Rave Progresses Well in Rookie Season

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Phillip Rave and the rest of the Malmo Nighthawks cleaned out their lockers early amidst harsh playoff disappointment this season, but from a personal standpoint, there were plenty of positives to take away from the season, even if Rave wasn’t feeling up to talking about them in the aftermath of their playoff elimination.

 

The rookie forward – a natural centre who spent the year on the wing to help ease his transition to the VHL – started the season with 18 points in his first 42 games, before putting up 23 points in the final 30 games to finish his rookie year with 41. Rave found the scoresheet with a pair of playoff tallies, too, both in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2 of the series.

 

His game as a whole came a long way over the course of the season, with noticeable improvements across the board, and Rave intends to spend the off-season working hard off the ice to improve his strength and skating. From putting up 13 points over an entire VHLE season in Cologne to a 41-point rookie campaign in the VHL, Rave clearly took massive strides in his development in S92. Some scouting agencies predict that Rave, originally picked 17th overall in the S91 draft, would rise into the top half of the first round in an S91 re-draft.

 

The Nighthawks are hoping to see this level of progression from Rave continue over the next few seasons of his career. Breakout seasons from their young, upcoming forwards like Rave, Savaisk Tzesar and Ronald Johnson MacWallace III could go a long way in turning this season’s disappointment into next season’s celebration.