Juddy

In the season 66 draft the top 5 players selected were all forwards, the very first defensemen selected was Charlie Paddywagon at six overall to Davos. At 6’4” Charlie is a big body but also turned into a good skater and puck handler. His rookie season was a bit of a let down, with only 15 assists and a single goal and his defensive stats don’t really jump out either. Each year he has made steady improvements. In a re draft scenario he would’ve been selected third or fourth overall taking the place of Mars. The next pick was the second defensemen taken in the draft. Jerry Garcia has turned into a really good two way defender who can bang in the corners but also quarterback the power play. His rookie season he has 27 assists and 31 points. He also had 119 hits and 145 shots blocked. He has improved in all those stats each year in the league. If we were to re draft he’d go third or fourth overall, and the team at 3 would have a hard choice between Paddywagon and Garcia, but would get a great player either way.

This Week with David Wallace: History Lesson Like our article last week, this week we are moving our focus off of Las Vegas Aces player David Wallace, to focus on the history of the VHL. We will take a quik look into the Season 66 draft to see how some of these players faired and if they are even still around. First overall pick was Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He has totaled 956 TPE since his start in the league and has had a good career. He has played 214 games for two organizations and has put up 80 goals and 89 assists for 169 points. He’s played 16 playoff games with 5 goals and 5 assists. Julius Freeman went 2nd overall and has played all of his games for the Vancouver franchise, with 216 games played putting up 82 goals and 99 assists for 181 points. He has also amassed 843 TPE in his career. Freeman has played 35 playoff games adding 13 goals and 13 assists to his career totals. The third overall pick was a bit of a bust. In the minors Shane Mars put up some really good numbers, 76 games played over two seasons and had 62 goals and 57 assists for 119 points in the minors. His rookie year in the VHL also went well putting up 46 goals and 48 assists in 72 games. He then suffered the dreaded sophomore slump, only putting up 27 goals and 33 assists in his 72 games. Then in his third year in the league he dropped off the face of the earth. He played in every game but only put up 1 goal and 1 assist. All three seasons he played for Seattle and only has made 381 TPE, which isn’t horrible but comparing him to the 1st and 2nd overall it’s a huge let down. The first two picks carved out good careers for themselves but Seattle must be regretting Mars at number 3 especially with Mikko Aaltonen going at number four with his 649 TPE. He has a slow start to his career but has picked up his game as he grew and developed. In 216 games he’s totaled 79 goals and 87 assists for 166 points. He only has 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 playoffs games. He seems to not like the bright lights of the playoffs. The top 4 were all forwards and only one miss from the four selected. Mars might’ve have been the best of the four if he kept up with the TPE of the other players, but he was unable to do so and will be lucky to find a job in the coming seasons. Helmsley was the only player on the list to play To be traded, while Aaltonen being the only one to be selected by an expansion team in the most recent draft. The Dragons got a top notch player in the expansion draft giving them a piece to build around for the foreseeable future. This was a good top of the draft, outside of Mars, and the teams involved seemed to have selected the best players at the time and for the future. Drafts can be tricky, you never know if a player will pan out to his projections. The number one pick can be a generational talent or a mega bust. Mars was a bust at where he was selected but if he was selected later in the draft he would’ve been a solid player.

This Week with the Las Vegas Aces These articles usually center around VHLM forward David Wallace, but this week we decided to take a different route and examine his team the Las Vegas Aces. With 52 games played the Aces currently sit in third place with 33 wins 15 losses and 4 overtime losses for a total of 70 points. Minnesota sits 3 points ahead of the Aces and Houston is 7 points ahead. Aces general manager @Matt_O made a lot of great moves last year to set the team up for this year. He acquired additionally draft picks, while still managing to make the playoffs last season, and with those draft picks acquiring some of the best young talent available in the VHLM draft pool. With three first round picks, numbers 3,4, and 7, the aces selected George Washington, Benny Graves, and Cinnamon Block. That set the team up to be very deep at the center position while also giving them a defender to build their blue line around. In the second round the Aces has two picks and used one on David Wallace and the other on Blacker Velvet. These moves gave the team a solid top pair and a winger for either line. Selecting Bruce Grimaldi was @Matt_O only mistake made this draft, as Grimaldi went and played in the VHL for Prague. Jeff Tates and Benny Graves currently lead to VHLM in scoring, Tates with 108 points and Graves with 107. They have been on a crazy pace and many thought this was just a short run but they both have sustained in all season, and their VHL are anticipating their arrival to help bolster their respective teams. Cinnamon Block lead the defense with 64 points 58 of which are assists. This silky puck moving defensemen will one day be an all star in the VHL. Have all these players good season produced wins? Or has the depth of the Aces been the key factor to their winning? After the top 3 the Aces have two players with 52 points, and three players in the 40’s for points and one more at 39 points. Wallace has been hard on himself but it’s likely without his production the team would’ve suffered a few more losses. With out the Tates and Graves producing the way they have been, maybe someone like Wallace or Washington or Foilen could’ve stepped up and put up those numbers. This team has been as good as they are because they are a good team, on and off the ice. They go out as a group on off nights, they workout out together, and carpool together. They respect each other, motivate each other, and help each other out. Tates might be the leader on the score board most nights but he doesn’t act like a snobby superstar. Wallace and Washington May not put up as many points as they want to but they are not crying about lack of ice time or wanting more, they show up play their role and help the team get the win however they can. That’s why, even though they don’t lead the league in points, they will make a deep playoff run and should be considered one of the best teams in the VHLM.

This Week with David Wallace The Las Vegas Aces have been on fire the past few weeks and are on a six game winning streak. The team is being led by Benny Graves and Ben Tate, who are having two of the best seasons in the VHLM in recent history. They have 94 and 91 points in 42 games, and are not slowing down one bit. They are on the top line for the Aces, complimenting each other perfectly. That brings us to line two with David Wallace on the wing and only having 35 points in 42 games. After choosing the Aces as a free agent last year, Wallace was waiting to see who selected him and was glad to get back to the Aces especially with their extreme depth. He was poised to have a breakout year with a full training camp and an off season with a lot of training. This has yet to translate to points, he has not hurt his team with his lack of production yet. Wallace continues to improve his game each week and has impressed coaches and management with his dedication. Wallace has been named captain of the Aces because of his work ethic and dedication to the team. He is also one of the longest tenured player the Aces have and is a great locker room guy. I feel like I have been letting my team down with my play, I know I can produce more and doing my best to contribute anyway I can. Said Wallace after a recent win. I am just glad we are winning, I will get going soon enough, as long as we continue to win I’ll be happy. Those comments from Wallace show why he was chosen as captain for the Aces, he is all about the team. In other news with Wallace, he was selected to play for Team World in the upcoming World Junior Classic. What an honor, I mean I’d love to be on an England team, but to be able to play in this tournament is huge. I will do everything I can to help push Team World to a gold medal finish. Said Wallace. His agent Juddy had also applied to be a general manager for the World Junior Classic, and did not get the job. Juddy has been very active in trying to get a front office role and has yet to get a job. He has interview for several assistant jobs and did get an interview for the WJC general manager but was not selected. There were other more qualified options and Juddy understands why he was not selected. Wallace is a player on the rise though and even though he says he’s having a down year he still is almost at a point per game, and one hit streak will put him over that mark easily. His teammates have joked that he’s saving himself for the playoff where they’ll see him go off. Last year in play offs Wallace had 4 goals and an assist in five games, so when the light shine brightest he shows up. If he can do that in the playoffs this year he just may be the playoff MVP and the first the hoist the VHLM trophy.

I’ll apply, my player is from United Kingdom so not sure if that’s Tran world or Europe but I’ll apply for the team I’d have a chance to be on