DuJuan Cook Rookie Profile

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DuJuan Cook Rookie Profile

 

DuJuan Cook is currently in his rookie campaign with the Oslo Storm in the VHLM. Cook was selected sixteenth overall in the S35 VHLM Dispersal Draft. DuJuan was a relatively unknown player, declaring only a few days before the draft, but Oslo decided to take a shot on him in the middle of the second round. However, Cook’s inaugural season has started off a bit disappointing to say the least.  Through the Storm’s first four games, Cook has yet to record a point, and in minus five in the plus/minus category. Cook still has his hopes up though. “It has definitely been a rough start to the season, and certainly not the way I envisioned my career starting,” he said. “However, I feel like I am improving every day. Right now, there is nothing I can do to change how my play has started. That is in the past. The only thing I can do now is keep working hard to make sure that does not happen again.”

 

 

Strengths

 

Cook does have some redeeming qualities about his game, even though he has not shown it yet. He has vastly improved in the skating department. Now, Cook can skate backwards and stop with his left foot, something it did not seem he could do a few days ago (Editor’s Note: Except for that one time he forgot to take his skate guards off, but that is beside the point.)

 

DuJuan has also improved his ability to put the puck in the net, although it has not showed up in a game yet. “DuJuan is getting much better around the net,” his coach said. “He has a natural talent to ram a loose puck home. He is also starting to develop more of a wrist shot and slap shot, but those things take time to progress.”

 

Perhaps his biggest strength this early in his career, however, is his work ethic. Cook has rapidly improved since being drafted, and seems to be getting exponentially better every day. “I feel like a completely new player since I have been in Oslo,” DuJuan said. “I have already stretched my play to levels I did not know I could take it, and I plan to extend those boundaries every day.” Even though the results have not been shown on the stat sheet yet, Cook should see results soon if he continues to work hard.

 

Weaknesses

 

On the other hand, there are many aspects in the game that DuJuan Cook struggles with. Perhaps the area he struggles in the most is defense. Cook often gets caught “cherry-picking,” and leaves his teammates in odd-man rushes quite often. He does not give up his body to block a shot either, and some of his teammates have even called him out on that.

 

For a natural Center, Cook is also terrible at face-offs. In the young season, Cook has won less than fifty percent of his face-offs, and is towards the bottom of the team in face-off percentage. For the team’s number one Center, this is not the kind of percentages you like to see. There have even been rumors that Cook might get demoted to a lower line, or even switched to a wing instead.

 

Cook also struggles with the physical aspects of the game. He is very timid when trying to bring a forecheck, and sometimes flat out refuses to hit anyone. Being a finesse player is not necessarily a horrible thing, but some physicality would be nice out of him. This is perhaps the only portion of his game where he has not expressed interest in improving, so don’t expect that to change any time soon.

 

 

Words: 613

Pics: 3

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

Content: 5/5 - A nice look at the beginning of the career of DuJuan Cook. Although he may not seem to be improving his physical game, those other weaknesses are something he can overcome. Having a great work ethic is always a great way to have a successful career.

 

Grammar: 1/1 - Perfect!

Appearance: 1/1 - Solid.

 

Over 500 Words? 1/1 - Yup.

Overall 8/8

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

I declare the above grade as FINAL. I apologize for the delay in getting this graded.