WJC: Team Asia Has Never Won Gold and we Certainly Won't Change That

[Plate 386]

Team Asia (And Friends)
Total TPE: 2,714
Projected: 5th Place
 

Team Asia has never won gold. And you know what, even though our team sucks I'm still happy to be here. Do we have a capped out 400 TPE player? No. Do we have depth to go the distance? Well we have a team. But you know what we do have? An active locker room and good vibes. So I think we win by default, you can just give us the trophy now and call it quits later. Honestly if we make the playoffs I'm going to be laughing my ass all the way to the bank.

 

In goal you have the tending duo of Ricky Lafleur and Vladimir Trunov. It’s likely that Trunov will get the nod as the starter, but there could be a tending battle happening between the Asian pipes. The Russian netminder Trunov has to compete with the Canadian 4th VHLM selection Ricky LaFleur. While it’s possible a tending switch could happen it’s incredibly unlikely however, as both former S95 Halifax netminders come into the tournament with established routines.

 

Defense is led by another Russian Boris Bone-Breaker. Coming back from the final VHLE season Bone-breaker has established themselves as a top physical presence on the blueline. Following is 8th overall selection in this recent draft Narnia Shaw from India. This two way defenseman will sauce the puck around to that front-end offense and give an excellent quarterback to the Team Asia powerplay. Following are the depth pieces Cysteine and Bubbles LaFleur. Another Canadian joins the backend but not to be overshadowed by Bone-Breaker LaFleur provides some real skill to whatever pairing they find themselves in. Cysteine the Vietnam depth option can also put in some work on that 2nd defensive pair as a stable player.

 

And now we get to the part of the story that falls flat on its face. Team Asia has a severe lack of forward potential so goalscoring will be incredibly low for this roster. Leading the charge is German Joel Jakobs, 7th overall selection in the draft. Followed by the Afghan Alex Ovechkin IIII a prospect drafted a couple seasons ago. To round out the top three you have former Jakobs linemate and Canadian Jackson Jeannot. This line will certainly be outclassed by almost any other first line available in the tournament and will struggle to find the back of the net against the starting netminders of the tournament.

The forward core is followed by Kyle Evans (Canada), Jay Sikes (Canada) and Doc Hudson (North Korea). These three players are all second rounders in the S96 VHL draft and could have some potential as playable options. Teamplay and hard work will have to be the edge that these skaters lean on in order to come out ahead of their opponents. But with all three being 20 goal scorers in the VHLM there’s a possibility they contribute offensively.

To finish off the forwards we find ourselves with Steven Nichols (Philippines), Andreas Andreasen (Denmark) and Arochimaru Shahar (Moldava). This unique opportunity gives these players to play against other best in class skaters of their experience level. It will remain to be seen if they can keep the puck out of the net. But if they can do that, or at least chip in with a handful of goals, Team Asia (And Friends) might make the playoffs. 

 

Just to sum it up, Team Asia (And Friends) are going to rely heavily on goaltending and defense to pull a miracle playoff run into order. It remains to be seen if this is possible. Unfortunately, my best guess is that you read an article about nothing more than hopes and dreams. But hey, that’s what a prospect is after all, isn’t it?

Edited October 8 by Plate

[OblivionWalker 292]

As the Team Asia gm, I approve this message.

[Victor 11,021]

6 hours ago, Plate said:

Kyle Evans (Canada), Jay Sikes (Canada)

 

6 hours ago, Plate said:

Andreas Andreasen (Denmark) and Arochimaru Shahar (Moldava)

Asia!

[Plate 386]

Yes very Asian players right there ;D

[OblivionWalker 292]

I added “and friends” for a reason