Claimed:A Bitter Taste [Final: 6/6]

A BITTER TASTE

As the buzzer sounded on the Saskatoon Wild’s season, I imagined American Max MacInnis wasn’t too sure what to think. He had only joined the team a couple weeks ago, being thrust immediately into the thick of their championship hunt. It was unlike any situation Max had found himself in before, and now that his new team were eliminated in the finals by the Bratislava Watchmen, half of him was probably cursing the aforementioned Watchmen as he broke his stick on the boards on his way off the ice, but the other side was a calm, not sure what to think because he had only just joined the team.

Being the competitor that Max is, the angry side I had imagined seemed to win out during the interview.  As he sat in his chair undoing his skates, I tried to pick his brain, because his situation is pretty unique. I asked him how it felt to join a team and two weeks later lose the championship. Harsh first question, but I don’t like to waste time. ”Feels like I’m a loser already. It was a great experience, and I will take it with me into next season, which is something other teams in the draft should consider, I’ve already got playoff time.  Losing the championship like this has only raised my motivation, now I’ve got a score to settle, and it will be settled.” Said MacInnis, who I could tell was biting back stronger words.

Max didn’t see much action throughout the playoffs, but he also didn’t expect too either. He averaged about 12 minutes per game, and only had point, which game during the first finals game on a rocket pass to Jarome Iginla in a game they would eventually win. Other than that, though, MacInnis was ineffective during his ice time. I asked him about that. ”I sucked. Sure, I got minimal playing time, but no matter how long you are out there you have to perform and contribute, and I did neither. I could sit here and say it was the lack of practice, or they didn’t trust the new guy yet, so on and so on, but that’d be denial. I can only control what I can control, and I didn’t help this team enough.”

MacInnis is now preparing for the upcoming VHLM draft, where he will most likely be leaving the Saskatoon Wild, who do not have an early pick. General Managers would be foolish to pass up on Max. He has the work ethic and drive to be a VHL great, and now he already has experienced what it’s like to lose the championship…he is hungry, and that is something you will want on your team. He addressed the upcoming draft, which is how I will end this article: ”Pass me up at your own risk. I’m going to be a dominate player in the VHL, regardless of who drafts me.”

Words: 490

Content: 3/3

Good interview, and a well executed media spot about a difficult situation. I like chip on MacInnis' shoulder and his insistence that every minute counted.

Grammar: 2/2

Nothing that hurts the read. Only 2/4 of my suggestions can even be considered errors.

Nitpicking:

Dominate player should be dominant player

"Said MacInnis" should follow a comma, not a period.

Your second sentence is a bit of a run-on, but that's a preference thing, not an error.

The ellipsis in the 3rd last sentence doesn't make grammatical sense, but I can see it's there for style.

Appearance: 1/1

Nice picture, great font, quotes in blue. Nothing to complain about

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