I was not expecting to meet this many people when I signed up for this site. Quite honestly, I expected it to be something I signed up for and got excited for, but would burn out of fairly quick and not have a whole lot of interaction. Boy was I wrong. My draft week I talked to site veterans such as @39alaska39, @"luketd", and @JKortesi81. I had quite a few good conversations with each of them and got excited for the draft. Draft day comes around, and I fall behind wher eI thought I might go. Two picks later and St Louis swooped in and grabbed me up. Apparently they were really excited to get me, and boy was I excited to be there. This is where things really look off. @SlashACM, @"cpetrella", @Blastmeaway, @Nictox, @bluesfan55, @TML99, and @TheDangaZone all instantly made their marks on me. If it wasn't for the outpouring of welcome and support from the St Louis locker room, I might not be here writing this right now. For that, I have @"luketd", and more importantly @JKortesi81, to thanks. To Luke, thank you for making the biggest mistake of your SMJHL GM'ing career in passing on me, and I have Joe to thank for so many more reasons I will list down below. TDZ was one of the rookie mentors that helped me get my feet on the ground in getting onto the site and he's been one of the first guys I've gone to for advice ever since I saw his name in the St Louis locker room. Bloos, Blast, Slash, and Trella are all people I talk to and play games with almost on the daily. Shoutout to @Blastmeaway and @SlashACM for sitting in discord talking with me as I write this. Anywho...

My rookie class was a good one. Before the draft, @TnlAstatine and I had countless conversations about how we were gonna tear up the SHL. Luffy, we might have not ended up on the same team, but may our friendly rivalry last until regression kills both of us. After the draft once I made it to the locker room, my future assistant-captain and biggest draft steal of all time @gordieboom and I hit it off. He never fails to send that ol' reliable "Morning!" message at ~2am. I may have started to slack off, but you sure haven't, and I will be forever thankful for all the conversations we had in St Louis. The draft may have split up the dynamic duo, but St Louis will never forget.

In the dying seasons in the SMJHL for Foxy, I ran into some of the returning vets that helped me take that next step. @esilverm, @fever95, @jjlangabeer, and @Serpe x 13 all made my last season in St Louis a memorable one, and its been an absolute pleasure to know and talk to you all.

Now, nearing a way-too-long appreciation post, I'm finally going to get to the two people who have made the biggest impact on me on this site: @JKortesi81 and @Scrufdaddy. Scruff was the St Louis captain when I was first drafted. I somewhat quiet defenseman, he went out of his way to make sure every rookie felt welcomed. He reached out personally to each one of us and talked to us, making sure we had everything in order before the season started. If we had questions, he made time to help us out. I know I said this before, but I truly believe if it weren't for Scruff, I would've died out that rookie season. Now, I'm the Co- to his Head in Team USA, and all seems right in the world. As for Joe, man, I can't thank you enough. You instilled a confidence in my abilities to succeed that I never thought was possible. You'ce always told me how it is, but you've hyped me up when I've needed it and have given me opportunities on the site that have gotten me more involved with the people I like and the things I enjoy doing. You've helped with builds and articles and your podcasts are always a go-to when I'm on my way out of town, into town, going to work, or just sitting at home. So, just a go-to. I can't adequately put into words the influence Joe and Scruff have had on me, I just might wonderdome the both of ya after this.

I know I've missed a lot of people and didn't give the time and word count to those who deserved more than I wrote, but I'm almost to 900 words and this is a PT for christ's sake.