Unsung Hero - Way Back When

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Season 34 Titans Unsung Hero

 

For The Season 69 "Theme Week" we are going way back in time to the Season 34 Helsinki Titans team for my unsung hero. The Season 34 Helsinki Titans squad featured many superstar players with the likes of Brody Hodgson and Ethan Osborne, who finished the season as the fourth and fifth top point scorers in the league, respectively. Anatoli Zhumbayev was also a part of that team, putting up 84 points on the season as well as Nic Riopel, putting up over 100 points on the season to join Hodgson and Osborne as Titans over the century mark. Lost among these superstar players was a very important part of that Helsinki team in the form of defenseman, Dmitry Baurzhan. He was a great locker room presence and for the life of me, I cannot remember the member who created this player, maybe @Dion.OvOxO if I am remembering correctly. During the 72 game regular season, Baurzhan put up three goals and 60 assists to total 63 points. One of his goals was a game-winning goal and he played with a lot of grit, a blue collar type of player if you would. He spent 124 minutes in the penalty box and delivered 165 body checks with 124 blocked shots and a +44 plus/minus rating. During the Helsinki Titans playoff run to a Continental Cup championship, Dmitry did not produce all that many points, unlike many of his teammates but he played a gritty game, the type of playoff game that it takes to endure the grind of the playoffs and this type of player is often not given much credit. In 14 playoff games, he failed to score a goal and had four assists for four points, with a +2 plus/minus rating. He recorded 30 penalty minutes with 29 body checks delivered and blocked 23 shots. Baurzhan may not have been the flashiest player around or may not have scored the game seven overtime winner to clinch to Continental Cup like youngster Anatoli Zhumbayev was able to do, but his leadership qualities and gritty play are a big reason the Titans lifted the cup and that is why he is my unsung hero. Ethan Osborne was the Titans playoff point leader in Season 34 with 17 points (7 goals, 10 assists), followed by Brody Hodgson with 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists) and Nic Riopel with 15 points as well (7 goals, 8 assists). Anatoli Zhumbayev followed with 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) and three game-winning goals and Odin Tordahl with 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists). No more Helsinki players put up double digit point totals during that playoff season and with that being said, Baurzhan was quite far down on the point list for the Titans. He played an important role and played in to very best of his ability during that Season 34 championship season and I will remember that, even if nobody else does. Unsung heroes often are very modest people and it was no different for Dmitry Baurzhan who downplayed his contributions to the team on many occasions and I will always respect what he brought to the team and I know just how important of a piece to the puzzle that he was.