Thoughts on My Rookie Season

[dogwoodmaple 380]

With the fourth pick in the VHLM Draft, the Las Vegas Aces select Dogwood Maple....

That was the moment I became a Las Vegas Ace and from the beginning, I knew I was joining a special franchise.  In the pre-draft process, I spoke with Shindigs at length about his plan for the Aces, my potential role on the team, and everything in between. From then on, I had my fingers crossed that's where I'd end up.  When I got the notification that I was headed west, I was overjoyed.  And it didn't take long to see that all of Shindigs' grand talk about the franchise wasn't just smoke being blown...he had a plan and it worked to perfection.

 

At the beginning of the regular season, I was happy just to get on the ice.  Then I realized that we were not only a pretty good team, but one of the best teams in the entire league.  I think a lot of that was due to our depth. Seemingly each week we had a different player step up when it came to goals, assists, hits, blocks, and plus-minus. When one of us had a bad stretch of games, one of our other players picked up the slack in a major way.  Just having that pressure off our shoulders was huge.  Knowing that not one player had to carry the entire team or bear the weight of whether or not we won or lost was incredibly freeing.  When you combine that depth with our leadership, it was a very fast recipe for success.

 

When the postseason began, everyone on the roster knew that winning the Founder's Cup was a more than realistic goal, but also that the postseason is an entirely different ballgame.  Playoff hockey is famous for its intensity and often its unpredictability and we knew we had to be prepared for that.  And let me tell you what....that semifinal series was the definition of chaotic. We quickly fell down 0-2 to Ottawa and you could hear a pin drop in our locker room. We knew it wouldn't be close to a cake walk because Ottawa is a fantastic franchise and has a great team, but we could see all of our goals teetering on the brink.  Fortunately, we were able to win the next two games to even the series at 2-2, before clinching our place in the finals against San Diego. 

 

At this point, we knew our hardest test as right in front of us and it would take the best hockey of the season to take home the Founder's Cup.  We split the first two games, which was a bit of a relief after the slow start in the semifinals.  We had a setback in Game 3 to go down 2-1, but quickly rebounded in Game 4 to once again tie the series up. That left us with essentially a best-of-three miniseries against the Marlins for the Founder's Cup, and the rest, they say, was history.  We put together two great games back-to-back and brought home the Founder's Cup to Las Vegas and our incredible fans.

 

What an incredible season for the Aces and it's been made bittersweet by the fact that I've been officially released as I take the next step in my VHL journey. I'll forever be thankful to Shindigs, my Aces teammates, and all of our fans across the country.  I couldn't have pictured a more perfect rookie season in the league and no matter where my career takes me, I'll always be a Las Vegas Ace and a Founder's Cup Champion.

 

597 words

[Shindigs 1,772]

4 hours ago, dogwoodmaple said:

I'll always be a Las Vegas Ace and a Founder's Cup Champion.

It was a joy to have you on the team and you'll always have a place in Vegas, officially and unofficially. I intend to make a High Roller HOF channel where we record the player with the most High Roller weeks from each season, which is you with 4. Sam being 2nd with 2 and then a I-lost-count-of-how-many tie for 3rd at 1. I'm looking forward to seeing you keep lighting it up in the VHLE and VHL as your work ethic is second to none and whoever picks you in the two drafts will have an elite two-way center and a great teammate on their hands.

[Bulduray_1 274]

Review: It's great looking back at how Maple's VHLM journey went. The start of the article, "With the fourth pick in the VHLM Draft, the Las Vegas Aces select Dogwood Maple...."  immediately got myself hooked into what you're writing and what gave this article a spark. I love the in depth analysis about your stay with Las Vegas throughout this season. Not only that, the piece seems to be well written and was easy to read. Overall well done on the media spot, and I look forward to how Dogwood Maple does moving forward! 9/10

Edited June 13, 2022 by Bulduray_1