Cole Newhook - An Illustrated History

[Ledge 1,131]

Good morning VHL, this is Ledge and Dairy, and due to the promise that I made to Gritty about winning my I-spy-with-my-little-eye challenge, I am here writing an article on his player, Cole Newhook. 

 

Chapter 1: The Upbringing

 

Cole Newhook was born in Buffalo, New York State. As a young player, he quickly elevated himself to the highest level until, at the ripe age of thirteen years old, and journeyed to the minor hockey hotbed that is Toronto, Ontario. It was there that after a few age miscommunications that he found himself in a camp for fifteen year olds, and the time spent struggling against kids older than him payed off, for when he went back to play with his own age group, he was surprised at the lack of speed or strength, and excelled. 

 

Two years later, he was selected for the USA U17 team, and the Americans delivered a gold medal, and Newhook contributed a point per game. The next year, as a 16 year old nonetheless, he cracked the USA U18 team and was on a line with two future VHL players. Unfortunately, Finland managed to shake off the States for the gold, but Newhook once again impressed with 9 points in 8 games.

 

 

Newhook received plentiful amounts of scholarship offers from prestigious universities, but he went big and chose Harvard to continue his hockey dream. He stayed there for four years, developing the finer aspects of his game and becoming more of a complete player. At 20 years old, he was ready for the VHLM.

 

 

Chapter 2: The Seasoning

 

In the back end of S71, Newhook declared himself eligible to be signed as a waiver player by a VHLM team. After careful consideration, he chose to put pen to paper as a member of the Mississauga Hounds, the team closest to his hometown. He joined the team for 29 games, where he fared rather well for a rookie, scoring 3 goals and 15 assists for 18 points.

 

 

After the Hounds failed to make the S71 playoffs, Newhook was released from the Hounds and prepared to enter the VHLM Dispersal Draft. There, Newhook was drafted to the Minnesota Storm. The Storm were coming off winning the Founder’s Cup two seasons ago, and they were hungry for another. A day earlier, however, in an event that would essentially map out Newhook’s VHL career, he was drafted into the VHL by the Moscow Menace. With affiliations in both leagues, Newhook spent the summer training as hard as ever.

 

Newhook spent his first season with Minnesota developing a sense of belonging in the pros, and still managed to regularly put his name on the scoresheet with 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points in the 72 game schedule. But S73, the following season, was his time to shine. The Storm had become a VHLM powerhouse, and Newhook was entering what would be his final season in the league. He was on fire, potting 36 goals along with 63 assists for an incredible 98 points. After scoring 9 in 13 playoff games the previous season, Newhook clutched up with 24 points in 16 games as the Storm captured the VHLM title. 

 

 

Newhook also once again represented his country internationally, but at the World Junior Championship, in S73. He was faced with much larger competition that ever before, but still put up 5 assists for 5 points in 8 games, although the Americans fell in the quarterfinals. 

 

Chapter 3: The Big Leagues

 

After winning the ultimate prize and achieving a lot of what there is to achieve at the VHLM level, Newhook was ready for the real challenge. He was called up to Moscow in S74 for his rookie season, and didn’t expect a lot of ice time on the potent Menace. He did, however, post respectable numbers, nabbing 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points, but was overshadowed by fellow rookie dynamos such as Dakota Lamb and John Merrick. Unfortunately, the Menace were upset in the first round by the Helsinki Titans, and Newhook recorded no points in the series.
 

A bright spot in that season actually came after they had been eliminated, for Newhook was once again invited to join Team USA at the World Junior Championship, where he held a clinic, putting up 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points in only 8 games. They were knocked out by Team World in the semis, but Newhook still shone, with 4 assists and 5 points in the 2 elimination games.

 

 

The following season, S75 and Newhook’s sophomore season, the Menace started their decline towards a rebuild. They squeaked into the playoffs after a recovery season where a lot of their core was experiencing depreciation. Mikko Lahtinen, Vin Calia, Nate Telker, and Raymond Bernard, players that made up the core of the Menace’s playoff run, were inching closer to retirement with each passing game. The window was closing, if not already closed, on the current core. Newhook had what some would call a ‘sophomore slump’, although it wasn’t much of a change from the previous season. He managed to score 15 goals along with 27 apples for 42 points, 3 points shy of his record. 

 

The Menace exploded in the playoffs, edging out the London United in the wildcard round, and then ripping apart the first seed Helsinki Titans in a revenge tour from S74, then were put out by the eventual champs, the Malmo Nighthawks, led by Ray Sheilds and Chris Hylands. Newhook recorded 3 goals, 5 assists, and 8 points in the 17 postseason games. 

 

In S76, it was a different story. The window that was ‘closing’ for the aging Menace core had swung back wide open. Led by the heroics of Lahtinen, superstar defencemen Roque Davis and Alex Letang, and freshly acquired goaltender Jacob Tonn, the Menace looked unstoppable, capturing the Victory Cup and clinching the top seed in the conference. Newhook himself had an amazing year, amassing career highs in goals and points, with 25 and 48 respectively. His +44 plus/minus was also a huge improvement from the previous seasons +13. The Menace entered the postseason confident and rested. 

 

With Newhook comfortably secured at the second line right wing spot, the Menace survived a scare against the wildcard winning Prague Phantoms, and then, in a mirror situation to S75, were felled in 7 games by the upstart Warsaw Predators team that would lose out to the Chicago Phoenix in the final. Newhook once again was a little quiet in the postseason, with 5 points in the 14 games, but still averaged almost 3 shots per game, which is a valuable trait. He now had 36 games of playoff experience as only a third year player. 

 

Through trading their star players, the Menace had acquired both the first and third overall selections, and picked two players that would start the rebuild of the Menace, Paul Atreides and Duncan Idaho.

 

 

In S77, Moscow took a nose dive towards the bottom of the standings. Lahtinen, Tonn, Davis, and Letang were all history, dealt for picks and prospects to fuel the rebuild. Newhook, taking advantage of the ragged depth, secured a spot on the first line alongside Pietro Angellini and Jordan Tate. However, he had minimal support throughout the roster, and once again drifted to mid forties in points. Moscow finished second last in the league, and drafted potential franchise players Hard Markinson and The Seabasstard at second and third overall. The future was bright, and Newhook was a key piece.

 

Finally, we have the current season, S78. Newhook was in a very good position, thinking selfishly. He finally had all the help he needed, and although he was demoted to the third line in favour of some up and comers, he was still a mainstay on the first power play unit, and the destruction of his point records showed that he was a player in his prime. He scored 19 goals and an incredible 49 assists for a career high 68 points, nearly at a point per game. The Menace once again did not make the playoffs, but they climbed above other bottom-dwellers to challenge for a spot.

 

 

 

 With Newhook’s retirement seeming as close as a season or two away, his time with the Menace is coming to a close. But with their talented young core, he may just get one last shot at that elusive Continental Cup. 

 

 

 

@GrittyIsKing09

1402 words, claiming for 2 weeks

 

 

 

 

[Ledge 1,131]

I would love to do this sort of thing again, I'll think of some sort of contest for the next one (because c'mon, let's make it fun)

[Victor 11,037]

[mediocrepony 1,216]

omfg madlad did it! Thank you so much ledge!

[Ledge 1,131]

Claim 2/2