That Dude Rookie Experience

[Cornholio 182]

 

THAT DUDE - ROOKIE C

 

That Dude unexpectedly fell to the London United in the S77 VHL Entry Draft at #10 overall despite being a Top-5 caliber TPE player out of the S77 Draft Pool. Nonetheless, this was an unexpected development in That Dude's journey. After demonstrating outstanding play through stretches in S76 for the Minnesota Storm, That Dude was restricted toward the tail end of the year as well as the postseason, which may have something to do with his draft stock plummeting as well as positional need of several teams ahead of London. That Dude arrived in London as the lone rookie on the roster, surrounded by veterans who had assembled together for a playoff push. 

 

Rookie Year Experience

That Dude started out the year on the third line at the left wing position - not quite ideal way to start the year playing out of position - but that had more to do with the teams' logjam at the center position and scarcity at the wing position. In some ways, that was a good fit for what That Dude wanted to do - focus exclusively on scoring while the rest of his game rounded out into form. But that came with an understanding that he'd play limited minutes every game. 

 

Boom. That Dude came out firing on all cylinders, logging multi-point games right out of the starting gate. Then the points and scoring opportunities vanished. F. But his hard work and determiniation did not vanish. That Dude continues to try to log in as many minutes at the United's practice facilities and it hasn't gone by unnoticed by the coaches. In an attempt to shake up London's rut the last few weeks, they decided to move the lines around -- That Dude was promoted to the second line as he shifted over to right wing. In some ways, it's helped the team as they've started to win more games than not and maintain their positioning for the playoffs.

 

That Dude's scoring opportunities continues to be extremely limited as he has only logged 7 goals on 81 shots along with 6 assists through the first 32 games of his career. Not quite ideal or what he had envisioned doing out of the starting gate. But That Dude still hasn't given up yet. 

 

Going Forward

That Dude has finally jumped over a veteran as well as the backup goaltender on the London's TPE list and is no longer at the bottom. With Mikko Lahtinen retiring at the end of this year, there could be a larger role looming ahead as soon as next season - will That Dude be ready to seize the opportunity and update his resume? Only time will tell.