a tale of two Brothers // A night to remember

[Daniel Janser 1,980]

Graphic courtesy of Leandrofg

(Marcel's stats/Daniel's stats)

 

Daniel was beyond excited, when he received the coveted invitation to the probably most illustrous events in hockey that is not on ice. The annual VHL Award gala, followed by the HOF induction of the class of S85. It took him seconds to fill in the RSVP and name Bonnie as his +1. The tall Scot was leaning in the door frame of Dan's study and tilted her head. 'What did get you so giddy, luv?' The Wranglers' Captain replied: 'We are invited to the VHL Awards gala in Montréal, honey. We need to dress up though, as the dress code is black tie.' Daniel was anxious, as he perfectly knows that Bonnie is not a fan of formal clothing and prefers a casual look. 'Will you accompany all the same? Pretty please?'. Bonnie was mockingly rolling her eyes and said: 'Fine, I will find a rag I can wear to such an event. What about heels? Is it okay to wear them? I mean, if we must doll up than I can as well go the full Nine Yards.'

'Bonnie, it is nice of you to ask, but you do not need my permission. I am shorter than you and I do not care what others think about that. If you want to go all in, by all means, do it.', her boyfriend replied. 

'You know what that means, though.'

'Shopping?'

'Shopping'

After a shopping tour that felt to the Rotkreuz native like it lasted for a week, both Bonnie and Daniel had acquired an appropriate outfit with all the bells and whistles.

 

At the night of the gala, the couple met first with other players from the Wranglers, such as Saku (Boulet), AirRig (Funk), Leandro and Landon (both for the Elmebeck), who all were nominated for some silverware. They also had a chat with Nico Pearce (Campbell and Boulet nominee), who is probably Daniel's hardest rival of the S81 draft class, but also gave sound advice in the early days of the Swiss' career.

For once, the VHL's top players were assembled without trying to kill each other on a slippery surface with sticks in their hands, razors on their feet and a hard rubber disc to shoot at the others. Of course, the recipients for the purely statistical awards were known and congratulations were exchanged. The awards where a poll was held though were a different matter and the odd bet was placed on the outcome of such election.

 

After having received the Brooks Award for the best goal scorer and the Szatkowski for the highest point total, Daniel was asked to grace the stage a third time when the winner for the Slobodzian (interestingly a Calgary legend) was announced. Said Daniel: 'It certainly is a great honour to be considered the most outstanding player by your peers. I thank everyone in the Wranglers organisation, from GM to the timekeeper who work hard to give us players the chance to be the best players and human beings that we can be. I thank my dad, who always supported me, to pursue my dream to play hockey. Despite being constantly told that I am too small and too lightweight to become a good player, he believed in me. I thank my brother who always had and still has my back. Thanks to the players, be it Wranglers or from opposing teams, who constantly fuel my motivation to improve myself. Thanks go also out to the Brigade GM who first gave me an opportunity to showcase my skill and dedication to hockey and to my GM's in the VHLM who helped me grow to the player I am now. One final word to the hopeful kids out there: Do not get discouraged by someone telling you that you are too small or too light to follow your dreams. Take it as an incentive to work on you. Size does not matter, hard work, talent and dedication do.'

 

Janser with his motherlode of Trophies (photo courtesy of Lean Frog)

 

To absolutely no-one's surprise, Daniel was also elected into the All VHL First Team alongside Pearce and Boulet recipient Kisslinger up front, Valiq and Campbell winner Reinhart as well as Labatte and Wylde-awarded Payne on the blue line and last but not least Booberry, who won the Shaw award, in net

 

After the recently retired Duncan Idaho was inducted into the HOF as the only one of his class, Dan asked for a selfie, as Duncan was and is the type of player the veteran center wanted (and still wants) to be. A 200 foot player with an edge and tons of leadership.

 

Stay tuned for further updates.

 

https://vhlforum.com/topic/128491-a-tale-of-two-brothers-facing-the-season-end/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/128627-a-tale-of-two-brothers-heartbreak-loss/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/128718-a-tale-of-two-brothers-an-interview-with-the-captain/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/129240-a-tale-of-two-brothers-proam-tournament/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/129435-calgary-wranglers-s86-captains/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/129587-a-tale-of-brothers-wind-of-change-reloaded/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/129578-vsn-presents-s85-vhl-awards/

Spoiler

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Edited November 18, 2022 by Daniel Janser
Added GFX