kareykoala

If you remove the players taken because of positional needs, you would be in the first round. After the top 5, it wasn't a best player available draft but rather a roster spot filler. You were the sixth best forward available. Three goalies were taken ahead of you to teams NEEDING goalies And three defensemen had their name called because of positional needs (except Richardson, who was drafted because he is amazing) 6 + 3 + 3 = 12th Really, you dropped two spots in the draft. Stop complaining and prove all these GM's wrong.

Especially that Erikson kid in the minors. #swooning

When is this happening?

I'll hook you up. It's only fitting because you are going to win us a championship this year.

Player Name: Andrew Erikson VHL Team: Cash you have: 10M Purchase Name: Triple Award Prediction Cost of Purchase: 4.5M Cash Left: 5.5M

Tenacious, is that you? It's soooo pretty

For those who are photography enthusiasts or the iPhone amateur. Post your gear: Some photos you are proud of: Discuss techniques/gear:

I fricking just died inside. Going to delete photoshop now.

andrew erikson.

Late night TV endorsements.

As a member of the Ottawa Lynx, owners of the first three picks, I would really want you to join our locker room and help us win a championship and trash hotel rooms along the way. but I am not the GM nor a magical predicting genie.

I would love it.

Titans 2 gud.

and I am ok with that.

Give it to him. End this discussion.

Matching 10th place high-fives

I'll volunteer to go inactive.. If it's for the team... And for my GPA

Man, I couldn't stop. I have over commitment issues

The draft is usually the time of year when a team can reflect on their past season and look to the future by adding in some youthful players who can enhance the team in some way. The norm is that a team would pick up that top prospect and develop them into their system to go along with the team that has already been built, praying that the potential they see can come to fruition and change the dynamic of the team for the better without losing assets. Occasionally, a team has a good year where they pick up a couple quality players, but in a lot of cases, many years are complete busts for teams where no player drafted that year ends up making a significant impact in the league. For the Helsinki Titans, this year was f***ing brilliant. The undisputed top 4 prospects of the S39 draft were easily Faraday, Miller, Koji, and Stokes. Mock drafts were all over the place as they couldn't pin down where each player would go. It seemed as if the spots were completely changeable, but the fact is that the unpredictability of this years draft wasn't due to the players not being of elite quality, the unpredictability came from each of those players being a sure-fire, can't miss, game breaking, team changing player. Faraday, came into the draft as the hot-topic player due to his immense potential. Never has a player been so feared, not for his skill now, but the prospect of his skill down the road. He almost resembles that of a microwavable Pizza Pop. You know it's going to taste amazing when it hits your mouth, but you have to wait 90 seconds of rotating cheesy bliss before you burn the roof of your mouth with this beauty. We know Faraday is going to take the league by storm, but first we wait. One could be lured by the bag of chips hanging out in the corner to quench that salty fix, but the idea of waiting, just a little bit longer to bite into that saucy pocket, is enough to play the waiting game. Koji, the sole player in this article not to be drafted by the Helsinki Titans is the new kid in school, and has taken the league by storm with his work ethic, creativity, and overall charm. There has never been a first generation, Japanese bombshell like him before. Teams, drooling at the possibility of being able to own this hard-nosed defensemen are willing to risk their lottery pick to take this flashy prospect early on. Sticking to the food analogy, Koji Yamazaki resembles that brand new flavour of cereal your mom buys from the store, you know, the one that isn't cheerios because you have been slaving away at that super big bulk box of cheerios your mom bought at Costco last month and it's getting boring to eat the same sh*t everyday, so when you see that colourful new box of fruity pebbles, you tear open the brand new cereal, pour yourself a bowl, realize that you are already done, pour yourself another bowl and gulp down the fruity flavour sugar milk without a care in the world because it wasn't cheerios. Yeah, Koji is that cereal. He brings a new flavour to the league and teams are not going to pass up on that opportunity to gulp him down. Stokes is a lock. He is a player that is going to win you games, put up big points, and make you regret not drafting him. These qualities are a lock for any first overall pick, but because of the deep draft pool, Stokes was taken at number three. Mr. Reliability may end up being the best player in this deep draft and nobody would bat an eye as the two previous picks themselves were justifiable but there is no denying the quality of this young prospect. Stokes, is always going to bring you joy, he is always going to be there, and there is absolutely no way that you will ever regret drafting him. Stokes is bacon, there is no regret when you are eating bacon, and regardless of how fat you get, you will love it. Imagine this, if you were the only person on the planet, and you had a surplus of bacon, there is absolutely nothing from stopping you devouring as much bacon as you possibly imagine because bacon is always good. There is no pretty girl to impress and when you die of sodium induced cardiac arrest, you will die happy. Miller, ok hear me out. Jackson Miller is by far and away the best player in this draft. At the time of selection, he was the best player available at number one. But, because of his history as well as the enticing attributes of the other players, Miller fell out of the top three down to .... NUMBER 5?!? The best player in the draft fell to number 5? Ok. Jackson Miller was not given as much credit and teams were lured into drafting others before him, yeah to fit situational needs, but there is no way it was justified that he drop that far. In the history of the VHL, never has a player with that much skill gone that low, and in a 10 team league, going at the midpoint of the first round is not a place for any future elite player, but because of the other variables, he fell. Miller is that bag of chips. He is good right away, he was good yesterday, and if you seal up that bag, he will be good tomorrow. He is the perfect bite, crunch, salty snack to give you that fix. He may not be as savoury as a pizza pops or bacon, nor is he as flashy as fruity pebbles after a month of cheerios, but he is a timeless snack that can be enjoyed on a universal scale. Now, Helsinki, the team this article started at before I got sidetracked by my desire for a midnight snack, was able to draft 3/4 players listed above. 3/4 potential 1st overall picks. That is almost the equivalent of owning the first overall pick for 3 years straight. That is a rare luxury but Helsinki was able to do that in one year. So now that I have professed my love of my new team, and have become that annoying home-team homer everybody hates, I am going to eat some carb/fat heavy snack food and be happy.

Official Who to Judge Thread

Can't believe you read that far down: I'm honoured. I am going to go drink an Old Fashioned and smoke a carton for you

ANDREW ERIKSON: 10th Overall Andrew Erikson, the spunky Dane sensation that, along with a talented squad in Ottawa, helped the underdog Lynx team leapfrog deep into the VHLM playoffs to only be bounced by the inevitable champions, the northern powerhouse, Yukon Rush. Erikson came into the VHLM as a relative unknown, and because of low exposure of the minor league itself, with league competition coming from the OHL, AHL, VHL, NHL, and even the ever rivalled SHL, Erikson was drafted into the VHL with little national exposure himself as there is little space for the up and coming players of the VHLM to get airtime minutes on the leading national sports networks. That being said, many managers noticed Erikson's playmaking abilities and maturity, and had him going early in mock drafts even with this draft being the deepest on paper in recent memory. With the likes of James Faraday, Jackson Miller, Tyson Stokes, Koji Yamasushi, and Mikkel Boomgaarden being the undisputed top 5 players walking into draft day, Erikson's name was not foreign to lottery pick draft discussions as a few teams were ready to take the risk on the raw Dane in the top five as his talent contained elite potential, albeit in definite need of development. "His game could really open up and ripen into that elite level offensive play-maker with a level headed composure every team is in need of. Even though he is young and his experience is not much to go on, if I had him on my team come draft day, I am going to make sure he sees time on the power-play as a fourth forward in a 4-1 formation, because that composure, maturity, control of game-pace is unquestionably a rarity in a fast paced shoot-first league like the VHL." - anonymous VHL GM Andrew Erikson was eventually drafted as the last pick of the first round as the 10th overall pick. To the surprise of many and delight of Helsinki, Erikson fell as a result of a transaction frenzy that took place. It appears that teams were stockpiling players and picks to benefit their delicate build-model through this years incoming class rather than taking the best player available. “It was a character draft. The skill set of a 19 year old amateur is not enough to go on and teams found their match in players who they could raise and call their own. It is not about a player who can pad their stat sheet tomorrow, but one who can create a culture of excellence the day after. Many teams did not see that in me over my peers, maybe because I am a quiet producer or maybe because they don’t see me as somebody they can build around. It’s ok, because the team that wanted me got me. I don’t have to be the best player on Helsinki’s lineup, I don’t even have to play a single minute and they are going to be win. This was proven today with the players they selected. That kind of pedigree will only make me a stronger player, that kind of pedigree will win us championships.” - Andrew Erikson in reference to his draft day free fall Erikson’s emotional quote is in reference to Sam Keeler and Lukas Nyquist, two players who saw their names called in sequential picks prior to Erikson’s in yesterday’s first round selection, who themselves were pegged to be taken later in the draft as possible second round picks but managed to woo the GM’s of the New York Americans and Calgary Wranglers to take them over the Dane. The Helsinki Titans, the eventual winners of Friday’s draft saw their already deep prospect pool substantially grow as the draft saw them pick up Jackson Miller, James Faraday, and Tyson Stokes, three players that jockeyed for the first overall selection. “I don't think the draft could have gone any better, we got four guys in the first round that I had ranked in the top five. If you told me two weeks ago Faraday, Stokes, Miller, and Erikson would be Titans. I'd be worried how many picks I had to give up to move up that many times. I'm insanely happy right now. This team is 2 f***ing guuuuud.“ - STZ, General Manager of the Helsinki Titans STZ was also interviewed directly after Erikson’s selection and emphatically had this to say about the young Ottawa Lynx forward:“I’m so excited to have him here. We had him pegged as a top five early on, and I'm still in shock he went at 10. GM's gonna be kickin themselves here soon.” Now there is no doubt the big three of this years draft are Miller, Stokes, and Faraday. They will be championing a young team for the foreseeable future with the likes of play-maker Chris Raymond, last years first overall selection Vojczek Svoboda, the mesmerizingly suave Don Draper, goaltender Kimmo Salo, and captain Jake Wylde. But, with all this skill already in play, a young player like Erikson, who won’t be called upon to be a producer right away, gives him time to develop with a young team of superstars and can become the role player they need. “I am happy, I am not going to have my jersey hung on the rafters, I am not going to be the hardware winner on this talented squad, I am not going to be the saviour of the franchise, and I am probably not going to be remembered after I am done with this league and I am ok with that because at the end of the day, I am the one that is going to fight with everything I have to see my teammates get their jersey up on those rafters, I am the one who is going to step in when needed and dig a little deeper so they win that hardware, I am going to bleed to bring another championship to Helsinki, and I am going to feel pride every time I see a young fan wearing my jersey because it isn’t about the name on the back that matters to me, it’s the fact that the name on the back reflects the image on the chest. My name may be Andrew Erikson, but as of today, I am a Titan.”

S39: Jackson Miller, James Faraday, Tyson Stokes, Andrew Erikson S38: Vojczek Svoboda, Jake Wylde, Don Draper, and Chris Raymond... That is what you call a core

They were amazing role players that had a cult following with similar tragic deaths before hitting their prime. RIP