New City, New Struggles

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To put it lightly, it has been a less than ideal start to the VHLE debut for Matteo Stefano. The high rising rookie coming out of the VHLM has only one point in his first 10 games for the Cologne Express. After their 4-2 win over Bratislava, Stefano was asked about his lack of offense. "The points will come," he said, "the main thing is I'm helping the team defensively and taking away any chances against us." Cologne currently sits tied for the lowest goals against with 24, but also haven't been adding the offense consistently to maintain their second place standings through the early part of the season. If Stefano, Maple Dogwood, and Nikita Yolishev, can find their footing like fellow rookie Maverick Goncalves has, the team should be very difficult to beat. All left wingers on the Express are new this season, so they should be able to share that experience and find a way to put up points as a unit. Stefano is going to have to shake off the rookie nerves if he wants to find more ways to help this team succeed.