Vladimir Trunov - rookie experience

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The first VHL season was pretty much short for our protagonist. Vladimir Trunov, the 10th overall draft pick, after two outstanding seasons in the junior leagues, finally took a step up and joined the ranks of the best players. The season promised to be tough and challenging.  

The locker room welcomed the rookie as expected, meaning the adaptation process shouldn’t have been an obstacle on the young goaltender’s path to his first success and his future as a league star.  

Vladimir began his first season as a backup goaltender, substituting for the experienced starter Harold Benson, who was already playing his fifth season with the Dragons. Soon, it would become clear that their goalie tandem could be considered one of the best in the league, even though experts had not previously ranked the Dragons' goaltending duo among the top pairs of cup contenders. Both recorded above .925 SV%, Trunov has recorded mind-blowing .94%. Overall, the Russian goaltender played 11 games during the season, 8 of which were full starts from the opening seconds with 3-4-1 statistics. Two out of three wins were shutouts. It is required to say that Vladimir started his path against best teams in the VHL. His brother, DC Dragons GM Bogdan Trunov, decided to throw the goalie versus playoffs contenders such as Toronto, Davos, Moscow and etc. The results are promising, though it was a risky move. Most young goalies crack under pressure, the lack of experience gets on their nerves and negatively impacts on their game. Not Vladimir.

The first season showed that Vladimir has all the necessary skills and mentality to become a leader for the team - both on and off the ice. His league debut wasn’t exactly great, and Trunov still has to prove himself under pressure in big matches, though he has already taken his first steps toward success. No wonder that as the Russian goalie's game keeps improving, the Dragons finishes the rebuild stage and after a bunch of offseason moves, they now look like a solid playoffs team. After an unexpected retirement of Herald Benson who was supposed to play at least for next 3 seasons, Vladimir will lead the team this season. 
In conclusion, we shall mention that Vladimir Trunov ended his rookie season being 2nd in save %, 3rd in GAA among the league and we have a strong feeling that it is not the last time when we see his name on top of the statistics bars.