Shubham Anand Rookie Experience

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S91 Rookie Experience for Shubham Anand 

Shubham Anand in action for the Riga Reign 

 

 

The journey to get to this point has been long and twisted, but the time for Shubham Anand to finally make his VHL debut has come. It has taken seasons of growing in an unstable VHLE to arrive at this moment. While he will be starting for a team other than the team that drafted, that might be for the best as he ends up on a intriguing club where he can have an impact for seasons to come.

 

Shubham Anand was drafted late into the first round of S89 by the Calgary Wranglers. While the Wranglers would rebuild and make significant changes, Shubham would go through a chaotic two-year stint in the VHLE. Just as he was ready to be called up, Calgary decided it was done rebuilding and would trade Shubham to the Riga Reign.

 

The Riga Reign of S91 are an interesting bunch. The team is made of a good mix powerful veterans and rising youngsters. Spending a second season in the VHLE to develop have seemed to paided off. Despite being the youngest player on the roster, Shubham could easily slot into a second line role. While he only was a above average player in the VHLE, all his growth in his overall game could see Shubham in the race for Rookie of the Year. Time to wait and see what happens.

 

It would not take long into Shubham debut for to have a significant impact. While the first game didn't go to play for both player and team, the second game was different.  In an explosion of offense for the Riga Reign, Shubham would record his first assist and his first goal. It was a positive sign of things to come. The Riga Reign would finish the regular season second in the very competitive European Conference, just behind the Victory Cup winners. Shubham also finished second in points for all rookies with 60 points. The playoffs, on the other hand, would be bitterly disappointing for the Reign. A brutal series against London United left Riga with only one win and Shubham with a negative plus minus rating. In spite of the bad ending  to an otherwise great seasons, Shubham would finish on the All Rookie team for S91.

 

All the chaos arriving to this point  could have damaged a prospect like Shubham Anand. Yet in spite everything that has been thrown his way, Shubham has emerged as a future star on a squad set to contend for the foreseeable future. And having signed a long term contract with the Reign, we will see if some stability can result in Shubham Anand developing into the Hall of Famer he has the potential to become.