SlapshotLegion

The reunion is so sweet!

We are a match made in VHL heaven. The Hextall/Lafontaine rivalry, the Petrenko and Ori connection, and now we get to dance as Kadachi and Tuominen again for the first time since the Bulls days. Excited to win more with you! (Also, I started changing my name to match the team after the "Dragons" became a team LOL but yes, SlapshotDragon is def my fav iteration of the name)

TORONTO - Raimo Tuominen is flying into Toronto after one of the hardest decisions in his life. He made the choice to leave Calgary. After spending all of his career under Wranglers’ colours, he will be donning blue with the Legion. Coming into training camp today, he is excited yet a bit saddened about his departure. “I mean, yeah, I made the choice. I signed the contract. Doesn’t make it any easier saying goodbye to a team I came to love and play for. The city, the fans, management, my teammates, all of them have been such a big part of my success and shaped me into the player and person I am now.” So then why the choice? “In all honesty, I just felt like the writing was on the wall. The Wranglers have young guys coming up and are forming a new core. I could’ve totally been a part of that for my last season but part of me felt like we needed to move on. I can’t speak for the Wranglers organization. Maybe they think differently, maybe I acted too quickly, but I think it’s a far-cry to say that my departure will do any damage to them. They’re building something good over there.” And the choice to go to Toronto? “They reached out as soon as they possibly could. I know there were other GMs who reached out and I am honoured they did but they were quick to lay out that our shared goal is to win a cup. They have a great squad with stars in the making as well. I couldn’t be more excited to play with a team and the Legion had me sold right away. I could’ve sat on and hoped for a couple more offers but there was something about the Legion that made me super excited. I hope to play my part well and be a part of something special.”

Raimo Tuominen - SS

glad to see im top 4 in two metrics but yeah this was a real cool read!

1. Very excited. One thing with my tenure with the Wranglers that I've noticed; I get more and more excited with each season. The additions have been excellent and the young guys are joining us in our quest for the cup. This squad definitely has what it takes to make an impact and I am dreaming big things with this group. 2. It will be Adi Dassler. Coming off a 67 point season and making the adjustment to this team while on the second line, I think that Adi is gonna have a huge breakout season (I say this as if he didn't have a 96 point season lol) and will lead the team offesnively. 3. I mean between Spider Panda (an outstanding rookie goalie who will certainly get a lot of starts) and Phil Sakic (arguably one of the best forward prospects currently) there is certainly a good chance that we will. I think both will be frontrunners and I have confidence that one will win, or at least make it a tough decisino. 4. Just what an honour it is to captain a team. I mean even as a member of the VHL, it's great to get the approval of the guys. Always a bit exciting to know a player of mine is a captain, especially since this is only the second time this has happened. Can't wait for the season to start and I think I speak for the leadership group (Dassler, Sakic, L. Reingaard, myself) when I say that we will do our part to make this team competitive. 5. We're making the playoffs and we will be raising havoc as we do so. 6. Apple pie. Nothing wrong with pecan pie but I just think that apple pie just hits differently.

CALGARY - Raimo Tuominen was surprised when GM Zef Goncalves made the announcement for the leadership group of the season. “Yeah, that was a big surprise for me. We were in the locker and he announced me as captain. I’ve never seen myself wearing the C. But I definitely will not shy away from it. It is a huge honour and I am very thankful for the guys putting their trust in me. I will do the best I can.” Calgary has a system in which the players have a major say in who the captain of the team will be. Raimo Tuominen, Adi Dassler, Leif Reingaard, and rookie Phil Sakic will be in the leadership group this season. Another big change for Raimo will be the absence of winger Catia Goncalves, who will be with the Moscow Menace. Although Raimo thinks the trade was a good one for the Wranglers, he did express that he would miss his longtime linemate. “I mean, Catia was amazing with us and will continue to shine with Moscow. I do look forward to fighting with this group but you can’t deny that a large part of why I am where I am is because of Catia. I mean you have the JST, the WJC, the VHLE, and even the VHL. I will miss her dearly as a teammate and look forward to competing against her with this squad. I am sad that she is no longer a Wrangler. But looking across that locker room and seeing two excellent defensemen joining the fray? Makes me very excited. Benjamin Abenduct and FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist are going to have great seasons and we love having them in the locker room. Catch you later Catia, thank you for everything and here’s to the future.”

Truly a great honour. Looking forward to an excellent season with thie squad!

Raimo Tuominen - Slap Shot

1. My player is doing alright, glad to see he hit the PPG mark again this season and that the 30+ goals benchmark has been passed. I am hoping that the individual success doesn't come at the cost of team success. 2. Yeah, turns out that Raimo is a big fan of Sherwood gear. He got sponsored by them at the beginning of the season and has been using Sherwood gear ever since. 3. Probably would have to be Johnny B Goode. I wish it was for a happier reason but it's just in the memory of Johnny Hockey. RIP Johnny and Matthew, will always have you two in our heart. 1) If your player had to switch jersey numbers from the one they currently wear, which one would they wear and why? 2) Speaking of jersey numbers, let's say a player is traded to your team. You wear the jersey number that they also wear. How much money will you give up your jersey number for? 3) What is your player's plan after their VHL career? Will they play hockey elsewhere? Pursue another career? I'd love to know.

CALGARY - The Victory Hockey League season continues. While the playoff teams in the European Conference seem to be far from the lower seeded teams in their respective conference, the North American conference continues to be close. In the race for a playoff spot is the Calgary Wranglers; a young scrappy team looking for some playoff action. Raimo Tuominen is one of these players. He may not be the fresh faced young winger turned center that came into the league anymore but he is entering his prime years. Now, his goal is to do what he can to contribute to a Wranglers playoff push. “In my VHL career, I have only been in two playoffs. Both of them were in my first two years, S91 and S92, and both times they ended in a first round exit. I’m hoping that we can make a push to the playoffs and begin to show our winning potential there. It has been a season with ups and downs and with how close the NA conference is proving to be, nothing is promised. That’s fine, nothing should be promised. It should be earned.” Raimo Tuominen said. “I think we can make it to the playoffs. We aren’t the favourites by far but once those playoffs start, being the favourites starts to matter a little less. They still matter but I intend on fighting regardless.”

RIGA, Latvia - As a fresh faced rookie, you look to make a name for yourself in the league.. That was the goal of Reign rookie Ryuu Crimson coming into the 63rd season of the Victory Hockey League. Ryuu Crimson would play six seasons in the league, three with the aforementioned Riga Reign and three more with HC Davos Dynamo. A solid player who could net you a guaranteed 20+ goals, the scrappy winger may not have had much VHL hardware but the one individual award he has is a forgotten but special part of league history. In Season 63, there were a good amount of rookies looking to make a name for themselves. Without a doubt, the best out of all of them was Julian Borwinn. Scoring 42 goals and matching that total for his assists, 84 points was certainly no easy feat for any player, let alone a rookie. Borwinn would prove to be a standout of his time with 705 points in 576 games. He would later win a multitude of awards including the Szatkowski, the Brooks, the Slobodzian, the Funk, the Campbell, the Boulet, and most prominently the Continental Cup. Ryuu Crimson was nowhere near the best rookie and had nowhere near as prolific a career as Julian Borwinn. In the regular season, he tallied a respectable 22 goals and 40 assists on Riga’s second line. This team was a special one; a championship pedigree team looking to finally cash in. Podrick Cast, Leph Twinger, Edwin Preencarnacion, Jack Shephard, Jeff Gow, and Mikka Pajari were the forwards with the first three proving to be one of the most underrated first lines in history. On the back end, Joseph Bassolino led the league in assists (even though he was a defenseman!) and he won the Valiq as the best offensive defenseman. Paired with him was another rookie, Dylan Nguyen, a great young defenseman that Ryuu knew from their VHLM days. Truly an excellent first pairing. The second pairing? A rookie Shawn Glade and a rookie Ryan Kastelic. A second pairing good enough to be a first pairing on other teams. Ryan Kastelic would later become the first player to hit 2000 TPE and would continue to find success even after becoming a forward. Then Kallis Kriketers, who Ryuu maintains was the best goaltender he ever had the privilege of playing with, was in between the pipes and would prove to be an excellent starter for Riga in his rookie season and onwards. Back to Ryuu Crimson, in the midst of all of this excellence was a relatively unproven winger looking to justify being picked 9th overall. After spending one season in the VHLM to develop, Ryuu was slotted with Jack Shephard and Jeff Gow to form a second line that continued to provide depth scoring. This excellent roster from top to bottom brought the Reign franchise to championship glory. Then the VHL awarded the Daisuke Kanou to a rookie Ryuu Crimson, who shared it along with legendary goaltender Norris Stopko. “I’ll be honest, I was extremely surprised to receive the honour and even more surprised to have shared it with such an excellent player.” Ryuu Crimson stated when asked about the award. It definitely wasn’t the flashiest Daisuke Kanou run. With 6 goals and 7 assists in 11 games, Ryuu is still shocked to this day that it was enough. But no matter how shocked or surprised he is, what doesn’t change is the fact it happened. “The best part of that run was that championship winning game 6. We’re on the power play. It goes from Jack to Jeff to me. We go up 4-2. Revchenko would score for the Wranglers to go up 4-3. Kallis plays amazingly in period three and we win it all. To this day, I still am proud of being the game winning goal scorer. But I am even more proud of being a part of that Reign team that made it all the way.”

CALGARY - One of the new exciting things coming to the city of Calgary is Scotia Place. This will replace the Saddledome (the second oldest NHL building) as the city’s main event center for both sports and entertainment. From concerts to AHL Wranglers, Flames, Roughnecks, and Hitmen games, this will also be the future home of the VHL Wranglers. While there is much love for the old dome and it will sorely be missed, players are excited at what the future has to offer. “I mean, from what is planned it looks like it will be an incredible building to have in our city. It will certainly be a blast seeing what is planned for this new building. We are excited to play in this building and to have the fans in this building with us. Hopefully, we can also begin something grand here in Calgary with our team. Can’t wait to see what happens from here.” said Raimo Tuominen. While Scotia Place is quite a bit later down the line, the Wranglers are looking to prove themselves this season. A huge overhaul was done this season with new personnel and new prospects coming in. The Wranglers have their eyes on this season and many seasons after that.