The Pasta Bowl is Empty

[Eynhallow 412]

When I wrote my last articles, Noodles' team, the Istanbul Red Wolves, held a 3 - 1 advantage over the vaunted Bratislava Watchmen.  Victory, it seemed was all but assured.  Unfortunately, that was not to be.  The Hockey Gods did not smile kindly on the Red Wolves as they lost 3 in a row and watched as the Watchmen went on to the league finals.  There can be no "finger pointing" here.  A loss, not matter when it occurs, is a collective thing.  All the players contribute to a loss.  Its not just goal tending or defense or lack of offense.  It is a combination of all of those things along with a healthy dose of puck luck.  I expect to see Istanbul back with a vengeance next season.  This is a bit harder to do in the VHLE as players may only be there for a limited time.  In Noodles' case, he will be drafted in the upcoming draft and that will spell out where he will play next season.  On a personal note, interest in Noodles seems to have dried up as he hasn't had any more VHL teams interview him.  This might be because he went "O-fer" in his lst 3 games.  That means he didn't put up a singe point in the last three losses to Bratislava.  Noodles will continue to work on his skills during his off-season in order to make himself as attractive as possible to any of the VHL teams that might be interested in drafting him.  According to Central Scouting, Noodles should be drafted in the first part of the first round.  Here is hoping for a big contract as Noodles played for free this last season as an undrafted free agent.