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***sve7en*** · 12-13-2022, 12:25 AM

[1744 words]

Good evening everyone, and welcome to the show! As always, the Kraken Awards are voted on by the team and represent our individual successes on and off the ice.

S67 was supposed to be the first payoff season after the project season. We had our pieces, they were hitting caps, and there was a very S54 vibe around the team - we had a huge wave of youth and they were ready to take over.

That didn't quite happen. As it turns out, sometimes FHM is hard, sometimes it's fickle, sometimes it's a black box. I couldn't figure it out.

And yet, the team persisted.

We brought in four max earners to go with our 6 capped skaters from the project year, and while the FHM side eluded us I watched an organization rally around the roster, and a roster rally around themselves and the community we have. While I felt like I let them down, they refused to see it that way.

These awards are a celebration of their resilience.

The veterans remained faithful, the once rookies turned core persisted, and the new rookies embraced everything the team and league had to offer. The class of rookies being entirely first gens and becoming great earners is a reflection of the culture that we have in the team. I mentioned in the captaincy announcement that everyone on the roster earned votes to wear a letter, and that and the success of the Carolina alumni in the SHL as players and leaders remains the thing I hang my hat on most. The finalists for the Slothface Leadership Award were Adam Prpich (@Rich), the steadfast returning captain, and Derek Martin (@ItsFrenchie), Liam Logger (@SloppyPainter), and Marton Diehm (@jfett85), the trio of first gen draftees that revitalized the war room and brought continuous energy in the face of early career struggles. There could be only one award winner though, and that would be Derek Martin!

On the forward side we saw experienced users continue to embrace their new homes and new players, KyIe Murray (@Jimmysmo27), the games played leader by users continued to perform at a high level as he led the Orange in assists, while Raiya Rabinov (@diacope) and Rush Justice (@Justice) have thrived in their new homes, racking up team leading 23 and 28 goals respectively. The winners of the Cristoph Klose Award for the Top Forward carried a massive workload though, one racking up a top 15 spot in the league after taking out the power play time with 24 goals outside of the man advantage and the other accumulating absurd totals for having to play from the blue line and up and down winger positions constantly, Rush Justice and Raiya Rabinov!

For defensemen, the same veteran faces continued to step up. Pass Forfeit (@esilverm) and Torsten Eriksen (@narb111) both continued their S66 campaigns with excellent efforts, with the former leading the team in takeaways and game winning goals and the two of them tying for the positional lead in hits. Meanwhile, Grayson Yates (@Arctic) would continue his contributions on the defensive end, joined by Rabinov for a portion of the season while rosters shifted around. Our winner of the Quilha Agante Award for the Top Defenseman also showed up in the efficiency numbers though, leading the defensive unit in possession metrics despite the shots not falling. Congratulations, Pass Forfeit!

Hockey is of course, a two-way game. Both forwards and defensemen have dozens of responsibilities, and the fluidity of that is what sets such a high bar to be considered the best. The criteria for being a good two way player are varied, but they all consist of showing offensive and defensive prowess without letting the other slip away. Regardless of if you're a possession monster like Julian Eaglesong (@MN_Moosey), a top scoring defender like Pass Forfeit (@esilverm), or asked to line up at both wing and defender in an overlapping role like the aforementioned Rabinov (@diacope), to win the Petr Klimek Award for the Best Two-Way Player, you have to be damn good at the game of hockey. Once again, this award belongs to the glue that held the organization together once again, congratulations Julian Eaglesong (@MN_Moosey)!

Dedication, while fairly easy to define when it comes to sports, gets a bit weird when you enter the sim league world. Are you dedicated with how you guide each player on the team to success like Prpich (@Rich)? Maybe you find space to return to the team after time away to take care of yourself like Rabinov (@diacope) or Erikson (@narb111)? Or maybe you're a first gen that took the league by storm with the jobs you've taken on like Martin (@ItsFrenchie) and Logger (@SloppyPainter). Like I said last season, the number of different ways I see for people considered for this award are the fuel I have for running an SMJHL team season after season. Enabling people to find the aspects of the SHL that they can love in the same way I have is easily the best part of the job. However, this year's Jordan Nugent Hall Award for the Most Dedicated Player can only go to one, someone who I looked at and saw traces of myself, Dwight, and so many impressive users before them, congratulations Derek Martin!

Our MVP award, the Kurtis Hunter Award for the Team's Choice MVP, would come down to three. Justice - the prolific goal scorer, Rabinov - the do it all offensive weapon, and Forfeit - a possession rock of the team who anchored a shorthanded unit all season. This year's award was a close race, but it would eventually follow the way of the Agante. Congratulations, again, Pass Forfeit (@esilverm)!

It is hard to imagine awards greater than the MVP, but the Kraken mentality is a weird one. Set in the mindset of being a developmental league, we look to the future with pride and celebrate the next generation to take the league by storm in addition to the season's great successes. Our Alonzo Garbonzo Award is the Rookie Award, awarded to the rookie who excelled on the ice but also excelled in the community both locker room and site-wide. Our four rookies this year all received votes. Three of them for traditional reasons as they embraced aspects of the league, and @Caylon who bamboozled everyone with his reveal that he was secretly a max earner. As said before, all but Caylon have found homes in the war room, embracing aspects of scouting, team management, and tactics, and they've picked up jobs to support those interests.

The four of them, and Grayson Yates (@Arctic) make up the finalist list for the other award celebrated more than an MVP in the eyes of the organization is the Michael Fitted Award for the player who best demonstrates what it means to be a Kraken.

As is it's namesake, it is simultaneously clearly and incoherently defined by its name. The Fitted Award voting describes it as being for those who demonstrates a team-first mentality, someone who's always propping up their teammates and being an all-around good teammate. Different than a leadership award, MVP award, or award for dedication, this award is for those that embody the Kraken spirit of passion, support, and love for their peers. This group of people has always been about supporting one another and being there for each other, and while other locker rooms I've been in share some of those traits on occasion, nothing has come close to the late night, early morning, post work, at work, no work, and helping a bro or sis out conversations I see in this server. This season's Fitted and Garbonzo Awards goes to none other than Derek Martin (@ItsFrenchie)

Frenchie's name has come up a lot, no?

After with @esilverm throughout the last season and a half, it was very clear that our paths needed to diverge soon. Silver has been a steadfast anchor for me where I've routinely needed it and watching the Midas-like touch he has through his skill and dedication grace both the Carolina organization and the site as a whole never ceases to make me smile. It of course is no surprise that someone like him would be a great Co-GM, but it's also no surprise that he's destined to do more than that for the site and for his life outside of the SHL. With multiple candidates waiting in the wings ready to have a stint in the copilot's seat, Silver let me know that he didn't think he had the time to keep up helping me and would be moving aside to do his work and allow for us to put more people into the SHL and across the world carrying this unique Kraken way we know and love. With all of the trades I've managed to pull off, the one to move up for Silver was relatively tame. The value we've gotten in return has been insurmountable, and I'm grateful that he wants to stick around the organization and the management team moving forward.

The first of those to take the spot is no other than the first round draft pick that has taken the league by storm - @ItsFrenchie. He'll be taking over the Co-GM role as he refines his hot takes from the likes of me and Dwight, and he'll be unleashed upon a head office or SHL war room soon enough.

Congratulations to both the award winners and to the entirety of the Carolina Kraken and organization. Thank you all for coming out tonight, thank you season 66 roster and teammates for another incredible season, and thank you all for making the SHL one of the best communities online. May Terry Bradshaw’s ghost lead you to the promised land.

Recap

Co-GM - esilverm -> ItsFrenchie

Slothface Leadership Award - Derek Martin / @ItsFrenchie

Cristoph Klose Award (Top Forward) - Rush Justice / @Justice -AND- Raiya Rabinov / @diacope

Quilha Agante Award (Top Defenseman) - Pass Forfiet / @esilverm

Petr Klimek Award (Two Way Player) - Julian Eaglesong / @MN_Moosey

Jordan Nugent Hall Award (Dedicated) - Derek Martin / @ItsFrenchie

Kurtis Hunter Award (Most Valuable) - Pass Forfiet / @esilverm

Alonzo Garbonzo Award (Rookie, on and off ice) - Derek Martin / @ItsFrenchie

Michael Fitted Award for the player who best demonstrates what it means to be a Kraken - Derek Martin / @ItsFrenchie

Panda Panico Nominee for the Vyacheslav Onoprienko Trophy - Raiya Rabinov / @diacope

SloppyPainter · 12-13-2022, 02:27 AM

All VERY well deserved, it’s been a pleasure to be on this team with all of you folks!

Also, CONGRATS ON CO-GM @ItsFrenchie.

FaraDian · 12-13-2022, 05:43 AM

It's an honor just to be nominated among this amazing crew! Last season was tough but this LR is awesome, and it's showing this season. Congrats to everyone here, and excited for the direction of this team Kraken

Caylon · 12-13-2022, 05:57 AM

Squid hype!

***Frenchie*** · 12-13-2022, 08:27 AM

SO incredibly proud and hyped about this Carolina Kraken team. Its been nothing but a pleasure and a warm embrace from the moment I joined the LR in early september, and I could not be more honored to help guide you as your new Co-GM. I promise you this won't be something I take lightly and I look very much forward to learning from the great 7 himself! Congratulations to all awards winners, NO EOTTIRD AND LET'S GET THAT CUP! Kraken

diacope · 12-15-2022, 01:18 AM

Didn't think I'd see myself beside any award but it's an honor even if the mention is late! Just happy to be part of a great group of nice and friendly people for the start of my career.. Soon enough Kraken

***Caleb*** · 12-15-2022, 11:24 AM

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