A LOT of Drafts - Houston

[AJW 2,161]

 HELLO HOUSTON FANS!! 

 

Just recently the S93 VHLM Dispersal Draft wrapped up. Last weekend before this one, the VHL and VHLE completed their S93 entry drafts as well. Houston was VERY excited to watch the big screen for all three drafts and see the S92 Bulls roster flying off the boards! Here is a recap of our squad and where their futures will lead:

 

 

(C) Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica

 Davos - 1st overall

 Oslo - 1st overall

 

(D) Lucy Leitner @LucyXpher

 Riga - 3rd overall

 Vasteras - 2nd overall

 

(G) Ondrej Vencko @Mutti

 Prague - 8th overall

 Vasteras - 26th overall

 

(D) Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee

 Moscow - 9th overall

 Oslo - 5th overall

 

(RW) Nathan Ecker @Nathan_8

 Seattle - 10th overall

 Rome - 9th overall

 

(LW) Chris Reynolds Jr @Crstats23

 New York - 11th overall

 Oslo - 11th overall

 

(C) Tyler Lawson @Nyx

 Helsinki - 14th overall

 Rome  - 21st overall

 

(LW) Miner vHLer @Rhynex Entertainment

 Calgary  - 17th overall

 Oslo - 31st overall

 

(G) Herald Benson @Benson

 D.C. - 19th overall

 Cologne - 22nd overall

 

(D) Cody Toland @ctoland102

 Warsaw - 25th overall

 Cologne - 19th overall

 

(RW) Jack Dickins @Mystery_boy98

 Prague - 28th overall

 Oslo - 49th overall

 

(LW) Filip Zinek @FiZi

 Seattle - 32nd overall

 Bratislava - 41st overall

 

(C) Micah Cederbaum @MicahC

 Chicago - 46th overall

 Cologne - 54th overall

 

 

I'm pumped! We smashed these drafts and it literally felt like my birthday when I saw 4 Bulls get drafted in a row in the first round of the VHL draft. Makes me feel like I actually did something as a GM to see all these players getting drafted so high, it motivates me to want to do it again every season! The VHLM Draft ended yesterday and Houston has some new AND familiar faces to introduce:

 

(D) Billy Joel @The goat of hockey

27th overall / 24th overall / 16th overall

 

The name just checks out. If you didn't know, The goat of hockey is my new AGM in Houston! I was really hoping their player, Billy Joel, could drop to 16th since for 1. they are my AGM and 2. I was hoping to draft a defender with our first pick. Joel has a solid build and should be our #1 guy to rely on when it comes to the blue line. It is always fun playing for the team you manage so I think this is a perfect home for Billy Joel.

 

(LW) Filip Zinek @FiZi

32nd overall / 41st overall / 32nd overall

 

A familiar face! Filip Zinek was part of the Houston Bulls' roster last season and I was SHOCKED to see them still available at 32. Zinek isn't the loudest in the locker room or forums but is always a pleasure to have a conversation with 1 on 1 so I really wanted them back! Zinek will be our top offensive threat heading into the start of this season.

 

(D) Wladyslaw Mintus @mintusaurus

37th overall / 37th overall / 36th overall

 

Wladyslaw Mintus may have been surprised to come to Houston. As draft day was approaching I was sending out last minute interviews and wanted to send one Mintus' way in case I could take them at 16th overall. Fast forward to 36th overall and they were still available! The Oslo-Calgary chain line caught my eye as well (my current player is playing for Calgary and played for Oslo) and I am really excited to get to know this first gen more as the season rolls on.

 

(RW) - Cole Stermer @Bazeus

57th overall / 53rd overall / 51st overall

 

As the draft was winding down I saw Cole Stermer still alive on the board. Stermer has been consistently earning weekly and I wanted to take a gamble, so I traded up to pick 51 to draft them! Las Vegas received Houston pick 56 and 66 in return. There is a lot of potential to come from this prospect I feel, with time and teaching I am hoping to make Cole Stermer a VHLM graduate! I know with Rory and Bana also in their DMs that this should be a fun player to work with.

 

 

It was definitely a slim draft for Houston as I did trade Houston's 1st and 3rd round picks away earlier last season. With that in mind I also made a trade so our capped goaltender could get some depth shooters in front of him to start the season (Benson was the only player on our roster before the trade). Here is what our roster looked like before the 4 draftees walked in:

 

 (G) Herald Benson @Benson

19th overall / 22nd overall / 25th overall

 

(C) Charlie Klepacki @chuck.hockey7

40th overall / 64th overall / 34th overall

 

(LW) Elf Shoes @ELF_SH0ES

54th overall / 60th overall / 37th overall

 

Herald Benson played the backup role for Houston heading into S92 playoffs last season. With the crease fully under his control now, I am really excited to see what kind of numbers he can produce! I just needed to figure out how to put a team in front of him. Not many defenders were on the trade block heading into the draft but forwards were, specifically from Miami. Charlie Kelpacki and Elf Shoes are two very consistent earners who I hope can have some fun with us this season. I traded away our S94 1st round pick for these two forwards but if you know me then you know that I am allergic to owning 1st round picks. Hopefully these two new prospects, our capped goaltender, and the four new draft picks from this draft can start our season off strong! Everyone is currently 100+ TPE which is nice to see, but we have lots of work to do still if playoffs are going to be in the question.

 

 

Lastly, the magician @Triller made a beautiful graphic last season and I am going to try my best to make one half as good this season! Graphics have always been something I have tried to get better at and Triller made it nice and easy PNGing the Filip Zinek #88 jersey you see below. I'll need some more jersey numbers first before I attempt creating graphics, but also below is the list of numbers we have so far:

 

  

 

S93 Houston Bulls Jersey Numbers

 

#14 Herald Benson 
#69 Billy Joel 

#88 Filip Zinek  

#98 Wladyslaw Mintus 

 

Charlie Kelpacki 

Cole Stermer 

Elf Shoes 

 

 

That's all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying their St. Patty's today 

[LucyXpher 1,439]

GM of the year material.  I'm gonna miss that team 

[The goat of hockey 106]

Its time to give billy Joel 59 minutes a game and put him on the same dpair as our best dman