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nour · 09-01-2018, 08:28 PM

After three seasons of consistent success and league dominance, the Kelowna Knights finally wind down what is certainly the greatest era of Knights Hockey since their introduction to the league in S2, and quite possibly one of the greatest, if not the greatest teams, in the SMJHL's history. The final call ups have left Kelowna finally ready to transition into a rebuild, and for Joey Wheeler (nour) and Pietari Salo (Thunder39), the door is swinging open to usher in the next era of young Knights, eager to prove themselves against this last generation, and hopefully return to being competitive soon enough. With this period finally coming to a close, let's analyze some of the reasons why Kelowna was able to hold such long term success, and why they truly deserve to be crowned, the SMJHL's greatest dynasty.

Making League History

The most easy thing to point to as proof of the Kelowna Knights legacy is their most recent achievement: they've become the first team in SHL history, both SMJHL and SHL, to win 3 cups in a row. Due to the revolving door rosters that are a staple of teams in juniors, not all of the Knights can be attributed with this award, but general managers nour and @Thunder39, as well as players @Sour_Chin_Music, @monkey10pts, @Mack, @Pwnpiie, @TwinTailedOtaku, @Evoner and @BarnabasCollins all remain a key part of this historical moment as the only members to ever achieve this success. Winning 3 cups, Four Star or Challenge Cup, in a single career is difficult, winning 3 in juniors in a single career is even harder, but to win 3 cups, all in a row, with the same team? That is an achievement that cannot be forgotten, and will very very likely stand the test of time.

Laying The Groundwork

Despite a good chunk of Kelowna's success being credited to the rentals who have filled out their roster, strong drafting and free agen signings helped to form a sturdy foundation for their success to be built upon. Aside from the players listed above, Kelowna was able to really build a strong and formidable team by drafting/signing strong, core pieces like @Cynthia, @killer_doggie, @CptSquall, @AssPancakes, @Paq, @galatix, @Deng, @super_dragon, @Gorth Snaw and @GrilledTwinkiez. Unlike some of the players listed above, this group wasn't around for all three of their cups, but were integral and important pieces for at least one, and more often than not, two. Their contribution to the Knights success is still incredible, and without their hard work and dedication, the Knights would not be in the historical position they've found themselves in.

Building and Improving

The SHL hasn't been blind or unaware of Kelowna's litany of trades, in fact throughout their three cups Kelowna seemed to make at least one blockbuster trade per season, often making waves and sending a pretty clear message that they were cup chasing. Kelowna's trading to bolster their line up saw many faces added to their roster, all of whom were instrumental to their juniors success. They brought aboard @tweedlebrumm and @rieksts from the Montreal Militia, @ml002 and @mdubz from the late Prince George Firebirds, @iamslm22 and @JT3 from the Halifax Raiders, @Samee and @esilverm from the St. Louis Scarecrows, @Toxic, @Cash savage and @austin6 from the Colorado Raptors, and @Justice from the Detroit Falcons, as well as inactives Greg Connors, Elias Svensson, Pete Walker and Jackson Conklin. Many saw it as Kelowna haemorrhaging their future at a chance for current success, but how much truth is there to that? Despite a good chunk of these players being rentals, a few of them like Romualds Loks (rieksts), Mikhail Petrikov (mdubz), Kevin Maddox (Toxic), Vladislav Konstantin (Justice), Greg Connors and Jackson Conklin all remained on the roster for 2 seasons, some of them (Connors and Vladislav) remaining for more. In addition to this, with three Four Star cups in a row under their belt, they look ahead to the S43 draft missing only one pick they've traded away themselves, their first rounder (their third was taken away as punishment due to an error made by Kelowna's previous management). In addition to this, the only pick they're missing from S44 is their 2nd rounder, so Kelowna is gearing up to rebuild with a reasonable amount of picks, set to be competitive again very soon. It's pretty clear trading was far from a weakness for them.

A Winning Combination of GMs

Lastly, we take a few big steps back and look at the Knights of the S37 SMJHL season. First year GMs samee and nour had just begun their tenure, both with no SHL GM experience, but both eager to make a name for themselves and restore this franchise back to former glory. Sitting comfortably in the 6th place spot in the standings roughly halfway through the season, nour and samee pulled the trigger on a controversial move that would, at the time, be seen as a major blemish on their careers.

Quote: receive

- S38 STL Conditional 2nd**
- S38 KEL 4th
- S39 STL 4th
- Finn Jakobsen
- Mark Morrison

**Becomes KEL 2nd if STL wins the Four Star Cup

receive

- Eddie Andrezjeck
- Nour Harrak

The move was highly criticized at the time for being incredibly rushed, having been done far too early into the season, and not getting what many believed to be a significant enough return. Many SHL members, both Kelowna alumni or otherwise, lambasted Kelowna management for the move, quick to declare the trade a major loss, many even completely losing faith that this team would EVER win another cup under the tenure of the new blood that sat at the head of this organization. Kelowna went on to finish the season as the 7th place team, their lowest finish under the tenure of now head GM, Joey Wheeler (nour). Following this season, Kelowna placed lower than 4th only once, and finished as a top 3 team in the league three times in the last 5 seasons, including a first place finish as well. With three cups under the belt, and now nominated for the Mathias Chouinard award for Top GM through the regular season three times in a row, the critics have been silenced, and it's pretty clear to see that Kelowna remains in good hands, for now and for the foreseeable future.

Through the last three seasons, Kelowna has done a lot to create the winning culture found attached to themselves, and on top of the mountain looking back, it's pretty clear to see why this era of the Kelowna Knights is one of the greatest SMJHL teams of all time, if not the greatest. Without further ado, here is the final roster of the S40-S42 Kelowna Knights!

Bring on the tank, go Knights go Knights

S40-S42 KELOWNA KNIGHTS

GENERAL MANAGERS

Joey Wheeler (nour)
Pietari Salo (Thunder39)
Alexander Santos (samee)

ROSTER

Boris Denisovich (Deng)
Brock Becker (GrilledTwinkiez)
Callum MacElroy (IAmAGoatAMA)
Cash Savage (Cash savage)
Daddy Mack (Mack)
Damien Blackfyre (Gorth Snaw)
Darren McCarty (super_dragon)
Deku Izuku (Evoner)
Elias Svensson (Kmichael)
Fenton Uriel (Pwnpiie)
Greg Connors (Bobcat)
Gvidas Kazlauskas (CaptainCrazy)
Iam Essellemm (iamslm22)
Jackson Conklin (JCl1n)
Jacob Dorty (AssPancakes)
James Dekens (monkey10pts)
Jon Toner (JT3)
Kata Vilde (BarnabasCollins)
Kevin Maddox (Toxic)
Lyndis Vakarian (Cynthia)
Matej Elias (Samee)
Max Poulin (galatix)
Michael Fischer (esilverm)
Michael O'Dowd (sour_chin_music)
Mikhail Lokitonov (ml002)
Mikhail Petrikov (mdubz)
Mirio Togata (TwinTailedOtaku)
Patrick Brumm Jr. (tweedlebrumm)
Pete Walker (sludge)
Oskars Ozols (CaptainCrazy)
Richard Physt (CptSquall)
Romualds Loks (rieksts)
Ryan Gardiner (austin6)
Sigurd Hansen (killer_doggie)
Vladislav Konstantin (Justice)
Xavier Paquette (Paq)