Deee.Geee

1) Would you rather work 10 hours a week doing something you hate, or 50 doing something you love, for the same pay? Probably 10 hours. The free time you for the rest of week is worth it in my opinion. 2) Who do you think is going to end up winning the Continental Cup? Probably the Bears 3) Do you think VHLM Awards should factor into Hall of Fame chances? I think that would pull focus away from rewarding successes of the season it's recognizing 4) What is your ideal rest day? Morning walk/workout, lunch, nap, then gaming! 5) What is your ideal strength and conditioning day? Different dumbbell exercises, squats, then on the rowing machine 6) What is your favorite event at the All Star game? Love the fastest skate competition 7) Have you ever been to a live hockey match? How many, do you estimate? Probably about 10

1) Which VHLE team are you most excited about? Stockholm's logo is pretty fantastic so it gets my superficial vote 2) What are your thoughts on the VHLE expansion as a whole? Looks like it should help fill an engagement gap for users between the VHLM and the VHL 3) Would you rather GM in the M, the E, or the VHL? Probably in the M, to get my feet wet and see if it's something I'd continue 4) What is your biggest priority in a teammate? Knowing they're doing their best, like everybody else 5) Who do you think is the best player in the league right now? Alex Letang is putting up monster numbers for a defenseman 6) Do you see yourself winning any awards any time soon? Not likely... 7) What is your favorite soup? Ramen probably (not the instant stuff)

1) Who do you view as our biggest rival? Hard to say as a rookie and this season the way it's going. Hopefully one develops next year, organically. 2) Are there any teams you'd want to play for, outside of Helsinki? New York has a lot of history, would be interested in playing for them. 3) What do you think is the best part about a sports rivalry? Nobody takes a night off during those game. 4) Would you prefer to have the league leading defense, or offense? Offense - there's usually a bigger correlation between goals scored and points vs goals allowed. 5) Have you ever given a half time speech to your teammates (or, for hockey, period break)? How did it go? If not, have you ever gotten one? I felt comfortable enough to start doing that last year in my second season in the VHL 6) Do you prefer Macs, Window's PCs, or Linux? Windows 7) What are your favorite non-hockey sports teams, if any? Genoa F.C.

1) Do you prefer to listen to music to hype you up before a game, or calm you down? Definitely to hype me up! 2) What do you think is the strangest hockey tradition? I get why guys always eat the same meal before a match, but I don't. It would drive me crazy. 3) Have you grown up watching hockey, or are just recently getting into it? Been watching since I was a kid 4) What do you think is the easiest position in hockey? Hockey analyst 5) Who do you think is your early prediction for the cup this season? HC Davos is a dark horse to win it 6) Describe your ideal way to score a goal! Pointing at the best-looking fan through the glass 7) What is the worst holiday? Easter

1) Do you have any post game rituals? Light cardio, then dinner! 2) What do you think the most important thing to having a successful career is? Never cutting corners on your development and being positive and friendly with everyone in each organization in you're in. Your reputation always proceeds you, and teams want respectful and mature players. 3) How have you felt about your performance thus far in the season? I recognize it's my first VHL season but I'd love to chip in more on the scoring 4) Have you been keeping up with your Career Tasks? Yup 5) Long or short stick? What do you prefer? Long stick helps with poke checking and defensive work. 6) What is your ideal cross-training activity? D-men put in lots of minutes so cardio is critical 7) Favorite food that you used to hate? Sardines

1) What is your ideal birthday? Quiet evening with all the guilty pleasure foods I can ask for 2) How do you prefer to celebrate a goal? Fist bumping the air, a classic 3) What is better? A shutout, or winning by 2 goals? A win is a win - they're equal! 4) What manner of flying would you choose, if you had to fly? By plane. First class. 5) Rank your top 5 hats of choice? Tuque Baseball cap Flat cap Chef's hat Not fedoras 6) What is the most comforting shape of room to be in? Never ever though of this before, great question. It's got to have corners, round rooms give me anxiety. 7) What color of banana would disgust you the most and why? A brown banana would just look like it was an over-ripe, mushy banana

The off-season between VHLM and VHL seasons is not a quiet period for all players, and Damien Salducci should know. The budding defenseman for the Helsinki Titans finds himself keeping his skills and skates sharpened for an appearance at the World Juniors, his first ever. More over his play time had more than doubled in his now-complete second season in the VHLM, begging the question of where he finds the energy to play literally every month. We spent some time with Damien in-between his preliminary World Junior games. Season GP G A P +/- SHT PIM HIT SB GW PPG SHG 78 (SDM) 72 11 60 71 29 124 80 178 75 3 6 0 77 (MIA) 72 1 17 18 16 20 30 33 28 0 0 0 Totals 144 12 77 89 45 144 110 211 103 3 6 0 How have you wrapped your head around your team coming up short in the playoffs with a second round exist but a large personal achievement in your point totals versus last year? Yea I’d trade all of my points for a cup. It might even be harder knowing how much was taken from us because I got to feel last year how amazing it is to win the cup. Still I am immensely proud of the Marlins, and have nothing but great memories of my year in San Diego. It is a world class franchise. You were just shy of a point-per-game total, what changed in your game versus last year? I’d say it was two things; being trusted to eat up more minutes, get lots of time in even strength and power play settings. You just can’t learn unless you’re in those scenarios, making mistakes and learning from them. The other thing was that my own self-confidence grew. I became a lot more confident in my skin between the season and playoffs in S77, and especially between S77 and S88. I learned to trust my instincts more, which I did less of in my rookie year [laughs]. Do you expect the same offensive output of yourself in your rookie VHL season? I’d be silly to expect anything specific, I think. I mean obviously I want to be a big contributor, but I learned last year that everyone has a different runway to adapt to their new environment. This is like the pinnacle of hockey and I’ve barely even had a sniff of the talent there, but I know it's insane. Training camp is going to be a wild time for me, no doubt. I believe before S78 you said were hoping to be a two-way or offensive defenseman. Do you think you’ll continue with your strong passing game or would you also like to fit more shooting into your skills? Well I am learning that shooting might not be my main skill [laughs], unless we’re talking about setting up tip-ins. I thought that my slapshot would improve, and while it’s better than a year ago I am not sure I am going to be blasting too top shelf beauties from the point. I try not to put myself down too much but it’s important to be realistic! Who knows maybe it becomes easier as I get older. I am also open-minded about whatever role my team wants me to have. What does it mean to represent Europe in the World Juniors? A total honour. You hope it happens but you keep your expectations smart and humble, you know? 527 words

Happy happy birthday w00t w00t

1) What do you think is the easiest point task; podcast, graphic, or media spot? Media spot by far. 2) Do you consider yourself to be talented at graphics? Talented? No. Capable? Maybe. 3) What is your favorite point task contribution you've ever made to the VHL? Junior Review was probably the one I enjoyed the most, getting to start from scratch! 4) How do you feel about Bleu cheese? Don't like it, never liked it. Foul stuff. 5) What, in your opinion, is the best kind of coach? A coach with emotional intelligence, sees his players as humans with good days and bad, mental blocks and insecurities 6) Do you rate individual awards or cups more for HOF chances? It's tough but having a blend of both with a slight edge towards cups I think should give someone more chances. 7) Least favorite city you've ever been to? Probably Albany

Honoured to be selected, thanks!

1. Play-offs are underway! Who do you think is going home with the Trophy? Marlins!!! 2. Are you excited or nervous now that we beat Philly and on our way to the next round? A mix of both, it's what fuels me 3. At what stage of rareness should a steak be cooked to? All answers are valid except for well done, which is the choice of people who like to ruin steak 4. Why is the Sky blue? I am not qualified enough to be the Sky's therapist 5. @thadthrasher and @Juice's duet will be made soon. Excited? I'd like to request "Islands In The Stream" please 6. What did you think of the nail biter first round of our play-offs? I would have loved us to dispatch Philly sooner, but adversity breeds greatness!

1. How are you feeling coming towards the end of our regular season? Pretty darn great, happy with our numbers but now the important part comes up, playoffs!!! 2. We tied with Yukon 4-4 this season... What do you think should be a tie breaker? Duuuuueettt 3. What is your plans for an "End of the Season" extravaganza? No idea but I am open to suggestions! 4. Who is excited for the Play-Offs? This guy! 5. Nicholas Mariani @Mistxh J ended the season as our highest scorer, who is surprised? With his kind of pedigree and the team around him? No surprise here 6. Did you find Waldo? Can I please borrow the Marlins satellite, just for a minute

1. Our feud with @Juice and Yuck-on rages on. How are you feeling about it? Let's hope we can bring it into the playoffs! 2. Who is your favorite player on our team? How can you not love our keeper? 44 wins!! 3. Does your player know how to skateboard? He's Italian, so probably not 4. If your player was famous for something other than playing hockey, what would it be? He'd probably have tried his hand at being a professional soccer player. Hopefully to the same heights as the VHLM/VHL 5. Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 is a 6 offender 6. Where's Waldo? Let's ask the NSA

I like the nod and respect paid to the national colours of France, lots of patriotism there. The Cheese just furthers the homage to the very, very proud country. Gotta deduct a point because the jersey has Swiss cheese instead of a more popular French cheese like Brie, or Blue cheese. Maybe a secondary icon on the shoulders or sleeves? Still, I'd wear this. 8/10

I like the singular focus of black and orange/red, builds a fantastic image that leaves no doubt what kind of mood you're trying to set. Cool logo too! 9/10