Baozi

Gayyyyyyy

You called?

Its like the epic battles of Kanou vs Shaw!

Boooo

Woot!

Hey Stammy!

It's ok for me to cheer for the Dutch and hope Robben gets clobbered sometime right? Other than that I say go Messi!!!!

Fong for the Jack Adams.

Former Japanese Stars Weigh in on Rising Youngster Yamazaki www.VHLHockeyNews.com The land of the rising sun has produced several remarkable hockey players in the past and it seems in the upcoming S39 draft, another hot prospect is set to make his debut in the VHL. The last Japanese player to be taken first overall in the VHL draft was Daisuke Kanou. The last Japanese defender to be taken in that spot was Ginzou Fujiwara, who won a cup with the Helsinki Titans back in S15. Meet Koji Yamazaki, six foot four, mean, nasty and dynamic. Hailing from Tokyo Japan, the Japanese import is currently ranked #2 in the upcoming VHL draft but there has been a lot of talk on him over taking Jackson Miller for first overall in the draft. Playing on an ultra-dominant squad of Outlaws, Yamazaki accrued 128 points in 70 games, a great start to his professional career. His 293 hits and 200 penalty minutes made him an imposing defender throughout the junior league and his perchance for making smart offensive plays was one of the key reason why the Outlaws were so strong offensively this season. It is because of this that there have been comparisons drawn between him and the former first overall pick Fujiwara, also known as the White Wolf. Certainly Yamazaki is much bigger, Fujiwara clocked in at only 5 foot 11, but was incredibly solid and strong on his feet. While Fujiwara never posted gaudy numbers in junior, I believe he only registered a point per game pace, one could see his talent level. He had great technical and puckhandling ability, but what separated him from the rest of the pack back then was his phenomenal skating ability and defensive awareness. Lots of this we can see in Yamazaki , he has great skating ability, he is tough and he is great defensively in his own zone. His technical skill may not be on par with Fujiwara back then, but there is no doubt that the potential is there. We spoke to the two former Japanese stars, Kanou Daisuke and Ginzou Fujiwara about Yamazaki. “When I watch Yamazaki, I’m seeing him as the face for the next generation of Japanese hockey players. He has great work ethic and he has all the physical tools to be a great player for a long time. Though he has some ways to get to the same level as Fujiwara, I think it will happen eventually. Few came out of the draft class as refined as Fuji. I believe scouting reports put his defense rating at an 80 and his puck skills at 70 and the rest of the offensive kit at 70 as well. It was how he was able to step into the VHL almost seamlessly. I think Yamazaki will need more time to adjust and may struggle a bit early on. That being said, he is much bigger than Fujiwara, and when all is said and done, if he progresses at his current rate, I think he has the tools to be better than Fujiwara. Playing with the Vasteras IK, Fujiwara never really massed high point totals because PensFan at the time played an all defense trap system. In fact I believe it wasn’t until he went to the Titans that they finally uncovered Fujiwara’s latent offensive ability. I think if Yamazaki goes to the Titans, he will have a great group to play with and the Titans have always been about offense so that I think that will help since it is a strength of Yamazaki’s game. I look forward to seeing how he does.” - Daisuke Kanou, Former VHL Goalie “Yamazaki is really good. I like how versatile his game is. He skates, he hits and he can run the power play. I think he is a bit of a higher risk than Miller, but I think he has the ability to be the best player out of this draft. I think he will be better than me to be honest. He definitely hits harder as I’ve seen on the replays.” – Ginzou Fujiwara, Former VHL Defenseman One thing is for certain, he will be good, the only question that remains is...just how good?

Can we recover all he previous season archives or are they long gone? Was trying to look through some s13/14 and it's all gone it is looks like.

Iginla looking pretty weak sauce. I called it!

Americans Wranglers Iron Eagles Americans

3-2 Rigs

GL Moholt!

Decent game.

Linholmmmmmmmm

Nooooooo

poop

fail.

Ow.

Phil I hate your gif so much cause it kept me staring for much too long!

Hey Nibbz!

Woo!

Americans Coming Back to Earth www.VHLHockeyNews.com You just knew it was bound to happen, it was just a matter of when. The Americans set franchise highs when they rattled off 20 wins in the first quarter of the season, suffering only one overtime loss before going on another streak of games. In the last 10 games they have won six and lost four, including being shut out in back to back games by the Seattle Bears and the Davos Dynamo. Entering into the final stretch of the season, the Americans are looking to rebound and get back on track. “It happens to every team, there are so many good teams in this league that can beat you on any given night that you can’t let your guard down for even a moment. Those shut outs were pretty embarrassing though but it’s a wakeup call that nothing is given, we have to fight for every victory. We got pretty out worked in those two games.” – XXX, New York Americans That top line of the Americans has slowed down a bit, back when the top five scorers in the VHL were Odin Tordahl, Xin Xie Xiao and Tom Slaughter, it has now flipped a little with Odin losing ground to Zhumbayev and XXX and Slaughter dropping a few spots to fifth and six from third and fourth. It isn’t inconceivable to think that coach may shake up the lines a little bit, but it still may be a bit premature. Tordahl is still leading the league with 48 goals and 101 points and XXX has still been very dangerous 5 on 5 and on the PK with 79 points in 53 games and tied for 2nd in the league with 8 game winning goals and is first in the league with 3 short handed goals. Slaughter is still winning faceoffs and holding at 61% to go with his 79 points as well. On that note, are we likely to see this line broken up next season? With the salary cap and XXX going to UFA status, he will likely land big bucks if he makes it to the free agent market. But the Americans are up against the cap and even if veteran goaltender Tukio retires, one of the big five of Tordahl, Low, Kellinger, Slaughter and XXX won’t be able to stay on the team due to cap restrictions. XXX is widely considered a first line winger, but not so much as an elite superstar compared to Kellinger and Tordahl. Budding super star Slaughter is unlikely to be moved due to the nature of building down the middle plus still being on a rookie contract. With youngsters Laich and Linholm pushing for more ice time, this may just make XXX the most expendable trade asset the Americans have if they can get him to sign before a trade. Still GM Wahl has said he isn’t planning to make any decisions until the off season, the teams focus right now is to finish the season strong and go for the championship title.