Looking at Haterade

[jRuutu 2,464]

 

Good evening! Today, I´m here to talk about the upcoming Sponsor’s Shield Tournament by focusing on the Haterade brand. As many of you know, Haterade is a brand that aims to create chaos in a friendly way,  if you are pro haterade - no matter what you do, you are technically always staying true to the brand. I´m personally representing the brand as well, so if you have not tried it yet - now is a good moment to add haterade into your daily diet.

 

Haterade has in total of 17 players on the payroll, highest paid player this year is Podrick Cast, he gets a nasty 3 million just for this season, but he earned it last year with the 174 points and this ongoing year is looking pretty nice as well, 43 goals and 87 points in 55 games, he is the star player. Haterade has multiple other top players as well: Bassolino, Thompson, and Iseult are all elite on their positions. After the absolute top, things get interesting, got a nice mix of solid two-way play, toughness, and enthusiasm of the younger guys who are getting ready to make their way up to the big league from VHLM.  

 

I will next try to guess the potential lineup, on the brackets you see some statistics after around 55 games are played:

 

Goalies:

 

Starting:  Tristan Iseult: 37 wins, 92.8 save%, 1.99 GAA
Backup:  Cole Mertz: 30 wins, 0.895 save%, 2.86 GAA
Third: Finn Davison: 16 wins, 88.2 save%, 3.07 GAA

 

Iseult is the number one option for the starting role, among the best goalies in the world right now and plays big minutes over in Quebec. Behind Tristan we have two young talents, both playing over in VHLM, Mertz has faced the most shots with 1538, meanwhile, Davison has played around 20 games less over in Ottawa, but still rocking a solid save percentage.

 

First line:

Podrick Cast (43+44) -  Matt Thompson( 42+37) - Veran Dragomir ( 32+26)

 

Joseph Bassolino (17+74) - Colton Rayne ( 10+39)

 

The top unit is crazy, just so much skill and talent, Cast does whatever he likes, Thompson adds the hitting element and Dragomir is more of a playmaker, but all three can score goals. On the blueline, Bassolino is playing perhaps the best hockey of his career so far, offensive dynamo and magic man, Rayne acts as more of a defensive defender, which allows Bassolino to be a bit more offensive. 

 

 

Second line:

Otto Axelsson (18 + 29) - Jeff Gow (27+26) - Wlodzimierz Zajaczkowski ( 33+25)

 

Adam Warlock (16+37) - Mountain Thunderfist (1+6)

 

This is perhaps my favorite line, veteran players in Axelsson and Gow combined with goal hungry VHLM star Zajaczkowski on the other wing, Axelsson is a shoot first type of center, Gow does not pass the opportunity to shoot either, but has bit more passing ability and as mentioned, Zajaczkowski knows how to score as well, but he also likes to hit, over 200 hits already in VHLM! This line is a textbook example of simple hockey, puck to the net - go after it.

 

What makes this line my favorite is the blueline, Warlock could have just as easily be on the first pairing due to his great season so far, 5th in scoring among defenders, but I thought the second line could use his playmaking more and also, getting to play next to Thunderfist - one bad mofo, should allow Warlock to have a great chance to show his offensive side, Thunderfist will take care of the D and acts as a protector for the whole team, leads VHL in penalty minutes with 160.

 

Third line:

Rauno Palo (9+23) - Kronos Bailey (21+18) - Curtis Gary (6+20)

 

Cayden Saint (4+17) - Piotr Jerwa (16+58)

 

The shutdown line or centers only line! That is right, we have now run out of wingers to use, but do not worry, Palo has the faceoffs covered, Bailey hits everything that moves -  he leads the whole VHLM in hits at the moment and Gary is the playmaker of the line. When it comes down to scoring goals, Bailey has a big role in that, since he is the only one who can shoot.

 

Saint is the fifth defender on the Haterade roster, the Calgary defender gets offensive defender from Ottawa next to him, Piotr is second in scoring over in VHLM among defenders. This pairing also has a similar idea, Saint acts as the defensive defender while Jerwa gets to use his offensive tools bit more. Depending on how the tournament goes, I could see Saint or Jerwa moving up to the second pairing and playing next to Warlock.

 

 

I do hope I did not miss anyone. To sum it up a little bit, I  have to say that the first line is perhaps the best I have seen in a long time, of course totally different thing if it clicks or not, but the potential is insane. Iseult over in net is a top goalie, he will get the job done and steal a game on his own. After top line we got pretty cool setup for bottom lines, perhaps one more experienced winger to play next to Gow and Axelsson would have been nice, but I do like the fact that a young winger gets nice opportunity to shine. In general, the team has quite a few centers, so will be interesting to see what happens with the third line, who plays where.

 

Defense is solid, top is elite and just like with the forwards, towards the bottom pairs we got younger players in there and Thunderfist alone will bring a lot of exciting games for neutral fans.

 

Personally, I have high hopes for the Haterade team, that first line is going to be almost impossible to stop if and when they find the chemistry, other players in the team needs to keep own end clean and I think Haterade will have a great tournament!

 

[Victor 10,937]

23 hours ago, jRuutu said:

Cast does whatever he likes

Big fan of this

[jRuutu 2,464]

5 minutes ago, Victor said:

Big fan of this

I´m a fan as well, really interested to see how the top guys play together!

[Victor 10,937]

10 minutes ago, jRuutu said:

I´m a fan as well, really interested to see how the top guys play together!

I'll probably keep stealing the puck from Thompson to ensure he doesn't score more than me.

[Quik 4,113]

23 hours ago, jRuutu said:

When it comes down to scoring goals, Bailey has a big role in that, since he is the only one who can shoot.

 

VHLM totals say otherwise  

[jRuutu 2,464]

4 minutes ago, Victor said:

I'll probably keep stealing the puck from Thompson to ensure he doesn't score more than me.

The haterade way!

 

1 minute ago, Quik said:

VHLM totals say otherwise  

This tournament is the perfect place to start your journey towards being a vhl goalscorer!

[Quik 4,113]

Just now, jRuutu said:

This tournament is the perfect place to start your journey towards being a vhl goalscorer!

87' Canada Cup was Lemieux's breakout, 63 Sponsor's Shield will be Bailey's!

[jRuutu 2,464]

23 minutes ago, Quik said:

87' Canada Cup was Lemieux's breakout, 63 Sponsor's Shield will be Bailey's!

There you go! And I will be right there next to you, so you can carry me to glory as well - we all win!