Individual

Whens the draft?

This ^^. I only used the index, only time I used game threads was for play offs .

Is this for VHL players only? My VHLM team made it to the finals.

Theo Matsikas Defense Points Plus Minus

Wooo! Knigma and Demko playing big !

The two teams that drafted me, both in the finals, lol who would of guessed.

Gone But Not Forgotten ? Theo celebrating with his team Theo Matsikas bursted his way into the VHLM scene when he first joined the league. He was training hard on and off the ice, wether it be in the weight room or watching video film. All this hard work was promoting Theo up the draft rankings. Scouts started to watch Theo more carefully, and projected him as a top player in the draft. Since then, something has changed in Theo's ways. Theo's workouts on ice have become so short, sometimes he does not even show up for practice, and as for off ice workouts, do not expect Theo to be there. This kind of attitude is not completely new for Theo. Before he joined the VHL, it was mentioned that he had commitment problems. These comments lead to Theo being such a low pick in the VHLM Draft. Although in this past week, we have seen a small resurgence of Theo, we have begin to see him a little more on the ice practicing, and he even occasionally joins the boys in the locker room. We were lucky enough to catch Theo at the arena and ask him a few questions: Theo, what happened? You were becoming such a promising prospect and then just disappeared on everyone? Well its been a busy time for me, right now I am quite uncertain about my hockey career, and I do not know if I can count on it to provide for me in the future. So with that being said, I have been attending university. We had a lot of project due, and with finals coming up my time has been limited. Its not like I've given up on hockey, I am just bettering myself for different paths. Your team has swept the first round of playoffs, with you putting over a point per game on defence, what can you tell us about your teams great performance, as well as yours? Well Oslo is a great team, and if you expected anything else besides a sweep, I am not sure what you are on. Oslo has every piece a championship needs. They have an offensive threat in Kyle Knigma, a defensive threat in Patrick Demko, and a solid goalie in Coca Cola. It is going to be an interesting final forsure, but I have my money on Oslo. As for my individual performance, it just comes from playing with such great teammates, in such a great system. The system we run in Oslo really allows to play an up tempo offensive game, and with Cola in net, he makes the big saves when we need him! The Draft is coming up, where do you project yourself? It is really hard to say, like you mentioned, I do believe I have the ability to be a top prospect, but sometimes I do run into commitment issues. Honestly, id prefer to be a late pick, that way I do not have high expectation on me. Thanks for your time Theo. Will Theo be able to make an impact again for his team, will he rise the ranks of the draft? Who knows, only time will tell ! 526 words

Rip

This is really cool, good stuff!

Gladiators Royals Red Wolves Blades

First try. They will get better, as I gain more knowledge of the league. https://soundcloud.com/ohtaay-1/vhl-media-spot-differences

Wooo ! Go storm !

86 Gladiators vs Blades 87 Rush vs Royals 88 Lynx vs Wild 89 Storm vs Watchmen

I know im new here, but i went through the same thing. Deciding what you want to do can be hard. I took all my normal grade 12 classes, then once i graduated, I worked for a year in fort mac, alberta. made 70k. Ultimately working a trade wasnt for me, so im taking business in university right now. Sum things up, if you don't know what you want to do in university, dont rush yourself. Take a year off, work, travel, ect . Good luck man, grade 12 is an awesome year !

(223 words, without code) Storm Shutout Lynx After seeing the Oslo Storm start the season 6-0, their next four games only saw them go 2-1-1. Oslo was determined to get back to their dominating play style, and thats just what they did. Game 51 of the VHLM season saw the Storm take on the Lynx. The lynx who at the time had a modest 7-4 record, for third in their conference. Coming into the come the Storm stood at a dominating 8-1-1, for first in their conference. Once the puck hit the ice it did not take long for the Storm to strike, it only took them 2:30 seconds. 1. Storm , Maris Ziedins 11 (Kyle Kingma, Theo Matsikas) at 2:30 The Storm dominated the play in the Lynx zone, tiring them out, which eventually lead to them taking 5 penalties in the first . The Storm strike'd even fast in the second, only 24 seconds in! 2. Storm , Theo Matsikas 2 (Patrick Demko, Maris Ziedins) at 0:24 (PP) The Storm would add another one, less the five minutes late to extend the Storms lead to 3-0. 3. Storm , Prince Gigga-Bijou 11 (Theo Matsikas) at 4:53 The second period would come to an end seeing the Storm winning 3-0 and outshooting their opponents 40-16 ! The third period would be a better outing for the Lynx. The shots were a modest 8-7 for the Storm, although thats all they needed. The Storm would add another goal to finish the game off. 4. Storm , Maris Ziedins 12 (Patrick Demko, Kyle Kingma) at 10:46 Even though Coca Cola received a shutout, he would only earn 3rd star. 3 Stars 1 - Theo Matsikas (OSL) 2 - Maris Ziedins (OSL) 3 - Coca Cola (OSL)

Expectations What are the expectations of a rookie you ask? Well it's hard to say, everyone you ask will have a varying opinion. Some may expect a rookie player to make an instant impact, while others will just hope he is able to develop in juniors. In this article we take a look at the varying opinions of different people, and how it may affect the performance of the player. First will start with the big impact rookie. Many rookies that are drafted in a top three positions seem to have the vibe that they must make a big impact in their first season. Fans come to expect this player to put up big points, and make a positive impact game in and game out. This leads to the fan usually being let down, and the players moral being effected by it. Most rookies, even the top end talent should spend another year at least in junior after their draft year. Many people over look the fact that these draftee's are coming from a league where they are playing against other kids their age, and not players much older them. Making the jump from juniors to the big league is very hard. Not to mention all the pressure the young players have on them to preform. When the rookie is not able to meet his expectations, it often demoralizes them. Not to mention all the hate the receive on social media can be very hard to block out. Players such as Nail Yakupov, came into his first season and had a decent outing. Since then Nail has struggled, and numerous media outlets have criticized him on tv, and thats not even to mention social media. In a recent interview, Nail talked about regaining his confidence, and that leading to his better play. High expectations for a young player, can make or break them. Now we get into the deeper rounds of the draft, and the “hopeful” draft picks. These players often come into the draft unsure of where they will get drafted, and if / when they do, its a huge relief . Players drafted in the later rounds are often known more as success stories, compared to failures. People are always happen to see a late round pick turn our to be something good, and if they do fail, well people do not really care. Getting drafted in later round takes pressure off the player, but gives them a sense of motivation, knowing they have a team backing them. Players who are drafted in later rounds usually spend more time in the minors, and working their way up the system. By doing this the player is gaining valuable experience, and learning how to act like a pro. Players are forced to play with expectations, but often the media and the fan base raise those expectations to unrealistic levels, that can be harmful to the player. Having less pressure on the player, and allowing them to develop often lead to more success stories. [500 words]

This is so sick ! Thanks a lot man ! I appreciate it !!

If your still making some. Player name : Theo Matsikas Render:John Carlson Thanks.

This is neat .

First one ive done, kinda bounced all over the place. Will be more focused for the next one. https://soundcloud.com/ohtaay-1/vhl-radio-weekly-1 This is for the additional +2 TPE.

Theo Matsikas is in his rookie season in the VHLM . Theo was drafted in the deep rounds of the draft at number 26, to the Oslo Storm. The season is 5 games into it, and the storm are having a very fast and strong start to the season. They are currently sitting at number one in the league, at 5-0. In those fives games the storm have outscored their opponents 25-6, for a goal differential of +19 . A large part of the Storm success, is the play of Prince Gigga-Bijou. Prince has 8 goals, and 6 assists for a total of 14 points in 5 games ! How does Theo connect to all this? Well the young rookie is currently logging over a whooping 30 minutes per game ! Playing these big minutes have placed Theo 3rd on the team in plus minus, sitting at a +5 . Although Theo does not have any goals yet this season, he does have 5 assists. Which leaves him sitting at a point per game pace through 5 games, which is great for a defensive rookie . Can Oslo, and Theo keep up the success? Tune in next time ! (192 Words)

Yes please. Player name : Theo Matsikas Render:john carlson Thanks!

Hockey in Crete In this addition of Hockey in Crete, Id like to welcome all of our new readers from the VHL. If you did not know, our very own Theo Matsikas, has been drafted into the VHLM. He was picked up by the OSLO Storm. In this weeks addition we have an interview with Matsikas. Lets get right into it. Interviewer) Hello Theo, thanks for taking the time to join us. The VHLM season is only 2 games in, but what has the experience been like? Theo) "Its been unbelievable, the team is a great group of guys, and are really willing to help me adjust to the game. I can’t lie though, its been tough at times. From in game factors like the speed of the game, the amount of ice time I’m playing, and the physicality of the game, its really taken a lot out of me. Also off the ice has not been the easiest, I have experienced problems with the language barrier, and not to mention I get home sick at times." Interviewer) Have you been told of your role on the team? Theo) Kind of, they just want me to play a smart defensive game, and try to pitch in offensively if possibly. I really just have to play my game, they drafted me for a reason, and that was for the way I play the game. The Storm have me playing big minutes, on the Power play and the penalty kill as well, so I am relied upon. Interviewer) Do you have any personal goals? Theo) Of course, the biggest thing is just developing into a more rounded player. My game is quite raw at this current stage in my career, and I just want to keep evolving as a player. I know that I’m going to have to work hard, and put a lot of hours in, on and off the ice to achieve my goal. As for stats that I’m shooting for, it is quite hard to say. Obviously I want to see my name on the score sheet, but I do not want that to come at the cost of letting the other team score. I mean in simple terms a good plus minus would be a nice stat for me, getting more advanced though, I’d love to see a high Corsi rating next to my name, while playing against high level of competition. Interviewer) Thats all we have time for today, thanks for joining us Theo . To bring this first edition to end we will be doing some predictions for Theo, and what we think he needs to work on. Theo seems like he will be averaging around 25+ minutes per game, which is huge for a rookie. Playing so many minutes Theo will have to work on his endurance, so that he is able to play at a high tempo. Right now, Theo is a very raw defensive prospect, we would like to see a little more offence in his game before the end of the season. To bring this to a close, we don’t think Theo will have much of an impact till at least his second season, maybe even his third. (509 Words)

Woooooot ! Lets make this happen !

Theo Matsikas | The Boy From Crete Theo's Seera Picture Who is Theo Matsikas? Not many people have heard him, and we don’t expect you too. Theo is not a relatively big defence man, coming in at 6’0, and 200 pounds. Theo is 20 years old, from Crete, a small island in Greece. Theo has always been relatively small, and is only starting to begin on working to gain more muscle. He grew up playing soccer, as there is no hockey support in Greece, and quite frankly he did not know to much about the sport. At the age of seven, his family spent a winter in Edmonton, Alberta, visiting family. During that time he learned about the game of hockey, and gained interest in the sport. Theo would end up eventually putting on a pair skates for the first time, he was hooked, instantly. When he left Edmonton he brought a hockey stick back to Crete with him. Theo would end up practicing his puck handling skills, and shooting during his time back in Crete. Every other winter Theo would return to Edmonton to tune his game. At the age of ten, Theo moved in with his family in Greece. Theo would then be enrolled in hockey, at first he struggled big time, originally playing forward. Theo’s coach decided to play him on defence one game, great things happened that game. Theo earned first star honours for the first time in his life. The remaining part of that season Theo would go on to post 10 points in 30 games. Not bad for a kids first season. As he grew older and gained more confidence, his game vastly improved. Theo would be close to a two point per game player, after his 4th season. Now 14, people really saw great things in his game, and knew he had a future in the sport. Scouts would starting showing up to all his games. All the scouts knew he had the skill to play in the big leagues, but would he grow into a bigger body? His size scared off many scouts. Once Theo got word of this he began to hit the gym hard then ever. six days on, and one day off. All this time in the gym began to effect the play of Theo, players were skating by him, out playing him in the corners, and all in all just making him look silly. Theo began losing faith in his game, and the scouts stopped showing up to games. This is where were at now, Theo took two season off, and worked as a grocery bagger. He felt that he was missing that passion that hockey brought to him. He joined a beer league and worked his way up to junior A, for team Seera in Edmonton. They started Theo on the third pairing, but since then he has worked his way up to the first pairing, and is playing all special teams. Theo is slowly gaining his dominant game back, and managing his work out time accordingly . Will there be a team that takes a gamble on him ? PROS Passing: Theo excels in his passing game. With his vision and mobility, you can expect tape to tape passes, short break out passes, long breakout passes, passes in traffic, he will make them. His coach in Seera mans him as the sole defender on the teams power play, everything goes through him. It is rare that the power play gets a point that he is not involved in. Defence: Theo prides himself in his defensive game as well. He is great at closing gaps, and knowing when to pressure the attacker. Theo’s stick work is excellent, you can expect a large amount of take aways. Former teammates hated practicing against Theo, as he is very pesky with his body and stick work in the corners. Strength: Another strong point in Matsikas's game is his strength. If he ever goes head-on with a big player, you can count on Theo taking the body if his stick could not make it work. His strength does not only play a factor in his defensive game, but it also plays a large factor in his offensive game. His strength allows him to shield the puck from attackers, and make the play continue. CONS Scoring: Although you can expect to see Matsikas on the score sheet, don’t it expect it to be goals. Theo does not have a dangerous slap shot, and sticks to mostly his wrist shot. As well, Theo tends to pass out of scoring opportunities which he has been faulted at, many times. Checking: Theo will lay the body, but don’t expect it to be a menacing hit. He may bump a player or two off the pick, but his physical play is lacking at this time. This may become a problem for him as he starts to play stronger and bigger players. Theo will need more time in the gym, and more practice learning how to properly line up a hit. English: With Theo being from Greece, he still has a language barrier. Many people have said that he is not willing to take big steps in overcoming it. So it will be interesting to see how this will effect his career. Theo is excited to take the next step in his hockey career.