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Hi all, welcome back to another episode of Gordie talking to the media. No chitchat this time, let's dive straight into action.

Bob: Hi Gordie. Season S46 just ended in the SMJHL. Talk us through your team's performance will ya?
Gordie: Sure Bob. You know we started out slow, but the St.Louis Scarecrows management seemingly always finds ways to put the team on track during the season. At one stage we had a 10 game winning streak and an impressive 17 wins in a 20 games stretch. At the end of the regular season, you could notice that some players already started focusing on the playoffs, so we lost a couple of games there, but in the end it resulted in a fine 2nd place in the standings, with i believe 6 points behind the Kelowna Knights, who obviously had a great season, so kudos to them.

Bob: You are saying that the management always find ways to put the team on track. Can you elaborate on that?
Gordie: Sure. It is all a matter of drafting the right people and stay on the lookout for good free agents. I think the management have done a really great job in doing that in the last two seasons. Last season, the team picked up players like TT Wawazat and Valeri Tikhonov as free agents and they are still making progress towards the cap. This season, they drafted according to the team needs, among them three rookies on defense who are all still improving. Along the way they picked up three free agents. We have made good strides during the season.

Bob: You have talked about your team performance, are you happy with your own performance?
Gordie: I guess i did okay Bob. I scored 17 goals, 2nd behind Nicolas Fleming who scored 22 goals. And i added 13 assists, which did set a new personal record of 30 points. That said, i am not entirely satisfied and i think i could do better. I played the majority on the first line and only improved my points total from my rookie season (12 goals, 13 assists) with 5 points. During the preseason i had a league high +30 in plusminus. In the regular season i ended with a shabby +2. Also i scored 8 goals in a wild 4 games stretch, which means i scored only 9 goals in 46 games. I guess i need to work on playing more consistently.

Bob: Okay, still you are my favorite Scarecrows player :wink:
Gordie: Lol thanks

Bob: Let's talk about the playoffs. As the second placed team, you have a bye in the first round. Who would you like to avoid in the quarter finals?
Gordie: That is not a difficult question. Obviously i would want to avoid the Halifax Raiders, but i think there is no escape. They are the 7th seed team and are playing against the Colorado Raptors. Before the trade deadline those teams made a deal that send Michael Scarn towards the Raiders in exchange for a couple 2nd round picks. That means Halifax got stronger at the cost of Colorado. If that wasn't enough, Halifax also added Nikolai Evans from Montreal, so basically they improved a lot heading towards the playoffs. I am bit scared, but i think they are scared aswell playing against the reigning champions and the always scary scarecrows.

Bob: Do you think you can win the cup?
Gordie: I think we can, but it is going to be difficult. On paper it looks like it is going to be a tough schedule, if things go as i foresee. I already talked about Halifax. If we would win that serie we will probably play against the Anaheim Outlaws who have a positive record against us in the regular season (4 wins in 6 games). And in the final the Kelowna Knights awaits us who are hungry for revenge. We swept them last season and we won 6 out of 7 in the regular season. It is definately going to be interesting, but we are ready for it.

Bob: How are you preparing?
Gordie: Preparing? uhh i know nothing about that, you should talk to TT Wawazat for those kind of questions Bob, you know?

Bob: Uhh yeah, but that is not why i meant. Uhh never mind, how is your team doing in the ESHL?
Gordie: You mean the Enschede Eskimos?

Bob: Yes.
Gordie: Ow they are performing mediocre. After 10 games they are standing in 7th place. They scored 69 goals and allowed 82 goals. As you can see it is a very high scoring league. I have seen scores like 11-8, 13-1 etc. It is a really strange league with players all over the world doing all crazy things. Probably my best player is Jenaro Langer, a 5ft3 small guy from Venezuala. He doesn't speak english and at times doesn't understands his teammates, but he can skate as the best with or without the puck.

Bob: Now let's talk about your SHL team, the New England Wolfpack. I have heard they appointed a new co-gm. Were you surprised?
Gordie: Yes i was and i can't say i am really happy with it. From what i understand Rice stepped down due to real life things, that is okay. But the issue i have is that the team spent a potential 1OV to get him, so i am afraid this will hurt the team in the long run. Luckily Ace appointed a new co-gm soon after the bad news. With no playoff action they now can focus on the next SHL draft. Unfortunately we will be picking either at 15th or 16th, since we own the Buffalo 1st round pick as they finished first in the regular season.

Bob: Wow talking about tough luck.
Gordie: Yes that is one way you can describe it. It is a disappointing turn of events.