Claimed:Analyzing the Goalies

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Will Soren Douffet become the top goalie prospect of S40?

 

The S40 Goalies

by Thor Ludvigsen, VHL.com

 

As with every season in the VHL, there are plenty of goalie prospects entering their name's into the hat for the S39 VHLM Entry Draft and, soon, the S40 VHL Entry Draft. This year, there are three such players and all of them pack considerable promise. By writing this article, we here at VHL.com hope to introduce you to the three young men who are hopeful in their ability to become the next big thing between the pipes. 

 

Skovsgard hopes to continue to lead the pack

 

Gunnar Skovsgard, Denmark

First up we have Gunnar Skovsgard, the goalie who hails from Copenhagen, Denmark. As of today, the young Dane is the furthest along in his development of the three with 73 logged practice hours. For that reason, he is expected to be the first of the three taken in the S39 VHLM Entry Draft. If things stay the same throughout S39, expect to see him also be the first goalie to be selected in the S40 VHL Entry Draft.

 

As far as his skills go, he is very, very raw, but then again, what goalie prospect is not raw at this stage? He does not do many things well and is very prone to giving up rebounds, allowing for easy scoring chances. However, he is phenomenally quick. It takes barely any time at all for him to use his hands to block a shot. Skovsgard's hand speed is undoubtedly his major strength and it also separates him from the competition, as neither of the other two prospects have great hand speed. In fact, both are rather slow in that regard. Another plus for the "Danish Wonder" is his reaction time. He will need to improve upon it further to make it in the VHL, but at this stage in his development, his reaction time is a definite strength.

 

Of the three goalies, it is also interesting to note that Skovsgard is the shortest and the lightest. Standing 6'2" and weighing 192 pounds, he is just two inches shorter than Ikier Manushez, but is 28 pounds lighter than Soren Douffet. Now, he will undoubtedly be out to prove that his height and weight are meaningless, but it is certainly interesting to note.

 

Manushez is one tall goalie

 

Ikier Manushez, Italy

Born in Italy, Manushez has logged 53 practice hours thus far, placing him as the second best goalie prospect in this season's draft. Of the three prospects, he is the only lefty and will definitely be out to prove to his fellow prospects that being a lefty in net is better than being a righty. 

 

Much like Skovsgard, Manushez is very raw. However, he has really made an effort to improve his reaction time and that effort has paid off, as he is head and shoulders the best in that attribute of the three. Aside from his reaction time, however, Manushez is pretty much in the early stages of his development. As the tallest prospect in the draft at 6'4", he is just beginning to learn how to use that size to his advantage and is also just starting the process of developing his own goalie style.

 

Interestingly enough, Manushez is also the oldest goalie prospect, as he is the old man of the bunch at 27, compared to the teenagers he is playing against. Whether his age will hurt him at all remains to be seen, but one could certainly argue that it is an advantage, as this is last chance at a hockey career and he also has far more wisdom than a player like Douffet would have at age 18. Look for Manushez to instantly become a leader on whatever VHLM team drafts him.

 

Soren Douffet, Belgium

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Douffet is the newest prospect in the S39 VHLM Entry Draft and as such, he has logged the fewest practice hours with just 23 to his name. However, he has certainly shown great work ethic thus far and if either Skovsgard or Manushez slack, it would not be shocking to see Douffet stage a comeback.

 

In contrast to the other two, Douffet has no major strength, though he certainly seems to be focusing on improving his rebound control, which his competitors have largely ignored thus far. He also has a decent reaction time to shots and decent hand speed, though both are far away from being at acceptable levels.

 

As the new guy of three, Douffet is obviously the least developed, but also appears to be the biggest project of the three. For this reason, he is expected to be the third goalie selected, but he also may have the highest ceiling of the three, so he is definitely somebody to keep an eye on. If he lives up to the hype, Douffet may have many VHLM General Managers wondering why they did not select him.

 

825 words

Edited July 15, 2014 by Spangle

[Molholt 2,185]

Content: 3/3 - Some interesting prospects. I really hope you stay active and committed. I love the player name by the way!

Grammar: 2/2 - Not too bad!

Appearance: 1/1 - Yup yup

Overall: 6/6

 

Final: 6

[Ball 453]

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