Doomsday 4,041 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Finding the Impact Rookie of S37 NEW YORK - The Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy, annually awarded to the top rookie of the Victory Hockey League, has a long and storied past. However, we are not here to discuss the past. With Season 36 drawing to a close, soon the league will learn which rising star will hoist the "Stolzy," as it is affectionately known. But since you can read, you already know that we're going to speculate on who will be winning that honor next season. But dude, you're surely saying, how can we predict that when they don't even play yet? How will you know how that will affect it? To to that, I say, simply: shut up. You're no fun. I've been able to narrow it down to four players that I think stand the best chance of bringing home the Stolzy next year (sorry Martin Brookside, your work will be cut out for you). Naturally, all four of them play for the Bratislava Watchmen, with three of them playing defenseman. I won't waste any more of your time, let's get to it: LW Tom Slaughter As the only forward on the list, Slaughter also boasts the most practice hours out of any prospect on this list. Slam dunk, right? He's got this in the bag! Not so fast, my friend. That doesn't exactly make for a good story that you'd read all the way through. That being said, the team that lands Tom Slaughter on draft day will be ecstatic, for they'll have added a Grade A player to their roster. Right now, he's a very balanced player, having no real forte yet. As a draftee, it makes him a very attractive option as it doesn't limit Slaughter as to what team or line he would need to go to, as he can easily adapt to it. However, bringing home a Stolzy means lighting up the stat sheet and for whatever reason, STHS hates it when players are balanced. Instead of being decent at everything and sucky at nothing, this loony engine decides that balanced players suck at everything instead. Naturally, this will change once he gets drafted and it will likely help his game a great deal. But what fun is it to pick the far and away favorite to win rookie of the year? D Andrey Zadorov Zadorov is the first player on this list that already has a home, having been drafted sixth overall by the New York Americans in the most recent draft (congratulations to both of you). He'll fit right in there and be a great player for New York, but no Stolzschweiger Trophy. Why's that? For starters, Andrey doesn't really have good shooting ability. Only netting 13 goals in 63 VHLM games is not a good sign for your future scoring numbers. That's fine and dandy, as Zadorov is the kind of guy that's always in the right place at the right time to get in the way or feed the puck to his teammates. Unfortunately, that doesn't translate into raw numbers very well, especially when you factor in that he isn't a physical player and won't rack up hits. Compared to his teammates, the numbers he'll put up won't be able to hold up. D Slaeter Fjorsstrom Fjorsstrom, the only draftee of the defenseman trio, also boasts the most total practice hours of the group. He's also the one that least resembles a defenseman, with most of his skills affecting the offensive game. Like Zadorov, he excels in getting into the right positions and is a great skater for being a rookie. However, he does lack some of the defensive instincts, being offensively minded. However, despite that, he's only scored ten goals in 63 games. He has been credited with 51 assists in that same span, showing he's made great progress with his passing abilities. You get the feeling that someone with his abilities should be doing more, which holds me back from predicting he'll suddenly go nuts next season. That, by default, leaves us with... D Phil Villeneuve Who saw that coming? Villeneuve has been a quiet presence for the Watchmen, but he has made plenty of noise on the ice. His skills might be inferior to his teammates, but the guy simply finds a way to get it done on the ice. In 63 games, he has scored 25 goals with 63 assists, which is pretty awesome production to get from a defenseman. His plus/minus is also +45, nearly double the other defenseman and 14 ahead of Slaughter. But there's one thing that separates Phil Villeneuve from the rest: he's not a complete wuss. He's not afraid to lay down the big hits and separate guys from the puck. He loves to hit and he will do it often, with 195 laid down in those 63 games. Villeneuve could kick someone's ass, set up a scoring play or maybe even finish it himself. If he would just work a bit harder, it's scary to think what he could end up becoming one day. So there you have it. If you enjoyed this article, I'm glad you did so. If you didn't like it, click here to be redirected to the bottom of the page and type something derogatory. Jethro Novacek is a writer for the MSFL Times, a stupendous work of non-fiction. He enjoys seeing other writers signing their work, storming the castle and hittin' dingers with Hammerin' Hank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie 438 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Go Phil go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 708 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 We all live in a Philtopia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Team AC Slater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth 92 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Content 3/3 - I concur, the rookie class next season will be incredibly talented, which will formulate an intense competition for the award. However, you must show more love for the goalies! Grammar 2/2 - I couldn't find anything to dock you on, nice! Appearance 1/1 - ASHLEY WAGNER IS HOT! Overall 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarch 2,948 Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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