As a rookie in the SMJHL, you're taking the same first steps today's SHL greats took all those seasons ago. Tell us about the player(s) you look up to and are aiming to emulate.
Requirements
Written option: Must include 200 words and some reference to build attributes and/or stats of both yourself and at least one player currently in the SHL.
Graphic option: Must include two renders and at least three different build attributes and/or stats of both yourself and at least one player currently in the SHL.
Payout
4 TPE for doing the thing. (Just one option, not both.)
Only S42 SMJHL Rookies (S43 SHL Rookies) are eligible for this PT.
Do not claim this TPE until a post is made in the claim thread.
You know when you see Pavel Pivonka step onto the ice tomorrow for the Montreal Militia, it's very easy to instantly draw a comparison to Calgary Dragons' superstar Mike Izzy. Both are dynamic hitters with good skating and scoring as a strength. But ask Pivonka which SHL superstar he wishes to emulate in his game and he answers with a legend: Carter O'Callahan.
O'Callahan is perhaps the greatest skater the League has ever known. A fierce checker who could do it all and whether it was faceoffs or defense or scoring or anything, Carter was simply the greatest. The Hall of Fame legendary member of the WolfPack was sensational at every aspect of the game and given his size he was an intimidating factor along the boards. O'Callahan is perhaps best known for his ability to make the players around him better and Pivonka says that's exactly his intention: "I want to open up space and chances. Get in the zone and keep the pressure going until we score. They're not going to get good chances on us if we keep them playing below their goal line."
While Izzy is no slouch in his own right, Pavel says he's keeping his eyes fixed on becoming a Hall of Fame legend like O'Callahan. But those are big skates to fill and Pivonka will have to drastically improve before anyone sees the comparison besides himself.
From the second his name was called, an instant comparison that many have made both inside and outside the Detroit Falcons locker room is that of recent draft pick Tig Murphy to recent alumnus and emerging SHL powerhouse Bob Bergen.
In many ways, Murphy mirrors the path taken by Bergen to arrive in Detroit: Bergen, like Murphy, began as something of a Nobody in the British Isles before bursting onto the scene in his SMJHL draft year.
Both measure in at 6'2" and over 210 pounds, but display their strengths far away from the physical side of the game. The two are high-octane on the offensive side of the puck who excel in both passing and carrying the puck - making them a dual threat to forecheckers. Although the "offensive defenseman" label is typically the other side of a coin that reads "poor defensively," both Bergen and Murphy utilize excellent positioning and gap control to exert their control over the defensive side of the game.
Murphy was flattered by the comparison, noting that "it's an honour to be compared to a Falcons legend like Bergen and if I have a career half as successful as his has been so far I'll be pretty fortunate."
While the similarities between the two defensemen representing the past and future of the Falcons are quite well-known, Murphy was quick to point out some differences in their style of play.
"Obviously our puck movement is quite similar but I think I tend to rely on my skating a lot more in the defensive and neutral zones," he explained, "whereas Bergen is usually more content to move the puck up the ice to a teammate as quickly as possible. This leads to me playing a little more of a high-risk game than he does which of course has its drawbacks."
Aside from the skill aspect of the game, there is another part of Bergen's success that Murphy wishes to emulate.
"Even for a young guy in the SHL, he's shown that he's in incredible shape and that he can eat a ton of minutes," Murphy noted. "I'm not even close to that point yet, and it's going to be a huge focus of mine going forward with the trainers and during my next few offseasons. Being able to handle the game at the highest pace and most physical level requires a high level of fitness and that's something I definitely need to achieve to make that next step."
For Detroit fans, the wait to see Murphy and the rest of the exciting Falcons talent ends on Monday. They'll be anxiously awaiting Murphy's progression as they hope that, just maybe, lightning will strike twice.
JayWhy Registered
S15, S16, S28, S34, S38 Challenge Cup Champion and Lance Bass
It may be an imperfect comparison, but when you have historically been so close to somebody and cared so much for them, you don't have much choice. Jax grew up around the Edmonton Blizzard, in their locker rooms and knowing their team. He was a fan, and a friend, of the team.
Over the years, he's met many legends in the sport from fellow draftee's father Riko Muerto to Reggie Williams. He's been close with Jackson Rogers-Tanaka, Michael Haan and Cole Reinhart. However, the one who always amazed him and astounded him, who he always found to be his hero, is Theo Kane.
Kane joined the Blizzard in S21, was a part of the team for a very long time, the entirety of his father's remaining tenure there, and managed to win a Challenge Cup there in S28 alongside Jax's father. Jax knew him well, saw how he trained and the focus and drive he had, and knew he had to commit to doing the same.
The true key to Theo Kane's game is in his incredible strength. He's somebody who has focused so heavily on controlling the puck at all times, being bigger and better than players whether they be larger than him or not. He works in the gym nonstop, squatting, lifting, pushing. He does balance and strength training every single day, and then he goes out to the ice and does power skating and takes slashes and cross checks to learn to position himself best and prepare himself.
Jax has been following his training regimen, has been striving to be even close to similar to him, for seasons on end. He seeks to control the puck, to battle through every possible obstacle and to be the man who terrifies goaltenders and defensemen alike with shot, skating and even the ability to just know where the puck is and defend against anything you can do.
An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.
07-15-2018, 11:36 PM(This post was last modified: 07-15-2018, 11:38 PM by Good_Ole_Kimmy.)
Coming into the league as a rookie I think everyone will agree that it is a lot to take in. You really don't know what to do or where to go, and most confusing of it all was trying to make your name known in a tight knit community like the Simulation Hockey League. However, on the day that I joined only hours after I had been messaged by the admins welcoming me to the league I got a message from none other than JKortesi81 or otherwise known as his player Joe Kurczewski. In the messaged he welcomed me to the league and encouraged me to stay, describing his own experiences and even further showed interest in drafting me. I didn't end up in St. Louis, but that message has always stuck with me as a representation of what it is like in this league. So, in answer to who I look up to in the SHL its Joe Kurczewski not only due to the type of player that he is, but the type of person that he is. He has not only been a welcoming part of the community and a driving force to helping rookies find their way on the site and improving rookie retention rate, but also shown great success in the league in earning the MVP trophy last season and getting great success as a center, something that I hope to do with mine.
(238 words)
07-15-2018, 11:42 PM(This post was last modified: 07-15-2018, 11:43 PM by ThatIrishFellow.)
Starting my career in St. Louis is the best possible scenario. It allows me to follow in the footsteps of my favorite SHL player - Brady McIntyre. McIntyre won the coveted Ondrej Ravchitikov Award, presented by the Scarecrows for the team's best defenseman. I'd also like to win this award, even if it takes me a couple season. Even though my archetype (OFD) is different than Brady's (TWD), I think the end product is something to aim for. McIntyre has had tons of success in the SMJHL, as well as the SHL, using his strengths of passing, defense, and puck handling. However, his build leans heavily into the puck handling, and skating attributes, which just so happen to me two of my strengths. I think using Brady's build as a guide, I should be able to create a similar player, with slightly more TPE dumped into scoring, since that's the role I'd like to play. Of course, I won't be able to raise my defense above 90 (since it isn't a strength), but for my build, 90 defense should be enough, since I'll be aiming for 99 scoring. In conclusion, I will try to mimic Brady McIntyre as closely as possible, swapping passing for scoring, and leaving my defense at 90, in order to raise my scoring to 99. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but while Brady is my idol, I am going to put my own 'spin' on things, using his build as inspiration.
Growing up watching SHL games I knew who I wanted to be like. Someone who was fast, could score goals, and help defend their end of the ice. I was always drawn to a two-way style player, to me, they were always the ones to watch. They were the difference makers. So when ever someone asked me who my favorite player was, I knew the answer right away. Joe Kurczewski. He's one of the fastest skaters in the league and he knows how to score. Though Joe is known more as a Offensive Forward, his defensive IQ is off the charts. The guy is a true leader on and off the ice.
I knew when I decided to join the SMJHL, I wanted to be just like Joe. I wanted to skate fast, score goals, and play a defensive game just like him. In my eyes there was nobody better to idolize. I never knew what was going to happen when I joined the huge list of prospects. I never dreamed the man I idolized for so long would call me up to chat. You should have seen my face when I received that call. Joe was one of the nicest, most respectful, and encouraging person I have ever talked too. He showed interest in me joining St. Louis, like he did way back when.
After that, I really wanted to model his game. In comparison, though he is greatly better (for now), we share the same strengths in our game. We both focus on Skating, Defense, and Scoring. With a little work, I can get to his level. I knew I could be like him, so when he called my name to join the Scarecrows, I knew I was on the right path to be the next big thing.
Being the son of a SHL player, that played over 20 Seasons in the League, you get to watch a lot of hockey, and a lot of players that have shared a locker room with my dad. Playing for the same team for the last 15 seasons, you get to see players come up as rookies and grow into superstars. Being in Calgary all of those years, I got to see Randy Randleman's rise from a fresh faced rookie, into one of the best players ever to put on a Dragons Jersey. I got to see my current GM Joe K, have a similar path as Randleman. However, the one player that I watched in Calgary that I emulate my game after is Mike Izzy. Watching my dad center Izzy's first couple of seasons really gave me a chance to see how amazing a hockey player he is. With my dad as a pass first center, Izzy specialized in being a two way force on the ice, with Defense, Skating, and scoring as his strengths, with strength as a weakness. Izzy's game is all about throwing around his body on the ice, while being skilled and responsible enough to contribute on both ends. I have always admired what Izzy did for my dads career who at that stage of his career was slowing down and losing interest, but once Izzy joined his line he felt like he had a responsibility to keep going out there and giving it his all. I hope that I will be able to look back on my career and say that I had the same effect on a player. If I follow Izzy's model as a player on and off the ice, the rest will take care of itself.
When I was just little baby boy starting to play hockey, I was like all the other kids: I wanted to clap bombs and dangle and snipe top-shelf for a living. But the day I realized there was more to hockey than that and decided to switch and become a solid defensive defenseman, there was only one player I could turn my head towards, to try and emulate: Mia Landvik.
She has such great defensive ability, and can throw the body around to punish her opponents just as much as she can move her feet and use that stick to regain possession of the puck. Sure, her offensive skills (and especially her shooting) aren't very great, but there are many players out there that can do that, while there are fewer players like us who choose to use our speed to hit people and recover pucks. She still knows how to move the puck pretty decently once she recovers it too, and that's an aspect of my game I try not to forget too often at practice.
That's why I want to be like Mia, and never miss a chance to watch her play, I can still learn a lot just by looking at her. And, let's be honest, she's not that hard to look at either .
DannyMethane Registered
S38 Challenge Cup Champion
Posts:308 Threads: 18 Joined: May 2017 Reputation:2
Pronouns: Undisclosed
When i was young I loved watching the SHL. I have always looked up to the greatest point producers in the league like Jason Visser. Even though many see him as one of the greatest scorers, I’ve always loved his other skills. Watching him dingle and dangle all across the ice, setting up people with beautiful passes and not really going for those big checks very often. The problem has always been that I didn’t realise how much of the other skills were needed to succeed on the highest level. So when I finally got drafted, plenty of people looked at me and thought: Wow, another weak playmaker that’s gonna be a defensive liability. But I’ve trained faceoffs, defensive positioning and tactics, my strength and plenty of all the other ‘’boring’’ skills a world class center needs to be one of the best. If this will make me as good as Jason Visser in the future is something me myself don’t know yet. But with this attitude, I’m sure I will reach whatever my natural potential may be.
And at least I’m taller and bigger than him already, so that will probably be in my advantage when/if we ever meet in one of the SHL rinks!
When I was trying to figure out what kind of player I wanted to be, I looked toward my fellow Czechs of who I looked up to. All of my life I looked up to the Czechs that skated for their country, and I knew I wanted to be like one of them, and now I have a chance to be, but I needed to choose my path of what I wanted myself to be, a playmaker, or a sniper. I looked at tapes of the Czechs playing in the SHL and saw Alexander Zajac stand out to me. His Fast skating, the way he handled the puck and how he was the glue that held his line together, passing and letting others score, that made me want to be just like him. I wanted to be the guy that saw the opportunities that others didn't and exploit that to get us the win. I saw a lot of qualities in myself from him, how I was always a better skater than my peers, and I knew I had to develop more into that role than a shooter. Shooters are important on a line, but playmakers are vital for the shooters, and I wanted to be someone vital for the team.
(212 words)
There are many great players in the SHL, who are stars on and off the ice. With 41 years of history to look at, one can see that players can succeed in many ways.
However, there is definitely one current player that Goku Muerto would love to emulate both in terms of build, and results - that player is Jean-Luc Reflieux from the Los Angeles Panthers. JLR is a playmaking center, whose strengths are his Skating, Passing, and Puck Handling. Those are exactly the same strengths as Goku (also a Playmaking Center). Also, Reflieux has played for Norway in IIHF despite being a Canadian, and this is a national team that Goku is also hoping to play for in the future, so he is a good role model that way.
Looking at the attributes, JLR is in regression so he might not be at his all-time peak, but he has maintained a 99 rating in passing, and still has 90+ ratings in Skating and Puck Handling. Personally, I would probably keep Skating as the highest attribute, but since he also has a max rating of 90 in Scoring, it makes sense to keep Passing at 99 so that is still his primary score. He has also maintained relatively high scores in Faceoffs, Strength, and Defense, so he is a well-rounded player, able to be dominant at either end of the rink.
One aspect I really like is that although he is known as a pass-first player, JLR is still able to score goals, too - 4 times in his career he's been able to notch 20+ goals, including last season where he got 26 goals to go along with his 36 assists, for a staggering 62 points. I would be thrilled to ever have a season like that! But he is clearly not selfish, and his set-up talents help his linemates produce as well. Every season he always has more assists than goals, and that is a sign of a great team guy.
So all in all, if I can have even half the career that JLR has had, I would feel like I did pretty good, but if I can have a similar career, start reserving my spot in the Hall of Fame!!
07-16-2018, 02:02 PM(This post was last modified: 07-16-2018, 02:03 PM by CanadianDuck.)
When he was young, Steven Moyer spent many nights watching and listening to SHL games, but never could choose a favorite player. If you ask him today though, he can tell you who he likes to emulate. "I have become a big fan of Joe Kurczewski, both on and off the ice. He has really helped me (and many others) adjust to the way things work here in the SMJHL, and I trust he will do so in the future."
Kurczewski (who happens to be GM of the St. Louis Scarecrows, which is also the team Moyer currently plays for.) is a very talented Right Winger for the Calgary Dragons. Most would say that Kurczewski best skills are his Defensive, Skating and Scoring abilities, Moyer seems to focus more on his Faceoffs, Puck Handling, and Passing skills. They may have different skillsets, but if there one thing they both have in common on the ice, they both seem to try avoiding checking other players. It is quite clear to almost everyone that the future Steven Moyer will be molded by one of the current best in Kurczewski, and even Steven himself agrees. "Everything I have done in the SMJHL is because of Kurczewski, I can't thank him enough for what he has done for me.
When Veikka Toivanen was just a young boy, he was struck by the speed and skill of SHL players. Not just the speed of the players, but the speed of the puck. There were so many ways to move the puck. You could stick-handle by someone, you could fire off a quick pass, or skate it all the way up for a shot. Watching the puck was just mesmerizing.
The player who always stood out for their puck moving ability was Bubba Nuck. Despite the many different facets of his game, all Veikka saw was that slick passing. As Veikka grew older, he got more chances to see what made an SHL player. He saw that, while Bubba was a good puck mover, he was also a shooter, and a fantastic defender.
Despite his best efforts, Veikka was never able to become a goal scorer as he had once hoped to be, but that hasn't stopped him from modelling himself off of Bubba's game. When asked about how he's done so Veikka had this to say.
"He's just... Bubba just seemed to know where to be. He knew where to be for everything. Where to be to get the puck and make a pass, where to be to break up a play. It's how I want to play too. I may not be as strong as he was, hopefully I can get there soon, but I have the mind for the game like he did, and I will use it to it's full potential."
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S76 SMJHL DRAFT 3RD OVERALL PICK 
IIHF TEAM NORWAY 
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