01-05-2022, 07:24 PM(This post was last modified: 01-05-2022, 08:03 PM by ValorX77.)
VSN Presents...
The Dragon Report. S63-1. (Hard to write media when you had the Covid booster!)
Hello there and good time appropriate greeting to you all, and welcome to the first Dragon report for the new season.
There will be a few changes to this season's format, as I will focus more on the team aspect and less on individual games, this will also cover last seasons playoffs
The Opening Face-off: What went wrong in the S62 playoffs?
Last season saw the dragons place second in the pacific division, but, saw their challenge cup dreams go similar to that of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2021 Stanley cup playoffs, and Wayne Gretzky in Game 7 of the 1996 Western Conference semifinal, Had it, lost it. Their opponent was the Seattle Argonauts, who the dragons have only faced once in the playoffs previously, which also went 7 games, and ended in an overtime game 7, a goal by current Dragons Blueliner, Richard Lafleur. But this time, Seattle had come for revenge, but it did not look that way from the first drop of the puck.
The Argos won game one until you realize we are in the Men In Black universe and that game never seemed to have happened, and the dragons won that handily, and then took the next one. Seattle rallied to take game 3, but a crucial game 4 went into one of two overtime games in the series, and an unexpected hero or should I say, heroine won it for Calgary, rookie sensation Videl Valor. unfortunately, Valor-San's goal may have been Cursed to say the least, as Seattle rallied to force a Game 7 back at the big parm, Little did Calgary know at the time, It was not going to be their night. An overtime game 7 loss. At home, demoralizing to the core of each soul who put on the dragons red and black. The season was abruptly ended.
Down on the farm, Dragons prospect updates and a look at the S63 class.
The S63 draft may be seen as a small class, but the Dragons have seemingly found two big steals in the draft's second round, as the Dragons did not own a first-round pick in this season's draft. This draft saw the additions of Hank Stopper - @TacocaT and Brent Ashe - @Nhlbeastmode_7777 to the Dragons ever-changing farm system. Ashe had to fight his way to a well-deserved spot on an SHL roster, as he went undrafted previously 4 times!
Stats for each:
Hank Stopper - G
Regular season
S62 GFG | 9 GP | 8 W | 1 L | 0 OTL | 1.78 GAA | .925 SV% | 23.67 SAA | 2 SO
Totals | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1.78 | .925 | 23.67 | 2
S60 ANA | 7 GP | 1 G | 0 A | 1 P | -1 | 5 sog | 20.00sh% | 0 ppp | 3 hit | 3 blk
S61 GFG | 12GP | 1 G | 5 A | 6 P | +1 | 26 sog | 3.85 sh% | 2 ppp | 10 hit | 8 blk
S62 GFG | 4 GP | 2 G | 1 A | 3 P | +1 | 15 sog | 13.33sh% | 0 ppp | 3 hit | 3 blk
Totals | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | +1 | 46 | 8.70 | 2 | 16 | 14
That's a lot of statistics there! You've probably got bored reading this, but you have gotten to this point so I'd thank you for getting this far!
Hail and Farewells, S63
This offseason saw the departure of two dragons, one to Toronto, and the other to retirement. We first lost goaltender Cale Audmunson to "Free Agency" as wally was named the new GM of the Toronto North Stars. Best of luck in Toronto Wally!
We also saw the retirement of Mikael Choybuk, who spent 16 seasons on the dragon's roster and is a member of the S50 challenge cup championship squad, best of luck in retirement @dollaranadream !
This season also saw the addition of two new free agents, Goaltender Phillip Weaver, and forward Ruslan Zaporozhets. Welcome to Calgary both of you!
Legend Report: Micheal Boychuk S24-S42
Bio by Esa: Michael Boychuk, affectionately nicknamed “Big Game” Boychuk for his propensity to score or create clutch goals for the dragons when the game was on the line, especially in the post-season. He played 19 seasons in Calgary and has been a key element of the Dragon's long-time success. He holds the record for all-time points by a Dragons defenseman with 558 and ranks 12th all-time in D points for the SHL. He's also the all-time Dragons leader in playoff points by a defenseman with well over 100 points and close to 200 games played. One regular-season statistic that stands out and is a testament to Boychuk’s defensive prowess is his plus-minus rating. He’s currently 3rd all-time in +/- of all defenseman in SHL history with a +147 career rating. That’s an amazing achievement behind only Darian Scherbluk and Aidan Richan. He was fantastic on Defense, but he also posted big offensive numbers as a playmaking Dman from the blue line. He was the straw that stirred the drink for the Dragons offense with his puck movement and assists capabilities. He finished with 472 assists in the regular season and countless more in the post-season. He played in the playoffs in 18 of his 19 seasons, all with the Dragons, and won an astounding 5 cups. Boychuk has been a captain and leader for the Dragons for a large portion of his career and is always a positive teammate and honestly a coach's dream. I’ve had the honor of coaching Boychuk for every game he’s played in his career and he’s always been someone I can count on in the Dragons lineup. Having that faith in a player as a GM is a true luxury. Boychuk was always in it for the team, never wanted to retire until the team had a plan to replace him. That time finally came recently, our young D is looking strong now and I’m glad they got a chance to learn how to play the game from such a great example like Boychuk. He may not have made a lot of noise on the boards over his career, but like many other legendary dragons, he made his mark on the ice, in our room, and with multiple championships. He is truly an all-time great and one of the best players and people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know on this site.
Awards:
S31: Jesster Award (Dragons MVP)
S27: Challenge Cup
S29: Challenge Cup
S32: Challenge Cup
S40: Challenge Cup
S42: Challenge Cup
S43: Dragons Hall of Fame
TPE Milestones
Congrats to Alexis Saint-Michel, and Eero Makela for passing 1000 TPE, #A-Rye Izzy for passing 1300 TPE, Videl Valor for passing 1100 TPE, Zhen Roza for passing 900 TPE (Almost at 1k, keep it up!), Grogu Mandosson and Duncan Mackenzie for passing 700 TPE, Eddie Creller for passing 500 TPE, and finally, Richard LaFleur for passing 1200 TPE, Keep up your earing y'all!
Closing Remarks
This has been a pleasure to write these, and I look forward to when I get to write one of these again shortly, it will not be every week due to outside of the league reasons, but this truly captures the spirit of Calgary through my own eyes and allows me to express what has happened from my perspective. To the reader; I thank you for spending part of your day in my shoes, and I hope you have a great rest of your day/night.
#1 All-Time SHL Goal & Point Scorer - First 2,000 TPE Player in SHL History - - First 400 Goal Scorer in SHL History - - Only 500 Goal Scorer in SHL History - - First GM to Win 5 & 6 Challenge Cups - Esa Anrikkanen Award - SMJHL ROY - Est. S34 Vidrik Onoprienko Award Winner - S45
01-05-2022, 07:24 PMValorX77 Wrote: Legend Report: Micheal Boychuk S24-S42
Bio by Esa: Michael Boychuk, affectionately nicknamed “Big Game” Boychuk for his propensity to score or create clutch goals for the dragons when the game was on the line, especially in the post-season. He played 19 seasons in Calgary and has been a key element of the Dragon's long-time success. He holds the record for all-time points by a Dragons defenseman with 558 and ranks 12th all-time in D points for the SHL. He's also the all-time Dragons leader in playoff points by a defenseman with well over 100 points and close to 200 games played. One regular-season statistic that stands out and is a testament to Boychuk’s defensive prowess is his plus-minus rating. He’s currently 3rd all-time in +/- of all defenseman in SHL history with a +147 career rating. That’s an amazing achievement behind only Darian Scherbluk and Aidan Richan. He was fantastic on Defense, but he also posted big offensive numbers as a playmaking Dman from the blue line. He was the straw that stirred the drink for the Dragons offense with his puck movement and assists capabilities. He finished with 472 assists in the regular season and countless more in the post-season. He played in the playoffs in 18 of his 19 seasons, all with the Dragons, and won an astounding 5 cups. Boychuk has been a captain and leader for the Dragons for a large portion of his career and is always a positive teammate and honestly a coach's dream. I’ve had the honor of coaching Boychuk for every game he’s played in his career and he’s always been someone I can count on in the Dragons lineup. Having that faith in a player as a GM is a true luxury. Boychuk was always in it for the team, never wanted to retire until the team had a plan to replace him. That time finally came recently, our young D is looking strong now and I’m glad they got a chance to learn how to play the game from such a great example like Boychuk. He may not have made a lot of noise on the boards over his career, but like many other legendary dragons, he made his mark on the ice, in our room, and with multiple championships. He is truly an all-time great and one of the best players and people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know on this site.
Awards:
S31: Jesster Award (Dragons MVP)
S27: Challenge Cup
S29: Challenge Cup
S32: Challenge Cup
S40: Challenge Cup
S42: Challenge Cup
S43: Dragons Hall of Fame
Daaaaaaamn. What a write-up! Thanks for all the kind words!
It was a pleasure playing for Calgary every single season. I wouldn't trade it for anything.