The locker room of a team is equivalent to the lifeblood of the team. Teammates form lifelong bonds and friendships, and take that chemistry onto the ice. For the Colorado Raptors, it was no different this year as they took an active locker room, and brought it into an active and successful playoffs this past season 74 of the SMJHL. The team brought this success all the way into a game seven in the finals.

After a long series, the Raptors were determined to win it all. They saw the '!believe' signs in the stands, and it filled them with the Raptor Glory that they hoped would bring them all the way. The game got off to a fast start when The Murray from the Detroit Falcons opened the scoring 2:22 into the game. The Colorado Raptors, being no strangers to fighting from behind, evened the scoring with a goal from Supreme Dalek leading to a 1-1 score through the first.

The first signs of cracks in Colorado happened in the 2nd period when Prince Marius scored two goals, one on the power play, and one at even strength leaving the Raptors worried going into the 3rd. The locker room wasn't giving up yet, and the team came out into the 3rd determined.

Time was ticking down, and when Valerija Serapin took a penalty 12:10 into the 3rd, what seemed to be a chance for Detroit to wrap up this game actually sparked a glimmer of hope for Colorado as Nick Kodiak scored a short handed goal. This hope was soon shattered as Kenny Omega from Detroit scored a goal less than two minutes later. With just under 6 minutes left in the game, all seemed lost for Colorado, but the Raptor's captain Jussi Mutou wasn't giving up, and scored an unassisted goal with a minute and a half remaining.

It was too little too late, and the game ended 4-3 for Detroit. While the Falcons jumped off the bench and swarmed their goalie, Wayne Holloway, the Colorado Raptors hung their heads in silence and watched on. The teams met and shook hands, thanking each other for the series. Even without looking into the eyes of the young Raptors, everyone knew that they were crushed by the defeat.



As the Raptors ushered themselves back into the locker room, the air seemed heavy, and many of the players seemed as if they were in a daze, with their eyes unfocused and hazy. Not even the complimentary post-game dino nugs were enough to bring up the mood of the runner ups. What was once an energetic locker room was now silent, and the team all just sat, wondering what just happened in the past few hours.

A few players tried to brighten the mood and crack some jokes, but the mood was still filled with the overwhelming sense of loss. The prepared confetti was put away before it had a chance to be thrown. An intern for the team walked around popping balloons with a knife. And the team mascot wondered if Raptor Glory even existed at all.

For a few days, the Raptors were left to tend to their bruises, but more importantly their broken hearts. And slowly, but surely, the locker room came back to its former glory as the team held a meeting. Everyone on the team agreed that this team was only getting better for next season. For a scary team that was one of the best in the regular season, a loss like this would only turn into fuel for their determination to win next season. The players got back to work in the weight room and in their secret mountain training resorts. The coaches reviewed video to figure out how to perfect an already optimized team. The T-Rex signed a deal to continue being the team's mascot. Everyone was focused on coming back even stronger.

For the GMs and scouts of the team, however, their time to shine was much closer with the upcoming draft. For a team that isn't going to lose anyone from graduating members, the holes in the team are much less obvious than some other teams. Should they plan for the inevitable departures of superstars Jussi Mutou, and Xavier Beausoleil, and try to continue the success for many seasons, or should they go all in on this next season and optimize everything they can?

It wasn't an easy question to answer, and while the GMs themselves are tight-lipped going into their plans for the draft, we can take a look at the team and get some semblance of what they want. For the most part though, it's still not obvious. The team is filled with active players, and the TPE is there. So for Colorado, there's not much space right now for them to take on additional players. However, in just 2 seasons from now, they'll be losing 13 of their 17 currently rostered players. This makes you think that they'll be stockpiling picks to fill these holes when they come.

The turnover cycle for SMJHL teams is punishing. They aren't able to have long drawn out rebuilding periods, or even long drawn out contending periods. For the Raptors, who haven't won the cup in 47 seasons now, they're all too familiar how tricky of a task building a contending team is. The window is now for the Raptors, and you have to think that this next year might be their last chance to truly have a dominant team without another rebuilding cycle. They'll still be good for a few more years, but will they be as dominant as projections have them for next season? Only time will tell.

And while the locker room momentarily fell silent in Colorado, the lifeblood of this team is still strong and alive. These players now know exactly what it'll take to win the Four Star Cup, and they're going to go into this upcoming season 75 refreshed with their eyes on the prize.

The finals had high highs and low lows for both teams. It was an extremely tough battle. For the Raptors that have been on the team a few years, its still a huge accomplishment to storm out of the league cellar to the finals. It was the same spot DET was in. In fact, S72 we finished 2 points apart in the same division with COL getting the playoff spot over DET. I'd say Raptor Glory is still within reach.