fever95 333 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Zhumbayev Eager For VHL Debut Artom Zhumbayev, the second overall pick of the Cologne Express from the Season 47 VHL Entry Draft will make his long awaited VHL debut when the team hits the ice for Season 48. The Kazakh netminder spent his first two seasons in the VHLM, splitting time between the Oslo Storm, Moscow Red Wolves, and Bratislava Watchmen where he suited up for 125 regular season contests. In those 125 games, Zhumbayev concluded his VHLM career with a record of 75-39-11, posting a 0.905% save percentage, and a goals against average of 2.12. He added 17 shutouts, 12 penalty minutes, and 5 assists in those two seasons. During the VHLM playoffs, AZ finished with a 12-4-4 record over two seasons, making the Founder's Cup Finals in both seasons and winning the championship with Bratislava in Season 47. He posted a 0.886% save percentage and a goals against average of 2.37 over those two playoff seasons with one shutout, no penalty minutes and no assists. With VHL training camps in full swing now, Artom Zhumbayev has been taking the majority of the shots between the pipes for the Express and has been impressing the Colonge coaching staff with his development from the time he was drafted by the Express to now. He is nearing 300 hours in the training facility and should reach that plateau by the time the season begins. Word from the Express training camp is pointing towards Zhumbayev winning the starting job between the pipes on opening night of Season 48. Artom's success in the VHLM will take time to translate to VHL success as he is in the early stages of his career and will need time to make the adjustments from the VHLM to the VHL. The players here are bigger, stronger, faster, and a lot more well-rounded than what AZ has dealt with in the VHLM but he has shown that he has the talent and work ethic to make these adjustments and become the franchise goaltender for the Cologne Express. Cologne is a very young team and will have two other rookies in the form of Tyson Kohler and David Hamilton joining Zhumbayev when the Express hit the ice for the new season. Joel Jarvi, one of the favourites to take home the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy as the top rookie will be entering his second professional season. Pete Stockon and Lucas Zhukenov are a bit older but still fairly young in VHL terms and the Express were able to pick up Giovanni Reuel via free agency. We will have to wait until training camp concludes to find out if Season 48 draft picks, Adrian Kharlamov, Sean Connery, Sid Crosby, or P.J. Jackson are able to impress enough to suit up in an Express jersey on opening night or if they will be sent back down to the VHLM for more development. This young Cologne Express team will see their fair share of struggles but the future looks bright in Germany for this franchise. Kendrick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick 4,741 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I wish I could say I'll help your GAA out, but my build does the opposite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kesler 1,514 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FacePuncher 1,343 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Review: great read, love how you were able to figure out all of these stats. I hope you win the starting job, you deserve it. You were a valuable piece to our VHLM championship puzzle! I hope everything works out well for you guys in Cologne, but not well enough to be better than Seattle 502 words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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