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LEMOnade! Ep. 5 - The Choice
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(This post was last modified: 06-16-2022, 11:20 AM by Ronniewalker. Edited 1 time in total.)

It’s been a wild ride in the world of sim hockey for Lemo Pihl. Coming into the SHL universe with no prior experience from sim leagues of this sort and fraught with doubt about how far down this road he will be able to traverse, his first season as a UDFA with the Anchorage Armada helped make him (still a veritable unknown) a 2nd round pick for the rebuilding Texas Renegades in the Season 56 SHL Entry Draft. It was no less than he expected, as he was still getting to know the league and its workings and yet unsure as to his own potential for earning in the long run, considering the newborn son at home and all the obligations that that and other aspects of real life entailed.

But earned he has! Now a full decade into his career, Lemo has climbed from the second ten, where he spent most of his career thus far, into the top 5 in his draft class now that his class fights off regression for the first time. 

While Lemo’s personal accolades have thus far been few (this is only his second season where he has achieved a point-per-game pace and he has no personal awards to his name as yet), he has had an exceptionally successful career team-wise with two Challenge Cups with the Texas Renegades in Season 59 and 62, two IIHF and two WJC golds with Team Finland and one Four-Star Cup with the Anchorage Armada from Season 57 to boot (or to kick off, really)! 

Lemo will be the first to admit that he was far from being the key figure on any of those championship teams, but rather more a depth or role player like many others and true credit for all those titles belong to his teammates and the management groups of the respective teams. But that would also be discounting the work that he and his fellow depth and role players put into making their respective teams what they are. This highlights the key thing that Lemo brings to whatever team he is on is - responsibility. He is not the flashiest scorer, nor the hardest hitter or the most vocal of leaders. But he gives his all every day and night to get things done and get them done right. 

This is also why Lemo was a valuable trade piece last off-season when the new management in Texas wrapped up the team’s year and half of contending for the Challenge Cup and pulled on those rebuild overalls once more. With a year still left on his contract and experiencing regression for the first time, Lemo was traded (along with other pieces) to Toronto for a sizeable return. 

This marked a whole new chapter in Lemo’s SHL experience. The Locker room in Toronto welcomed him with open arms and Lemo has tried his best to justify the expectations held for him as the top-TPE player on the roster. Despite succumbing to somewhat a mid-season lull during the regular season, he again finished the season second on his team in scoring with over point-a-game production for the second season in a row and hoped to make his presence felt in the playoffs as well. Unfortunately though, Toronto’s playoffs again ended already in the first round, as the ‘rebuilding’ Hamilton Steelhawks again found a way to victory. Lemo’s own performance in the series was average at best, although a timely hat trick in Game 3, where Lemo scored twice in the final 2 minutes to tie the game and take it to overtime for an eventual North Stars victory, was a personal bright spot.

But now that the North Stars’ playoff hopes are dashed once again, what happens next, is yet unknown… When Lemo joined the Texas Renegades once upon a time, it seemed like the team was being built so meticulously perfectly that it should be able to keep contending for years or maybe even decades to come and Lemo often imagined himself spending his whole career there, if only he could make himself useful enough to allow it. But then came several expansions with their drafts, sapping their roster, followed by sudden rules changes to the update scale and regression, which further diffused the enthusiasm of many key players around the league. And all these things put together meant that suddenly this meticulously built team that was to become a perennial contender for decades found themselves stripped of their advantages and left to find a new management team just one season after their second Challenge Cup championship. Luckily, the new management team was found and it proved their mettle soon enough, with some big moves right off the bat to help give the aging team one more chance at the Challenge Cup before succumbing to another phase of rebuild. But despite even a surprisingly successful regular season, in the end it was not to be and the rebuild would commence the very next season. 

So then, Lemo himself only just having reached his prime, knew the best way to make himself useful now was to let the new management know that he would not oppose a trade if it helped the team along in their rebuild effort. But as sad as leaving Texas made him, he could at least leave the team without remorse. He had been a part of two great championships and would hopefully help the team achieve another one day by the return for him in the trade. 

At the same time, it also meant that Lemo now found himself in a new role as a player in this league. He had gone from loyal home-grown core player to a kind of rental player on a team looking to take the next step in their own journey to the top of the league. 

Now, Lemo has been assured of the continuing interest to extending his stay in Toronto beyond his now expiring contract and he feels like the locker room culture and teammates have suited him well and allowed for a smooth transition. He is also cautiously optimistic about the team’s potential in the coming years and could very well see himself continue to contribute to it in the future as well. Even if they do not manage to reach the success that he found in Texas, having already been a part of pretty much every level of championship team that this SHL universe offers, it would not be that big a deal for Lemo personally, as it might be for someone still chasing that first championship at whichever level of play. 

But what does tickle his nerve a bit is just maybe giving free agency a twirl anyways, even if just this once, basically just to experience one of the last parts of the ‘player’ experience that he has yet to really have a chance to experience. This off-season seems the best time to do it, as a player still in his prime (Lemo recently hit 2k again just in time for the playoffs after taking his first regression hit last off-season) and actively fighting regression thus far. 

Lemo has accrued a decent bank in recent seasons and without succumbing to the trading card craze, has been able to keep his bank balance relatively steady over the years, allowing him to constantly max earn TPE to fight regression and be the best that he can be. He has also missed only a handful of PTs or other TPE opportunities over his whole career and one could hope that another fitting locker room can help keep this pace up as well Wink 

Lemo is not too hard to please either. As long as the locker room is comprised of good sensible people (well ok, that’s a pretty vague or easily misconstrued definition in itself :D by sensible, i guess i mean nice down-to-earth people that are inclusive and empathetic of others as well) and even moderately active, it should work :D Lemo is not the most chatty person himself, it has to be said, but given a suitable topic at the right time he will chime in too Wink But also, beyond just being a chatroom he would still like to see dedication to the competitive side of things as well, to help himself and others keep up pace and make it feel like all the TPE we collect week-in/week-out actually matter too. 

By the way, these are all facets that describe the Toronto locker room as well, so anyone looking to woo him out of simply re-signing with the North Stars will have to do even better! Wink

That’s about all I have to say for Lemo right now, I guess. Thanks for reading and hope to hear from at least a few sides come free agency! Smile

———

TLDR: So this was basically my long-winded way of saying that I’m thinking of trying out free agency, just to experience the process for myself and see what’s on offer for a guy like myself, but you’ll have to sell me on why I shouldn’t just extend with Toronto, since I think we have a pretty good fit there too Smile


(1531 words)

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Forge  S69 Challenge Cup Champion - Philadelphia Forge   Forge
Renegades Renegades  S59 & S62 Challenge Cup Champion - Texas Renegades  Renegades  Renegades 
 Armada  S57 Four Star Cup Champion - Anchorage Armada  Armada 
Finland  Finland  S57 & S58 WJC / S62, S64 & S66 IIHF Gold Medalist - Team Finland   Finland  Finland
[Image: kLRJavo.png]       [Image: ZjgHcNL.png]
After 69 shots on net with still no SHL goals to show for it, even the opposition started to feel so sorry for Lemo, that they decided to help him out :D
- Bad pass by Jack Klompus, he gave it right to Lemo Pihl.
- Lemo Pihl rips it to the net...
- Lemo Pihl will find the empty net, that should do it!
TEX @ MAN, S59 game 31
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#2

lmk when you need a retirement home

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#3

:eyes:

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#4

Lemo Pihl - great player, better person.

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