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KenitohMenara · 10-13-2021, 11:42 AM

**2476 Words**

“With the 9th overall pick, The Vancouver Whalers are pleased to select from the Trois-Rivieres Pegasi, Alexis Saint-Michel.”

A moment in time that ASM will always remember. On that day, the just turned 17 year old Alexis Saint-Michel would achieve the biggest milestone of his life at that point. He had been drafted into the SMJHL. A lot of hardships and pain had gone into making it this far but he had made it. The Vancouver Whalers were one of the oldest and most prestigious names in the junior league, having been there since the inception. They had hoped that with their newly drafted star of the future would make the kind of impact you would expect from a highly touted 1st round pick. Little did anyone know what this young player from Quebec would do for this franchise.

"ASM has been the heart and soul of the team since he stepped through the door. Everyone in Vancouver knew they were witnessing something special with him on the ice, so it wasn't a question of if he would break the record, but when." - Sven Svechnikov

From the first time he stepped on the ice as a rookie, Alexis got to work proving Vancouver right to draft him. He caught fire almost immediately, recording an incredible 38 point season. By the end, he would lead all rookies in Goals and Points In one memorable two game set, Alexis would score two hat tricks in a row, a feat that has yet to be replicated in the junior leagues. These performances would earn him a nomination for the Esa Anrikkanen Rookie of the Year award. Many around the league thought that the award would go to the Prodigal Winger but instead, the committee gave the award to Aleksanders Balcers, the prototypical defenceman from Newfoundland. There was no denying Balcers pedigree or stats as a defenceman but some argued that he benefitted from being on a championship winning team like Newfoundland while ASM was playing on a rebuilding Vancouver team.

“I could tell right after that moment something had dawned on ASM. He realized then that in order for him to get the attention of the awarding committees and big names of the league, he would have to play every game like he had nothing to lose. He couldn’t just be good, he would have to be great. He wasn’t great though… ASM became exceptional.” - Dexter Aria, GM of Vancouver.

Soon afterwards, Alexis Saint-Michel would be drafted 8th overall by the Winnipeg Aurora would had a long term plan for their future star. Alexis would be kept in the minor leagues would a while, building up his various strengths at forward and shoring up his weaknesses on defence. It would be a long and slow process but Winnipeg believe that if this was done well, Alexis would turn into the next great winger of the SHL.

Saint-Michel’s sophomore season did not go exactly to plan. Vancouver had lost major talents on offense including Valtterri Kauppinen and KnockedOut ByOvechkin which caused a natural drop off in points as Vancouver now looked to build a new identity on offense with ASM at its center point. While his goal scoring would take a small decline, from 18 to 16, he would earn four more points for a total of 42. It was not his finest effort by any stretch but he was starting to show the signs of the star that Winnipeg hoped to build. More training time would be needed and more learning would need to happen but the signs looked bright.

"When I joined the team, I was told that ASM was a point machine. Eye test says that they lied to me. It was better than that." - Giannis Kroustis, ASM’s linemate

Season 60 would be a special year for the league. It was an anniversary year and the league pulled out all the stops in advertising. It would also be the 60th Anniversary for the Vancouver Whalers and this season in particular would be when the new core of Vancouver would put together a season for the ages. At that point in time, only one player have ever breached the 70 point mark, Zdeno Beranek. That season, three players would join him, Robert Black of Newfoundland and two Vancouver Whalers, Markus “The Tater” Jaeger and ASM. The Whaler duo in particular would go back and forth for the lead in total points with Jaeger ultimately winning out by a 1 point margin, 73 points to ASM’s 72. Regardless of that, this season would show ASM at some of his absolute best. He would score an incredible 38 goals, leading the league by 6 over the next player and would have the 2nd highest goal tally ever by an SMJHL player. Only Kynwyl Pearce of Kelowna had ever scored more. Though the season would end in heartbreak with a second round loss in the playoffs, it was clear to all that ASM had come leaps and bounds since his rookie year.

“Alexis Saint-Michel is just like that pretty girl from school, you want to protect her and bang her at the same time. Unfortunatly im still in the friendzone and will fight for ASM not only in Vancouver, but also in calgary for the upcoming seasons and i'm more than happy to do so to let him continue his amazing career.” - Darwin Koff

At that year’s award ceremony, ASM would collect the Roberto Martucci award as the leagues top scorer. While he was up for the MVP award, he didn’t believe that he would win it. He believed that out of all the players in the league, Markus deserved it more than he did. The awarding committee would hand their MVP award to Robert Black of the Newfoundland Berserkers for an exceptional 70 point campaign. Then the host came up to announce the Raymond Lindsay award, the MVP award as voted on by the players:

“The Raymond Lindsay award is hereby awarded to… Alexis Saint-Michel!”

It seemed like the world froze as the rest of the players in attendance turned to ASM to applaud him. He had done it, he had won the MVP award. The award is given out to the most valuable player as voted on by the players. It was the proudest moment of his life and he could barely get through saying his words without tearing up. Little did he know what would come next.

"Saint-Michel has been a blessing to have in the Whalers organization. Since coming to the team in late S57, he has been the leader that Vancouver has been looking for many seasons. We are looking to get him the cup before this playoff season Is out. Calgary will be very happy when he joins the main roster next season." - Videl Valor at the trade deadline

In what would be his fourth and final season with Vancouver, ASM would be granted a new honor. He was voted to be captain of the team by his teammates. For the last two seasons, his best friend Sven Svechnikov had been captain while he had been Assistant captain but now with Sven looking into the more managerial roles of a franchise a new captain needed to step up. The team voted for Alexis. It would be this moment though that a new revelation would hit him. As he held his new jersey, the C emblazoned upon it, he thought about his career and then, after a conversation with Sven, a new question arose:

“What happens to this team when I leave?”

He had been so focused on winning for the team that he had almost completely forgotten about the fact that after this season, he would be heading to Calgary. A new generation of whalers would need to step up and they would need to be guided towards filling the void that players like Sven, Robot and himself. ASM had done it when Valterri Kauppinen had left and now he would do it. Sven was doing it with the younger defenders on the team and so ASM, with the permission of the coaches, took Lev Lebedev under his wing, helping the younger winger fine tune his game to become even better than he was. In those sessions with Lev, it almost felt like ASM was back under the wing of Captain Koopa and Narboza Manyhands when he was a younger winger. He knew that with Lev amongst others, Vancouver would succeed well into the future.

In some ways, the season Vancouver had was in part to what Sven and ASM had taught the young players. The team would go on to have one of the most outstanding regular seasons ever had by a Whalers team, Going 51-12-3 for 105 points, winning the Laurifer trophy as the team with the best overall record.

While ASM was taking a step back to allow the younger players to grow into their roles, he still had business to take off before he finished his juniors career. The Franchise’s leader in points was Cullen Gray, reaching an incredible 199 points. No Whaler had ever reached 200 points, in fact it was a feat so rare that only two players (Michael Walker and Khabib Nurmagomedov) had done it. By the end of the season, a third player would join that list.

After a game against QCC, there was a general buzz of excitement in the team plane… which ASM was kept in the dark about. He hadn’t been checking his stats that year, being more focused on helping the younger guys but as they landed, a billboard came into view.

January 24th - Vancouver Whalers vs Detroit Falcons - Alexis Saint-Michel Appreciation Night

Tears started staining ASM’s face as the rest of the team cheered for him. He had beaten Cullen Gray… He had reached 200 points. He had become the leading scorer in Vancouver history. This gave him not only a huge sense of pride but now a determination to give back to the team and city that had given him everything.

ASM Night was a big night in Vancouver. A load of merchandise had been in the works, t-shirts, posters, the works. There were a lot of fans who brought posters to the event and thank you messages for the star winger. ASM himself had been with the fans for most of the day beforehand, signing autographs and taking pictures. He wanted to give them a performance to remember, to properly thank them for all they had given to him.

He would score four goals that night. Including one particularly memorable goal.

“Giannis coming in, passes over to McQuick who holds, Long Pass across to ASM! HE SCORES! Unbelievable! ASM scores his fourth of the night! What a show he’s putting on folks!”

It was one of ASM’s finest performances, a perfect game for a perfect night to honor a player. Needless to say but ASM would be the first star that game and as he skated out to the roar of the crowd, he stayed out for a long time, skating the entire border of the ice, thanking as many fans as he could. This was a special moment and he wanted to properly remember it. It was performances like this that gave Vancouver a first round bye going into the playoffs.

When the playoffs began in earnest, ASM started playing like his life depended on it. This would be the last playoff run he would ever have as a Whaler and he wanted to make it count, he would rally the troops as best as he could. He wanted to finish career with his best friend and his team mates the right way, with the four star trophy.

The team would respond in earnest by racking up impressive series wins over Great Falls and then conquering one of their old rivals in Colorado to make it to the finals. Their opponent would be the Newfoundland Berserkers. This finals match-up went from being the most important matchup of the year to being the most personal match up of ASM’s life. It was Newfoundland that took Aleksandrs Balcers at the first overall pick when ASM had been in contention for that spot (which would cause him to fall to the 8th pick). It was that same player from Newfoundland that would rob Saint-Michel of the rookie of the year award despite ASM leading the league in points and goals for rookies. It was Newfoundland that had been a thorn in his side since his first day and now here, in this most glorious chance of redemption, the Whalers would get their chance at the title.

In a series that would go down as one of the most memorable in franchise history, the Whalers faced off against the team that many considered their hardest finals opponent match up and would sweep the series 4-0. In a series that had amazing goalie duels and incredible one man performances, the most memorable moment for many on the team was the final few moments.

“10 Seconds left to go… They are gonna make it! THE VANCOUVER WHALERS HAVE WON THE FOUR STAR CUP! ASM! THE DREAM HAS COME TRUE!”

The entire team spilled out of the benches to hug each other, even with the jeers reigning down from the Newfoundland crowd, the team didn’t care. They had finally reached the top of the mountain. After four seasons of trying and pain, The class of Season 58 finally had their championship.

As the Commissioner gave ASM the four star trophy and held it high to skate with, for one moment the team truly had no equal.

With the dust finally settling on Alexis Saint-Michel’s career in the SMJHL, there are some that say he staked his claim that he is the greatest player on not only the Whalers but also all of the SMJHL:

93 Goals (Whalers 1st All Time)
123 Assists (Whalers 1st All Time)
216 Points (Whalers 1st All Time and beating Khabib Nurmagomedov for 1st All Time SMJHL)
Esa Anrikkanen Award Nominee (Top Rookie)
Roberto Martuchi Award Winner (Top Scorer)
Raymond Lindsay Award Winner (MVP as voted by the players)
Four Star Cup Champion (Season 61)

As his tale finally ended with the Whalers and his number of 34 likely lifted to the rafters of Whaler Stadium, he has had many ups and downs with this team but at the end of the day, the story he told here is one he will always hold dearest.

At 16 he would join the Whalers as a DFA just trying to create buzz before the draft. Four years later, he would be regarded as one of the finest Whalers of all time. No matter where ASM goes now, he will hold his time in Vancouver in the highest regard.

Once a Whaler, Always a Whaler!

steveoiscool · 10-13-2021, 11:53 AM

W H A L E N A Y S H

ACapitalChicago · 10-13-2021, 12:16 PM

What an absolutely incredible career, one for the books to say the least. Well done, ASM!

S66 Damian Littleton

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***Air Crou*** · 10-13-2021, 12:19 PM

I didn't know Khabib became a hockey player after his retirement from MMA. And a good one at it. But ASM is better! Good luck in Calgary, homie!

***ValorX77*** · 10-13-2021, 12:29 PM

Such a class act in Vancouver.

Can’t wait to see what you do in Calgary!

Whalers

***boom*** · 10-13-2021, 12:32 PM

Congratulations on the incredible juniors career! Looking forward to battling it out against you in the majors.

***By-Tor*** · 10-13-2021, 12:35 PM

So sad we won't get to play together in WPG. Good luck in Calgary!

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, and tweedledunn for sigs

Dextaria · 10-13-2021, 01:36 PM

Once a Whaler, always a Whaler! Whalers

Merica · 10-13-2021, 03:36 PM

+1

DeletedAtUserRequest · 10-13-2021, 04:49 PM

Congratulations to Vancouver!

ASM, the Dragon's are so proud of what you’ve accomplished in the J… we’ve been rooting for you, Koff, Valor and the rest of the Whalers all season long. It’s great to see the hard work and dedication pay off!

Whalers

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Lorec · 10-13-2021, 08:08 PM

WHALE NAYSH!

*Drokeep* · 10-14-2021, 08:08 AM

TIL keni is ASM! What a beast!!

Steelhead77 · 10-14-2021, 01:21 PM

Great read! Congrats on a stellar junior career with Vancouver and all the awards, records and of course the cup!

No question you left a lasting legacy in Vancouver and I'm sure you'll do the same in Calgary!

Cheers

---> ParmBorg Highlights <---

#1 All-Time SHL Goal & Point Scorer
- First 2,000 TPE Player in SHL History -
- First 400 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- Only 500 Goal Scorer in SHL History -
- First GM to Win 5 & 6 Challenge Cups -
Esa Anrikkanen Award - SMJHL ROY - Est. S34
Vidrik Onoprienko Award Winner - S45

Dragonite

Lobbanet · 10-14-2021, 05:19 PM

only love can hurt like this

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