Claimed:Cologne Welcomes Season 37 Draftees / Part I

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Cologne Welcomes Season 37 Draftees

 

The recent VHL Entry Draft saw the Cologne Express select a flurry of players. With two picks in the first round, four in the second and three in the third, the teams was able to welcome a total of nine draftees to the organisation. All these players will spend another year in the VHLM before they are planned to enter the VHL next season. We will now take a look at them...

Blaine Olynick

Goalie – Bern Royals – 6th Overall – 6’2/205 lbs / 64 GP – 52 W – 89.7% Save-Pct. – 2.59 GAA – 4 SO – 5 A

 

In today’s era of GM-goalies, Cologne was the first team since the HC Davos Dynamo in Season 35 that decided use an early pick on a goaltender. And after the Dynamo have just won a cup with Lennox Moher backstopping them, Cologne certainly hopes that Blaine Olynick will have the same kind of impact for their team. The 6th Overall selection was one of the biggest risers of this past VHLM-season, a virtually unknown player about a year ago who first played his way into being a high pick in VHLM Draft and now in the VHL Draft. Olynick had an impressive 52 wins in 64 games for the Bern Royals and proved to not just be one of the most talented, clutch goalies in the VHLM, but maybe the hardest working one as well. Olynick’s duel with fellow draftee Kimmo Salo, who was selected just one pick later by the Helsinki Titans should make for an interesting storyline last season, as two true bluechip goalie prospects will battle it out for one more year in the VHLM.

Lars Strummer

Center – Saskatoon Wild – 10th Overall – 6’1/191 lbs / 72 GP – 22 G + 53 A = 75 P – –28 – 38 PIM – 112 HIT – 29 SB

 

In the weeks leading to the draft, people had Lars Strummer go as high as 4th Overall in their mock drafts. But on draft day, the Canadian center ended up falling all the way to the last pick of the 1st round, the 10th overall selection, where the Cologne Express were ecstatic to be able to pick him up. Strummer is one of the rare two-way centers among today’s young VHLMers and posted good numbers both offensively and in his own end for a struggling Saskatoon Wild squad last year. A strong-skating face-off specialist who is more of a passer than a scorer in the offensive zone, Strummer also comes from a very respected agency and therefore is seen as one of the prospects that is least likely to be a bust. He will almost certainly make it to the VHL as early as next season, now the only question is if he can develop enough of an offensive game to be a franchise piece for the Express, or if he prefers to play more of a quiet, hard-working defensive role.

Mikael Svensson

Center – Vasteras Junior Eagles – 11th Overall – 6’1/180 lbs / 62 GP – 13 G + 26 A = 39 P – +8 – 65 PIM – 131 HIT – 67 SB

 

Maybe a bit further away from VHL action is the second center the Cologne Express picked up, Mikael Svensson from Bromma, Sweden. The lanky pivot with a scoring touch spent the VHLM season in his home country with the Vasteras Junior Eagles, now the Moscow Red Wolves, where he played a solid season for an average team. Svensson had to spend a little more time in his own zone then he probably would’ve liked, but it’s good to see an offensive-minded player like him also being involved in his own end. While he didn’t put up great offensive numbers in his first year in juniors, Svensson has all the tools to become a prime offensive performer at the VHL level, but he is probably another year or two away from being an impact player in a men’s league. After picking a low-risk player in Strummer it looks like the Express decided to go with more of a boom-or-bust guy when the picked Svensson. His development path might be a bit longer than that of some others, but the sky is the limit for the young Swede.

 

[Hoping to get a proofread for this soon so i can get rid of any mistakes there might be ]

Edited March 16, 2014 by RomanesEuntDomus

[Doomsday 4,130]

Content: 3/3 - Cologne got some quality prospects in this class, perhaps the hardest-working guy too in Olynick. Hopefully you will have better luck luring in free agents than Kendrick did, as it always seems as if that's what is holding the Express back at times.

 

Grammar: 2/2 - .You did pretty well with the grammar, not too much to worry about.

 

the teams was able to = the team was able to

that decided use an = that decided to use an

bluechip = blue chip

 

Appearance: 1/1 - Oh yes indeed.

 

Overall: 6/6 - Well done sir.

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