Tagger 2,722 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 The Labatte and Stolzschweiger Awards that Encarnacion has all but wrapped up When the Riga Reign managed to trade up to the fifth overall selection in the season 35 VHL draft to secure Edwin Encarnacion, they knew already that they had picked up the steal of the draft. Encarnacion, the consensus first overall pick, found his name fall incredibly far down the draft order due to teams drafting on positional need rather than a “Best Player Available” basis. No other player had come into a draft with more hype than the former baseball star who, despite only taking up the sport less than a year ago, recorded a Hall of Fame worthy season in the minor league with Saskatoon Wild, impressing scouts to no end with his determination to get in front of the puck, his ability to pick out open teammates seemingly at will and his huge bone-rattling hits, hard enough to leave even the largest professional hockey player down for the count. Entering the regular season, the playoff hopes for the Reign were low, knowing that they had traded away many of their previous stars for first round selections in upcoming drafts. However, with Edwin Encarnacion at the helm of the renovation, these fans have started to belief that they don’t even need to wait until those first round selections turn into tangible assets, they believe they can reach the playoffs this season. Why? Well, have you seen the statistics that are being put up by the Dominican leviathan? Encarnacion is leading the league in hits, second in shots blocked and, most importantly of all, fourth in penalty minutes. To add to his defensive presence, Encarnacion is even producing on the offensive side of the ice, currently ranking fifth out of rookies in total points, even ahead of some forwards drafted ahead of him; such as Naomi Young, who was taken second overall, and Tony Stark, who was selected with the pick just before Encarnacion was selected. As expected though, with great statistical play comes great criticism from people who don’t know any better. We were able to catch up with Ron Dayne III to talk about these criticisms and how far off base they were: “YEAH! Those criticisms of Edwin Encarnacion were just straight up sponsored by Haterade; when you can’t stand the truth, Haterade be your juice! I mean look, we all know that Edwin is a fantastic player, but you know what, every great player has one bad stat. Let’s be serious here, David Ortiz, absolutely fantastic player, how many K’s has he thrown? Exactly. People also talk about the “Revis Island” but tell me the last time you saw him pass for a touchdown. Exactly. And I know people keep pointing out this +/- like it’s the death of Christ, but seriously? Are we STILL using that to gauge performances? A stat that is based more on the performance of the team around Edwin rather than Edwin’s actual play? Come now child, let me educate you on how the new world works. It’s all about the PIM’s. Penalty Influence Minutes, YEAH?! The longer you spend in that influential penalty box giving your all to motivating your team whilst having your rear end sat firmly on your behind, the better your team will play. I mean look who leads the league in PIM’s, Clark Marcellin. Now are you seriously going to turn around to me and say that the fact that he has been in that Penalty Influence box longer than any other player in the league is not the reason why they’re second in the American Conference? Really? Maybe Eldred was right, maybe there’s just too many kiddies in here that are never going to understand what hockey, and for that matter Edwin, is about.” THIS ARTICLE WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY OVERWHELMING IGNORANCE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 708 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast 887 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Content 3/3 - YEAH! Another fantastic article! Congrats on being the fifth-overall pick, shame that you weren't taken at first like you should've been according to the YEAH! rankings. Looking forward to seeing how things go for you this season. Grammar: 2/2 - Just watch for words that should be hyphened. fifth overall selection, first overall pick, etc -> fitfh-overall selection, first-overall pick Appearance: 1/1 - YEAH! OVERALL: 6/6 YEAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachReilly 688 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 add this guy to the mag STAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,563 Posted October 16, 2013 Admin Share Posted October 16, 2013 It's like every article is a chapter in the Bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDanglingCellist 1 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 (edited) Content 3/3 - Twas an entertaining read. 1 to 5 isn't that much of a fall and there is more glory in being a steal or a diamond in the rough who makes big rather than a consensus top pick. Trust me on that. Grammar: 2/2 - Other than what Toast caught, I can't find anything. Appearance: 1/1 - No complaints here. Overall: 6/6 Final: 6/6 Edited October 24, 2013 by TheDanglingCellist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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