Login

Leoben · 01-03-2021, 10:21 PM

Quote:Double Media Week - Holiday Edition - 1460 words - Ready For Grading

I have seen a few of these over the past few weeks so I’ll share mine here.

My career with Kubinec has been a bit of a rollercoaster but it’s probably the most I have stayed on the rails in a long time. I have had three players before him and they all went bust. Very early into Kubinec’s career, I figured it would be more of the same.

Early Days

It started out after the trade deadline during Season 46. I just randomly created after retiring Vrana who I had pretty much gone inactive with. Offers came in from three Junior teams and all were tempting. There was interest from Vancouver, Montreal, and Halifax. Montreal was probably the first one to go to. It would have been great but my three previous players all came through the Militia and I needed a change of scenery. It was down to Vancouver and Halifax but I ended up going with Halifax. I knew @Jearim from Montreal and wanted a little familiarity. Definitely not an easy decision as I was very interested in Vancouver too. While I was in Juniors, two of those three teams ended up winning the Four Star Cup. Guess which one didn’t.

I still have no regrets about joining Halifax. It was a great time and I developed a newfound interest in the league overall and was out of the Montreal bubble for the first time since I had been on the site. Unfortunately, my first two seasons in Halifax were a wash. Soon after signing with Halifax, I had to take a sabbatical for about a month to take care of some personal issues. As bad as I was on this site for a while, my personal life was out of control. So the league was virtually an afterthought, rightfully so.

53rd Overall

So I was sitting in my room in Vegas (who the hell goes to Vegas to get clean?), and was checking my phone and noticed a message on Discord from Jay. The S47 Draft was going on, go figure. I ended up being drafted 53rd. I think only one or two players were taken after me. That was humbling but expected. Kubinec was officially labeled a bust and Texas took me for a only two reasons that I can think of. Jay probably vouched for me as he was Co-GM, and they needed bodies.

I was still on sabbatical for most of Season 47. I had missed two very important seasons of development and was thinking of just dropping Kubinec altogether and either just quit the site for good or recreate, again. I wasn’t worried about letting Texas down. Kubinec was about as low-risk of a pick as you can get, many teams straight up passed on picking anyone when he was still on the board. It wasn’t as if the future of the franchise was on him. But for some reason I just decided to start earning.

The last two seasons at Halifax were a blast. We had some very good players who I have called out before and won’t do it now. We had an excellent playoff run in Season 48 and lost to eventual Champions Montreal in Season 49. No Four Star Cup, but that was just how it went with Halifax. Kubinec was usually around the top ten in scoring at his position. It was time to hit the SHL in Season 50 though and the Season 47 class was full of killers. The Jesster was never on the table, it was always Mika Kandinsky’s to lose and they didn’t lose it. But Kubinec did finish near the top for rookies in scoring so it wasn’t an awful season.

Settling In

Texas was a lot different than Halifax. There wasn’t much going on in the locker room at first. Aside from the GM and a few people not on the team, the locker room was quiet. Kvalheim was clearly the player they were rebuilding the franchise around and it was going to be a long rebuild. That was fine with Kubinec. Low to no expectations on him so he could just keep his head down and work.

In Season 51 Kubinec almost broke fifty points but just came up shy. He earned a Richan nomination but came up short to Corey Kennedy. Still a solid second season even though Texas went nowhere.

Slowly the locker room started filling up with guys like Piotr Horvat and Noah Brusky. Texas was starting to carry themselves like something that resembled a team, although not a very good one yet.

The Bad Seasons

Season 52 was another down season as he only racked up 32 points. This would be the theme for most of his career. A great season followed by a bad one followed by a good one. We switched to FHM in Season 53 and were flat out awful getting less than ten wins.

Some Success

We came within one point of the playoffs in Season 54 only losing out on tiebreaker rules to Calgary. That was beyond frustrating but we were showing improvement. Our prospects were developing nicely and we were all still improving. We could finally see progress and all this work was finally going to pay off. Kubinec got over 50 points in a season for the first time but as with anything, a bad season followed. Texas picked up a few free agents over that offseason and Kubinec got bumped down the pecking order a bit. That was fine as the team was better overall and we actually made the playoffs, just to be shut out by Edmonton. But progress is progress.

Breakout

His best season came in Season 56 where he put up 62 points and finished for 7th in scoring. His up and down and up again career paid off as he actually won the Aidan Richan Award for most improved player. It’s funny earning the most improved award the same off-season you hit regression but that’s how it goes I guess. He also got voted on the 3rd All-Star Team. Texas got shut out in the playoffs again which was a little frustrating. But we will get there.

Season 57 has been another solid outing. The points-per-game is a bit lower but Texas is better at spreading the wealth these days. Soon Kubinec will be passed by guys like Watcher and Kekkonen but hopefully he can still fill in somewhere.

Future

I have thought about leaving Texas a few times and even considered exercising my option next season and testing the market. We had GM change a few seasons ago and that made me a little nervous but thankfully the right guys took over. They have done a great job of keeping the team together and on track and the next few seasons should be fun. Kubinec will break into the Top 15 all-time Renegades for points after this season and I’m aiming for the top 10 before hanging it up. I’m sure he will get bumped by one of the new guys soon after but just to be on the list for a season or two will be an accomplishment.

The Hall of Fame is unlikely if not straight up impossible. I missed two full seasons of development so I just don’t have enough time to be relevant. I do not plan on whittling Kubinec down to 900 TPE or so, so unless he’s still contributing in some way other than being an active body he will not overstay his welcome. We will see where we stand after Season 60.

It’s funny that the player I had the worst start with ended up being my most successful. A player that had zero expectations and was labeled a bust ended up being pretty good. If I retire Kubinec tomorrow his career will still be seen as a success. But I also really care about the Renegades and want to see their hard work pay off, not just mine. The GMs kept us together and everyone has worked really hard to get us competitive. I am really thankful that I got to be a part of this rebuild. Being here in the dark days really makes everything worth it right now.

This has been the most fun I have had on the site. I try to put as much positivity out as possible these days. Not to make up for past errors as I know there are some people I will never be able to win back (in real life and on the site) but that’s life. I just try to stay positive and do the right thing today because it makes life that much easier.

I’m not sure what the point of this was but pay me please.