Retuperkele

Luukas Lilja, one of the newly drafted players in the latest VHL draft by the New York Americans was recently seen in his hometown in Nokia. His time in Saskatoon ended before it could even start properly, as he played 35 games last season with the Wild squad, recording no points whatsoever. Saskatoon ended up being eliminated in the first round of playoffs, and so his offseason began. Lilja was found doing yard work and he had the time to talk to us inbetween his chores Your last season with Saskatoon didnt end up well, how does that make you feel? Honestly, it was too much for me to handle. Adapting to a new team and the local environment, the schedules, everything. I pretty much had jetlag for the first 4 days there, so I couldnt even get much work done. I was very unmotivated and barely got myself to the rink a couple of times. Few times I also skipped training and started to lack more. Now that I think of it, it wasnt a great choice. You were a part of both drafts, VHL and VHLM, both in which you were drafted. Are you excited to have a second chance? I was honored both times I was drafted. I thought to myself that I would never be picked after what happened last season. Im most excited about being a part of the Americans organisation, because I have always wanted to visit New York, but my family could simply not afford a trip to the United States. Houston is not a bad place to be either, they have produced some quality players the past few seasons, and its a whole new environment. Texas was also one of the places I wanted to visit when I was a kid. I love to barbecue so im excited to try out one of the local joints in Houston, to see what makes it so special. The kind of BBQ that we do here is not even close to a proper one. Needless to say I am very grateful for my second chance to prove myself to the league. What have you been doing so far, have you had any training or have you just been enjoying yourself? I have been enjoying myself so far. It has been very tempting to hit my local rink but right now my yard needs me more than rink does, as you can see – weeds all around that need to be taken care of. Once I have my mental health back in order I will look forward more into training like never before. Im very motivated right now to train with boys from Houston, its a whole new beginning for me and I will not let it slip out of my hands Right after these words, he winded up his lawnmower yet again and proceeded to continue his yardwork. I understand completely, once he is done with his yard he is ready to start focusing on to next season. 502 words

Lol. Well, James Rose

D, Vladimir Pavlov @Enorama

I pick Kris Rice. @Cxsquaredpick when u like @dlambyou up

1. One time I was playing EHM and this swedish defender came up with this name who was Hedman/Karlsson regen 2. Playmaking defensive center 3. Yes I am 4. I have no prefer, anything goes 5. Defender, most likely. No More ideas about him yet 6. Yes

1. Ambitious young guy 2. Playmaking defensive center, like Barkov for example 3. Barkov 4. Nope, i can be anywhere 5. Work rate and team work makes the dream work 6. Physical play is a part of the game and it belongs to every league imho

Good stuff. Really looking forward if these guys can put up to their expectations you set them. Good insight based on last season and the projectory heading into next season 7.5/10

Ballsy predictions, have to admit and admire the ambition. Maybe wranglers have the season of their lifetime and all the predictions go under? Stat posts are my kinda thing so thats why I give it a 8/10

Thats just sometimes how the cookie crumbles, no matter how good your player would be if it doesnt match the team's needs, youre gonna have a bad time. Take me for example, I was very low-end draft pick and I was picked before some guys who had much higher TPE and me (and impact of course lol) 9/10 rant would read again

Well, there are pros and cons to this First of all, players who are not that active get significantly less than players who are active. On a long run this would mean that the difference would be few hundreds of points - therefore hurtful for the game, cause these less active players would have less impact in the engine and couldnt reach milestones or scorelines like an active player would On the other hand, the idea is great. We need to enable more point tasks with more or less stuff to do. Would make the game more enjoyable when theres more to do, for the active players. I'd say a 7/10

Im in

Lacklustering Luukas Lilja landed in Houston Bulls in the S75 VHLM draft as 47th overall pick. Drafting him was obviously a risky move since he had not shown any improvement during his time in the Saskatoon Wild during season 74 of VHLM. Speaking of which he played in 34 games with the Wild, zero points all around. No goals, no assists, no points, no nothing. One lousy +1 on his side with 6 shots on goal and 3 hits in regular season shows the fact. On his playoff period he played in 5 games with no points to nobodys wonder, having 2 shots on goal and 2 hits. Thats it, all his statistics are pathetic and meaningless. Yet, the Houston Bulls decided to draft him. Why? First of all, Luukas Lilja shows a well-rounded game throughout the ice. His offensive quantities are as promising as his defensive quantities, despite having little to no proof of it. Houston scouts clearly have done their job well, if he blows up big this season and the one after. His most promising talents are his puckhandling and passing. Being a natural playmaker with a heart for defense, he looks to make goals happen rather than he looks to score them himself, which the Houston scouts look to appreciate more. They have also listed down his strengths and weaknesses in order to gain a better view about the player and his plan of improvement. Weaknesses: First of all, discipline. His lack of discipline is infuriating in the eyes of the Bulls coaching staff. Luukas has a temper, given the fact that he is a hockey player in the end, but its showing too much on the ice. He gets frustrated too much and needs to improve his professionalism Second, his faceoffs. If you cant win faceoffs, you cant gain pressure and threshold of the enemy team. Especially if he gets his bad mood on, he is going to have lesser impact on the ice. Definitely going to need some stuff done there Third and final, his scoring, which is weak with a capital W. He cant get open, and he cant shoot, and if he manages to shoot, nobody knows where its going to land Strengths: Lilja’s first strength is his puckhandling. He rarely loses puck and therefore is being able to gain pressure on the ice. Second, his passing. His style of play has given him insane pass tendency, and therefore the ability to land passes more easily. He forces the game to the place where he wants it to be, with boldness and creativity. Third, his strength. He is a massive ’’6’2ft 216lb guy who has quads for days. He rarely loses a 1-on-1 situation with anyone Last but not least, his two-way game. This guy has massive work rate and is willing to give his all whether its in the defensive zone to prevent opponents from doing anything on the blueline or in the offensive zone where he is moving where he needs to be to be able to open up space for his team. Words: More than 500

Lacking last season and looking to improve this season Ask me anything

1) Are you satisfied with your current putout? Do you think you could have done something more? 2) Are you good friends with the team that drafted you? 3) What are your expectations for the upcoming season?

+10 Luukas Lilja

In suburban Nokia, Finland, on October 17th 2004 - a promising hockey is born, but nobody knows it yet. Luukas Lilja's passion for hockey began on a very young age, when his father took him out to Tampere to see the two major professional hockey teams meet on his 9th birthday. He had never watched hockey up close, only with his father from the ''18 TV they had at home. This sparked utter joy in his eyes. The constant action, the sound of skate biting into ice, the fans cheering, he was hooked - for life. During his junior years in Nokian Pyry this promising rookie center focused on his two-way game the most. Idolizing NHL stars like Joe Thornton and Henrik Zetterberg, he was more into making plays happen rather than making goals happen. Luukas was not all about offense, some games he was all about defense - being the competitive fella he has always been in hockey. One summer he spent 4 mornings a week just to practice his ability to react to turnovers, giving him extraordinary defensive read. In his last year at his junior team, he had a whopping .7 goals scored against per game him when he was on the ice, for the whole season. He also snatched 13 goals and 33 assists in 36 games during regular season. Playoffs didn't go as planned and cup favorite Nokian Pyry fell down to upcoming stars from KooVee Tampere in semifinals. During the playoffs he played in all of his clubs games scoring 2 goals and assisting in 6 of them. Lilja was approached by Saskatoon Wild scout after the game, and it was crystal clear that his next chapter on his journey would begin in North America. Arriving in North America and to the beautiful city of bridges, he first met the Saskatoon Wild coaching staff, who had been looking for him for a long time. The whole staff knew what to do in order for him to succeed in a smaller rink, and that was his size. Luukas had always been a big guy but he hadn't been able to take advantage of it before. After numerous intense workout sessions, Luukas gained 8lbs (~3.6kgs) of pure muscle. During technical sessions he had improved his puckhandling and passing tremendously. In preseason, he struggled to adapt to Saskatoon’s insanely smaller rinks compared to what they had in Finland. His current strong sides include his playmaking ability, puckhandling and passing. Luukas will certainly never lose control of his puck or miss his passes to one another. He truly will be a force in the offensive end. Nowadays his weak sides include his leadership ability, which he quite never has had. Luukas also will never take his team's penalty shots due to lack of his concentration and scoring ability. His goals in Finland came from managing to take advantage of his opponent's mistakes in their own end, positioning himself well in order to bank one-timers in empty nets. Luukas managed to clinch his spot in the roster on the fourth line, which is acceptable for a guy his age and since he hadn't had much experience in North America's smaller rinks. He is a promising two-way forward with more offensive focus on playmaking. You can't forget about his extraordinary ability to react to turnovers, nevertheless about his skating. He has immense potential and only Saskatoon squad can fulfill it. Luukas Lilja is a promising rookie and is eligible for the upcoming draft, and only time will tell what will come from this insanely promising, huge two-way center. 600 words

1. Consistency is key, you have a chance but you cant get let your mojo 2. They say "new is always better" but I think experience overcomes that fact 3. I would move helsinki's team to my hometown just so we can mess with them :^) 4. They'll need to work hard together in order to gain trust in eachother and that way channel it into their game 5. South park 6. Nope, bingewatching netflix cause im unemployed rn

#SaskyBois.

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Player Information Username: Retuperkele Player Name: Luukas Lilja Recruited From: Reddit Age: 16 Position: C Height: 74 in. Weight: 216 lbs. Birthplace: Finland Player Page @VHLM GM