hockeyis66

“In the past 2 games, I was able to feel like I was able to finally help the team win by scoring 3 goals and chipping in with an assist as we beat Oslo in the first game and then Bratislava in the second one. I scored my 8th and 9th goals of the season against Oslo just over a minute apart to give us a 3-0 lead and then we scored our 4th goal of the game just 30 seconds later and put it in cruise control after that. “ “We doubled up the Watchmen 4-2 in the next game and I was able to get my 10th goal of the season about halfway through the second period and then set up Sanzone for a power play goal later in the period as we built a 3-0 lead again. The offense was just clicking well this game with over 50 shots on goal.” “I felt better about my game these past 2 wins as I think the game came to me a little better than it had in the past and I need to keep that momentum going. I am still 10th in the league in shot but only at a 5% shooting percentage so I have to work on that better to provide the second line of scoring any team needs to be successful in the playoffs.”

1 -- we absolutely do, we have great goaltending and solid offense and defense, we just have to put together a string of games where it all comes together instead of win 2 then lose 2 etc 2 -- anyone on any given night can step up for this team and carry us to victory 3 -- i like the blue much better - the blue and yellow go together so well and its much cooler looking 4 -- honestly, i dont think so - 6 teams is good instead of 8 so the talent isnt spread too thin 5 -- everyone is high on the steelers thinking 11 ish wins but i am more in the 8/9 range and missing the playoffs 6 -- funny thing is my wife just asked me on her way to work what planet is in the morning sky and i said ' your anus' and that is basic response to anytime any of the kids ask the similar type of question

With the VHLE nearly the halfway point of its season with 30 games in the books, the past week has seen some separation among the top tier of teams with one clear leader in Vasteras with Rome a handful of points behind them in second. Then there is a group of 3 teams within 2 points of each other and then Oslo in 6th place. #1 Vasteras – 44 points. The Iron Eagles have really flown away from the rest of the league in the past week behind the #1 offense in the “E” and the #1 defense as well for a massive goal difference of 32 (103 GF and 71 GA). No other team in the league has a goal difference in double digits. Panarella is having a massive offensive season with 22 goals and 45 points to lead the league. In goal, Gauthier is 16-4-1 with a league leading 2.12 GAA. #2 Rome – 38 points. Not too long ago, Rome was below .500 on the season and sitting in 5th place in the league with a 5-6-1 record. Since then, Rome has gone 12-3-4 to vault into second place and have a 5 point lead on the 3rd place team. Their goalie, Clark, has played in every game and leads the league in wins with 17 and shutouts with 5 (there have only been 9 shutouts so far this season in the “E”). Francis leads the league with 28 assists and the team with 34 points. #3 Stockholm – 33 points. The Vikings have been a streaky team this season. Win a few, lose a few but it all nets out to being 3 games above .500 and the leader of the pack of 3 teams from 3rd to 5th place that are separated by just 2 points. The team is led by 3 players who have 30 points each in Machado, Anisimov and MacWAllace III and they are the only players who have scored 10 or more goals as well. #4 Bratislava – 32 points. The Watchmen’s offense sits last in the league with only 69 goals , 10 goals below the 5th best, but their defense is the 3rd best in the league which is keeping them currently in 4th place. Elgar and “W” have split the games in goal and each of them have won 8 games with Elgar having a slightly better save percentage and GAA. Boudreaux Jr and Callahan have accounted for almost half of the team’s goal total. #5 Cologne – 31 points. The Express have the second best offense in the league scoring over 90 goals but the defense is tied for next to last in the league which is holding them down in the 5th spot at the moment. They have 4 players with 12 or more goals on the season and Sjin leads the team with 18 goals, 19 assists and 37 points. Their 2 goalies have split time in net and while both Clark and Giguere are close in wins, Clark has put up the better GAA and save percentage so far this season. #6 Oslo – 17 points. The Storm haven’t had much trouble scoring goals this season, but the problem has been stopping pucks from going into their own net and in bunches which leaves them currently 14 points out of the final playoff spot in the league. It will be tough making that up even with 40+ games left to play as the team’s ahead of them keep winning while Oslo has given up 24 more goals than the next best team. Right wing Goncalves is currently second in the league with 41 points on 15 goals and 26 assists. Word count: 610

“Its been a rough and frustrating season so far for me in the “E” from a personal standpoint. I am near the top 10 in shots in the league with 127 so far this season but only have scored 4 goals for an awful 3% shooting percentage. This is easily the worst goal scoring drought I have ever had in my hockey career. Getting 4, 6 or more shots in a game and not being able to score is really putting me down in the dumps cause I feel like I am not contributing to the team and helping us win. The coaches and other players have been positive and trying to keep me upbeat and have even tried moving me around on different lines to jump start my goal scoring.” “Despite my lack of goal scoring, the team has continued to do well as we are still in the top 5 and in a playoff spot. Our goalies continue to be outstanding and give us a chance to win every game even when the offense is struggling to score goals. Coach mixed up the lines a bit and we will have to give it a handful of games to see if we can generate more offense on a consistent basis” words: 210

1 -- we have had great goaltending so far and great all around play from both our offense and defense with multiple players contributing on the score sheet 2 -- i think there will start to be some seperation among the teams once teams hit winning and losing streaks 3 -- it makes a huge difference because we as a team know we can count on either one of those guys to steal a game for us or provide top notch goaltending game in and game out 4 -- interacting with all of the different users and having a great locker room experience meeting and talking with people from all over the world 5 -- my old Miami GM Tet, he definitely kept the LR lively 6-- grizzly bear cause at least its a 1 on 1 fight - 10k rats are way too many to keep track of and defeat

Through the first 12 games of the VHLE season, the “E” has been pretty competitive so far as only 6 points separate the top 5 teams while only one team has fallen behind. With more than 80% of the season left, there will be a lot of movement in the standings between now and the end of the season and whichever teams get hot or cold at the right or wrong times could go a long way to determine the final positioning for the playoffs. 1st place – Vasteras Iron Eagles – 8-3-1; 17 points. One of the main reasons why the Iron Eagles currently hold down the top spot in the league is that they are tied for first in offense and have the best defense so far leading them to have the best goal difference of 12 which is just one better than the second best team. They have a balanced scoring attack up and down the lineup with no one above 6 goals so far this season and Panarella leads the team with 16 points while each of their goalies have won 4 games each with Gauthier posting a .936 save percentage and a GAA of 1.81 with 1 shoutout. 2nd place – Cologne Express – 8-4-0; 16 points. The Express have scored the same amount of goals as the Iron Eagles and only given up one more goal on the season. They had been in first place for a few games early in the season and are riding a 3 game winning streak into second place in the “E”. The Express currently have 5 players averaging a point or more per game led by Gamble’s team leading 17 points and Land’s 16 points. Both of the goalies have split 6 games in net with each of them winning 4 games each. 3rd place – Stockholm Vikings – 7-4-1; 15 points. The Vikings have scored 30 goals but have also only given up 30 goals putting them currently in the middle of the league point wise but with 3 more wins than losses. Anisimov and Machado are leading the team in scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively and the 3rd overall pick in the “E” draft, goalie Artyomov, has played in 9 of the 12 games so far winning 5 of them with a nice .935 save percentage and a GAA of 2.53. 4th place – Bratislava Watchmen – 7-5-0; 14 points. Similar to the Vikings, the Watchmen have not scored as many goals as the top 2 teams in the league with just 30, but are tied for the second best defensive team by only giving up 29 on the season as they are only 3 points out of first place. They also have a couple of players who are averaging more than a point per game in Boudreaux Jr who has 14 points and Callahan with 13. Their rookie goalie, “W”, has been stellar so far with 6 wins in 9 games and a massive .942 save percentage, a GAA of 2.31 and one shoutout on the season. 5th place – Rome Gladiators – 5-6-1; 11 points. Here is where there is some separation among the teams, but the Gladiators are still only 6 points out of first. They have scored the least amount of goals in the season with 26 but they have only given up 32 on the season which is keeping them in shouting distance of the higher places in the league. Clark has played well in goal so far this season with a 2.56 GAA and a .931 save percentage and has started all 12 games this season winning 5 of them. 3 of their top 4 scorers are defensemen with RW Hoover II leading the team in points with 11. 6th place – Oslo Storm – 1-10-1; 3 points. Its been a tough season so far for the Storm as they have the second worst offense in the league and given up the most goals so far by a decent margin. Getting themselves this far in a hole this early in the season gives them time to dig out of it, but the cards are getting stacked against them quickly. They do have 2 players averaging a point or more a game in Goncalves and Dover. 705 words; claiming w/e 9-3-23 for 6 tpe

“We have had a great start to the season so far in the first 10 games of the season with a 6-3-1 record and sit in second place. It looks like the “E” is going to be fairly competitive among the top 5 teams in the league and either one winning streak or one losing streak could move a team up and down the standings several spots, but there is still a lot of hockey to be played. Our goalies and defense have played well this season and we just have to find a way to get more pucks into the back of the net especially when we are playing 5 on 5 even strength hockey.” “As for my game so far this season, I had expected to have more than 4 points in the first 10 games and way better than a 7% shooting percentage. Having just 3 goals on 44 shots isn’t going to cut it for the team and I have to do better especially since 2 of my 3 goals have come on the power play and only 1 is even strength. Also being a -2 on the season isn’t great either since the majority of the team is a plus in that category. Its been a learning experience so far and I will just continue to work hard out there and hope the goals and assists will come as the season goes along.”

1 -- playing half a season with Miami in the "M", then a playoff round with them and finally drafted by Stockholm in the "E" draft and Helsinki in the VHL draft 2 -- probably end of up as a first line winger on both the regular lines and the power play lines and hopefully as the season goes on, be counted on scoring big goals in big situations for the team 3 -- it will make the league more competitive and have less of the players spread out among the teams which will make hopefully more depth for the current teams as long as there are enough players to go around 4 -- spartan 5 -- Mystery, Alaska 6 -- any type of spicy salami

With 5 picks in the top 25 of the VHLE draft including 4 picks in the first 11, the Stockholm Vikings were able to rebuild their roster for the upcoming season and will look to improve upon last season’s last place finish to make the playoffs and challenge for a championship. GOALIES Ryan Artyomov and Jeffrey Blake With the 3rd overall pick in the VHLE draft, Stockholm drafted Artyomov to be the anchor in goal this season and he will see the bulk of action with Blake stepping in every few games to give him a break. While being one of the better goalies in the “E” this season, Artyomov has the rebound control, hand speed and reaction time to steal games for the Vikings and provide the team the solid goaltending they need to make a deep run in the playoffs this season. DEFENSE Celise Pereira, Eldon Escobar, Roy Krishna and Tommy Sleeves Stockholm picked up a couple of defensemen early in the draft but only Sleeves will be making the jump to the “E” and will be the true “defensive type of defensemen” on the team that can also be hard hitting as well. Pereira and Escobar will be more of the offensive type of defensemen that will man the top power play unit from the blue line who can carry the puck out of the defensive zone and make the passes up to the forwards in the neutral zone for breakouts. Kirshna is the prototypical two-way defensemen that can chip in offensively while still being able to be sound in his own end. OFFENSE Austin Goulet, Chris Sanzone, Diego Machado, Alexandre Crosby, Maxim Anisimov, McDonalds BigMac, Ronald Johnson MacWallace III and Steven mcdard With 2 of those 5 picks in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected Anisimov and Crosby to round out their forward spots on the top 2 lines. Anisimov will be the first line right winger who is smooth skating, puck handling play making winger who can also put the puck into the net. Crosby will also probably jump on the first line as a left winger and is more of a power forward / two-way forward who can score but can also back check and play some defense to create turnovers. The first line will be centered by Ronald Johnson MacWallace III who is a master in the face off dot and can do everything else well including getting the puck into the net and finding his teammates for shots on goal as well. The second line center will be Machado who is very similar to MacWallace in terms of Machado can do a little bit of everything but isnt as strong in face offs or scoring but is a little bit of a better passer. On right wing will be BigMac and on left wing will be Sanzone both of whom are capable of both passing and scoring decently. McDard and Goulet will both see action on the 3rd line. Through the VHLE draft, the Stockholm Vikings were able to restock a couple of forwards, a defenseman and a goalie for the upcoming season to improve upon their last place finish from last season. With these new additions to go along with the pieces already in place, the Vikings should be able to make the playoffs this season and hopefully challenge for a championship at the end of the season.

“I am looking forward to getting the season started in Stockholm and I will go out on a limb now and say we will win more than 3 games this season for sure. From the forwards to the defense and to the goalies, I think we have a solid team this season that will contend for a playoff spot and hopefully make a deep run toward the “E” championship. As we continue to improve over the course of the season, it will definitely be interesting to see how the lines change from where are starting the season to the end based on who improves and how well we mesh together.” “As for my off season, I have been hard at work both on and off the ice. Off the ice, I have been watching what I eat and hitting the gym to get stronger and work on my stamina through running and riding the stationary bike. On the ice, it has been a lot of skating both win and without pucks, puck handling drills and working on back checking and defensive zone coverage and turning into offense after a turnover. Still taking a lot of wrist and slap shots daily from all over the ice to make sure my offensive game doesn’t fall off either.”

1 - Helsinki hit the draft out of the park and set the team up great for seasons to come 2 - probably just another D man; Oven looks like he may have to make the jump to the pros which is also good to have another active on the team 3 - working on my skating, puck handling and defense while still maintaining my work on my offensive game 4 - yes i definitely think my game will help Stockholm win more than 3 games in this upcoming season and hopefully make a run at the playoffs as well 5 - just the wait and missing boxscores without my player in it 6 - the future is bright for the team and starting with this season and beyond, Helsinki will definitely be competitive and a team to look out for in a couple of seasons

With the 25th pick in the S90 VHLE draft, the Stockholm Vikings select, from Italy, winger Alexandre Crosby. This was the day after the VHL draft in which Crosby was selected 17th overall, the first pick in the second round, to the Helsinki Titans. “I learned a lot in my time in Miami and I had great teammates and great GM’s who helped to shape my game in that league, but the time has come for me to move onto the “E” and test my skills out against the talented players in that league.” Personal Expectations One of the big things Crosby will work on will be improving his overall game which will include working on his defense, skating and puck handling while continuing to put the puck in the net for his new team. Stats will not come easy though for Crosby as he will be going up again bigger, stronger and faster players. Crosby will also need to work on hitting the weight room, eating right and doing aerobic exercises to build his conditioning so he has legs in the third period. Crosby is coming out of the VHL draft with a chip on his shoulder and that work of proving other teams wrong for passing on him starts in Stockholm by skating hard, back checking like a MF'er, shooting the puck like crazy and getting W's for his team. “I want to be that player that is out there in all situations whether it be the power play or penalty killing or if its in the last minutes of a game and we either need a goal to win or tie or hold the opposition from scoring. I would love to come into my first season and be at least a point per game player where I am getting around 35 goals and close to 40 assists. More importantly, I want to make sure I am a “+” player where the team can count on me defensively to create turnovers and turn them into scoring chances in our end.” Team Expectations The Vikings only won 3 games last season so Crosby wants to be a part of the team that has a massive turnaround this season and contends for a playoff spot with the other top end talent the team got in the draft as well as some of the other players from the now defunct teams. “I want to learn from the more veteran leaders on the team what it takes to be a leader not only on this team but also in the VHL in the future and absorb everything they have to offer both on and off the ice so that I can possess those same leadership and experience skills for my career. I’d love to be a captain of a team down the road and that leadership learning experience starts the moment I step onto Viking ice.”

Earlier this week, Alexandre Crosby was drafted into the VHL by the Helsinki Titans and the next night, he was drafted into the VHLE by the Stockholm Vikings. He was not the only player drafted by each of those and below is a recap of each team’s draft and the potential teammates Crosby will have this upcoming season in the VHLE and in the future in the VHL. Helsinki Titans VHL Draft #1 overall pick – D YaBoi Oven – Oven was the overall number one consensus pick and for good reason as his TPE was head and shoulders above everyone else’s. He turned in quite a season from the blue line for Ottawa this past season with 10 goals and 31 assists for 41 points to go along with 163 hits and 122 shot blocks. 7 of his 10 goals were on the power play and he even scored one shorthanded goal. He should be a stud on the blue line that the Titans can build around for seasons to come. Oven with one of his many hits on the season VHL Draft #16 overall pick – C Bruise Banner – Banner comes from the same Ottawa VHLM team as Oven does and scored 25 goals and 23 assists on the season with 128 hits and 237 shots. With Dixon getting close to retirement, Banner will be called upon to be one of the centers of the future for the Titans and the eventual #1 center. VHL Draft #17 overall pick – W Alexandre Crosby – Crosby only played 38 games for Miami in the VHLM and scored 20 goals and had 41 points and turned around another 10 points in 6 games in the playoffs against the #1 seed. Crosby will spend a season in the VHLE to hone his skills like Banner will and will come into the VHL with a little chip on his shoulder as he was passed over by some teams late in the first round. Crosby carrying the puck into the offense zone for the Miami Mauraders in S89 VHL Draft #23 overall pick – D Tommy Sleeves – Another draft pick from Ottawa, Sleeves had 45 points on the season with 10 of those finding the back of the net. Sleeves will provide solid 2-way play for the Titans and could possibly see #1 dman pairing with Oven before its all said and done. He also had 178 hits and 136 shot blocks. All 4 of these picks should make the jump to the pros within the next couple of seasons and will provide a solid foundation for the Titans VHL Draft 3rd / 4th rounds – W Barry McOckiner and W Gremlis Lielais – both of these players turned in solid seasons in the “M” with McOckiner getting 52 points and Lielais having 43. Both players could turn out to be steals from the later rounds in the draft and provide some solid depth on the Titans in a few seasons as long as they continue to update. Stockholm Vikings The Vikings had 4 picks in the top 11 to restock the team and with the #3 overall pick, the Vikings selected goaltender Ryan Artyomov who will step right into the #1 goalie role with the team. Up next at the #8 pick was defensemen Tommy Sleeves who will step right in and provide some depth along the blueline. With the 10th pick in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected winger, Maxim Anisimov. Anisimov had a near 90 point season in the “M” with 39 goals and will probably jump right onto the first line to provide some scoring for the team. And the last of those 4 picks at the #11 spot was another defensemen in O.S. Canut du Bocage who will also see some significant minutes along the blueline. In round 4, the Vikings selected winger Alexander Crosby who will provide some depth on the second line while working on his two-way game for the team. And then in the later rounds of the draft, the Vikings selected 3 wingers and a defensemen, all of whom for now will sit on the team’s depth chart.

“Leading up to the draft I was quite nervous and although I had talked with several teams, I had no idea where I was going to go. I had an idea in the range of being late first round to early second round and that’s exactly where I fell on draft night. It was a thrill to hear my name called by Helsinki and have my years of hard work pay off to finally be on the path to making it to the VHL. There’s still a lot of hard work left to go though and I am going to work hard with my new teammates and management team to do what I need to improve to help Helsinki win a championship in the future.” “However, the VHLE draft was a little more nerve racking as round by round kept going by and I didn’t hear my named called. I mean it makes sense in that I may only play one season there and the players that will probably play 2 seasons will get drafted first, but then the end of the 4th round came and Stockholm called my name. At least I wont have to travel to far when the time comes to go from the VHLE to the VHL and I ll do what I can to improve my game and help the Vikings win.”

1. so far everything has been great and i look forward to a long and rewarding career in Helsinki 2. earn as much tpe as possible, bank them and then figure out where to distribute them too based on my GM's opinion 3. podcasts and following different things on social media - with Dubas as GM, it has been an eventful offseason 4. havent had one as of yet 5. no, too old for that stuff anymore 6. great way to stock pile youth and set the team up for the long term