Hello Europe, It's Jillian Woods Here!

[jacobcarson877 2,529]

Europe it is! Continuing my trek eastward from San Diego, to Ottawa, and now to Rome, with Moscow on the way, I will soon be circumnavigating the globe by simply playing hockey. Rome has been a wonderful city for me so far, with the warm, wet offseason air inspiring new life, and new heights in my training and my development as a soon-to-be premier VHL defender.

 

Rome has a ton of great talent with many players that should be on their way to great VHL careers. I’m currently the top defender, but with Thorvaldsson, Joel and Stanton all making their way to the VHLE Cap, we should be a great group towards the end of the season. The forward group is huge, with almost 4 whole lines ready to roll, and many above 300TPA already. Several more should be joining them as we’ll be looking to crush teams with superior depth, as well as some great starpower that already exists. We’ve got an established goaltender to get us started in Gunnleifsson, but Eagles will be rocketing up the charts this season, and should be the consensus starter for the playoffs. Feels like anything less than a finals run with this team would be a disappointment.

 

I’m building my offensive game this season, coming off an already impressive offensive run last season in the VHLM, but this time the output will be intentional. If I’m going to be a great VHL offensive defender, I’ll have to really find the line between the two ends of the ice, and make sure that I’m pushing the game forward, all while maintaining neutrality in the defensive end, at minimum. That’s a balance I’ll seek to find here this season, as there’s no more room this season for adjustment. The vehicle is ready to race, and now I just wait for the starting gun to fire.

 

It should be a bloodbath this season, something us Gladiators are prepared to handle. There’s a ton of talent in Europe this season, and we’ll be sure to be on our toes, and with weapons drawn, ready to prove that we’ll be the last ones standing this time. Move over Cologne, move over Oslo, a new champion is in town, and I’m sure that if Simon allows, Rome will be the one to stand victorious this season.

 

Oh and the pizza really is that good people, you really need to try it when you’re in town!