*And now we go Live to the St. Louis media room inside the Scottrade Center as Scarecrows GM Joe Kurczewski steps up to the podium....*
Wow. That was a tough one, eh?
Losing is never an easy thing to go through. Especially in a game like that one, which may just go down as the best Game 7 in SMJHL history. I'm not going through the record books, so i'm just going to assume that is, unless there was an OT Game 7 for the Four Star Cup. But as far as non-Cup clinching games go, it couldn't get any better than that one. This whole series was a crazy one. There were two shorthanded goals in one game. Another saw a goaltender take TWO slashing penalties. There were games where we saw 5 goals scored on 33 shots, and games where we only saw 3 goals on 88! What a crazy playoff series this one was.
I'd like to congratulate the Colorado Mammoth players. You have all worked hard and you earned this victory. It was an amazing series, and hopefully its one that you'll all remember for the rest of your playing careers. <a href='index.php?showuser=2571' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>dmuda11</a> played out of his mind, and hopefully he's still got more career-defining games like this one left in him. Amazing. Series MVP right there.
Congratulations to my boy and Colorado Co-GM <a href='index.php?showuser=2264' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>ToeDragon84</a>. You're always a Crow at heart, but good win my friend. <3
And finally <a href='index.php?showuser=2297' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>InciteHysteria</a>, congratulations to you too. You've built a heck of a team in Colorado, and I wish you the best on your finals matchup with Vancouver. But a word of advice my old S31 friend: Remember that you're an SMJHL GM. These games are for the players. Our players pour time and effort into building their attributes and working hard to achieve success. It's not your place to talk smack and rub it in their faces with dancing salt shakers or pictures of the standings. You, of all people on this site, have dealt with heartbreaking losses in this sim. Let my players cope with being mad at the sim or whatever they needed to do. They just got done ending up on the wrong end of an all-time classic game. Who cares the reasoning? Let them cope, don't rub it in people's faces. You're a General Manager now, and its your duty to help players from all teams enjoy the SMJHL experience. For some of those guys, its only their first or second seasons on the site. It was a huge loss. Remember your own experience? Remember how you spent your entire rookie season being salty because you weren't starting in the SMJHL for Vancouver? You would end up in the S31 rookie discord pouting and crying that "things would be different if i were starting" or how it was really shitty to sit back and watch Waters/Wahlgren/Pel/whoever get to play when you couldn't? Hell, i'm pretty sure you almost quit the site a few times during that span of time. Isn't that when you were up 3-0 in a series and got reverse swept? Now imagine if the opposing GM of that series was throwing gifs and things right in your face after that series ended? How would you feel? If that happened, you might have actually left the site for good. Who knows? Some of my players right now are you then. Don't treat them that way. Let them be upset. Its part of the league. You're a GM, win with class, keeping these newer players in mind. I know you're not used to being on the winning end of things, but try to work on it. Good luck against Vancouver. You have the ability to beat them too.
Now, with that out of the way, i want to get to my own players. You guys are amazing. You make being an SMJHL manager so much fun. Hell, you guys make it easy. You work your tails off, you build awesome players, and you make that LR/discord so much fun to be a part of. Do not hang your heads in shame. You all played so amazing, and you just ran into a goalie in Game 7 that decided to have a superhuman game. There's no shame in what you accomplished this season. You all earned finishing first in the regular season and you all played your absolute hearts out. It's an honor to have been a part of this S35 Scarecrows team. We may not have won the Four Star Cup like we wanted to, but it was still a hell of a ride. Thank you for letting me be a small part of it.
The hardest part about losing is that it means we have to say goodbye to some amazing Scarecrows this offseason.
First, Crossfit Jesus (<a href='index.php?showuser=2509' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-62'>Crossfit Jesus</a>), thank you for everything you've done. You came back from the darkness of inactivity to be a shining example of what hard work in this league can do. You were a leader on and off of the ice for St. Louis. You were a great captain. You came back to be a consistent top scorer in the league the last few years. You have a great future ahead of you in the SHL. Good luck in Manhattan.
Secondly, Jimmy Wagner (<a href='index.php?showuser=803' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-70'>Mr. Deplorable</a>), my #1 Overall draft pick. You've built a hell of a goalie, and when you pop up in the team chats its always a good time. I learned a lot from you just by chatting it up with you along the way, and i'm truly sad to see you go. We don't get this far without the work you've put in to your player. Thank you, and enjoy Hamilton.
Thirdly, Brett Kennedy (<a href='index.php?showuser=2532' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>TheRealBK</a>), Sadly, i know our time together is up as well. You built one hell of a shut down checking center, who i love as a character in this league. Some of your wrestling promos are the best when you get into them. Not only did you be a "defensively responsible" player, you came into St. Louis and almost immediately took over as a person that was willing to help other players and run fun things to bond the team together such as the wrestling fed online, or the EHM league draft we did. So much fun. You're going to be the toughest member of the Softpack for sure. :lol:
Finally, John Langabeer, Jr. (<a href='index.php?showuser=504' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>jjlangabeer</a>). We traded for you partly because i thought you deserved another playoff run, partly because you're a good person on this site, partly because any team can use another stud player, and partly because i didn't want you to go anywhere else . In your short time here as a Crow, you were active as hell in the discord, and you assimilated yourself smoothly and quickly. I'm sorry we couldn't get you a cup in your final season, but i'm not sorry that we picked you up. You were absolutely worth the price we paid for you and then some. Good luck in West Kendall.
And that right there is the hardest part of being a GM in Juniors. Saying goodbye to some awesome players as they graduate to the SHL. The ONLY good thing about those 4 guys leaving me is that they're all going to the Eastern Conference, so i don't have to worry about them in Calgary. :lol:
As for my other Crows: Thank you again. We may not know the "stay or go" status of EVERYONE yet, but <a href='index.php?showuser=2565' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-52'>dizzyDC</a> has already told me he's coming back for one more season of St. Louis Scarecrow action. That in itself is a huge win for us. We're still waiting on <a href='index.php?showuser=2548' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-14'>Dweaves08</a>'s status as well, but i hope he can give us one more awesome season before he moves up to LA with his girlfriend. (please <a href='index.php?showuser=78' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>Wasty</a>. please). We may or may not lose Chuck Goody, Jr. (<a href='index.php?showuser=711' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>Nike</a>) as well. I'm proud of Joonas Rasmussen (<a href='index.php?showuser=1598' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>wikiplaysgames</a>) for coming back to updating more often and being around the team more. I'm extremely proud of my rookies (<a href='index.php?showuser=2638' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-17'>TheDangaZone</a>, <a href='index.php?showuser=177' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>Ace</a>, <a href='index.php?showuser=2724' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>bluesfan55</a>, @[pope[leo]], and @Satan) for coming right in and updating your asses off. You're the reason the Scarecrows were so strong this year, and why we won't fade into oblivion next year. Do not stop what you're doing. Hitting on my first 5 picks in a draft is almost unheard of, and i'm so proud of what you accomplished so far. I honestly can't wait to see how you develop next season.
Thank you, all of you, for an awesome season.
I'm sorry I couldn't get you guys the right lines to get us the Cup, you all deserved better.
I'm looking forward to watching an awesome Colorado vs. Vancouver final now. Good luck to both teams, it should be a doozy!
Thank you guys for stopping by and reading this. It was an amazing season and I loved every second of it. I truly hope every season is as fun as this one was.
Yeah I get it, this is about the players and I am a GM. But you know what ruins the fun of my players and is a black mark on this entire season for them? When your players perpetuate this thought that the sim was somehow "broken" because St. Louis lost to an inferior team. I am completely fine with your team being heartbroken at a loss. But you might want to corral the shit going on with your players bringing this thought that they are somehow anointed the championship because they won the regular season, and if by the grace of god some other team wins in the playoffs, the sim is broken. I first handedly experienced Dizzy considering quitting the league because "the sim is broken".
So yeah, I get that as a GM I represent a face within the SMJHL and an important one. But when this spoonfed entitlement that seems to come from the top teams every year is a bit sickening. So while you are correct that maybe I lost my cool a bit. Your team went well beyond the typical "grief" of losing a final.
And instead of congratulating a team and saying good game. We get sideways quotes like, "Just seems broken to me. How does a goalie stop 54 of 55 shots. I'm considering quitting because it's just not realistic. GG I guess though" (Paraphrasing).
At the end of the day this just shines badly on me and on your team. But it's something important that needed to be said. If you're telling me to have a little class in winning. Have a bit of class in losing. I get that it sucks. I've experienced a reverse sweep vs. Kelowna, I've lost in the SHL playoff multiple times. I get how heartbreaking it can be. But blaming this shit on the sim engine and discrediting all the time my players have put in updating and being active. Spending time on making sure this team was ready for the playoffs. Yeah I can't fucking take that.
So say what you will about me. But my players earned this shit. Sim engine be damned.
Cheers bossman. I couldn't have asked for a better GM and you have been so amazingly helpful this season. I also couldn't have asked for a better team to be a part of. I love each of you guys. Go Crows!
You're a hell of a GM Joe. You've done a hell of a good job with the crows and I am so glad that ryan and I drafted you way back when. Not only did we get a phenomenal player, we got a really talented GM who does the best for his players and tries to get the best out of everyone for the team.
Quote:Originally posted by InciteHysteria@Jul 21 2017, 08:58 AM Thanks for the sideways congrats.
Yeah I get it, this is about the players and I am a GM. But you know what ruins the fun of my players and is a black mark on this entire season for them? When your players perpetuate this thought that the sim was somehow "broken" because St. Louis lost to an inferior team. I am completely fine with your team being heartbroken at a loss. But you might want to corral the shit going on with your players bringing this thought that they are somehow anointed the championship because they won the regular season, and if by the grace of god some other team wins in the playoffs, the sim is broken. I first handedly experienced Dizzy considering quitting the league because "the sim is broken".
So yeah, I get that as a GM I represent a face within the SMJHL and an important one. But when this spoonfed entitlement that seems to come from the top teams every year is a bit sickening. So while you are correct that maybe I lost my cool a bit. Your team went well beyond the typical "grief" of losing a final.
And instead of congratulating a team and saying good game. We get sideways quotes like, "Just seems broken to me. How does a goalie stop 54 of 55 shots. I'm considering quitting because it's just not realistic. GG I guess though" (Paraphrasing).
At the end of the day this just shines badly on me and on your team. But it's something important that needed to be said. If you're telling me to have a little class in winning. Have a bit of class in losing. I get that it sucks. I've experienced a reverse sweep vs. Kelowna, I've lost in the SHL playoff multiple times. I get how heartbreaking it can be. But blaming this shit on the sim engine and discrediting all the time my players have put in updating and being active. Spending time on making sure this team was ready for the playoffs. Yeah I can't fucking take that.
So say what you will about me. But my players earned this shit. Sim engine be damned.
I didn't say it wasn't earned, and I didn't say it was because of the sim, for the record. Just because it was a weird series (which it was, but that made it fun) doesn't mean it didn't produce a winner that should be proud. Your players earned it for sure. I'm not ever going to say they didn't.
Let the players bicker back and forth. I get the "mama bear" tendency there, to protect. I'm doing it right is. Of course, Your Mammoths can just say "scoreboard" and my Crows have to learn to deal with that. But everything you said about your players working hard to be ready for playoffs, my guys did the same. Everyone handles a loss differently. If they want to be upset and whine about the sim, so be it. I'm sure all of your players know how hard you worked, and the losing team complaining about the sim in a heartbreaker is pretty much standard for the SHL anyway. Rubbing it in their faces, regardless of how annoying they may be at the time, isn't a good look from a GM standpoint. Waking up to multiple messages from a couple players (some that weren't even in the threads) asking me why the GM of the other team is acting that way caught me off guard and I don't have an answer for them.
But again, it was a great series, and it was late at night. Emotions were high and people were sleepy. Never the best time for anyone to really shine haha. Except Adam. He's great.
It's not a sideways congratulations. I'm legit happy for the Mammoth organization. It was a lot of fun.
Quote:Originally posted by JKortesi81@Jul 21 2017, 08:15 AM
I didn't say it wasn't earned, and I didn't say it was because of the sim, for the record. Just because it was a weird series (which it was, but that made it fun) doesn't mean it didn't produce a winner that should be proud. Your players earned it for sure. I'm not ever going to say they didn't.
Let the players bicker back and forth. I get the "mama bear" tendency there, to protect. I'm doing it right is. Of course, Your Mammoths can just say "scoreboard" and my Crows have to learn to deal with that. But everything you said about your players working hard to be ready for playoffs, my guys did the same. Everyone handles a loss differently. If they want to be upset and whine about the sim, so be it. I'm sure all of your players know how hard you worked, and the losing team complaining about the sim in a heartbreaker is pretty much standard for the SHL anyway. Rubbing it in their faces, regardless of how annoying they may be at the time, isn't a good look from a GM standpoint. Waking up to multiple messages from a couple players (some that weren't even in the threads) asking me why the GM of the other team is acting that way caught me off guard and I don't have an answer for them.
But again, it was a great series, and it was late at night. Emotions were high and people were sleepy. Never the best time for anyone to really shine haha. Except Adam. He's great.
It's not a sideways congratulations. I'm legit happy for the Mammoth organization. It was a lot of fun.
Well thank you. And yeah, you need to know that since I said anything to protect my guys I've been hearing about it from everywhere. At the end of the day we are GMs of our teams and we have to stick up for our players. I shouldn't have to feel bad about sticking up for the people that I've spent the last few months making bonds with in the LR/Discord. And I never said your team didn't prepare just as hard.
So, yeah, you can say I am acting unprofessionally to this position. But we're GMs of our teams and we have to stand in the corner of our players. If I let someone basically say that my guys didn't deserve it as much as they did, well, I'm being a shitty GM if I don't say, "uh uh uh!"
But yeah, thanks for the legit congrats. Good luck next year to you and all your players, going up or staying down. I've never been angry at the people or the team. I've been upset about the shit people have talked. And to be honest, if my guys were in the position yours are right now, and they somehow were the #1 seed and we lost in the 2nd round like you did last night. And they were shittalking St. Louis, well I'd be livid with them. Because you're supposed to respect your opponent. And while you've shown nothing but class. A lot of it hasn't been shown outside of you and Crossfit.
Quote:Originally posted by JKortesi81@Jul 21 2017, 08:46 AM
Finally, John Langabeer, Jr. (<a href='index.php?showuser=504' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>jjlangabeer</a>). We traded for you partly because i thought you deserved another playoff run, partly because you're a good person on this site, partly because any team can use another stud player, and partly because i didn't want you to go anywhere else . In your short time here as a Crow, you were active as hell in the discord, and you assimilated yourself smoothly and quickly. I'm sorry we couldn't get you a cup in your final season, but i'm not sorry that we picked you up. You were absolutely worth the price we paid for you and then some. Good luck in West Kendall.
Langabeer Cups in Kelowna: 1
Langabeer Cups in St.Louis: 0
Quote:Originally posted by JKortesi81@Jul 21 2017, 09:15 AM But again, it was a great series, and it was late at night. Emotions were high and people were sleepy. Never the best time for anyone to really shine haha. [b]Except Adam. He's great.[/b]
Tough loss. Sorry we couldn't get you vets a cup before moving on to the big leagues. Good luck in the SHL! Maybe next year we'll steal a cup as a dark horse team.
Quote:Originally posted by InciteHysteria@Jul 21 2017, 07:58 AM Thanks for the sideways congrats.
Yeah I get it, this is about the players and I am a GM. But you know what ruins the fun of my players and is a black mark on this entire season for them? When your players perpetuate this thought that the sim was somehow "broken" because St. Louis lost to an inferior team. I am completely fine with your team being heartbroken at a loss. But you might want to corral the shit going on with your players bringing this thought that they are somehow anointed the championship because they won the regular season, and if by the grace of god some other team wins in the playoffs, the sim is broken. I first handedly experienced Dizzy considering quitting the league because "the sim is broken".
So yeah, I get that as a GM I represent a face within the SMJHL and an important one. But when this spoonfed entitlement that seems to come from the top teams every year is a bit sickening. So while you are correct that maybe I lost my cool a bit. Your team went well beyond the typical "grief" of losing a final.
And instead of congratulating a team and saying good game. We get sideways quotes like, "Just seems broken to me. How does a goalie stop 54 of 55 shots. I'm considering quitting because it's just not realistic. GG I guess though" (Paraphrasing).
At the end of the day this just shines badly on me and on your team. But it's something important that needed to be said. If you're telling me to have a little class in winning. Have a bit of class in losing. I get that it sucks. I've experienced a reverse sweep vs. Kelowna, I've lost in the SHL playoff multiple times. I get how heartbreaking it can be. But blaming this shit on the sim engine and discrediting all the time my players have put in updating and being active. Spending time on making sure this team was ready for the playoffs. Yeah I can't fucking take that.
So say what you will about me. But my players earned this shit. Sim engine be damned.
JKortesi81
. In your short time here as a Crow, you were active as hell in the discord, and you assimilated yourself smoothly and quickly. I'm sorry we couldn't get you a cup in your final season, but i'm not sorry that we picked you up. You were absolutely worth the price we paid for you and then some. Good luck in West Kendall. 
graduates, we'll be watching closely.
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BREAKING NEWS: team upset about losing close contest, opposing team STUNNED. more details as we learn more.
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