This past weekend the SMJHL held their S80 Entry Draft and my player, Brett McMann, was lucky enough to be a part of it. Through many years of bouncing around leagues and teams, McMann is thrilled to have the opportunity to play in the SMJHL. Many scouts reached out and lots of good talks were had, McMann knew he probably wasn't going to be selected in the 1st round, but the 2nd round was where he would find his forever home. McMann made it clear to all scouts that reached out that he wants to play a full 4 season career for the same team in the SMJHL and not be traded. He is so used to bouncing around from city to city and never really having the chance to make true connections with teammates and staff. The draft went underway and the 1st round passed, no surprise there. After back to back picks from the Kelowna Knights, the San Diego Tidal were on the clock and selected my player! Through scouting interviews, I had the chance to chat with my new GM @SDCore and the man literally predicted this pick without me even knowing. SD - "Hoping for some value at 19/20 tbh" (I was selected 19th overall), "I'm actually really hoping to get you in the 2nd" (I was drafted in the 2nd round). So before I even knew it my fate was already sealed, and I'm thrilled about it! San Diego had an amazing draft this season and I now have the chance to play with some true studs:

3rd overall: C - Dee Centerman IV, Jr. @grok
10th overall: G - Baldur-Ulysse Soderberg-Tremblay @JURT
19th overall: C - Brett McMann @AJW
20th overall: LW - Captain Obvious @Inf1d3l
30th overall: C - Phoenix-Orion Soderberg-Tremblay @SDCore
35th overall: G - Cauliflower Pizza @ByrdeMan
51st overall: C - Ethan Hamilton @neurostack

After finishing the draft, the Tidal's roster now consists of 12 Forwards, 4 Defenders, and 2 Goaltenders. I personally think we are soon to be stacked with some more development and ready to rumble with the rest of the league. I did some snooping to find that the Tidal have suffered a few tough seasons recently, so with all these new talented players I really do believe that in 1-2 seasons we will be an extremely dominant team. Going back to what I said about wanting to play for the same team all 4 seasons, if this draft class we have keeps up in earnings we will have so many 425 TPA players in no time. I'm really excited to get started and noticed the SMJHL S80 Pre-Season starts tomorrow! Finally some games to watch and stats to track.

One problem I did run into was the fact that San Diego's roster holds 7 centers of the 12 total forwards we have. Unfortunately for McMann, he is the 6th highest center on the team in TPE and will start this season on the wing. I respect the decision as others earned their spots at the dot, this drives my hunger a little more to want to develop and grow my player throughout the seasons and eventually find myself back in the center of the ice. I have no complaints about playing wing, obviously I chose center to play center, but this at the same time will give me the motivation to keep earning, keep staying consistent, and eventually reach my long time goal of making it to the SHL and actually having a career there. For those who don't know, my last two players had wonderful SMJHL careers but either retired or went IA once reaching the SHL. I want this generational curse to end and it all starts now. Seriously though I am super stoked to be on the Tidal. Our locker room is a fun spot with lots of members chatting and hanging out daily, and I'm really excited to get to know these members more as the seasons go on. For now my main goal is to reach the TPE cap this season which I believe is 350. I love talking about hockey so I'm really hoping to crank out my PTs each week and fully enjoy my time here. A few medias here and there will help as well as I've been loving watching my bank account grow. Not stressing about funds for weekly trainings and seasonal coaching is a top priority for sure.