In the 2013-14 season, the Dauphin Kings were set to host the Western Canada Cup at Credit Union Place. That meant they were just one step away from advancing to the Royal Bank Cup.
To do so, a good performance at the WCC was required and they acquired a few solid pieces to give themselves their best chance. One of the pieces that they did pick up was Michael Stiliadis. A native of Woodbridge, Ontario, Stiliadis began that season with the Georgetown Raiders of the OJHL where he would play 12 games before he joined the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League.
Stiliadis would play just three games with Vernon before he was acquired by the Dauphin Kings. He would quickly become a fan favourite and also one of the best goaltenders in the league.
He also provided Dauphin fans with something extra to cheer about on December 20, 2013. Playing against Waywayseecappo, Dauphin was up 4-2 late and the Wolverines pulled their goalie. Wayway shot the puck right at Stiliadis and he caught it and shot it down the ice and it went in as he scored his first-ever goalie goal.
"You don't see a goalie score a goalie very often, so I'll never forget that moment, it was pretty incredible," said Stiliadis.
In 26 regular-season games, Stiliadis had a 2.48 G.A.A to go along with a solid .914 save percentage. Dauphin went on to claim the Sherwood Division crown that season by 15 points over the Virden Oil Capitals.
In the playoffs, Stiliadis continued to do his thing as he earned four straight shutouts in the first round of the playoffs as the team rolled past OCN. They would follow that up with a four-game sweep against the Oil Capitals.
In the final, Dauphin ran up against a Winnipeg Blues team that finished fourth in the Addison Division. However, the Blues came out and beat Dauphin in five games to claim the Turnbull Trophy.
"I knew coming to Dauphin was going to be a great chance to have a memorable season and prove Vernon wrong for trading me away," said Stiliadis. "For me, I thought it was a successful year, although we didn't win the league. That Winnipeg team was really good and they deserved it."
As mentioned above, the season, however, for Dauphin would continue as they hosted the WCC and a great performance was what happened. They finished first in the round-robin and they defeated Yorkton in the finals to claim a berth to the Royal Bank Cup.
"That was great, we were all fired up and we did what we needed to do," he continued.
Dauphin would continue to roll at the Royal Bank Cup. They once again finished first in the round-robin. However, they were defeated by Carleton Place in the semi-final. Despite not travelling back to Dauphin with a national title, Stiliadis did travel with some individual hardware that he earned.
Michael won the Roland Mercier Trophy which is awarded to the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was also named the tournament's Top Goaltender. In his five games played, Stiliadis had a .930 save percentage and a 2.32 G.A.A.
"I had confidence going into the tournament knowing I could help the team win games," added Stiliadis. "We were projected to be the odd team out of the playoff picture, but we rallied off three straight wins in the round-robin and one was against Vernon which was an extra great feeling."
"The whole experience of playing in the nationals was amazing, it's something I certainly won't ever forget."
After that one season with Dauphin, Stiliadis would go on to join the Victoria Grizzlies before he ended his junior career with the Toronto Blue Ice Jets in the 2015-16 season. As the door to his junior career closed, the door to his professional career would open.
Stiliadis would end up playing three professional seasons in Sweden before he came back to North America. He began this season in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs. Stiliadis is now playing in the Federal Prospects Hockey League with the Watertown Wolves, a team that acquired him from Elmira, who also plays in the FPHL.
The team has won six straight games and they're in second place in the Eastern Division. He's gone 4-2 this season and he sports a very solid .924 save percentage.
"It's been a pretty solid year for me individually and of course, our team is having success which is always the goal," concluded Stiliadis.