The raiders are considered by many as the #1 team in the SMJHL and heading into this game it was no different. Lavelle however had bigger things on his mind, his first game since his college days playing hockey.
Many considered Lavelle to be a late round SHL pick at best, a player with a high floor and an extremely low ceiling following his distinct lack of hockey playing time both as a youth and as a teen.
While the Raiders did win this affair 4-3, Lavelle managed to play nearly 12 minutes on the ice. While he didn't have any great effect on the game infact quite the opposite. He had a -1 differential and went 3/8 from faceoffs while taking one hit.
A lot to learn for Lavelle and ice time is the best medicine for a ever developing player. Lavelle hopes that his time spent in St Louis will greatly improve both his potential and current playing ability. Only time will tell if Lavelle should have continued his football career despite his collarbone injury and left hockey far behind. As of now he sure as hell doesn't have the physical capabilities to play in both the SHL and the SMJHL, so he's going to have to use everything else to get a leg up on the competition.
Or at least that’s what the man who prefaces himself as ‘This Is’ would tell you. The fact is, however, it took fourteen games for the third round pick to finally score his first goal in the SMJHL – considerably more than the man would have expected. His time with the Militia was short and marred by his own misfiring and, at times, wayward shooting, but when he finally broke his duck it was well worth the wait.
In the 54th game of the season, Montreal held host to the Halifax Raiders with aspirations of moving up the table, but by the end of the second period they were down three to one and things were looking bleak. Connor Tanner struck early in the third to bring the Militia within touching distance. Just over four minutes later, Connor intercepted a pass from Halifax’s Tyler Oles and the team rushed forward. He exchanged the puck with his brother Jack and then played in the wide open Howie Dewitt who coolly slotted home his first goal between the goalie’s legs.
With the game levelled, the Militia pushed on to win the game in a shootout. While the young Irishman was unable to follow this up with many more moments in Montreal, he was still able to show them, at least once, ‘This Is’ Howie Dewitt.
Joining half way through the regular season can be tough for rookies looking to make an impact on their team. You have to find immediate chemistry with your line mates or risk watching the games from the box for the remainder of the season. This was the situation for Oliver Hunter, but the young player was up to the challenge.
It took a few games for Hunter to make a spot for himself on the Colorado Mammoths, but his first assist came in spectacular fashion.
Finding himself on the third line with fellow S38 prospect Nico Gross and SMJHL veteran Dean Youngblood, the three seem to be building a connection. One that led to Hunter's first ever professional assist and point.
Towards the end of the second period of what would be an eventual 5-1 victory over the Firebirds, Colorado's third line managed to break into the defensive zone with minimal coverage on them. Youngblood fed the puck to Hunter, who broke towards the net with the sole defender falling behind. In a very rare opportunity, Hunter did not fail. Instead of giving the goalie an easy shot, he passed the puck across the crease to Gross, who made no mistakes putting the puck into the back of the net.
It was that moment that showed the Colorado franchise that Hunter surely has a spot going forward with them and hopefully proved to the SHL general managers that this prospect is someone worth spending a draft pick on.
Bobby Watson' s first assist came late in the regular S37 SMJHL season. After a spectacular performance in the preseason, his first assist only came in the game 59; St Louis Scarecrows vs Halifax Raiders played October 29. Halifax just got a penalty for interference in the first minute of the match. Halifax won the following face off and kept control of the puck for a good minute for them to get it out of their zone by a long shot. Logan Jensen, the other St. Louis winger, was the fastest one and got back into the crows zone got take control of the puck. He did a long pass to Bobby who was waiting in the central zone. Maintaining the control of the puck, Bobby then made a pass to Mark Morrison who shot and scored. The first goal of the game was made at 2:31 minute and led to a 2:0 win for the scarecrows.
John Grossman Jr. came into the SMJHL with the reputation of being a tough guy. He will drop the gloves and fight anyone. Knowing that he is a rookie and that he had to make a good first impression with the fans of Prince George, he wasted little time making his presence felt in a way that only enhanced his reputation. It was the fourth game of the SMJHL season and the first for the Prince George Firebirds, as they took on the St. Louis Scarecrows at home.
The game was going well for the home team as they took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission. Maurice Picard and Brendan Kally had both registered their first points on Jakub Dvorak's late second period goal. Early in the third, however, Seth Paige tied the game for the Scarecrows and Grossman Jr. saw that the momentum was shifting. He knew what he had to do.
He lined up for a face-off next to Wayne Hetzky with 14:09 left in the third period. Grossman Jr. looked at Hetzky and asked Wayne if he wanted to drop the gloves. Hetzky obliged and right off the drop of the puck, the two combatants squared up. The two danced around a bit before they grappled and Hetzky looked to have the early advantage, landing rabbit punches with his left hand as it had Grossman Jr.'s jersey gripped right below his chin. What Wayne didn't do was tie up JGJ's right hand and the big man for Prince George floored Hetzky with one mean right hook. Grossman Jr.'s first fight was a decisive victory and while it didn't help the Firebirds win that game, the SMJHL had been officially put on notice to watch out for the toughest rookie to come through in a long time.
Your Overlord was breathing hard. He was in the Colorado Mammoths locker room, putting on his skates. He tied them together, and put on his gloves. He looked around him. "Ready?" teammate TJ Bayley asked Overlord. "Ready," he replied. He slowly made his way out to the tunnel. He was in the long line of Mammoths, who entered the rink one by one. Finally, Overlord's name was called. He skated onto the ice, onto cheering from the Colorado crowd. The crowd was amped up, ready to watch a big game between the Colorado Mammoths and the Halifax Raiders. Overlord skated around the ice multiple times before warm up, like what he used to watch his favorite players do while watching Montreal Canadiens games. Eventually, he began warming up on various defensive drills, and finally, on a rather new drill issued by Mammoths coaches, a 3 on 2, 2 on 1 drill. Overlord felt the energy and fed off it. He did each drill to perfection, trying to earn as much playing time as possible. Overlord knew that this was his moment; this was his time to shine. He knew he wouldn't be starting in this game, but he wanted to take it in. He gazed up at the cheering crowd. "Wow," he exclaimed.
It's been a rough season for the rookie Wuma Duce. He was drafted earlier than anyone had expected, and he's had a tough time living up to that draft pick. It's still too early to decide if he's going to be a bust, but more than halfway through his rookie season he's not really impressing anyone. We had a chance to catch up with him at the start of his teams road trip and ask him about the highlight of his rookie season, and how his play has effected him.
"The highlight of the season for me so far? It's tough to narrow it down, but I'd probably have to go back to the game against the Raiders."(Editor's Note - Game 34 of the season)"I've had a tough time putting up points in this league, it's no secret. I'd been going through a tough time and was starting to lose confidence in my puck game. It's been a rough game for both teams, we enter the third period tied at zero and both teams are starting to play with some desperation. Halifax scores pretty early in the period and you could feel it on our bench. A few seconds later, Hammersmark takes a nasty pass from Chuppy and ties it up. That got us all going. A few minutes later, I think it was Oles puts them up two. We still had some major energy going from Hammy's goal and knew we had this. We get on the ice for a face-off after a shift or two after we go down. Chupps hit me with an absolutely perfect pass, and I got to set up Ruggeri for the game tying goal that would eventually send us to overtime. I haven't been a part of many really meaningful goals up to this point, but getting the assist on that goal really helped to ground me again."
"Yeah, uh, it's tough. Stepping up to the SMJHL is a big change of pace from playing back in Germany. I've tried to keep my spirits high, there's days where you look back on your last game and try to figure out what you could have done differently to help the team, the guys on your line. This season has been a huge learning experience so far, and I really feel like I'm finally starting to get used to the North American ice and pace. I just really want to thank the Mammoth head office and my teammates for supporting me, and I look forward to living up to both their, and my, expectations."
With his team battling for a playoff spot in the SMJHL playoffs, Duce is really hoping he can step his game up to the next level and help his team clinch a playoff spot, for them and for him.
With five goals and five assists, it is safe to say that Giuseppe Risolo isn't really killing this league yet. However, it only took him two games to break the ice (pun intended).
It was the third period in Game 2 of the season against the Prince George Firebirds. The Scarecrows had already opened up a 3-1 lead, after tallying all three of their goals in the third. Would they be done? Of course not. It was time for the rookie to step up.
The puck was cleared down by the Firebirds, and the teams went off for a line change. Risolo hopped on the ice and circled back towards his own net. It was time to run the break. Johnny Yuma sent it out to defenseman Roman Augustus, and the break started. Augustus took it into his own hands here, and waved off multiple passes in favor of taking it up the ice himself.
He crossed the blue line and caught his winger in the corner of his eye cutting to the net. He passed it, and...
Risolo shoots, he scores!!!
The lead was now 4-1, and the young winger out of Cornell University had just scored his first SMJHL goal.
What a moment!
5. St. Louis Scarecrows , Giuseppe Risolo 1 (Roman Augustus 1) at 11:56
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S13, S15, S16, S25 Challenge Cup Champion
It took TJ Bayley a while to even do anything, so when his first goal came, it was absolutely fantastic. Literally, imagine being on a new team with no one around in which you know. Everyone is looking at you as a second round pick and you cannot even do anything, you can only imagine how that feels. So when I finally put the first point on the board and then the first goal, it felt like something else. It really was like a monkey was taken off my back. Everyone around was a lot less stressed and I know I was as well. That took a lot of pressure off being called a bust. From there, you can tell that my game has been a lot more relaxed and I have played a lot better. I still have that puck that I scored in my basement. I do not think that will be going anywhere. I bet my parents will want to keep that one forever. This is a memory in the SMJHL in which I will never forget. For me, it took a lot off my mind so I can just worry about playing hockey and let everything come to me. It is what it is, but it has been fun.
The SMJHL season started and the first 9 games had passed with Shawn Gretzky not picking up a single point. In the 9 games, the Whalers had gone 2-7-0 in the 9 games prior to the 10th game. So in game number 10 with the Whalers down 2-0, Shawn Gretzky streaked down the ice after a nice stretch pass from Dude Love and he sniped one top corner for his first career SMJHL goal. However, after that it wasn't good for the Whalers as they fell to 2-8-0 after a 4-2 loss. It is not what you want to remember about the game after your team loses. That is not what Gretzky looks at though, he looks at the fact he was able to score his 1st goal in the SMJHL after 9 games and 15 minutes, that he was able to realize he that he can play in the SMJHL that he wasn't just there. He believe wih more icetime, he will be able to put up bigger numbers than the 3 goals and 3 assists for the season so far. Only time will tell what kind of player Gretzky will turn out to be.
Kelowna Knights taking on the Vancouver Whalers game 129 of the season. Kelowna is down 2-1 almost 7 minutes into the 3rd period, and Vancouver has just won the face off in Knights territory. Gabriel Wong began to slowly take the puck up ice, and drain some time. However J.R. Richie, one of the rookies in Kelowna showed blazing fast speed and, agility along with some strength in order to put a big hit on Wong causing him to lose the puck. Richie was able to keep is where with all and, he gathered the puck near the middle of the ice and, made a quick break toward the net. With everything happening so fast he had just about everybody beat, a few seconds later along with a quick deke and slick backhand he delivered the puck to the back of the net. The very first of his career and, showed flashes of his play making potential. He has went on to score only one more goal since then and, it was nothing of spectacular fashion but you can be assured Richie will remember that first one for the rest of his career to come. I hope to see more stuff like that out of him in the future.
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i was wrong about sea of thieves 2018
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Player: Carter Crutchfield
There's always a first for everything. For Connor Blackwell, his first SMJHL game was one to be forgotten. The second overall pick of the SMJHL had to come in and make a statement to show that he deserved to be drafted in that position... But came up extremely short.
Blackwell put up 3 shots on goal in the effort and also went 11/15 in face-offs through just over 17 minutes of ice time.
His first time on the ice, he lined up across from Xavier Laflamme on the face-off dot in his own zone. The referee moved his hand to drop the puck as Blackwell focused on winning the face-off.
"Looking good, rookie." Laflamme said sarcastically, and Connor winced at him.
"Okay, whatever." Blackwell knew he had to win this draw to put the message across that he wasn't going to take any shit from opposing players.
The referee dropped the puck and Laflamme won it cleanly back to Bobski Vlad Jokel. Blackwell sighed as he moved into his defensive zone coverage and let Jokel get an opportunity on net.
Not a good showing from the SMJHL #2 Overall Draft Pick to start off his SMJHL career.
I've never really been much of a goalscorer, to be honest. It's just not my thing. I don't even shoot often, really. It's just not in my nature, I guess. I'd much rather pass the puck to someone else in almost every situation. Assisting is my thing. There's little more satisfying than successfully defending an attack, and immediately turning it into an attack at the other end of the rink. It's all very poetic when you think about it. More than a hint of martial artistry.
It was game 120 of my first season in the SMJHL, game day 48, against the Knights. They're a good team, and I knew it was going to be tough, but things just went well for me that night. Less than two minutes into the game, I was involved in the build-up for Kally's opener. Good start, considering I'd taken a hit a few seconds before the puck went in. I'm hardly the biggest or strongest guy around, but I managed to stay in control and pass to Arthur Dayne, who found Kally. Nice one. The second assist that game, if I'm honest, I don't fully remember. It was a bit of a blur, things happened pretty quickly. Next thing I know, Jay had scored, and I was credited with an assist. Not sure how, but I wasn't about to complain, we'd retaken the lead. All was good.
The third though, that was something else. I remember it vividly. We were chasing the game in the third period, down by two, less than five minutes to play. Jakub Dvorak took a shot and missed, I recovered it and had a shot of my own blocked, but the rebound fell perfectly for Kally. In retrospect, I probably should have passed it to him in the first place, but there's something ironic about a rare shot from me leading to a goal anyway. About twenty seconds after that, Barbashev sent us to overtime, where we eventually got the win. But for me, it was particularly memorable as the first time I got a point hat-trick. All from assists, as I would have preferred it to be anyway.
(361 words)
OOC: I'm assuming I don't have to literally copy the text from the index for this, I reckon I made it pretty clear what I was referring to.
Game 1 of 50. The Colorado Mammoths hosting the Montreal Militia in what would be known as the first SMJHL appearance for multiple SMJHL rookies, however this night would carry a certain significance for Swiss forward Nico Grøss – his first SMJHL goal.
It all began in the Mammoths’ defensive end following a save and freeze by Colorado goaltender Aleksandr Aleksandrov. The draw was won by Finn Larsson and kicked behind the net to his teammate Dean Youngblood. Surveying the zone, Youngblood was able to find an open outlet via a skating lane and carried the puck through the zone and into Montreal territory. Stopping up at the half boards Youngblood dropped the puck off for Matiss Kokins, and in a quick feed to the slot found the young Swiss phenom – Nico Grøss. Grøss wasted no time – no finesse, no flair – and quickly turned and whipped the puck on goal. With a clank of iron, the puck found its way off the right post and in past Militia goaltender Dustin Evans for the first of what is expected to many goals for Nico Grøss at 10:31 of the 2nd period. His teammates mobbed the Swiss forward while linemate Dean Youngblood retrieved the puck to be marked up by the team’s training staff, as the Mammoths went on to skate to a decisive 6-2 victory.
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My first goal came in Game 38 for the Saint Louis Scarecrows. We were playing the Halifax Raiders and Paige had just scored to tie the game 3-3 with 10:07 minutes left in the game. Oles won the face-off and after a bit of play a shot was taken and Yuma stopped play. Joakim Lindqvist won the face-off in our zone and passed it to Logan Jensen. With a nifty pass he got it back to Lindqvist who ripped a shot of the post just 5 seconds after winning the face-off. After that we all heard the loud bang of the puck hitting the cross bar. After that sound everyone looked devastated for a moment. I thought, what the hell? I haven't shot a lot, let a lone score, so I caught the puck mid-air and let it fall for a moment. Once it was at the perfect height I swung at it like a baseball. In those 2 seconds, the entire Scarecrows bench went from disappointed to elated. For myself, I could not believe what I had just done. I have just scored my first SMJHL goal, which also happened to be the game winner. I had never celebrated a goal, so I just skated straight for the boards and smashed into them and celebrated with the crowd. After that I decided it was time to start learning how to score, because it felt amazing.
White Cornerback
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