Banackock 8,048 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 When I was initially hired into the position, I was more green at the job then my green name tag itself. I've been a team GM in other leagues and had GM'd Team USA to a silver medal, but juniors are unlike any others. It's a stepping stone to the big leagues and a vital piece of the entire site. If you fail as a GM, your players can go inactive and therefor, no benefit to the league. For me, I had one hell of a hill to climb in order to bring the Watchmen to a competitive level of hockey. We had 2 active members on our roster which contributed to our locker room. Davidson (Smitty) and Valmount (ahma) were easily the biggest pieces to our success this season and without them I could not have come this far in my first season. I approached them with the option to being dealt. To give them the opportunity to win and succeed elsewhere. In return, they gave me the option to either freely explore the market or for them to stay and try. So began our climb up. I had a vision in mind and I believe we executed it fairly well. I'm not the type of person to roll over easy, give up and forfeit the match. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but I had the support of my few players and the determination needed to accomplish the climb. During the season, we brought in numerous of players via trade, signed a lot of young guys of waivers who were healthy members of our locker room and managed to pick up one of the biggest goalies in the league in Coca Cola. We started from pretty much nothing and grew and became successful enough to attract such assets to our organization. We failed to reach our goal of being champions but to be honest, I did not even expect a game 7 battle with Oslo. I knew we'd make the 2nd round, or at least hoped because you truly never know sometimes, but we went further than I thought we would. Oslo was a strong opponent and raped the our conference. Towards the end of the season and near the deadline, they made significant trades that only made them stronger.In my opinion, they were the team to beat from our conference and it all came down to one game. For me, there's nothing to be ashamed of. It was one hell of a season. I've already done it once, but I just wanted to thank my boys again for one hell of a season, for the fun in the LR that we had all season long and for the support in my and my vision of building a successful roster. I'm sorry that we failed to go further. Our roster may not have been strong enough, but we tried. If you think about where we were, 2 forwards, not a dmen at all and no goalie to having a couple active forwards, 4-5 dmen and at one point, 3 active goalies (including Cola - the beast of all things sugar and sweet), we climbed one hell of a hill and did it quickly. If you're leaving the team and this is your last year with Bratislava, thank you gents on making it one hell of hoorah and memorable first year for me behind the bench. NOW FOR THE WATCHMEN'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT It's a management change, ladies and gents. I'm unsure if it's common in the league, VHLM or VHL, if additional managers are a thing, but it will be here in Bratislava. I will remain Head GM of the Watchmen for as long as the league lets me, until I pass away or until my time has come that I've had enough and pass the reigns down. However, over the course of this season I spent a lot of time talking to a member of this site. Someone who became a fairly good buddy and had helped me with additional thoughts on deals, players and how things were going with the team. In my opinion, he's highly deserving of a CO-GM position with myself and has shown amazing loyalty, support and dedication to myself and the success of Bratislava. Without further delay, the announcement of Bratislava's new CO-GM (and potentially first ever?). AHMA! Congrats buddy on the position. I know you've known for a week or two, but now it's official. I look forward to future talks, us working together and your support and helpful guidance over the course of however long this partnership lasts. Hopefully together we can once again bring successful campaigns to Bratislava and possibly a cup! Here's to a great future, buddy, Thank you, Bratislava Watchmen GM diamond_ace and Ahma 2 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/23208-bratislava-past-present-and-futurefinal-66/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahma 1,428 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 :brt: :brt: :brt: diamond_ace and Banackock 2 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/23208-bratislava-past-present-and-futurefinal-66/#findComment-259904 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylrad 178 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Content 3/3 Congrats to AHMA and nice article Grammar 1/1 not much to find - raped the our conference - raped our conference - my and my vision - me and my vision Appearance 1/1 Some pictures would've been nice but it still looks good Overall 6/6 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/23208-bratislava-past-present-and-futurefinal-66/#findComment-260170 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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