Cusemode

1) The S70 draft has come and gone for both the VHL and VHLM. What was your draft day experience like? My draft day experience was exciting. I had the good fortune of being drafted by the Helsinki Titans 11th overall in the first round. I don't know if I'll see much playing time with them, but I'm excited for what the future holds and definitely want to become an impactful player with them. 2) New players, how do you feel about joining the Philadelphia Reapers? If you’ve already on the team, what do you think of the new blood? I think they have a lot of potential. I imagine a lot of them will not only excited, but really nervous as well. For a lot of these young guys, this is the highest level they've competed in, and I want to make sure they're in good hands and have good guidance, not just from myself but from some of the other veterans as well. 3) What are your expectations for the Reapers this season? We have a few guys returning including myself who are significantly better than we were last season. I expect us to at least be close to if not better than we were last season. 4) What are your expectations for yourself? I'm expecting myself to be much more disciplined. I think my tendency to let my emotions get the better of me really contributed to racking up a lot of penalty minutes. If I can stop myself from getting penalties, I'll have more opportunities to have impact on the ice. 5) Use exactly 3 words to summarize your offseason. Drafted by Helsinki. 6) The Reaper maintenance team is looking for suggestions for what they can do to the opposing team’s locker room less comfortable. What’s your suggestion? 1. Don't wash it - ever. 2. Leave all the shower-heads partially clogged. Enough to make it frustrating but not enough to restrict the entire water flow. 3. Have all the benches sit higher on one side than the other.

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I'm honoured to be given such a grade

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claim

I appreciate the shout out.

1) 5 uncapped TPE 2) Free week

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1) The playoffs are starting soon. What do you think about Philadelphia’s chances this year? I think we have a legitimate shot at winning it all. While the better teams may be sleeping on us, we're still putting the time in to practice, improve and grow as a team. 2) Philadelphia’s opening series is against Halifax. We were 5-1-1 against Halifax in the regular season. Predictions? I still think we should be able to win. 4-1 or 4-2 maybe, but I don't want to jinx us as upset potential always exists. 3) What do you like most about playoff hockey? Everything. The atmosphere, the intensity, the pace of the game. Everything great about hockey is amplified ten-fold. The silence on a break away, the crowd erupting after a goal. It doesn't get any better than that. 4) What are you going to eat and/or drink over the holiday break that you might regret when you step back on the ice? A lot of leftovers from my family's turkey dinner (which includes a lot of junk food). 5) The Reaper fan club got everyone on the team gifts for Christmas. What was the gift you received? I didn't receive a gift so I'm going to have to say this is fake news. 6) Say you were appointed Santa Claus of Philadelphia, meaning you needed to deliver presents to every home in Philadelphia, a city of 1.6 million people in a single night. You had unlimited money at your disposal. How would you accomplish this task? I would probably buy a reaper's jersey for everyone. I'd rotate between Bud Knight, Ben McGirr, Derek Eriksson and the #3 draft steal of S69: Kyle Andersen jerseys.

I appreciate the shout out

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Donation: $5.00 Transaction ID: 8MX71720SC4562321

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I don’t think there’s any player in the VHLM who gets swept under the rug more than Derek. Derek and I didn’t grow up together, but we were close. From the time we were kids, he figured out his dream and his calling – to become one of the best forwards to ever play in the VHL. Unlike my family, Derek had the luxury of coming from wealth. From as early as 4 years old, he was already learning how to skate and play hockey, and he was getting people’s attention. I never got to play with Derek much early on, but from the times I went out to Malmo to visit him, I could tell he had a gift. His athleticism for his age was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. By the age of 10, he was gaining the attention of High School and College scouts alike, he was the next big superstar. What a lot of people don’t realize is that he also grew up in tragedy. At the tender age of 13, his parents were tragically killed in a car accident while on their way to one of his games. It nearly ruined his career. He fell into a deep depression, isolating himself from the world and cutting out hockey from his life entirely. It hurt to watch one of the best players I knew throw his life away, but I could only stand by helplessly and hope that, one day, he would lace up his skates and hit the ice again. That day came when he was 18. Being on the verge of graduating, he decided to throw his hat in the ring again and try out for a junior league hockey team in Malmo. Despite his nerves and 5 year long hiatus, he exceeded everyone’s expectations. His first year, he finished with 43 points in 25 games. This was the big turning point of Derek’s life. For the first time in half a decade, I saw him smile again. He had life in every stride he took and played with more intensity than I had ever seen. In just 37 games, he finished with a staggering 138 points and was named league MVP, all while leading Malmo to their first ever championship win. To see Derek putting up similar numbers in the VHLM with me doesn’t surprise me in the least, what does surprise me is how little recognition he’s getting for it. In every game we’ve played, he’s had a positive impact. Despite only being a 2nd liner, he’s consistently creating opportunities for teammates, maximizing our time of possession of the puck and scoring key goals. There’s not a doubt in my mind that his play hasn’t played a big part of our success this season. With less than 10 games left before playoffs, I hope some VHL GMs take note of what he has to offer. While he may lack the experience some of the players on Saskatoon, he has something they’ll never have. He has the true heart of a champion. Nobody else in the league has had to face the type of adversities Derek has. For him to come back and perform even half as well as he has is mind blowing. Derek Eriksson is an unsung hero. But to me, he’ll always be Superman.

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1) If the current standings hold, Philadelphia will face Halifax in the opening round of the playoffs. Anything you’d like to say to Halifax before the series begins? If we face Halifax, best of luck to you guys. You guys are a solid team with a lot of talented players, but only 1 team can win. 2) Have you been following the VHL this season? Who do you think will win it all? Why? While I live and breathe reaper hockey, I still think Saskatoon is the clear favourite to win it all. They have shown nothing but dominance this entire season as seen with only 3 losses so far. While 2 of those have come to the 2nd and 3rd rated teams, they've consistently won games in convincing fashion against the best teams in the VHLM. 3) Describe the hardest hit on the ice you’ve ever given. The hardest game I've ever given came against Ottawa early in the season. There was a battle for the puck in the neutral zone when I noticed one of their forwards moving up to our blue line. One of the Ottawa players managed to get control of the puck and made a pass towards this guy as he was moving up to our zone. What he didn't see was that this was a suicide pass, I came up right as the puck was about to make contact with his stick, ducked my shoulder and completely uprooted this guy. The refs had to call the play because the landing gave him a concussion. 4) Describe the hardest hit on the ice you’ve ever taken. The first hit in my first VHLM game. I don't remember which team it was, but the other team had possession of the puck coming into our zone. Their forward with the puck shot it behind our net. As I came up to make a play on it, their right winger rushed and absolutely nailed me right into the boards and knocking the wind out of me. This was my big "welcome to the VHLM" moment as he was barely 6 feet tall. It was a painful lesson learned that every player in this league is capable of putting you out if you're not careful. 5) An anagram is when you rearrange letters of a word to form a new word like listen - > silent. What’s the best anagram you can make from your player’s name? Kyle Andersen - Snarky Ned Lee 6) The holidays are upon us, what is at the top of your want list? All I want is to have a good time with my family and friends.

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Moscow 2-1

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1. What order will the bottom five teams shake out to? (Calgary, New York, D.C., Prague, and Davos) 1. Prague 2. Davos 3. New York 4. D.C. 5. Calgary 2. Who's taking home WJC gold? I think team USA is taking it. They consistently breed world class talent and are always a very strong competitor in both the WJC and the Olympics. 3. Do you keep cheering for your WJC home team even after you've graduated out or do you not care anymore? I don't particularly care anymore, that time in my life is done and I've moved on. 4. Would you rather make playoffs and go out in the first round or just miss it and have a chance at a lottery pick? It's a tough call to make. On one hand, making playoffs can be a great morale booster for the players (especially if this is a team that doesn't reach playoffs very often), and have a positive impact on local businesses where the team is located, even if it's just to go out in the first round. On the other hand, it can also much better for a team's long term success to miss playoffs for 1 or 2 seasons, push for a chance at a lottery pick and secure a higher overall pick in the draft. 5. Valentino's point production has fallen off a bit. Do Jerwa or Drumm catch him by the end of the season? Valentino's a good player, don't get me wrong, but he's not a generational talent. I predict him falling off by having a handful of games that are really quiet. Games where he isn't scoring a lot, giving Jerwa and Drumm openings to catch up to his point production. 6. Does anyone have a shot at ending Saskatoon's unreal season in the VHLM? If any teams have the potential to do it, it's a toss up between Mississauga, Mexico City and Philadelphia. Mexico City and Philly are yet to beat Saskatoon so far, but both teams have proven that they can stay competitive with the best team in the league. Mississauga was the team that ended their 50 something game win streak, and being the 2nd best team, probably has the best shot at taking them down.