of want to discover what the teams have to offer us before the teams start reaching out to find out what we have to offer you. After all, it works both ways!

To get us started, I really want to discuss your branding. Falcons are a very interesting choice for a city like Detroit, so it made me wonder a bit about why it was chosen. What is the history behind it and what official colors did you go with? Is there anything surprising that people should really know about the mascot or the history behind the branding?

In Detroit we sport one of the oldest brandings around. It dates all the way back to the early days of the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League. In fact we’re so old that we managed to win our first Four Star Cup all the way back in Season 5. We are one of the rare teams that have never been rebranded. Founded all that time ago and never once have changed brandings. I’m not sure we’ve even considered it. We are who we are. The Detroit Falcons. That isn’t changing, that isn’t going away. We have our personality and know what we are about. We love our colors, which are primarily red and white, we love our mascot, and we love the city. I think that gives us one of the strongest legacies in the juniors league.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, I want to take a deeper dive into the team as a whole. We are both new to the league and are not entirely familiar with exactly what is going on with the teams. I want to know a bit about where Detroit is currently. I want to know where Detroit is going. How do you see the season closing out? How do you see yourself performing next season?

We are actually doing very well in the current season. Currently in the standings, we are sitting in the number two spot. We lead our conference and lead our division and the expectation for us at this point is to make it all the way to the finals. We are going to be at home on the ice for most of the tournament and we completely believe that we have what it takes to bring it home. After the season we’ve had, anything less would actually be a bit disappointing. We have worked hard to get here and I think the only result we could truly be satisfied with is bringing that four star cup back to Detroit.

Unfortunately I think this is our best shot if we are going to finish things out at all. Our team is pretty stacked, that is why we have gotten this far. What that means though is that we’re about to be looking a potential backwards step dead in the eye. We have several of our best players getting called up and no matter how you slice it, they are going to be hard to replace. Still, we do have some youth that we think can step into the roles and do them admirably. Perhaps not as well as the ones they are replacing yet, but I think they can get there and we will still be competitive. Just not quite as competitive as we were this season. It can be very difficult to predict how things will pan out though. We’re losing good players, new ones are taking their place, but that is the way things work and we may still be just as good. At least we will be if I have anything to say about it. We want to be competitive every single season and despite our losses, I will not take a step back without a fight!

As far as something people should know about the team history? Well I suppose the most critical thing currently in our history is the Four Star Cup from Season 53. Detroit had been cursed for a long while as we could bring in quite a few Laurifer Trophies, but the cup had eluded us. No matter what we did, it was ever elusive. Finally though Tig put an end to the curse. He put together an incredible roster in Season 53 and finally it was enough to break the curse and bring the cup back to Detroit. Tig is a bit of a living legend for our team, so it was a very exciting time as we finally managed to get him a well deserved cup after all this time. It is always nice when you can get someone who has historically been heavily involved with the team a title like that.

As for the team itself? The Falcons sport one of the best environments in the entire league. Once a Falcon, you are always a Falcon. Our team has a ton of Veterans who still hang out in our locker room and support the team despite not being on the roster for quite some time. We really build an environment people want to be a part of and that keeps them coming back even after moving up to the big leagues. It is something we are very proud of and we always welcome alumni to stick around. The more the merrier and it helps create an active and welcoming environment for rookies.

How did you find this league? What attracted you to it? What did you think of becoming a general manager when you first joined up?

Getting into the Simulation Hockey League happened by absolute, complete chance. There was a random post on a forum I frequent. I’ve always loved hockey, so I’m a bit involved. I just happened to be scrolling through this Dutch hockey forum and there it was. I’ve played quite a few games over the years. Most of them are browser based nation sims though. I wasn’t sure what to make of the advertisement at first, but I’m a hockey referee away from this league. I’ve always loved the sport and this looked like an opportunity to get involved on a deeper level. It looked fun and I knew I had to join up. It has been a little over a year and a half now and I have absolutely zero regrets about making the move. Hockey is a huge part of my life and this league is now just another part of that.

Because of that though, I knew very early on that I wanted to be involved on a deeper level. Being a player is nice, but I really wanted to be involved with the league at large. I do not think I knew immediately that I wanted to come in and be a general manager. There were plenty of paths to get involved on a deeper and more intense level, but I found myself more and more drawn to the management side of things. I got interested pretty quickly and the rest is history. I would not have it any other way.

Oooh, are you from the Netherlands? I saw you mention that you found the league on a Dutch hockey forum. I am beginning to feel like the Simulation Hockey League is far more international than the International Simulation Football League., but I suppose hockey is also much more international than football. Being a hockey referee is awesome though! It is pretty rare to find sim league players who are actually involved with the sport in real life. Does it keep you pretty busy? Do you referee professional games? Junior leagues? All levels?

I am in fact from the Netherlands! This league as a whole is actually quite international. Like most leagues, I’m pretty positive that most of our players are from North America, but we do have quite a few international fans. There are hockey leagues all over the world and so its a product that is observed by countries basically world wide. It gives the sport a much bigger audience than something like football which is typically a one country sport. As such, we have ended up with quite the variation of players from all around the world to fill our ranks here.

Typically being a referee in hockey keeps me incredibly busy. There is always something to do be it preparing for games or brushing up on rules. There is always something new and exciting and as such, things rarely sit still. That said there is not much hockey being played anymore. With the world wide pandemic it has really hurt the ability to get out and play sports and has led to many leagues either halting their play temporarily or shutting down entirely. When hockey is being played though, I referee in the Dutch and Belgian top league. I have also done some refereeing in the International Ice Hockey Federation. Both keep me busy and I enjoy both. I can not wait to get back to it more regularly as the pandemic begins to fade and vaccinations become more widespread.

So obviously you have said you have no regrets about joining this league. Why is that? What makes this league so enjoyable that you continue to come back to it?

It is really the community at large. We have managed to collect a wonderful group of people in the league. Like you have indicated, we are fairly international and you get to really experience people from all over the world and all walks of life. It is something really special and unique about this league. Be it chatting in the locker rooms or getting involved in some of the international discords, there are always people to talk to and new people to experience. That sense of a tight knit community is something you rarely get outside of leagues like this and it is something you can not really appreciate until you have experienced it for yourself.

Do you have a single moment from the league that stands out in your mind for you personally? One moment where you were at your most excited?

That has to be the moment I was drafted into the SImulation Hockey League. Going back to when I was a fresh rookie looking towards the juniors, I really had no idea what was going on. Everything was new and overwhelming and confusing and before I knew it I was drafted and on a team. I did not really get a chance to take everything in amongst all the chaos and so while it was fun being drafted to the juniors, the SHL draft was the one that really stands out to me. The anticipation and the events leading up to my draft was great fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a little intense seeing everything come together, but I had one team in mind when the draft was nearing. I had one team that my eye was on. The draft came, I was drafted, and I was home. I made it to that team and the experience was unlike any other. I’ve been in this league for a long while now, but that is a moment that will always stand out to me for as long as I am here.

So we have talked a bit about your favorite individual moment. Do you have a moment with your team as a whole that stood out?

Honestly it loops back into what I was saying before with the personal moment. For the juniors draft I had no idea where I would be going or even what was going on, so it was difficult to grasps things and really get overwhelmingly excited. Everything happened too rapidly. It was a whole different story when I was headed for the next level though.

I was not really that surprised at all. Minnesota and I had spoken an absolute ton in the days and weeks leading to the draft. There was a ton of back and forth between me and the team and it seemed like a perfect fit for both myself and the team. Things got a bit rocky shortly before the draft though. Minnesota was looking into hiring a new general manager and the guy that I’d been talking to the most from the team was one of the candidates. We had chatted an absolute ton, but then he didn’t get the job. I had a moment there where I thought for sure that might change who they would look at come draft time. Gibbles was the new general manager and I was not that familiar with him. Fortunately thanks to efficient scouting, he was very familiar with me and still entirely interested in bringing me in. They took me in the draft and things have been working out fantastically ever since. I would not want to be anywhere else and watching that come together for the team and for myself was a critical moment in this league for both of us.

Sometimes in simulation leagues, things can get a little intense. Either something happens in the league or your life outside of the league gets a little chaotic. Have you ever felt that? Have you had a moment where you thought perhaps taking a break could be for the best?

There has never been a time in this league I have ever felt that way actually. It has been pretty smooth sailing for me for the most part. I have had short spells here and there where I was less active on discord than I would have liked and less social than I was used to, but sometimes work has busy weeks and you can’t be around all the time. That is as close as I have been to ever needing a break or stepping a way. Been here for a while and I could not see a reason for that at all at this point.

Do you have any other comments or advice for future prospects or rookies?

Never worry about asking for any sort of help or aid at any point. It does not matter if it is about builds or where to apply your training points or if it is about input or ideas for media or point tasks. You can ask about being able to interpret stats and decompiling data. Anything you need, just speak up and ask and there is always someone who is willing to step up and help. This is an incredibly helpful community and people are willing to go out of their way for others. It is not a problem and never feel like you have to avoid asking.

Above all though, have fun. That is the very essence of this league. It should be about having fun and getting the most out of it personally. If you are not enjoying it, then you are missing what is great about the league. Just relax and enjoy it for what it is.

Then comes our favorite part of the article. Could Moose or Pengu fit on this particular roster? You see, that is a tough one. The general manager of the Falcons gave an outstanding interview and fed us a ton of information we did not even know we needed at the time! We gathered that this was an incredibly strong roster that happens to be absolutely stacked across the board. They have built well and planned ahead and this season they have really reaped the rewards of all their hard work. Because of that at first glance you would think there was no chance either of our two young defenders would end up on such a strong roster.

Fortunately for Melvin and Adelie, appearances can be deceiving and first glances aren’t all they are cracked up to be. Despite this being one of the top teams in the league, none of their defenders stand out statistically. Perhaps that is because they have a solid defensive team effort or their offense is so efficient that they are not on the defensive all that often. Whatever the case is there, they do not have a player who really blows things out of the water in shots blocked or defensive rating. They only have a single player with more than 100 blocked shots, but he did not even make the top 10 in that category. Their best defensive player was sitting at a 72 defensive rating. As far as pure numbers go, this team was statistically the least impressive so far. As a squad though they allowed the third least goals in the entire league, which leads me to believe it was much more of a team effort than anything. With that said, it was also mentioned that they have multiple players being called up after this season. How many of those are on the defensive side was not too clear, but it definitely opened the gate for these two. A couple holes on the roster and these two rookies could be off to the races with a team this stacked.

Overall Detroit seemed like an incredible team with phenomenal leadership. We were not too sure what to expect going into it because the branding does not pop off the paper like some of the others. After this interview though it became increasingly clear that both Moose and Pengu would welcome the team with open arms. It seems to be a truly delightful squad with a ton of upside.

Mutedfaith · 05-22-2021, 12:00 PM

I loved doing this interview. Wish you both the best of luck in the upcoming draft and your SHL career. Whichever teams pick you up, Im sure you're going to be successful.

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