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A silver road second is not best
#1

"I don't really like silver," Maurice Picard jokes. We're talking about his remarkable record of being involved in championship games or series throughout his professional career to date. After making his debut for Prince George five years ago, the Welsh-born Franco-Caribbean defenseman has been on teams involved in a total of five championship showdowns. Lamentably, only one of those so far has ended in triumph. "It's a little funny that we won that first one, the Four Star Cup, to end a drought. But since then..." he trails off into a bemused shrug.

Picard's career has, oddly enough, been rather low-key overall. An odd thing to say about a man who has competed for every championship available to him so far. After the historic Four Star Cup win with the Firebirds, Picard was in the United Kingdom team that lost the World Junior Championship final weeks later. "That one stung, sort of a crash back to Earth after the high of being part of that drought-ending team," he reflects. "But I learnt a lot, so it was all good."

His third season of professional hockey -- and first in the SHL -- saw his new team, the Los Angeles Panthers, reach the Challenge Cup finals. "There was a strange buzz around the whole thing. The idea that I could have been on back-to-back championship winning sides, world's apart... that really got me fired up." Picard says. "I scored my first SHL goal in the playoffs that year, which is odd. I rarely even shoot, it's not a natural instinct for me. So I think that underlines where my head was at." The Panthers would fall short, losing the series 4-2 against the Minnesota Chiefs, and adding to young Maurice's collection of silver.

"My parents came to every game in that series, and I didn't want to see them after game six. It just hurt." His jaw visibly sets at this point. "It was hard to accept losing at the final hurdle. Again. And I think that really drove me to push past my limits, I really went all-in during that offseason."

The following season was not so successful for the Panthers, however, as they failed to even make the playoffs. "Not making the playoffs after pushing so hard was a real slap in the face. A reminder that this game doesn't owe me a damn thing, really." Maurice relaxes visibly as he goes on to talk about the developments in his personal life around that time. "I think my son being born around the same time was perfect timing." He muses. "Sort of puts things into perspective and helped me to realise it's not the end of the world. The IIHF final was that year too, and it was one of the most crushing defeats I've endured, if I'm honest. But it didn't matter too much. My son was priority number one. I just needed to be the best I could be." Maurice pauses at this point, looking particularly contemplative. "Right now, I don't think I'm there yet. There's still more to come."

We had this chat the day after the Panthers booked their place in the Challenge Cup finals for the second time in three years, and Maurice was a picture of relaxation. Curious what had changed -- besides becoming a father -- I had to ask. "I think things really changed when I stepped away from social media for a while." He replies. It makes sense. The last thing he posted on his twitter feed was the revelation that he would be starring in the cult movie series "Outlaw Killer", alongside his cousin, who plays in the National Simulation Football League. There was no more news on this, no messages to the fans throughout the season as there have been in the past. Nothing. "I don't mean this to sound ungrateful because I appreciate the connection to the fans that social media gives you, but I think I needed to step away. I neeeded to focus on the things that really mattered. My family, and hockey." He smiles and adds, "seems to have paid off."

Looking at Picard's statline this season, he doesn't stand out as a playmaker or a major factor in the Panthers' season, but Los Angeles general manager Valterri Bottas would tell you he doesn't need to be. "Bottas is a really chill guy, and he said to me yesterday that I'm steady." Picard reveals. "I'm not going to go out onto the ice and start slapping shots in from distance, or laying the lumber on guys. It's just not my game, and he understands that. I'm a consistent performer for the most part, and I do the simple things well. That has value, too."

Some have suggested that despite Los Angeles having a great attack, their defense is lacking when compared to other championship calibre teams, which I mentioned to Picard, to gauge his thoughts. He chuckled. "I can understand that way of thinking, sure." He tells me. "But it's not as simple as people think. If there's one thing I've learned playing at this level, it's that sometimes the littlest things can have a big impact."

"No I don't mean the puck," he laughs. "But that too, yeah."

Looking ahead to the Challenge Cup finals, the Panthers could be considered slight underdogs, with the Platoon boasting a stronger first line in attack, and a better first defensive pairing. "Underdog, favourite... it doesn't really matter." Maurice shrugs. "If I'm the best player in the world but I don't perform on the night, I don't win. It's that simple." It's that calm, that Maurice tells me runs through the entire team, that might just push the Panthers over the top. He is quick to point out that he is "among the weaker players on this team" and that the Panthers have several impressive rookie performers on the roster this season. "Johnson and Gronkjaer have both been better than me this season, no doubt. Both very physical players who can really take the game to you, you know?" He elaborates. Does it bother him that rookies are outperforming him? "Not at all. Those are my guys. They do well, we do well. It's not a competition like that."

"Would prefer if they stayed on the ice a bit more though, we don't need three Danny Fosters," he adds, with a laugh.

There is a lot to be concerned about, from Maurice's perspective, however. "Yeah you look at the forwards they have, and I know I'm in for a real tough series here. Probably their weakest forward in their top two lines is my guy Dildo. That's insane." When asked if he relishes the challenge of facing off against his old teammate, he grins toothily and says "well there are five other guys I might need to worry more about, aren't there?"

Most striking about the West Kendall attackers is their strength, Maurice admits. "I'm probably going to be relying on blocking shots and intercepting passes, rather than trying to knock these guys off the puck. They're all pretty strong, great skaters, and have top tier puck handling." When asked who he felt the biggest threat was, he didn't even pause to think. "Alex Light, no doubt. I feel like if I give him an inch, he might score, so that'll be a great challenge, keeping him relatively quiet."

Despite all the talk of how difficult it will be, Maurice still believes the Panthers will pull it off, though. "Sure we can do it. We lost both times this season against them, one of them pretty rough," he grimaces slightly, remembering that crushing 9-3 defeat, in Los Angeles, "but we know them better. We can pull this off. We only beat the Jets once in the regular season too, but look how that turned out."

One thing is for certain, Maurice Picard's road will not be coming to an end just yet. It just might turn into a golden one.

(1330 words)



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A Silver Road


Drought Ender, Curse Breaker, Firebird
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#2

Damn, that was really well written. Good stuff man.

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Falcons
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#3

Panthers Panthers Panthers

Cheers

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