VHL draft for Rush Players

[hockeyis66 143]

The S78 VHL draft was held recently and 3 Yukon Rush players were drafted in the first 18 picks of the draft – Wingers Alex Johnston and Jaromir Lemieux and Defenseman Nathan Powers.

 

With the 8^th overall pick, the Calgary Wranglers selected Alex Johnston.  Johnston will step right in and become one of the Wranglers top prospects with his unique blend of size and skill.  As a free agent with the Rush last season, he had 24 goals, 26 assists for 50 points in 52 games.  He is very solid in his own end and has no trouble finding the back of the net.  He isn’t afraid to mix it up physically and can dish out some hits in open ice or along the boards.  Johnston will be drafted to the VHLM this season and I would suspect this will be his final season in the minors before he gets called up to the Wranglers. 

 

With the very next pick and 9^th overall, the Prague Phantoms selected defenseman Nathan Powers.  Powers is already not only one of their best prospects already but also their best defensive prospect as well.  Powers is very strong in his own end and can block shots and take the body.  He doesn’t let opposing players own the front of the next in front of the goalie and moves them out with his strength without causing a lot of penalties.  He can also bring his game at the other end of the ice and isn’t afraid to let a slapper go just inside of the blue line or find an open teammate for a one timer.  He had 9 goals and 53 assists last season for 62 points.  He had 202 hits, 112 shot blocks and 6 power play goals.

 

With the second pick in the second round which was 18^th overall, the Moscow Menace picked winger Jaromir Lemieux.  Lemieux will also become one of the Menace’s top prospects with 3^rd overall pick The Seabasstard already joining the big club this season.  Lemieux will bring a solid two way game in which he will play a 200 foot game and play on both the power play and penalty killing units.  He is also a solid skater who can also pass and handle the puck well.  He had 64 points last season with 16 goals and 48 assists while having 4 power play goals and a short handed goal on the season.  Lemieux will definitely play one more season with the Rush and could make the jump to the Menace next season.

 

Lemieux had this to say on the draft, “I had good conversations with the Menace management before hand and knew there was a good chance that I would drafted by them since they had multiple picks in the second round.  I am going to continue to work hard this season for the Rush and give the Menace a good look at what I can do as well as to show the teams that passed on me what they missed out on.  I think I can hopefully contend for a spot for the Menace next season and am happy to get the call during the draft from the Menace.”

[Greg_Di 1,030]

Review:

 

Good overview of the Yukon players that got drafted in the top 20. Spacing was great as well as the whole articles structure. Quote at the end made the article more realistic. The only thing I would add would be a picture either at the beginning of the article or somewhere in between. Great work! 

9/10