The WJC Experience

[Oatex 279]

This was most definitely a hectic point in my VHL/M career. Right around Christmas time, my first time actually running STHS and seeing how it plays. It was just a the whole motion for me.

 

It started out with Sam dropping a huge list of players for each country/area, and I was in doubt as I saw what I was working with compared to USA, Canada, and Europe. It was pretty clear their selection was far greater then mine was. Eventually after tons of sorting, researching, and asking hundreds of questions to Sam (sorry @samx) - I finally assembled a roster and had my lines submitted when I was done with the draft. 

 

My goal when heading in was to have an active team, which never really happened until the semi-final and further, but that's okay. Anyways, we went through the round robin games, Asia was playing as expected - bottom of the barrel. We got to our "play-in game" and we just barely squeaked by the other disadvantaged team, team World. We had already beat Canada once in round play, but we had to face them in the semi-finals. I knew this was gonna be one of the toughest tasks we faced this tournament, yet stayed hopeful. I check the sim, WE WON! It was a scary game, but we pulled through.

I then saw the dreadful USA team. The hockey powerhouse was the last obstacle for a small Asia hockey community. The only reason I really had hope was because of our win against Canada (twice). Nonetheless, we won that game, and I helped lead Asia to their first ever WJC gold medal tournament. I could not be more proud of the boys who played for me, as we took USA into overtime in the gold medal game, and won it. This was a 10/10 experience and a great way to kick off my managing career.

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