Riga Roster Overview for S77

[tcookie 938]

A young, upstart, rookie-laden team in S76, the Riga Reign made a couple of trade deadline acquisitions and snuck into the playoffs, gaining some valuable experience before being knocked out at the hands of the Prague Phantoms. The Reign were a team on a mission in the latter half of the season, winning 20 of their last 32 games after a cold start and giving hope to fans of a bright future.

 

With another year of development for that rookie core of Cabe McJake, Addison McLaren, Isau DaMoose, Justin Lose, Artair McCloud, Linus Zetterstrom, and Matt Thunder - plus the additions of Ray Sheilds at the trade deadline last season, James Rose and General Zod in the off-season, and the always steady Calvin Harvey between the pipes, there is plenty of optimism for the Reign in VHL circles right now, and that S75 core should keep them competitive for many seasons going forward.

 

The Reign will also feature rookies Andy Nexber, Joseph Sharkton, and Matthew Sovick on their roster this season - Sovick, the 106th overall pick in S75, will become the lowest drafted player to ever play in the VHL, a testament to his continued improvement since being selected. Sharkton and Nexber were also solid late-round finds, although none of the rookies will play roles as prominent as the members of last year's team did.

 

Sheilds is the best player on the team, but all of McJake, McLaren, DaMose, Lose, and McCloud are either first-line calibre forwards or are quickly developing and very close to it, giving the Reign terrific offensive depth. Meanwhile, Zetterstrom was a Rookie of the Year candidate last season and Thunder provides a great all around game and a great locker room presence - most teams would be thrilled to have him as their #4. It may take another season for Riga to have the true top-end talent that some teams do, but they are as deep as anyone in the league right now.

 

It remains to be seen what lies ahead for the Reign, but it is certainly an exciting time for the franchise as they seek to continue their new playoff streak, and maybe even bring the Founders Cup back to Riga.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

On 3/18/2021 at 1:28 AM, tcookie said:

and maybe even bring the Founders Cup back to Riga.

 

It would actually be cool to win both leagues. But it's Continental Cup in VHL. 

[tcookie 938]

22 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

It would actually be cool to win both leagues. But it's Continental Cup in VHL. 

 

aw man lol, need to proof read