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The Stockholm Five
A review of the Vikings' fuzzy goalie history
part 1 of 3

The approach that the Stockholm Vikings took to securing their franchise goalie was certainly a unique one, albeit quite a bit due to circumstance. While most teams simply draft a solid goalie (or the general manager creates one) with clear intent of making him their future starter, Stockholm's affinity for goalies became a relevant story in the VHL. Over the past two seasons, the Vikings have had five potential 'goalies of the future.' Whether it be goalie prospects under contract or draft picks that they realistically could have made, the options have been plentiful for the team in that short time period. Four of these five are in the VHL this season and on their way to a meaningful career, while the fifth will likely never make it out of the minor leagues. Here is a look at two of these goalies.

Callum Sinclair
Holding the second overall pick in the Season 42 draft, the Vikings were in position to draft Callum Sinclair as their goalie. Though the Dynamo, who were selecting first, was also looking for their future netminder, Bismarck Köenig was the obvious choice for them. Davos general manager Jack Reilly was intent on acquiring both Köenig and Sinclair, however, and he offered Benoit Prévost and the Vikings a deal that was too good to turn down: two first round picks, a second round pick, and two decent prospects. Two of the pieces acquired in this trade will come into play later in this series.

So the Vikings passed on taking Sinclair in the hopes that they would have another opportunity to find a goalie. Sinclair is currently playing with the Dynamo in his second season, posting a 0.921 save percentage with six shutouts. After a very strong start to the season, Sinclair has struggled lately; he has given up at least three goals in his past six starts (all losses), including an eight-goal thrashing at the hands of the Vikings.

 

Coca Cola
In the deal for second overall, one of the prospects the Vikings added was Coca Cola. Though he was far from a sure thing, Prévost saw potential in Cola. He was not an essential piece in the deal, and the Vikings were never planning on putting all their eggs in the Cola basket. Cola did show some promise during Season 42 in terms of his training, but it also became apparent that he would not be in Stockholm's long-term plans. As they had been expecting to do, the Vikings traded him at a time when he had some value. They sent him to Calgary in exchange for Riga's Season 43 second round pick, which turned into 11th overall.

Cola lost the Season 42 Founder's Cup Finals to the Brampton Blades, who were led by another one of the goalies featured in this series. Now playing for the Blades in Season 43, Cola is leading the league in save percentage by a wide margin, posting a 0.923 percentage to second-place Bernie Gow's 0.909. Cola has the potential to make a nice career for himself in the minor leagues.

Next Week
In part two of the series to come next week, I will take a look at two other goalies who could have potentially made a career in Stockholm.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Streetlight

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Content: 3/3 - Good article. Sinclair's definitely been superb this season in the VHL, although stumbling as of late.

Grammar: 2/2 - Didn't notice anything.

Appearance: 1/1 - Good.

Overall: 6/6

[CoachReilly 688]

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