Colder climes cool passions but the rumours persist

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As the rumours about their off-ice affairs persisted, Italian prospects Antonia Bucatini and Gianfranco Del Rocco went first and second overall, as expected, in the VHL draft. With Bucatini staying close to home in Davos but Del Rocco nine timezones away in Seattle, surely that was the end of that off-season fling? Well, maybe, if it existed in the first place. But with both players choosing to spend an extra season in Europe to hone their skills in the VHLE, the rumour mill has ended up churning.
 

Bucatini is spending her VHLE year in Oslo with Del Rocco across the border in Vasteras. A five-hour drive separates the two (or a six-hour train with a change at Hallsberg), not in itself surprising given half of the VHLE's teams are in either Norway or Sweden. What has been surprising and slightly disappointing for the paparazzi is that both young players have seemingly chosen to focus on their hockey, not leaving their team bubbles even when travelling away to other VHLE locations.
 

The step up to the VHLE hasn't hindered either Italian with Del Rocco leading Vasteras with 9 points and Bucatini's 4 goals joint most on Oslo. But have the harsher northern conditions cooled passions? Or is it that two points separate the Iron Eagles and Storm and it will likely remain a close-run race all season? Or was there nothing there to begin with? The speculation certainly won't be quelled so easily.

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