Post by Simi Valley Kings on Apr 15, 2015 12:25:43 GMT -5
City of Camarillo Celebrates Team’s First Championship
By Paul Catalano
In a city that's no stranger to hockey celebrations, hundreds of thousands of fans turned up on the streets of downtown Camarillo today to celebrate the Kings first championship in franchise history. Team Owner and GM, Paul Catalano, took every step of the nearly 17 mile journey making sure to stop and shake the hand of every fan that turned out in attendance. "Today was long journey for me," said the strikingly handsome Catalano, "but I feel that the journey has been equally as long for these fans who have waited patiently for the crown to be ours."
Dating back to the start of the season, there were many pundits who felt the team wouldn't have enough to compete with some of the league's powerhouses. “We knew going into the season that there were teams with more talent, but we honestly felt that from top to bottom we had the best team.” Hard to argue with Catalano’s point. Since the league’s inception, he has systematically built his team with a mixture of high end talent, hard working youngsters and arguably the best goalie in the league. While Quick’s numbers were fairly mediocre, he turned in a number of ket starts for the club. That, and an MVP, type season from Ranger forward Ricky Nash along with some unsung heroes like Kris Russell, Tyler Toffoli and Chris Krieder this team was as well rounded as any in the league. But it was the team's in-season acquisitions that may have put the Kings over the top. Catalano’s savvy signings of forward, Jiri Hudler and Cody McLeod, and the trade deadline acquisitions of Radim Vrbata and Kris Letang, that proved to be the team’s final recipe for winning. “We collectively reached a point in the season where we knew that there were certain holes that needed to be filled but we didn’t want breakup our core and create any discord in the locker room.”
It proved to be a masterful stroke by the team’s GM. Each player made significant contributions throughout the stretch run and it was Vrbata’s meaningless assist on the last day in round one of the playoffs that propelled the team into the second round. “Sometimes luck is apart of winning and we knew that with some key injuries to our club that other players would have to step up and some good old fashioned karma would have to be on our side.” Fate seemed to shine on the team and the result is the spectacle we see today. “This city deserves a championship. We have the best fans in the world and it’s our responsibility to do everything we can to put the best team on the ice and give them the opportunity to call themselves champions.”
The postseason celebration doesn’t end today. Saturday they are schedule to visit the White House followed by a trip across the seas to London’s Buckingham Palace and an engagement with the Queen, the Premiere at the Kremlin and what is expected to be the largest postseason parade in history in front of half a billion fans along China’s Great Wall. “It’s going to be tough three days for sure but we are looking forward to it.”
On their return, it’s right back to the office and getting ready for what should be an interesting offseason. Many of the team’s key players have expiring contracts and you get the impression Catalano will be looking to make some crucial trades in order to bring some financial balance to his club. “We know we have to be better next year and we know we have a lot of work to do to make us better. We will have to make some tough decisions and will have to let go some key personnel but once you get a taste of something like this and seeing this incredible turnout, you just don’t want to stop at one and we are looking to be right back here a year from now.”
A bold promise from a bold man but after this season’s improbably run it’s hard to argue with him.