Hello (and Goodbye) Europe!

[Sullvino 289]

Hello (and Goodbye) Europe!

 

During the S89 offseason, the Geneva Rush selected forward Zyn Westwood with the 6^th overall pick in the VHLE Draft. Westwood, a goal scoring winger from Monaco, had just come off an impressive VHLM debut season winning a Founder’s Cup with the Philadelphia Reapers. Coming in to his first VHLE season, Westwood had high expectations for himself, but acknowledged that it may take some time to realize them:

 

Quote

“Entering the VHLE, I knew the competition was going to be much tougher. All of the players are bigger, faster and more skilled as compared to the VHLM.  My goal prior to the season was to take the first ten games or so to get adjusted to the speed of the game and then for the rest of the season really try to turn on the jets. As a team, we knew we had one of the best rosters in the league so our expectations were championship or bust”

 

Individually for Westwood, he finished the regular season with a stat line of 28 goals and 42 assists in 72 games played and also added 116 hits and 34 penalty minutes.  The 70 points was good enough to land inside the top 30 in the VHL in overall scoring. He played the majority of the season on the first line left wing, but rarely saw the ice on the powerplay which may have led to a lower point production than he anticipated:

 

Quote

“Yeah overall very happy with the season on a personal note. To be almost a point-per-game player as a rookie in the VHLE is nothing to sneeze at. My goal output was definitely lower than I thought I could achieve this year. I really wanted to hit 30-35 goals as a personal goal. I would have liked to play on one of the power play units to get some experience there, but that is a coaching decision I will have to respect.”

 

Next up for Mr. Westwood is the main stage, the VHL. There are early rumors that the New York Americans will call him up to the big leagues for the S90 season. After being selected 5th overall in the S89 entry draft by New York, the expectations will be high in the biggest city in the world. After the VHLE playoffs, Westwood will go right into training mode int he off season to prepare in case the opportunity to play in the VHL next season presents itself.