A New Chapter

[NSG 495]

At about 7 PM local time, Mexico City Kings goalie Henry Tucker Jr. settled in to hid couch, got out a Coke, and began the wait to see where he would go. Going top 2 seemed nearly impossible, but Calgary might go for him at 3 or maybe London at 5 depending on where Murdock went, What if that didn't happen, though? Would Riga pursue him at 8 or would he fall out of the top 10 entirely! The last thought was especially scary, so Tucker Jr. just shook off those thoughts, grabbed some avocados, and nervously munched away in between sips of Coke.

 

Vancouver had a weird-ish first pick, as the GM passed on his own player to acquire the 368 TPE Henry Eagles, who has 57 TPE higher than Jameson (but then again, he wasn't the GM's player). Prague also was a little shocking when they passed on their GM player and snatched Jameson! Any hopes of HTJ going to Calgary were quickly erased when they took VHL-ready defender Phil Strasmore. 4 and 5 were very forgettable picks, as none of them were in the market for him, but when Malmo took his good friend Tater Tottingham at 6th, HTJ jumped out of his chair and did a little victory dance. He still hadn't been picked, but with them having such deep roots dating back to Tucker and Tot, it was like he had just been picked. He had to quickly refocus, though, since Moscow quickly picked Murdock, which meant that his time was coming very, very soon. Malmo had been a suitor, but if they didn't pick him, Tucker Jr. would have to hope that London went for him at 10. And then what if...? Tucker Jr. had to once again shake off the doubt and believe in himself.

 

"And with the 8th pick of the Season 85 VHL Entry Draft, the Riga Reign select... Henry Tucker Jr." the TV said, right as Tucker Jr. had finished his plate of avocado slices. He leaped for joy and immediately called Tater Tottingham on his cell phone to congratulate him. They exchanged congratulations and well wishes and all that, and for the next 4 hours, they just kinda chatted and stuff until they hung up. Tottingham and Tucker still have the chance to be VHLE teammates, but it's becoming more and more likely that their agency's run as teammates is over for a long while.

 

After that, very late-ish at night, the AGM sent him a brief text, saying something to the effect of, "Ayo, we're happy to have you since you were out first pick!" and almost right after that, the GM purchased his one-way flight ticket to Riga. Tucker Jr. had no idea where that actually was, but he went straight to the airport and got on the plane anyways. On the flight, he learned that it was the capital of Latvia, however, he didn't know where Latvia was. Thanks to Google Maps, though  he figured it out shortly before he landed in Riga. Immediately after exiting the plane, he was swarmed by reporters, but ever the introvert, Tucker Jr. declined to take questions. The NSG Agency only does interviews very occasionally, and as a matter of fact, has never had an interview in the VHL. Yes, they do go to press conferences, but that level of silence is unusual in such a highly publicized league.

 

Once he got to the locker room, though, he became very talkative. He said hi to nearly every player on the team, including the prospects, and although he'd have a much harder time getting to the LR while the VHLE season was going on, he knew that it was a great LR for him to have some fun in.

 

628 words