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Kyamprac · 09-12-2020, 03:16 AM

X2 DRAFT MEDIA

Time really flies – I can’t believe it is already draft time again! It feels like I was just picked up by the Vancouver Whalers not long ago. I was out enjoying some beers with friends on a patio in the middle of downtown Edmonton, but kept sneaking off from time to time to check my phone throughout the afternoon and into the evening as last minute scouting questions accosted my discord and the welcomes eventually started flooding in once I was selected.

Going into tomorrow’s draft, I thought it might be worthwhile to share a little bit about myself with everyone. I figured the scouts are asking me for this kind of information anyways, so why not share it with the rest of the league and get paid to do it. To date, I admit I have mostly limited my interactions with people to the bounds of my own locker room (mostly for the sake of convenience), so unless you pop in there, know me from the International Simulation Football League, or have had an opportunity to chat with me via DMs you probably have no idea who I am. So, here it is.

When I first created Sarah Burke in the Simulation Hockey League, I had no idea I was joining a reddit class. Completely oblivious. I had already been considering joining the SHL for a while after learning about its existence through my involvement in the International Simulation Football League. Around the trade deadline I just finally felt like I had enough of a handle on that league to take on another. Ace gave me the information I needed to get started and I just happened to create alongside a bunch of other fabulous rookies (including some of my favorite people from the ISFL, like enigmatic, Panda, and iStegosauruz). Believe it or not, the Petrovs almost sucked me into their cult. However, I decided to go my own way… because Canada.

With the SHL being my second sim league, I figured I would come into this as a casual earner and just kind of go with the flow. While it is true that I am not going as full tilt here as I do in my other league, I have found it near impossible to curb my TPE-hoarding tendencies… so I kind of accidentally ended up earning more TPE than I thought I would at the onset. I did not actually realize my TPE addiction carried over to this league until the SMJHL draft, when I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Whalers selected me thirteenth overall.

As draft time nears again, I have to say I feel really humbled by the media and mock drafts that have come out so far touting me as a potential first-round prospect. It is not something I really aspired to on purpose, and I am still not even totally sure I am deserving of it, but it is still super cool and I really appreciate all of the kind words that have come out of it. Over the last couple of weeks I have had some really great scouting conversations with a number of teams now, and I thought it might be worthwhile to share my answers to some of the more common questions.

Questions and Answers

1. How are you enjoying the SMJHL and your time with Vancouver so far?

I have really enjoyed my time in the league so far. Vancouver has treated me well and it has been nice to get to know new players as well as play with some I am already familiar with. I had no idea so many people from the ISFL played in this league, so it has been kind of neat to bump into them.
The season started out a bit rough as far as wins/losses are concerned, but we still had a lot of fun and managed to turn it around in the second half of the schedule and make it to playoffs.. which was super exciting for everyone I think.

For a rookie, I think Sarah Burke’s first season with the Whalers went pretty well. Unfortunately, she did not hit any of the big milestones (which was a little disappointing because I wanted to hoarde more TPE), but I think she had enough of a presence on the ice to make a positive difference. Possibly the most exciting moment of her career so far was scoring the first playoff goal of the season for the Whalers in the first round against the St. Louis Scarecrows.

2. Are you interested in playing for a particular team?

Honestly, I will play for pretty much anyone. I have somewhat of an irrational bias for Canadian teams because I think it would just be fun to play for one, but at the end of the day I am not picky. I will play for a team with a winning record, a losing record, or one with no record at all. I think playing for an expansion team would be awesome because I like getting involved at the ground level, but I also think it would be great to learn from a more well-established team as well since I am still very new to the league and still kind of figuring things out.

3. How active do you think you will be going forward? Is there anything coming up that might disrupt how much time you can dedicate to the league?

I probably have too much time on my hands, so I plan to stay as active as I have been (maybe more-so going forward), and no, there are no anticipated disruptions. I work a regular 8-5 kind of office job that gives me plenty of time to procrastinate and do league-related things for both the ISFL and the SHL. While the majority of my free time is dedicated to the ISFL, I do not expect it to hinder my ability to keep up on PTs and so on here. The only potential concern going forward for me would be keeping my bank account consistently topped off, as media and graphics take a fair chunk of time to do and the pay scale for things in the SHL seems kind of brutal.

4. Do you prefer writing media or creating graphics? Are you thinking about getting a league job?

I mostly enjoy doing graphics these days, if only for the extra photoshop practice. There is no competing with some of the artistic talents around this league, but I find it more interesting than writing lazy media after spending most of my day at work writing. I might be interested in picking up a league job at some point, but honestly nothing has come up that I really qualify for and I have not heard any rumors of anything opening up so far.

5. What do you look for in a locker room?

I am looking for a mostly chill, maybe more mature locker room with a good sense of humor. I think I gel best with teams that still know how to have some fun whether they win or lose and look to build relationships that help to form a good team culture overall. I joined the league to play more casually, so I am really not looking for a hardcore win-win -if-you-aint-first-you’re-last environment.

6. What kind of player are you looking to build? Are you open to advice to help you achieve personal and team success?

Sarah Burke is a two-way defenseman. I created her in this position because at the time I was told the league needed more defense. I want her to have a positive impact in as many areas on the ice as possible, but I barely have an idea of how this sim works or what the best build is to achieve this, so I am more than happy to take any advice my team has to offer on what I can do better to contribute to their success. If it turns out the team that drafts Burke needs her in another position, I am open to that as well (assuming position switches are a thing here too, I assume they are?).

7. Would you be okay with playing a few more seasons in the SMJHL?

I do not have any concerns putting in more time with the Vancouver Whalers. They have been absolutely fantastic and I would love to continue contributing to their success where I can. I would love to get called up in a season or two, but I am really in no huge rush to move up if the time just isn’t right for me yet.

8. Is there anyone in particular you would want to play with?

I am still getting to know my fellow rookies, so for this question I have been mostly relying on the familiar. I would love to end up on a team with enigmatic, iStegosauruz, Panda, or basically any of my fellow Whalers. I also recently learned that lancedjack joined, who is a pretty stand-up guy who coincidentally created a player with the same last name as mine (as a result he has become my unofficial temporary hockey husband until I can get my real husband to join).. so it would be fun to play with him as well. Having said that, part of my reason for being here is to get to know some more people and learn more about the league… so I am happy to play with just about anyone.

9. What do you do for fun outside of the SHL?

I probably spend an unhealthy amount of time keeping an eye on the ISFL. I am still one of the top TPE earners in my class and just recently became co-GM of one of our junior teams, the Dallas Birddogs. I also currently hold two league jobs – one with Dotts (a new trading card start-up) and one with the Player Progression Team (so posting/grading point tasks and that kind of thing). Outside of sim leagues, I spend a lot of time playing tabletop and video games. Some of my favorite tabletop games include Wingspan and Champions of Midgard, and as far as video games are concerned I will play just about anything from NHL20 to League of Legends. When I am not playing games with my friends, I am probably out and about somewhere with my dog (Murphy) and husband.

10. What NHL team do you cheer for?

Honestly not many scouts have asked me this question, but I thought I would volunteer the information anyways. It could make or break the love we have for each other, right? So here goes… I have been an Edmonton Oilers fan since I was a kid…. I am still in denial and refuse to believe hockey season actually started up again because of COVID.

Well, that is about all I have for you fine folks now. If you actually took the time to read this I hope you find something more exciting to do soon! I look forward to seeing where I land tomorrow and hope that every team and every rookie gets paired with the option of their choice.

Anyone who wants to get to know me better or even just wants to know more about the ISFL is welcome to reach out to me on discord anytime.

-Kya

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Jala · 09-12-2020, 03:25 AM

Boo Oilers, but nice article. Lots of interest in you from what I've heard so good luck in the draft!

krazko · 09-12-2020, 03:29 AM

Fun read!
good luck in the draft tonight!

overdoo · 09-12-2020, 12:57 PM

Top 10 ez?

W19eaver · 09-12-2020, 01:51 PM

I don't know you but you seem like a real gem! I got to watch the Oilers face off against my red wings in their new arena a few years ago, best arena I've ever been too and even though Edmonton won and McDavid scored a sic highlight real goal his first shift on ice it was an absolute blast

Kyamprac · 09-12-2020, 09:33 PM

09-12-2020, 12:57 PMoverdoo Wrote: Top 10 ez?

09-12-2020, 01:51 PMW19eaver Wrote: I don't know you but you seem like a real gem! I got to watch the Oilers face off against my red wings in their new arena a few years ago, best arena I've ever been too and even though Edmonton won and McDavid scored a sic highlight real goal his first shift on ice it was an absolute blast

It really is a gorgeous arena. Everything is ridiculously expensive but it's worth the night out imo, have had a lot of fun there.

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