Phil

We blew it in the third because of our PP GG Vikings

Episode #42 Run Time: 59 minutes Player Profile: Teuvo Ruutu Notes: How do I sound right after a workout? Listen and find out! I said Ep. 43 but I was mistaken. The first one that will count towards Hamilton. Much love to Smarch, Molholt and YEAH! for the questions. Just as much love to my listeners. Facebook Page: KnightTime Podcast Previous Episodes: #41 #40 #39 #38 #37 #36 #35 #34 #33 #32 #31 #30 #29 #28 #27

Questions please please! I'm doing this tonight or tomorrow! Please?

I totally missed this game! What a win!

3-2

Phil Villeneuve beats up Jaime Hill at 3:12 of 1st period fuck - I swear I've never hit a woman before! o.O

o'shit and triple fail

Dear VHL GMs, It has been a long time since I last wrote to you. 9 seasons ago I presented you with Phil Villeneuve. However, VHL General Managers, you had better perk up your ears. This is Phil Knight here, reporting to you from my residence in Toronto, Ontario. As you all know, I am a long-time VHL player agent and the players have a put under my wing have been Phil Gerrard, Phil Rafter, and Phil Villeneuve. The first two made it into the VHL Hall of Fame but unfortunately Villeneuve had not panned out the way I thought he would. However, I am coming to you with a prospect that you all should definitely take notice of, he is like Villeneuve, except on Speed. Name: Phil Hamilton Height: 6'5" Weight: 225lbs Hometown: Gerrard's Cross, England. Position: Defenseman I have been watching this kid since he was 14. Why bother when he was so young? To be honest, that is because I was at that point searching for a replacement for Villeneuve, who had left the practice rink at that time. I came across Hamilton in the London Hockey League, the same league that I found Phil Rafter. This kid is unbelievable. Not only is he a big presence on the ice, but his leadership is top notch. When you have a 14 and 15 year-old rallying his troops and effectively changing the mood and dynamic of the team, you know you've found someone special. But there's also the very important question of whether he can play the game. He was a marvel to watch. With his long reach he could easily dispossess a forward, or intercept a pass. His long strides allow him to burst out of the defensive zone and into the attacking zone in just a matter of seconds. His vision is superb and he can thread the puck through the eye of a snail if he needed to. But I am getting ahead of myself. As much of a joy it was to watch him play hockey, with Villeneuve returning to the ice after a 4-year hiatus, I focussed my attentions on him. Every week I'd check in to see how Hamilton was doing over in London but because he was so young, my biggest concern was what would happen to him when the other players caught up in size with him? Most of his advantages would be negated. Luckily for me, I was quite easily able to keep a low-profile because the international scouting in England is very few and far between. So I watched from afar and saw him not only get better and smarter with age, but get more dominant in the league. From the trade deadline last season, I have been watching him very, very closely and I'm telling you all - you need to take a serious look at this one. I have marked down three essential strengths and three areas of improvement that he has demonstrated. The improvement section may become more obvious when he gets claimed by a VHLm team and the level of competition goes up once again. Essential Strengths: Strength - It sounds odd, saying that his essential strength is his strength, but I truely believe that ultimately, this is what is going to make him into a superstar. He has the strength to knock anyone off the puck and is so strong on the puck, that it is virtually impossible to get the puck from him. In this way, he take care of the puck, breaking up dangerous plays and causing minimal turnovers. Vision - It is odd for a defenseman to have such great vision. You expect it more from a winger. Hamilton's ability to see a play in front of the attacking net when he has the puck behind his own goal line is somewhat bewitching to behold. He always knows the right passing option and will also position himself in space, despite his large and assuming frame. His head is always up and he is constantly analyzing and adjusting his strategy and plays - a very sought after trait for such a youngster. Mobility - One may be thinking that such a big guy would have a hard time getting around the ice, but the pace, acceleration, agility demonstrated by Hamilton over the past 4 seasons is nothing short of amazing. He can turn on a dime, beat anyone in a foot-race, and because of his long, powerful legs, he can accelerate faster as well. It is actually this attribute that I found most impressive. He's got the mobility of a small forward but the size of a large defender - it is confusing to watch and it makes him such an original hockey player. Areas of Improvement: Shooting - not that he needs to shoot much, given his amazing passing ability but his accuracy leaves a little to be desired. There are time on the powerplay he knows he's got a good open shot but he'll wire it wide. This is something he'll want to develop a little more if he truly wants to attain legendary status in the hockey world. Leadership - He has amazing leadership skills - almost to a fault. Let me explain. I said above that he has the ability to change the entire team's mood. Unfortunately, sometimes he's so busy trying to motivate and rally his troops he's forgetting what the coaches are saying, or even worse out-coaching them. He'll start running over plays with his forwards and quite often the coach has to step in and say enough's enough. I think it's just a matter of him being caught up in the moment but on the flip side he has always had great rapport with his coaches so it shouldn't be too much of an issue here. Discipline - Hockey is an engrossing sport. When you are playing out on the ice, you are totally immersed in it. Sometimes Hamilton forgets his size and will use a little too much strength when checking. As a consequence, expect him to spend a lot of time in the penalty box. This is probably his biggest concern, considering he'll be any team's best penalty killer. We'll see how much of a difference playing in the VHLm is to London. So that's a wrap folks. As I said at the beginning of this letter: take heed - Hamilton's a special catch. You have over a season to assess him in this environment but he'll be claimed by a VHLm team this week so start looking at what picks you have in the S45 Entry Draft and put one aside for him. I don't make these claims lightly. You have been warned. Sincerely, ~Phil Knight

Hamilton's Beginnings Picture a quaint little town in England. There are rolling hills with the greenest grass, an old church which when you pass it you can smell the history coming from within it, a pond with tall reeds and a variety of ducks and swans happily quacking away. People pass each other in the streets and smile politely to each other and the grocers are very friendly and talkative. On the edge of town, farmers' fields are growing crops with cows, horses, and sheep grazing peacefully without a care in the world. Just off the M40, on the outskirts of town, there is a little wooden gate which leads up a dirt driveway for about 200 meters. It ends at an old mud house, two stories tall surrounded by a lovely front lawn and a wooded area of about an acre, hiding the house from view of the M40. That is the house the Hamilton grew up in. His great-grandfather had built this house with his bare hands and now for 3 full generations his family has lived there, in the outskirts of that nice little town called Gerrard's Cross. The town is about 20 miles north-west of London, and it is quite easy to get to. Just a 20-minute train trip and you are in the heart of London. Hamilton's dad used to take it to work every day. He was a factory worker and worked hard to support his family of 6. He was a very traditional man and a very typically British man. For those who don't know what that is, picture George Banks from Mary Poppins. He carried himself with a quiet dignity, enjoyed his cup of tea in the morning and when he got home in the evening, he ran an orderly household, and was a creature of habit. So you can imagine the ruckus that was stirred up when Hamilton, at just the age of 7, said that he wanted to be an international hockey player. "By George, how the devil are you going to do that?" his father had exclaimed. "There's not an ice rink in this town and the closest one's in London. How are we going to afford your equipment eh, what? Elbow pads, shoulders pads, chin pads, knee pads - the lot! I break my back trying to support my family and there's no way that we can deal with this expense. We simply don't have the disposable income to support this charade. Rather, I said, why don't you play football? That only requires some boots. Now scram before I give you the old what-for." An animated character, Hamilton's father was. And as I mentioned, he did not like change. He was a very traditional man. However, Hamilton was born in May and for those who follow any sort of Astrology you'll know that means he is a Taurus and Taurus' are easy going, until they find something they want. So Hamilton, during the day, got a little job at the Grocers. He bagged everyone's groceries and smiled cheerfully at the customers, engaging them in conversation. He worked for 3 years without another mention of "iced hockey" (or whatever the devil that God forsaken sport is called) but then, on his 10th birthday no less, Phil confronted his dad, handing him over every penny he'd earned and said that this should be enough to cover his equipment, the league enrollment, and the transportation costs. With tears shimmering in his eyes, Mr. Hamilton hugged his boy tightly. That very day he marched down to London with Phil, his chest puffed out, and a look of the highest pride on his face, and signed him up for the London Hockey League. Hamilton was a big boy, to say the least. At 10, he was already as tall as his father, who stood at just 5'7". He must have gotten his height from his mother, who, although was British, had her entire family come from Sweden. His mother dwarfed his father at 6'1" and so it is safe to say that Phil got his height from his mum's side. The question that remained, from his father's perspective, is how Phil had gotten into hockey? On the weekends, his father would watch the footie and cricket, along with the occasional rugby match, when the Red and Whites were playing, but hockey was barely ever on the telly, so how had Phil gotten it in his head that he wanted to badly be a hockey player? The answer lies somewhere buried deep inside the sports section of the Guardian. There was always a little section boxed off about the renown international hockey league, the VHL. Hamilton would closely follow the English skaters, particularly Phil Villeneuve who had managed to make it into the VHL and played not too far away in Riga, Latvia. Of course, a few other (more impressive) players to come out of England included Phil Rafter, David Smalling, and Leeroy Jenkins all phenomenal players. In that section in the paper, it gave box scores for the league and a little top scoring table, as well as a link to the VHL's website for full play-by-plays of games and stats. Hamilton poured over the stats and watched and re-watched the highlights for hours on end. He loved the idea of gliding over ice with knives attached to your feet. He needed so badly to be part of that world. So there's the short answer. Of course when Hamilton first took to the ice, he was pretty horrible, like basically all the others. In his first season on his house-league team all games were very formulaic. Whoever could stay on their skates the longest would win. Hamilton's strength was actually skating backwards, and that how he decided he wanted to be a super-star defender. Every couple of days he would journey into London during the Winter months and practice intensely on his skating. When he could not be on the ice he worked on his puck control and stick control on the concrete outside his house. He developed his skills steadily and was like a laser beam of focus. A few years pass by and we pick up his story at age 14, where he tried out for, and comfortably made, the London Lightning, the highest level of ice hockey offered for his age group in England. This is where VHL agent Phil Knight first caught a glimpse of him. "As soon as he stepped out onto the ice my first thought was 'who is that orangutan?'" recalls Knight. "I had actually come to see the 10pm game when the 17-year olds took to the ice for scouting purposes, but my flight had arrived early so I figured I could watch this game for the enjoyment of it." "My second thought was that this kid probably could not move at all on the ice. He was meant to be the brick wall and stop shots getting through. But as soon as the puck dropped I watched in awe... the kid had unbelievable mobility for such a big frame. His passing was excellent and he was ordering everyone on the ice in the most commanding and respectable way imaginable. I remember glancing around the stands to see if there were any other VHL scouts there (of course there weren't - this is England - and I hold the monopoly of players in England) but I was just mesmerized by his play. I brought out my notebook and start scribbling pages and pages of notes. I'd keep this kid in the back of my head as a prospect for my next signing." Knight was so impressed that he actually hung around the change-room after the game to meet Hamilton. He introduced himself and chatted with him for a few minutes before rejoining the fans in the stands to scout out a 17-year hot-shot. "I... it... well, I was speechless." Hamilton stammered. "He introduced himself as Mr. Knight, but when he told me he had represented Rafter and currently represents Villeneuve I saw him as my ticket into the league. I honestly couldn't tell you what we talked about. Luckily I had regained my composure near the end of the conversation enough to ask him for his card. I stuck it in a little frame and nailed it to the wall in my room, where it still resides." Knight periodically came back to watch Hamilton's play develop and improve over the next three seasons. Hamilton was by far the most dominant player in the league and Knight barely had one concern if he were to take him on as a client: "To tell you the truth the only reason I ever even checked in on him is to see whether or not he'd be as dominant with people his own size... whether or not his competitive edge would be lost when facing bigger players. But Hamilton kept growing, as well as his lust for the game. The intensity level he brings to the ice is incredible. I knew when I first saw him that I was going to sign him but I never anticipated him to be so dominant for so long here. He is a generational superstar." How dominant you ask? Well, below are his stats and his individual accolades from his 4 seasons with the Lightning. We decline to list his team accolades as then the list would be unbearably long: Age 14: 34GP | 5G |56A |61P | +41 | 38PIM | 101HIT | 110SB Top Defenseman Most Assists Top Leader Most Dedicated Age 15: 34GP | 7G |60A |67P |+46 | 32PIM | 140HIT | 113SB Top Defenseman Most Assists Top Scorer Top Leader Most Dedicated MVP Age 16: 34GP: 6G | 63A | 69P | +50 | 125HIT |124SB Top Defenseman Most Assists Top Scorer Top Leader Most Dedicated MVP Age 17: 34GP | 12G | 60A | 72P |+48 | 141HIT | 123SB Top Defenseman Most Assists Top Scorer Top Leader Most Dedicated MVP On top of all of this, for four consecutive seasons he led the league in plus/minus rating and London had won back-to-back-to-back-to-back Championships for the first time in the history of the league. Knight has been practically bursting to unleash Hamilton upon the VHLm but he needed to wait for the right time. With Villeneuve announcing his retirement today, May 26th, 2015, that time has finally come and so this is where we end the first edition of the Phil Hamilton biography, but rest assured, this will not be the final installment.

ik, ik. Lemme im on it... the second paragraph that is.

Well it looks like we can rule out Jurgen Klopp for taking over for Rogers - he's planning a 6-month sabatical

Overall, Villeneuve was a massive disappointment. I expect the very best for my players but he slipped through the cracks and when on a four-season hiatus. With that being said, last year he performed magnificently and hopefully he can help the Bears to a VHL Finals at the very least. I'd like to thank everyone who's been a part of Villeneuve's career. Flyersfans and Mike, thanks for being there and keeping me motivated to see through all 8 seasons with him. If I didn't like you guys, I would have retired two seasons ago and given you nothing to trade for. To all of my teammates along the way - I love you all. Another player down - and he was my first scrub. Now back to focus on my Hall of Fame Player-Builds... -------- A Big thank you to all of those who took the time to create me a sig. Adieu Villeneuve and good riddance. Thanks kendrick Thanks IR Thanks eQuilibrium Thanks Bushito Go Riga Thanks Jackim Thanks BOOM Thanks Wastlund Thanks Hickey Thanks Bushito Thanks Noah!! Thanks Jackim

S45 will be

well on the plus side..... ya I got nothing.

good game all. Good to see Stropko get a couple of goals.

Great win for Davos and keeping the choo-choo's in check

YOU BETTER COME BACK

mimicking is the most sincere form of flattery?

#FuckStockholmAllOverAgain

hmmm you are making points that I agree with... this isn't right.... nonono something needs to be done.

Later Skater.

Player: Alexander Davidson Position: Center Team: Bratislava Watchmen. If I could get a sexy sig for him,,, that would be amazing. Thanks for the love guys.

Is anyone other than me needed?

Is this a pic from your new short? A Bug's Life - The Real Tale