RomanesEuntDomus 442 Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 A Look Back At The Express Off-Season With the new season being a few weeks old now, we decided to take a look back at the busy off-season that just ended for Cologne. After multiple seasons of rebuilding, the Express have finally started to take the next step on the road to becoming a contender and they did so through multiple trades and draft selections that many experts described as very risky. It all started with the Express winning the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history, after having lost it and dropping to the 4th pick for multiple seasons in a row now. From that moment on, everything seemed to change in Cologne. A team that was looking forward to the draft, but was still planning on taking a slower, steady approach to their rebuild, suddenly had a pick at their hands that would bring them the piece the team had been looking for since the departure of Kameron Taylor: A franchise caliber forward. Experts debated if the Express pick would end up being Mason Richardson or Thomas O’Malley, with the majority of them leaning towards the goalscorer O’Malley, mainly due to positional need. Nobody knew that when it was all said and done, both these superstars would be in Cologne. After unsuccessfully trying to acquire the 3rd overall pick for weeks, the Express surprised everyone by making a move for the 2nd overall selection instead. If came at a hefty price, Colognes own 1st rounders in Season 41 and 42 as well as Calgary 1st round selection in Season 41wen to Quebec while the Meute’s own 2nd rounder in Season 42 came also went to Cologne. But while the media reacted somewhat critical, fans in Cologne were ecstatic at the prospect of acquiring not one, but two franchise caliber players in one draft. While there had been some speculations about Tyler Cote, Jerrick Poole or maybe even an outside candidate like Lloyd Light breaking into the Top-2, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Mason Richardson and Thomas O’Malley were the best pure hockey talents in this draft. So when the big day came, it came to no one’s surprise when Express GM Alexander Schneider announced that the team had selected Thomas O’Malley with the 1st and Mason Richardson with the 2nd overall pick. O’Malley and Richardson might be the biggest names, however they aren’t the only new players that joined the Cologne Express organization. Mikko Koskinen and Alexander Petrov were selected in the 3rd and 4th round respectively and while those two haven’t attended the Express training camp this pre-season, the teams 5th round selection actually has! Edgar Balthazar is still a very raw player but he could very well turn out to be the steal of this draft even if he just becomes a depth-player, because when was the last time a player selected in the 5th round has made any sort of impact in this league? But the Cologne Express weren’t done after the draft! After a disappointing free agency for pretty much every team in the league that saw almost all free agents stay where they are, the Express decided to pull the trigger on a second deal, this time one that would bring some more veteran talent to the German city. Wesley Kellinger, one of the top scorers of the previous season and a seasoned veteran, was brought in along with defenseman Andrej Zadorov, a fairly young blueliner who is just hitting his prime but is already very capable of playing on a team’s top pairing. The Express only had to pay two 2nd rounders, a 3rd and cap dump Steve Tremblay to bring in Kellinger and Zadorov, a deal that the experts around the league liked way more than the one for the 2nd Overall. But which one will actually turn out to be better in the end? Only time will tell, so we are already looking forward to reviewing these trades a few seasons down the road… Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/13160-claimeda-look-back-at-the-express-off-season/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawksFan19 89 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Content: 3/3 Cologne was my old team (Rick Ross) and they look to be doing well now. I liked the trade for 2nd OA better than the other trade, Richardson was a beast for Saskatoon last season. 669 words. Grammar: 2/2 Perfect! Appearance: 1/1 Pics are nice FINAL: 6/6 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/13160-claimeda-look-back-at-the-express-off-season/#findComment-136076 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Claimed Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/13160-claimeda-look-back-at-the-express-off-season/#findComment-136562 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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