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*Drokeep* · 05-16-2025, 10:38 AM

The Hans Graf Story.
This story begins in Germany, where a young star rose through the local hockey ranks until he was making so much noise the eyes of the SMJHL were drawn to Germany. After a summer of hard work, he was drafted by the Colorado Raptors, where he quickly got acclimated into the team and became a cornerstone of it. During his 3 years there he was active both on and off the ice trying, leaving the raptor name up high. During his last season in the J, he was the captain of the team, an honor that would be forever present in his life. Going back to the first years, after a good debut season he entered the SHL draft.
In the SHL draft things were looking very interesting. A couple of teams reached out, but no one had him higher than the Seattle Argonauts. Conversations had gone well and the other teams that picked higher were aiming for other prospects. On draft day it seemed like it was a given that Graf would begin his SHL career as a prospect for the Argonauts. But at the 11th hour, unbeknownst to almost everyone, the Philadelphia Forge decided to take a gamble at 7 and pick up the young german prospect. The rest is history.

After three years in the Raptors, Hans received the call from legendary GM Acsolap and he was brought forward to the starting roster. There, surrounded by new teammates including some hall of famers like Evil Allbran, he thrived and developed nicely. Being in a recently formed team helped create camaraderie and a sense of belonging, where all members of the locker room felt like we were uniting under a new banner. The forge starting making noise in the league in the following years and it all came to head on the S69 season.

After a very solid regular season the Philadelphia Forge were poised to make a run for the cup. After the first couple of games catastrophe struck and the league had a network issue that affected some of the previous results, and there was a restart. At this moment the forge played with a fury and reached the finals, where they defeated the Winnipeg Aurora in a tense series. To end the season besides being anointed champion, Hans was also elected for the 2nd all star team of the season. He was part of the first cup in forge history and that would never be forgotten.

While his career only lasted 11 seasons, he cemented himself as a forge favorite and ALSO a Team Germany star. HE helped his home nation to 3 IIHF golds in the span of 4 seasons, including one the year after he had left the SHL. His career might have not been hall of fame worthy, but he was definitely satisfied with his victories and legacy. He hopes that with all of the accolades he received, he can inspire younger generations of his countrymen to pick up the skates and stick to keep the tradition going in their country and to remember when graf graces the league.