Castle's Kanou acceptance speech

[animal74 1,822]

“And the winner of the S91 Daisuke Kanou Trophy, for leading the Toronto Legion to their first Continental Cup in 26 seasons, Joel Castle!”

 

Shaking my head in bewilderment, I slowly get to my feet and make my way to the stage. I get high-fives and a few hugs from my Legion teammates as I cross the floor. I’m in shock, my brain racing through the last five seasons. From my first start for the Legion in S87 to our first playoff game in S90 and the thrilling series win against Vancouver to the crushing defeat at the hands of Los Angeles. Knowing of all the adversity we faced this season, the struggle to get back into the playoffs but just having that confidence in one another and using the lessons learned the last few seasons to march through each series and finally finish our comeback in Game 6 of the Final. The memory of hoisting the Cup and skating around the rink followed by my Legion brothers is bright in my mind as I accept the beautiful Kanou Trophy from the presenter.

 

Emotion welling up inside, I simply say: “Thank you. Thank you. This is a dream come true, an honor and a day I didn’t know if it would ever come but I kept working toward it anyway. Thank you to our GM Moon for assembling us together and believing in us even when the critics didn’t. Thank you to our captain, Mac Atlas, who could be up here instead of me after his incredible run and breaking the Legion single playoffs points record. Thank you to all the rest of my teammates, Jimi – you were awesome and if Mac hadn’t broken the record, you would have. Dens and Tomas, you both fought until the bitter end and now you retire as champions! Bobby and Jimmy were solid all playoffs in the back end and Burnsy came up big when needed. Our Toronto Trio of rookies, Diego, Harry, and Walter – you guys played like vets – don’t ever forget these moments. And finally, but not least, my brother in pads, Evan you helped keep me focused and loose throughout the whole playoffs. You always kept cheering us on, pushing us to be better. And not to forget, a huge thank you to our fans in Toronto and around the world who have stayed with us for the long haul and now we’ve been able to bring a Cup to TO. You guys are the best fans in the VHL and we love you all! To all the goalies I faced this season – you guys made me push myself to be the best I could be. I look forward to facing you next season.”

 

I turn shake a few hands then grab the trophy and lift it to a round of applause. As I make my way backstage, the announcer says, “This is Joel Castle’s first Kanou trophy and the first individual trophy of his career.”

 

The rest of the night is honestly a blur. There are pictures, more hugs and handshakes, poses and parties. But I can’t stop thinking about the trophy shining in the lights and what it means. Now, I have to be ready even more for next season. We are the defending champs and everyone in the VHL will be gunning for us. And it’s a great feeling. I’m ready for it.

 

Spoiler

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Edited January 8 by animal74