[1183 words, ready for grading]

Sophie Bordeleau stared at her phone, a smile crossing her face. The text from Ellie illuminated the screen, its words containing the fruit of so many tireless hours and childhood dreams. Got some info from a source. They're going to announce the ROTY finalists today and you're on the list. Thought you'd like to know. Ellie. This was it. All of the hard work that had gone into the past season, getting 59 points in her debut campaign, it was finally being recognized. She'd gotten attention from the media, of course, and she'd always presented an air of "whatever happens happens", but being recognized like this felt nice. The past months had felt like a wave of euphoria - playing well and gaining confidence, going to the finals, getting named to the Canadian junior team which she was now training with, and now this. That wasn't even stepping into the things away from the rink - she was now making more money than she could even dream of, the looks of pride and admiration on the faces of her family, and her relationship with her girlfriend was blossoming. While the two were apart while Sophie stayed with the team for the World Junior Championship, the two were still able to be connected digitally and stay in contact with each other.

As with previous levels, Sophie was once again blown away by the level of talent displayed at the practices and tournament lead-up, as this team consisted of the best players in the nation. Take a deep breath, you're one of those people, she'd think to herself. She was playing on a line with Ben Waters Jr. and Tommy Westbrook, both from the Kelowna Knights, and as the fourth line they'd be serving as the checking line. Sophie had been a decent hitter and two-way centre in the SMJHL, but being a grinder was something she was still adjusting to, especially with her small frame. Once the team got out on the ice, though, the worries evaporated. The Canadian team just gelled, locking down every other team in the tournament with a stifling defense and strong offense. Under a robust defensive scheme, the Canadians only gave up two goals in the final five games of the round robin, including three straight shutouts, and never gave up more than two goals in a game throughout the entire tournament. It was fun, and Sophie was really enjoying the opportunity to get to know her teammates and meet other people from around the league who she wouldn't have interacted with much during the regular season. While she'd had a slow start adjusting to her role, Sophie had been able to find her footing and pick up 6 points, a solid score for a rookie playing down the lineup.

During the tournament, the SMJHL draft process was happening, and Sophie watched eagerly. Her teammate Faust Faker was sent off to the Newfoundland Berserkers and team stalwart Aksel Fiske had graduated to the SHL, but the team made trades to bring in Shylo Moxii at centre and Merlin Metzler on defense, as well as acquiring the third overall pick. With the pick the Citadelles ended up selecting a winger in Otis Boudreaux who seemed to immediately endear himself to fans with his friendly nature. Quebec would later add a young rookie in Nikolai Skovgaard to fill out the back end and signed a goalie in Caleb Hayden to replace Isabella Bouchard, who was sent to the newly relocated Yukon Malamutes to be their starting goalie. Sophie got along well with the new acquisitions, and even though she wasn't in town for the draft due to the tournament she was able to watch on television and see the new rookies pull on their Citadelles jerseys for the first time, feeling a sense of nostalgia for a year ago when she'd done the same.

Going into the medal round of the tournament, Team Canada were the favourites and took out a Team World side in the quarterfinals 5-2 to advance to the semifinals. Next up was a good old cross-border clash with the American team, which featured Sophie's teammates in Rylie Versi, Petra Sabor, Tommy Thompson, Hunter Havok and Justin Time in goal. In a hard-fought semifinal match, Canada was able to get the win and move on to the finals with a 3-2 victory, with the handshakes afterwards being quite heartfelt. Only Finland stood in the way between a Canadian team on a magical run and their first gold medal since S54. The game was tightly contested throughout, and three periods were insufficient to yield more than a 2-2 tie. The game went to overtime and dragged on, with neither side being able to break through and create anything. Late in overtime, though, Canada was able to get a power play. The first unit wasn't able to get anything going, but the second unit was quickly moving the puck around the zone. Chad Nickelback took the puck at the point and walked the line, drawing a Finnish penalty killer to him, and then feathered a soft pass to AJ Williams on the left side. His stick was already pulled back for the one-timer, and when the blast came in the Finnish goalie had no chance to stop it. Gold medal, Canada, and the first undefeated team in the history of the tournament. The Canadians screamed and hugged each other as they piled over the boards to congratulate Williams, and when the anthem played with that gold medal around Sophie's neck she thought she'd never hear sweeter sounds. In fact, a contender for that title would come soon.

The last thing for Sophie to pay attention to before the season got started up again was the SMJHL awards. A few of her teammates were up for for awards with Louise St. Martin leading the way for hardware nominations. When the evening got underway, St. Martin won the Alex Light Trophy for the most improved player of the season and Alex Kidd won the Brandon Holmes Trophy for the best defensive forward in the SMJHL. Next it was time for the award Sophie had been anxious about for the whole night, the Esa Anrikkanen Trophy. She was up against Patches the III, her future teammate in Edmonton and a defenseman for Yukon, and St Louis' Dan Baltisberger. Sophie had been looking at his statline the most, as Baltisberger scoring 31 goals on a team with little depth would undoubtedly be appealing to the voters. Crossing her fingers under the table at which she sat, she waited while the host read from the card. "Your S64 Esa Anrikkanen Trophy winner, from the Quebec City Citadelles, Sophie Bordeleau." In an instant she released all the tension she'd been holding in without realizing it, breaking into a huge smile. Sophie hadn't even realized that she'd been so nervous about winning the award, thinking that she'd be okay with just being a finalist, but the competitive spirit inside her burned ever brighter. Sophie Bordeleau was here to win, and she wouldn't settle for being second best.