Chiang - Retirement Home Bound

[nurx 908]

This upcoming season will mark halfway through the mildly disappointing career of Yun Chiang. He was drafted by Riga @hedgehog337 in what they hoped would become a championship winning core. Well... that never materialized. They never made that deep of a playoff run. Chiang's potential never showed in Riga, and the question arises, "What is next in Chiang's career?"

 

After being traded at the deadline to New York @frescoelmo@thadthrasher he began to show that he can be a near point per game player. The question is will he get the opportunity to play on the 1st line. The free agent signings have been flying in for New York. However, it has shown that even after 3 seasons in the bigs and record breaking seasons in both the M and the E, there is little hope for Chiang to have a breakout season upcoming. There is even questions on whether mutual option he asked for in Riga could be used against him next off-season. It could be that Chiang will struggle to find teams competing to pay his growing contracts as they try to compete for the cup. The future for Chiang is dim if he doesn't begin to produce.

 

 

It has been an interesting ride for Chiang though. Despite failing to lift the cup those seasons in Riga has great regular seasons. Now as Chiang sits in New York he begins to wonder if a leadership role is a place he fits into. When asked Chaing said, "I am not sure, I have been working hard to show my skills on the ice. After coming to New York with all this young talent upcoming I expect it to be difficult to keep my spot based on skill alone. I, however, do have the ability to help these young players expand their game and become better players. That is what I need to do and that is what my new task will have to be." The question is will the management team hear the call and raise him an A on that left breast? Time will only tell as the team has flown into New York.

 

You may remember when Chiang first moved to Miami to play with the Marauders, he stated that he wanted to play for New York since when his family would visit the US they would watch the Americans play. Is it possible that the CCP who has been incredibly supportive of their young talent in the bigs will stop supporting a player playing for a team literally called the Americans? It is possible since after Riga traded him the CCP has not invited Chiang to play in any national circuits to raise awareness for hockey. However, it is possible that China is dealing with other situations with the nation and hockey is the least of their concerns.

 

Even as Chiang has moved from rookie to Sophomore to junior, he has never reached such a turning point as what will likely come next off-season. Is this what it means to be a veteran? To be forced to make decisions that will effect not just you but every team in the VHL?