MD9

SBA 6

SBA

TITUS STONE: SURPRISING START Saskatoon // VHL.com Not many people had much in the way of expectations for young defenseman Titus Stone, joining the VHL as late as he did. But in his short tenure with the Saskatoon Wild, he has already proven himself to be a surprising force for the team. In 18 games, Stone has managed 7 goals and 4 assists to provide some unexpected offensive help for a Wild team that has largely struggled this season. He has also added with some expected, physical play by recording 53 hits at the same time, and has also tallied 26 shots blocked. While this is far from a star performance, the Wild have to be happy with this performance given it came, seemingly, out of nowhere. This start isn't without its problems however, as Stone's primary role as a defender is to help prevent the opposing team from scoring to begin with. In that respect, Stone has been a complete and utter failure. At an awful -16 in those 18 games, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's been a bit of a defensive liability. That, or the team itself simply isn't playing good enough defense for one player to make much of a difference. Either way, it's an unenviable situation statline for a player who was almost entirely marketed on his defensive play. That being said, he is still adjusting to the league, and given his surprising efficiency as a shooter from the blueline, the Wild are almost certainly going to be willing to watch and wait. For a player this young, time is the surest path to fixing whatever problems he may otherwise be showcasing.

SBA

TITUS STONE: Journey to the VHLM Titus Stone isn’t a household name by any means, but he has made a small splash in some circles with his recent decision to make the jump into the VHLM. This decision was quickly followed by a contract signing with the Saskatoon Wild, setting him up for the beginning of his first season of hockey on a large stage: and a season that will be rather short, all things considered. But it took a long time to get to this point, and his path was anything but obvious growing up. Early Life Hockey may not be the dominant sport in the United States, but Colorado is one of those states where you could almost believe otherwise. Between professional, college and various minor teams, it wasn’t hard to get into the sport. Coming from a middle-class, suburban background, Stone had all of the expected opportunities as a young hockey-player: sure, not all of his gear was brand new, but it was good enough and he had coaches interested in seeing him succeed. Even if succeeding at his level was ‘just having fun.’ That’s perhaps where Stone’s story is a little different from some of his peers in the VHLM. The biggest obstacle he faced growing up was his own skill-level. He was always fairly good at hockey, make no mistakes about that… but he wasn’t good in any competitive sense. He could skate well enough and he read plays well, but every time he tried out for local competitive teams, he was met with rejection. There were a lot of ‘close, but not quite’ talks with the coaches he tried out for. It’s not like you need to be remarkable to play for those teams, but you do need to be a stand out. And really, that extended rundown on his early hockey skill just helps to explain why instead of going through the usual hoops growing up, attending a school known for the sport and being sent to figure skating lessons or hockey camp, he instead was encouraged by his parents to focus heavily on his studies. For most of his time in elementary school and junior high, Stone was -- entirely thanks to pressure from his parents -- something of a bookworm. He was pushed to constantly be studying and constantly be learning with the hopes that it would yield good a good high school record, and accordingly, good offers and scholarships from major colleges. Academic scholarships. Not athletic ones. High School All those years of study paid off for Stone, as though his high school experience was largely standard, he recorded top of the line grades in class after class. All except for one: mathematics. No matter how much he was coached on the subject, and no matter how many times he was assigned a tutor by his doting parents, he routinely came up short. Sure, he scraped by with Cs with the occasional low B. But when you’re being pushed to go far in the world of academia, that’s not always good enough. An arts degree would have suited Stone perfectly, but as many parents will tell you -- usually parents with no academic experience themselves -- there’s no money to be made outside of business or science. Unfortunately, pressuring your child to study usually doesn’t lead to the kind of desire to learn that you’re looking for in an ideal student. So while he may have been putting up great grades, he privately had no interest in attending a college even if he did get a good scholarship offer. His performance on the ice was still rather pedestrian even up to his second year of high school, and so he set his sights instead on a much more achievable goal: community college. His senior year in high school was, ultimately, when things would change for the better. Though he still struggled through arithmetic, he proved himself to be a rare, late bloomer as a hockey player. Despite playing recreational for his entire life up until that point, a strong showing in try-outs earned him a spot on his high school team. Perhaps predictably, his parents were happy for him -- right up until it started to chew into his study time and his grades started to decline. But while they may not have been overly happy, Stone was allowed to go ahead with the season on the promise that he would commit to his grades in his free time. He did that, and while his marks started to slip, he ended up with a fairly good B+ range card on the year… and the sort of showing on the ice that, remarkably, got him attention from the VHLM. Perhaps the biggest asset Stone had gained from all of those years being pushed to study was a sense of discipline. Not on the ice, of course -- he was prone to get bad slashing calls from time to time. But while other students were risking their future careers with underaged drinking and other such vices, Stone kept himself clean and out of trouble. As a young man, forget about hockey for the moment, that might have been the best favour he could have done for his future self. Year of Decision If you’ve been following up until this point, it’s been pretty clear that Stone’s hockey career never really went the way he imagined, at least up until that final year of high school. Being scouted thanks to a sudden, break-out year should be enough to give you hope that you might be able to make it in the pros… but Stone wasn’t quite so confident in his own ability. Because of that, he did not enter himself into the VHLM draft, and instead took the year off and played another season of recreational hockey while he filtered through university offers and eyed those aforementioned community college programs. The tipping point came when, around the halfway point through his rec season, a reporter for the Denver Post approached him for an interview. Pushing him for deep-seated reasons over why he had opted to skip out on a potential hockey career through the juniors, he began to… well, question the very questions he had for himself. In the end, he announced he would sign for a team and play for the balance of the season with whoever needed a defenceman. It hasn’t been a typical road to the VHLM, but in the end, Stone made it. Now the question is whether he can do anything more than that.

I was in Saskatoon on my previous player so it'd be fun to go back there. I accept. Thank you Josh for your offer as well!

TITUS STONE LOOKS TO JOIN VHLM Denver Post || Colorado, USA Earlier today, young defenceman Titus Stone announced his intention to join the VHLM for the remainder of the season. Although it is uncertain at this point whether this will render him eligible for the upcoming draft or not, Stone will seek to make an immediate impact for whichever team he joins. He has stated that he expects to announce his decision later tonight depending upon how many teams offer him a position. When asked what sort of team he would preference joining, he offered a vague statement: "It's hard to say at this point. You look at where the teams are and think, you know, maybe it would be nice joining a team that's already winning. But then at the same time, if you do go that route, maybe people look at your role and say, 'hey, that guy wasn't really needed, he's just a hanger-on'. So I guess I'm willing to join any team. I'd rather be able to help make a difference than just be a guy there to fill in some minutes, but I'm going to be realistic. I know I'm not at the level of some of the longer-tenured guys. We'll see what happens, I guess." Though there is no word yet on which teams, if any, have an interest in Stone, his penchant for solid defensive play may garner him offers from teams looking for help on the penalty kill, or simply that need defensive help. At the same time, his game has yet to be rounded out, and so teams may also opt to pass on him in favour of more dynamic, two-way or offensive defenders.

SBA

TITUS STONE: Rookie Profile Name: Titus Stone Position: Defense Age: 19 Height: 74 in Weight: 220 lbs Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, USA In an era where offense is the name of the game, Titus Stone turned heads during his minor hockey career thanks to solid defensive play and a decidedly old-school mindset. For Stone, it's not about driving into the lane for a scoring opportunity or quarterbacking a power-play. It's about playing the body, blocking shots, and being the sort of defensive anchor that opens up the real offensive talent to wheel and deal without needing to fret over the capability of their man back on the one-on-one or odd-man-rush. There has been some question as to whether Stone has what it takes to convert this style of game to any success at the VHLM or VHL levels, but as a probable late draft pick, teams won't need to risk a whole lot for what could end up being something of an experiment. STRENGTHS Defense: This goes without saying. Stone thinks almost exclusively about defense, playing a very traditional stay-at-home game. He's responsible when he has the puck and he rarely makes risky plays, with a preference on either setting up shop on the blue-line to hold the play in the offensive zone, or even hanging back in the neutral zone before his team gets the forecheck going. Because of his solid hockey IQ and particular focus, he is able to influence the game in a way that isn't always lauded by the critics, but is certainly well-appreciated by his own goaltenders. Checking: Although Stone isn't a single-minded hitter in the same way that your prototypical grinders might be, he is more than willing to play the body to break up a play. Nine times out of ten, taking the open hit is going to be an easier solution to break up the offense than trying to get fancy with the stick, and so that's what he does. There are downsides to this of course, a simple takeaway might make for a quicker stretch pass, but on the whole his willingness to hit for the purpose of getting the puck, and not just to participating in the race for most hits, should be a net positive so long as it doesn't lead to penalties. Puck Handling: Needless to say, Stone puts a lot of emphasis on responsible puck handling. He may not be setting up breakways with long, stretch passes or dazzling audiences with his stickwork, but he's going to do everything he can to hold onto the puck when he's got it. He doesn't commit many foolish turnovers and tends to keep things safe and sound. WEAKNESSES Offense: His offensive game is sluggish at best and anemic at worst. He doesn't have a particularly good shot, he isn't willing to take chances with his passes, and he doesn't have the wheels to go end-to-end like some other modern defencemen. This is a major downside to Stone and something he's going to need to work on if he wants VHL teams to ever look at him as a first pairing defender. Chances are, the most he will ever amount to is a decent passer once he fits into a particular offensive scheme. Maybe he can eventually work the second power-play pairing, but that's about it. Discipline: This isn't something that comes up for most players, but given his willingness to make big hits and occasional habit of getting up to some fancy stickwork in-front of the net (and I'm not talking about the puck handling kind), he's going to need to put some serious work in to improving his focus so that he doesn't handicap his teams with poor penalties. It's one of the big reasons teams shy away from physical defenders, and something he should look at improving sooner rather than later. Skating: As noted in the general 'offense' heading, Stone isn't a great skater. He's serviceable, but in today's fast game, serviceable isn't always good enough. He relies mostly on positioning and IQ to cash his paychecks in the defensive end, but once he makes it to the next level, that's probably not going to be good enough. He needs to improve majorly so he doesn't end up being just another pylon on the blueline for the VHL's high-volume scorers to embarrass on a nightly basis. CAREER PROJECTION It's too early to tell, but the most likely outcome for Stone is to wind up a no. 3 or 4 defenceman at the VHL level, logging average minutes in five on five but seeing extensive shifts during penalty kills and when teams are desperately trying to hold the lead. He's not your ideal two-way number one guy, and he's not a power play specialist. He's just a solid defenceman. The kind of player that helps, but not the kind you break the bank for in free agency.

Player Information Username: MD9 Player Name: Titus Stone Recruited From: SisterLeague Age: 19 Position: D Height: 74 in. Weight: 220 lbs. Birthplace: United States of America Player Page @VHLM GM

Jake Scheel Considers Future Scheel looking on during a tough game. With Jake Scheel making headlines with his apparent renewed determination to progress as a player (well, maybe 'headlines' is putting it a bit strong), there has been some speculation as to where he could be bound. As it stands, Scheel has played the last season in his one-year contract with the Calgary Wranglers, making him a pending free agent. Though it seems likely that Scheel will resign with the team, as he has shown no signs of being ready to leave in the past, nothing is for certain right now. Reporters caught up with Scheel after an optional practice session and questioned him over his future in Calgary. Scheel had this to say: "I have to be honest, it's not something I've put all that much thought into. My focus this season was playing my game, trying to help us make the playoffs... obviously, that didn't happen. There's a big gap between playoff teams and eliminated teams, it's a little concerning. But -- yeah, I don't know. I have no reason to leave Calgary, but I'm not going to rush headlong into a lengthy extension without considering my options. They've treated me well here and I've put up some points... not as many as I thought I would back when I was breaking into the league, but some." This season, Scheel was second in scoring on the Calgary Wranglers with 24 goals, and fourth in overall points with 45. He's far from a star by VHL terms, and it's apparent that even if he did make it to free agency as he's hinting that he wouldn't be able to break the bank with his likely asking price. It may be that Calgary really is the perfect destination for him if he is prepared to press forward with his career and dedicate himself to improving his game: they've shown they were willing to factor him into the offense even when he stagnated as a player, and perhaps that indicates his role might be able to increase should his play warrant it. Fans in Calgary have to hope that if he does choose to stay with the team, this recent burst in development continues. It's one thing to have a player to put up points from the fourth line, it's another to have a real, quality player. This season, Scheel played behind Jasper Canmore who officially centered on all three lines, but often switched out when he ran out of gas. This meant Scheel played around 25 minutes -- in most leagues, that would be an awe-inspiring number for a center, but in the VHL less so, as players routinely clock in anywhere from 25 to 30 regardless of position. This is, needless to say, a rather unique league -- and the story of Jake Scheel's career seems to be the same no matter how you look at it. "That would be a really good statistic... if this were another league." For now, the playoffs are in full swing and we have a lot more hockey to watch before anyone's going to be seriously thinking about free agency -- especially the free agency prospects of a player who, truth be told, has mostly been written off as a bust (and for good reason!), but this is one developing story that might be interesting to follow. Eventually.

What Happened to Jake Scheel? VHL.com // J.S. Augusta Jake Scheel was never the most well-known name in the league, but he did make a stir in his draft year. Regarded by some as one of the better 'first-generation' players available, his draft stock dipped near the end of the year due to his level of progression -- which was solid, but still not up to the part of some of the other players available. Ultimately selected fifth overall by the Calgary Wranglers, Scheel quickly dedicated himself to his new team and there was some hope in Calgary that he might emerge as a young star for the then-struggling franchise. Clearly, that didn't happen. Tallying just 167 points in 216 games, an average number for a VHL player, Scheel has entirely failed to live up to some of the scouts predictions. He has played an acceptable two-way game, recording an even +/- this season which appears fairly solid considering the team's play overall, but his offensive game has been largely lacking. So, what happened? It seems that Scheel's promise was undermined by a growing disinterest in training, perhaps distracted by the luxuries that offering a young player millions of dollars to play hockey can bring. But recently, there's been some evidence he might be able to mount a rudimentary turnaround. He'll never be the star he once seemed to be destined to be, but with recent strides in training camp, he might just be able turn himself into a significant enough role-player to make his mark on the league after all.

+2 tpe

I forgot I already posted one this week.

Welp, trying to do graphics never pans out very well for me, but I'm going to try to stick to it and really learn to do it. GIMP is a mysterious creature and using it is like going through a maze, but I tried to do a fun little signature since I'm joining Calgary. @eaglesfan036

Player's Tribune: Farewell Saskatoon Written by Jake Scheel The Saskatoon Wild may have been my home for my two-season VHLM career, but not everyone took my joining the team particularly well. When I walked in the locker room, I was met with open arms and everyone was polite right off the bat. But my decision to choose Saskatoon over the Las Vegas Aces, who at that time were undefeated, was met with some confusion -- and perhaps even a little laughter. A couple people assumed I was mistaken in choosing the team I did, but the opposite was true. I wanted to join a team that wasn't already 'finished', one where I would be able to make an impact and enjoy my time in the league -- where if I won, it would really feel like I earned it. It took one more season than I initially hoped, but in the end, I'm leaving Saskatoon having achieved just that. I was truthfully only a very small part of the team that won the championship. Thanks to some very good management, the team ended up being very well balanced. Powerful without being outright stacked. I think that the Wild's victory this season was perhaps positive for more than just our team for that reason -- although one of the stronger teams in the league won, it wasn't the consensus pick that seemed to stack the cards in its favour. Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to build a winning team, and going to great lengths to do it -- but for the sake of league parity, the first place team not winning the championship can only be viewed as a good thing. Of course, the honour goes to the Las Vegas Aces for that, as they were the ones that defeated the team that had effectively became the Aces 2.0. It's a little ironic, but it's true. And playing against the Aces in the finals only offered a shot at revenge after we lost to them last season. The point of this article though isn't just to retread this season or last season -- plenty of articles about the Wild, the Aces, and the Storm have, and will cover similar topics, as the fallout of the playoffs is a story that has, and will continue to dominate the VHLM until the off-season gets into full swing. Rather, this is more or less all just a preface to my saying farewell to the Wild, and to thank them for having me on their team for however brief it was. I was happy to join them to begin with, and I was even happier when they made the move to bring me back after I was entered into the draft as a mid-season signing. I'm glad I got a chance to play alongside a great group of guys and girls, and that we were able to make good on the promise we showed this season and sealed the deal, to end the season on the highest note possible. At this point, a lot of our careers are going to be splitting off into every which direction, but I hope to be able to play against and alongside my now former teammates with the Wild for many seasons to come. Some of you, like McAllister, Ron, and Do, are probably going to be bigger stars than me -- but maybe one day I'll manage to find my way onto one of your guys lines so you can make me look good by scoring off my passes all over again. And maybe we can win again, you know -- that's always nice too.

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off. That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team. Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season. All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Woo! Good game, LVA.

I think I picked Saskatoon last year too. I don't like to jinx it by betting against myself.

Winner: Saskatoon Number of games: 6 Total goals scored: 34 Who gets the Cup winning goal? Gabriel McAllister Series leader in points: Gabriel McAllister Series leader in goals: Daring Do Series leader in assists: Jake Scheel

Good series Ottawa.

Another draft memory, this time for the VHLM. Since I signed midseason in Saskatoon the first time, there was some uncertainty about who could come back. Thankfully, the new GM in Corco managed to find a way to get McAllister, Scheel and Do all back on the top, on top of picking up some pretty sweet players to make us a stronger team overall.

The draft. I fell far, but it was the first time I was a touted prospect in any sim league. It was kind of fun being in the top five, wondering where I'd go -- and being able to worry about not being a bust, rather than having to prove myself as a steal.

Prospect Watch: Jake Scheel Season Recap With the playoffs in full swing, players are now focused solely on pushing their way towards a championship -- and rightfully so. But for longtime fans of the VHL, the long-term outlook is also an interesting thing to follow, even as the greatest hockey of the year is being played. Calgary Wrangler's prospect Jake Scheel has both positive and negative news attached to him, and both are worth discussing. For the sake of starting strong, we'll look at the good news first: after some concerns raised earlier in the year about his potential to play at a high level deeper into his career, Scheel ended the season strong, finishing with 99 points (including an impressive 71 assists). He also ended at a +36 rating, along with an impressive 61.65% faceoff percentage. Overall, he finished 10th in goals, 5th in assists, 7th in overall points, along with the 3rd best faceoff percentage. He also finished 2nd in points among centres: a statistic that would be much more impressive had the first place centre, Mattias Forsberg, not finished with 56 points more than him. So, what does all this say? Mostly that despite some early disappointment, Scheel can relax in knowing that he was a very good juniors player, at least during the regular season. He recorded a high number of points despite his two-way focus, and was extremely reliable on the draw. The Wild got a fairly good return on their initial risk in signing him, given he's not represented by a particularly well-known or reputable angency. What's the bad news, then? Last week, Jake Scheel reportedly missed every single practice with the Wild with a vicious flu. Although he appears to be doing better now, the incident raised a number of concerns among scouts. Firstly, some criticized Scheel for not practicing through the pain, given that the playoffs were coming right around the corner. Others argued that taking the time to recover was more responsible, to ensure he wouldn't put himself further out of the playoffs. More to the point however, even a week of missed training can put a dent on a player's reputation, and perhaps his development. Scheel had previously been remarkably consistent with attending practices and training, often being the first one to arrive at the rink in the morning. With Scheel wanting to crack the line-up of the Calgary Wranglers this coming season, he well and truly can't afford to miss any training opportunities. Although the VHL is not a team with much depth to speak of, it is a league with some extremely talented players at the top. Talent that, needless to say, Scheel wishes to both contend with, and perhaps one day rise above to make his own mark on the league. With that in mind, he needs to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen again -- or at least not often. There's no doubting now that the potential is there for him to be a solid roster player, but he still needs a lot of work before the noticeable kinks in his game can be sorted out. The current playoffs will prove to be something of a proving grounds, to be slightly redundant, for Scheel -- as well as for his teammates on the Saskatoon Wild. Just as last season an article was published questioning Scheel's character due to his poor performances early in the season, a good showing in the playoffs this year could show not just development as a player, but development as a person, and as an athlete. Either way, Calgary Wranglers fans will be watching closely to ensure that last week's anomaly hasn't had an impact on his game, or his development.

Scheel and Do Help Lead Saskatoon to Victory Game 1 of the Semi-Finals VHL.com // J.S. Augusta After finishing the season on a high note, Daring Do dazzled in the first game of the VHLM semi-finals with a three point performance, including two goals. Line-mate Jake Scheel also notched three points, two of which were assists, to help lead the team’s offense. The Wild ultimately won the game, defeating a very game Ottawa Lynx. This hot start of the playoffs should come as some relief to fans of the Saskatoon Wild, as -- although one game is far too early to predict a player’s performance throughout the whole of the postseason -- it’s a rather welcome departure from the early-playoff struggles that plagued players like Scheel and Do last season. Although the Wild ultimately surrendered the second place position to the Lynx, this early victory secures them home ice advantage over the Lynx. It only takes one loss at home for the Lynx to gain that back, but with how close the two teams are in all aspects of the game, even a slight early advantage could prove itself to be a significant one. It’s also worth noting that two of Do’s three points came on the power-play, as the Wild were able to take advantage of a less-disciplined Lynx team. While Do and Scheel may not have become the dynamic duo some thought they would, instead scoring most of their points off of other teammates, the prospect of both players getting hot early is encouraging. If they can continue to play as they did in game one, and players like McAllister and Ron continue to perform (or even play at their regular season pace), the Wild may be a team to watch.