Ricer13

175 Vancouver Wolves @ Riga Reign 176 D.C. Dragons @ New York Americans 177 Toronto Legion @ Helsinki Titans 178 Prague Phantoms @ Malmo Nighthawks

4-2 riga

As a Child Born in Red Deer, Alberta Kris wasn’t introduced to hockey until he was about five years old. Before the age of five his parents experimented. Each season he would play in a different sport to see if there was something he would find interest in. They put him in soccer one season but Kris never seemed to have much interest. He was one of those kids either socializing or chasing butterflies around the field. They tried baseball another season, Kris showed some interest in baseball but only when he got to hit the ball. They continued to try different sports such as basketball, gymnastics and swimming but he never seemed to really enjoy any of it. When Kris was four his family went out tobogganing like they always did during the cold winter days. They had been at the hill for a few hours, his parents were busy getting his younger sister ready to go home. They turn around and Kris was missing. Of course both parents were panicking look all over the hill and around the playground near by but could not find him. His dad caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye. Kris was standing on top of a chunk of ice next to the outdoor rink across the field from the hill. He was watching as the other kids and adults were playing a scrimmage hockey game. His dad ran over to make sure he was okay and to explain to him why he can’t just walk away like that. Kris told his dad he wanted to do what those kids were doing and then continued to watch. Kris’ parents never thought about putting him hockey because of the cost to play. They made the choice to put him in skating lessons to see if he would even enjoy that. After Christmas that winter Kris started to learn how to skate. Weeks went by and he seemed to be excelling at a much faster rate than any other kid. He also continued to ask his parents when he could get a stick and start playing like those kids he saw before. Kris never lost the passion to want to try hockey and as winter ended his parents decided that they would save up for a few months and enrol him in next years season. As the season neared Kris got his first stick and ball. He spent the last few weeks of summer running around the drive way with the stick and ball and trying to shoot at the garage door. Finally the day came where he got to play on the ice for the first time. Minor Hockey Right from the start of his hockey career Kris was passionate and intense. Not long after he first started he was skating faster than any kid in his age group. As each year passed Kris continued to move up the ranks going from Novice B hockey in Red Deer to playing AA hockey in his second year of Atom. After his first year of playing peewee AA Kris was the number 1 ranked forward in Alberta. Kris was never the biggest kid and never was he the smallest. He was always the fastest. His shot continued to progress through his minor hockey years but it was his vision and playmaking abilities that made him stand out from off the rest. He was always six steps ahead of any other kid his age. In his first year of peewee he was moved up to Bantam in the hopes that he could play with kids with a higher skill level than his own and really push him to become a better player. After a few months of adjustment to playing with bigger, older and more skilled kids, Kris began to push his game beyond what any one had expected from him. Kris finished out his minor hockey years continuing to grow as a player each and every year. Not only on the ice but off the ice as well. He would be tested in his final year of Bantam to see what his character was really made of. Tragedy or Triumph? When Kris was playing in Bantam the year he was going to be eligible for the Draft into the juniors, his dad got hurt. He fell from a ladder 20 feet in the air and broke his back. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He couldn’t work anymore and was being paid through workers compensation. This was barely enough to pay the bills let alone pay for Kris to play hockey. Kris devastated that he wouldn’t be able to play in his draft year but his emotions were more fuelled by the fact he almost lost his dad. His parents saw Kris’ selflessness putting his dad and his health before his love for the game. They reached out to friends, family and Red Deer Minor Hockey to exercise any option they could to get Kris to play. The community came together to help one of their own. The funds were raised and Kris was able to play. Junior Kris was taken first overall by his hometown team Red Deer Rebels. Kris was overwhelmed with emotion. He was able to play for his hometown team that he watched since he was a child. The most important thing however is that he was still close enough to his family to be able to continue to help his father manage his new life as a paraplegic. Kris went on to have an extremely successful stint with the Red Deer Rebels which put him on the map to be considered for the VHML draft. He was approached by a few teams but knew that making this next step in his career meant being further from his family. His father explained how proud he was of Kris and how it was now his time to put his dreams first. Reluctantly, Kris declared for the draft. Kris was taken by the Mississauga Hounds and made his way cross country to his new team. He keeps in contact with his family every day since he’s joined the team. A player with immense skill but even stronger character. Word count : 1040

Journal Entry #2 Hello everyone, this is Kris Rice from the Mississauga Hounds back for the second entry of my weekly journal. At the time I am writing this the Mississauga Hounds have completed eighteen games. We are nine games ahead of the last time I checked in. What a turn around it has been for our team. The Hounds are sitting tied for fourth in the standings with Mexico City. We currently hold a respectable 10-6-2 record and are only getting better. The team is currently being led by a trio of offensive dynamos. Balentine Kidd leads the team in goals, assists and points. Jerry Wang tied with Balentine in goals and of course Brock Louth who is right on there heels for the team scoring title. As for myself I am currently 5th on the team in scoring but no where near the level of the gentlemen mentioned above. I have found myself playing as more of a role player through the first few weeks. Similar to last week I will break down the week that was for myself as a player and what I can do to continue to help our surging team succeed. Defense Last week I really harped on how poor my defense had been during the first week of play. I was minus ten over that stretch and not doing my team any favours. Well I’m happy to report that I’m still currently sitting at a minus ten rating. Of course those numbers don’t seem great but over the last nine game stretch I’ve played at a zero plus minus to remain at minus ten.This is a huge step forward in my defensive play. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done but I take pride in my defensive game and it will be an attribute that I will continue to work on. Offence Another area that has improved over the last nine games. After the first week I had one goal and two assists in nine games. After another nine games I am sitting at four goals and 5 assists. This is a six point effort over a span of nine games. It doesn’t show off that I am an elite level scorer but it is showing progress. I do contribute this to the whole team playing better as a unit which is allowing each individual to succeed as well. Miscellaneous Another stat I wanted to touch on were hits. I added another ten hits over the last 9 games. This is a continuing trend of physicality that I take pride in. My discipline has been on point since day one. Over eighteen games I’ve only managed seven minutes in penalty time. Being able to play a physical defensive game and stay disciplined is extremely important. Whats next? As I continue to work on the individual components of my game such as defensive play and contributing on the score sheet, my main goal is to help the team push past where we currently sit in the standings. Over the next few weeks we could be contending for a top three spot and maybe before season end we can lock down the top spot in the league. I will continue to progress and build to be the best that I can be for the Mississauga Hounds. Thanks again to anyone who might be following these threads. Doing these journals helps me keep track of how the team is progressing on a more detailed basis and of course how I am progressing as a player. I will check back in with another report sometime over the next week or two! Salute! Word count: 613

1) The Hounds made a goalie signing this week, picking up Nicolas Fomba (@efiug) as our second goalie. Who wins the battle for Hounds goalie dominance, Fomba or Lukas Schweitzer? 1. Fomba comes in and steals the show. 2) What's your single favorite emoji to drop in Hounds Discord? 2. Drunk bird is everyone’s fav, no? 3) The Hounds have three players in the top 10 in points league-wide. Does this surprise you? 3. I am not surprised. Our top end talent is right there with the best. It us depth guys who need to pick up the pace. 4) Do you think our chances of success are higher or lower than they were at the start of the season? 4. Higher. It’s been a steady climb throughout the first couple weeks and it’ll continue that way. 5) The team starts a tennis tournament, and you can pick one player to be your doubles partner. Who is it? Wang! 6) @fonziGG, general manager of Halifax, knocks on your door with some religious material. Do you let him in? Started ripping into him about the no soliciting sign I have on my door.

Signed up for yahoo 1. No bench players?

2-0 helsinki

100 Helsinki Titans @ Calgary Wranglers 101 Malmo Nighthawks @ Vancouver Wolves 102 HC Davos Dynamo @ Prague Phantoms 103 Riga Reign @ Toronto Legion

I have no idea how to even start doing graphics. How do I do this haha?

No worries No worries! It’s only constructive

Review: I like the idea of the article. I like the reasoning for each club. It would have been nice to add some photos to the article to liven it up a bit. Also bolding the team names and separating the paragraphs would make it easier for the reader to identify what they are reading.

Review: No pictures were incorporated into this media spot. Also there are a lot of spelling errors. I would just take a few minutes after you are done to read through it and correct any errors.

Review: No use of photos makes it a little bland. I do like that you separated each pro and con and bolded each attribute. Written very well too.

Review: No photos, would have been nice to have you attributes bold as well to make it easier to identify. The info itself is very good and getting it done quickly is great.

Review: Pro: this is a masterpiece! Con: didn’t touch on his hockey career even once. So much history here my mind almost exploded. Great job

Review: One critique I have is the transition from one part of the story to the next was a little awkward in some parts. What I enjoyed was the history lesson we got in the first half of the biography. I always like learning new things about certain cultures. Also, I think tragedy in a story always makes it more personal and therefor brings out the emotion in the person reading it. Great job!

I have a hard time writing about other things. I’m not very creative haha

Journal Entry # 1 Hello everyone, this is Kris Rice from the Mississauga Hounds. I thought I would take a crack at doing Journal entries throughout the season to allow the fans to be able track my progress and be able to understand that I am committed to becoming a better player for their team. I am very excited to be apart of this amazing organization and am excited to be giving you an inside look at my progress throughout the season. It has been nine games since starting my career with the Mississauga Hounds. Acclimating to a new system and playing in a new city has been more of a challenge than I had anticipated. It has not been as seamless as a transition as I had hoped making the move from the WHL to the VMHL. Breaking down my statistics will help me see the areas of my game I need to improve on to make a more positive impact on my team. Offence After nine games I have finished with one goal and two assists. The pace of the game is much faster in the VMHL and I need to find a way to adjust to that. I’m not a typical goal scorer but I feel I should be at least helping set up my teammates better in the offensive zone. I pride myself in being a playmaking forward and with only two assists to start shows I still need to improve on an area of my game that I once considered my strength. Defense The biggest issue I have noticed in my game thus far is my defensive play. I have managed a minus ten in only nine games. My defensive play has been extremely poor and could be a major contributing factor as to why the Mississauga Hounds haven’t been on the winning side of our recent games. I need to focus on being effective not only in the offensive zone but most importantly in my own end. Physicality A stat that I am proud of is where I am with hits after nine games. I have twelve hits over these games and that tells me I haven’t been afraid to shy away from the physical side of the game. Although, looking back I wonder if some of the physical play has put me out of position leading to odd man rushes the other way and ultimately costing us goals against. Ways to Improve As proud as I am of being more physical and aggressive I need to focus more on other areas of the game. Over the next few weeks I will be constantly training on the defensive side of my game. I will be working at improving on angling players off of pucks, increasing the effectiveness of the stick check without taking additional penalties and last but not least my effort when it comes to back checking. As my defensive game improves the offence will not be far behind. By committing myself to constantly growing as a player it will help the Mississauga Hounds turn the corner and become a playoff contender. I will check back in after another set of games to breakdown the ups and downs of my performances and the impact it makes on the Mississauga Hounds. Word count : 547

1. The Hounds aren't off to the world's greatest start. Does this surprise you? It does. I thought we would have a little more success right off the start but as long as we keep building as a team then I can’t see why we won’t continue to get better as the season rolls on. 2. We're also very much a team in progress. Do you think management will be able to throw together a solid roster by the time our season starts? I have faith in our management team to get us back on track. 3. Have you picked up on anything notable about any other teams in the VHLM? If so, what is it? i haven’t because I’ve been trying to focus on improving my build and figuring out what to write about for media posts. 4. If your player were forced to retire today, what position would your recreate play and what would you name them? I would create either a goalie or defenseman. I would name them Yeadly Yangles. 5. What's your favorite band, and what's their best song? Linkin park. Crawling. 6. Brock Louth (@Beaviss) gets drunk one night and insists upon getting a Hounds face tattoo. Do you let it happen, or try to talk him out of it? Try to talk him out of it. Would be a bummer if he got traded shortly after haha

Vancouver wins 4-1

43 Toronto Legion @ Vancouver Wolves 44 Calgary Wranglers @ D.C. Dragons 45 Riga Reign @ Helsinki Titans 46 New York Americans @ Seattle Bears

1. Going into the draft, where did you expect yourself to be picked? Do you think your draft position was fair, or did we pick you earlier or later than you thought? Honestly was not sure where I would be picked. It was earlier than I anticipated which is exciting. Based on the players drafted around me I would say my position was fair. 2. Did you have any idea you were coming to Mississauga? Did your selection surprise you at all? I had a little bit of an idea based on which GMs reached out to me. I was still surprised regardless. 3. If not Mississauga, what team did you think might have picked you? I was only reached out to by Missisauga so I am not sure who else would have taken me. 4. Overall, how do you think the draft went for the Hounds? Could we have done better? The Hounds absolutely killed this draft. The second over all pick was a huge addition but it was the drafting in the later rounds that really solidified how well they did. 5. What are your personal goals for this season? To maintain a steady increase in TPE to keep improving and help our team win. 6. Name as many VHL teams as you can, off the top of your head, without checking anything. Vancouver Wolves Seattle Bears Calgary Wranglers DC Dragons I should maybe do more research haha

Please any critiques are wanted! This is my first piece and I was nervous to write anything.

Post VHLM Draft Interview - Sportsnet West Hello everyone, David Amber here today joined by the newest member of the Mississauga Hounds, Kris Rice. It was an exciting day to say the least here in Bern, Switzerland where the VHLM S68 Dispersal Draft has taken place. Over 75 young players were drafted to start their careers on Monday and taken 43rd overall was Kris Rice. Welcome Kris, how does it feel to be finally have this draft out of the way and to be selected by the Mississauga Hounds? Thanks Dave, I would just like to start off my saying thank you for having me on the show. I am definitely overwhelmed with emotion after the draft. To be drafted is an absolute honour to begin with but to be drafted by the Mississauga Hounds is the cherry on top! Now why did you have your heart set on being drafted by Mississauga? Mississauga was the first team to reach out to me when I declared for the draft. They made the process of joining the VHLM a lot easier. The interview process went extremely well and I knew right away this was an organization that would be committed to helping me develop as a player to make it to the next level. I imagine you have multiple people here supporting you tonight, who has really helped you along the way to get you to this point? Yah tonight I had my mom, siblings, grandparents and a few friends come out to support me during the draft. They have all been a major part of my journey and I couldn’t be happier to have them by my side. My rock though is my mom. She has stuck with me during some rocky years as a child but never let me give up on myself and showed me there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. That is truly inspirational, she sounds like an incredible woman. So the draft has come and gone, what’s the next step for you to prepare for the upcoming season? Right now I am focused on improving my game. I will be spending the rest of the off season trying to improve a few aspects of my game in order to be ready for the season. I have been focusing on improving my edge work and building the two way side of my game. You mention that that you are working to improve the two way part of your game, which is more important to you, personal statistics or winning a championship? One hundred percent winning a championship. Working on my two way game will allow me to do what I can to help the team win on either end of the ice. I want to be a reliable player that my team can count on night in and night out. Well Kris, I would like to say congratulations on being drafted by the Mississauga Hounds. Thank you for coming to do this interview on such short notice. Good luck next season and we look forward to having you on in the future. Thanks for having me! There you have it, that was Kris Rice drafted by the Missisauga Hounds. Young star with a bright future. This is David Amber with Sportsnet West! Goodnight! Word count: 551

Review: Now this is sharp. Between the name placement and the scowl this looks like an Assistant GM not be messed with. Probably the most important detail is that moustache being trimmed to perfection. Any player could learn something from this guy ?