Claimed:Cologne Welcomes Season 37 Draftees / Part II

[RomanesEuntDomus 442]

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. After already looking at some of the draftees last week (http://vhlsim.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/6128-cologne-welcomes-season-37-draftees-part-i/), we will now continue with part two of our article presenting you the newest members of the Express organisation...

 

Ron World Peace

Defense – Bern Royals – 12th Overall – 6’8/250 lbs / 72 GP – 20 G + 54 A = 74 P – -7 – 154 PIM – 197 HIT – 138 SB

 

The Express fans have seen their fare share of hometown heroes over the past few years: Klaus Müller was a great player for them late in his career, David Collier grew up just about 200km from Cologne and Kameron Taylor, despite being Canadian, is probably more German than many of the people actually born here. But none of them have more of a local factor than Ron World Peace, who was born in the very city he hopes to start his VHL-career in and is also the first German the Express have actually drafted themselves. The towering all-around defenseman was one of the most impressive players in the VHLM last season, but some work ethic concerns and rumors about a possible retirement lead to him dropping in the draft, until the Express picked him up at 12th Overall. World Peace has described himself as a more of an offensive defenseman, but given his physical tools he has the potential to be a very effective player in his own end as well. He has shown some great progresss so far in the weeks following the draft, if World Peace continues developing at that pace we will probably see him in the VHL next season.

Kai Randal

Left Wing – Bratislava Watchmen – 16th Overall – 6’4/201 lbs / 72 GP – 9 G + 28 A = 37 P – +48 – 34 PIM – 89 HIT – 4 SB

 

The Express staff couldn’t hide their smiles when they entered the stage for their third pick in the second round, the 16th Overall selection. GM Alexander Schneider as well as his scouts couldn’t believe that highly talented winger Kai Randal was still on the board so they picked him up without any hesitation. One of the most highly touted prospects early in the season, Randal had dropped a bit in the rankings over the course of the year but was still seen as a early second rounder, borderline first round talent by pretty much every scout. He didn’t get as much ice time as many of his peers, playing on a very deep Bratislava Watchmen squad, but was still able to show his qualities as a two-way player and as a playmaker. Randal has had some consistency issues in his young career, but in his short time in Cologne the coaching staff did have nothing but praise for his work ethic and his leadership qualities. There is still a long road ahead of the left-winger, but with the way he has looked lately Randal is a legitimate first-line caliber talent that will get all the time he needs to develop in the Express organization.

Kez Kincaid

Center – Bratislava Watchmen – 20th Overall – 6’1/215 lbs / 38 GP – 2 G + 1 A = 3 P – +18 – 14 PIM – 48 HIT – 3 SB

 

Kez Kincaid didn’t have a very impressive first year in the VHLM, but the Express scouts still saw some VHL-potential in him so they picked him up with the last pick in the second round. Only playing limited minutes on a stacked Bratislava Watchmen team undoubtedly hurt Kincaid’s scoring numbers, but he settled into his bottom-six role nicely and put in an honest defensive and physical effort whenever he was sent on the ice. The young Irishman projects to be more of an offensive player though and he has already shown what he can do when given more ice-time, after only 3 points in 36 games last year he has almost tripled that output already this season, putting up 8 points in his first 10 games for the Turku Outlaws. Kincaid has shown some nice work-ethic this off-season and even though he is probably a few more seasons away from VHL-duty, he still has top-six potential and the Express are very happy to have picked up a player like him that late.

Rick Ross

Left Wing – Yukon Rush – 22nd Overall – 6’8/250 lbs / 10 GP – 1 G + 1 A = 2 P – -1 – 13 PIM – 12 HIT – 3 SB

 

Right now it looks like Rick Ross will a very hard time ever making it to the VHL. After only having 2 points in 10 appearances last season he has yet to suit up for a game this season and hasn’t shown up for training camp either. He still might be able to turn it around and find his niche as a physically imposing winger, but right now the chances for that look slim.

Kristian Stormborn

Left Wing – Bern Royals – 25th Overall – 5’7/179 lbs / 72 GP – 10 G + 13 A = 23 P – +18 – 38 PIM – 96 HIT – 8 SB

 

Can Kristian Stormborn be the biggest steal of this VHL Entry Draft? Many scouts seem to think so. When he was drafted by the Cologne Express in the middle of the third round, 25th Overall, nobody seemed to have any expectations for the pick, but Stormborn has since turned it up and left many people impressed. At training camp the 5’7 small Norwegian showed up in surprisingly good shape and he has put in a lot of work since being drafted. Stormborn projects to be a pure offensive forward at the VHL level and even though he is still a few seasons away from being an impact player in the big leagues, he has the tools and the work ethic necessary to make it in the VHL. The Express will certainly be patient with him and give him all the time he needs, as they are just happy to have found a player with a realistic chance to make the VHL one day that late in the draft.

Maxwell Dorian

Left Wing – Yukon Rush – 26th Overall – 6’2/220 lbs / 6 GP – 1 G + 3 A = 4 P – +6 – 0 PIM – 2 HIT – 0 SB

 

Maxwell Dorian has only played 6 games last season but in those 6 games he had 4 points and was a +6. Enough of a sample-size for the Cologne Express to pick him up with their last pick in the draft, the 26th Overall, but right now Dorian is a longshot to ever make it to the big leagues. He hasn’t shown up for training camp so far and has to secure his spot on an VHLM-team first before we should even start to speculate about a VHL future for him.

 

[if you find any mistakes please let me know so I can correct them, didn't have a chance to get a proofread so far]

[Guest]

Really drafted with "size" as the goal!

[stevo 792]

Thank you for the kind words!

[Runny Nose 15]

Came here expecting baldness. Disappointed.

Though great read man and this article looks really good appearance-wise so kudos to you.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Content: 3/3

1,178 words. It appears you had yourself a tremendous draft. I do think Kez Kincaid will be someone to watch out for. Despite the grammatical issues (albeit minor ones), it was well-written and contained some good information on those Express prospects.

Grammar: 1.75/2

The list isn't really indicative of how well it was written. This may seem like a lot, but when you factor severity and word count, there wasn't much there. The one thing that stood out for me was the absence of commas in certain areas, where they transformed run-on sentences. That then created me having to re-read a few things here and there. Some people say that isn't an important commodity in grammar, but it is when the sentence doesn't make sense until you have to re-read it over again and dissect it.

 

the teams was able = the team was able

lead = led

Overall = overall (x4)

tools he = tools, he

progresss = progress

season, = season;

Cologne the = Cologne, the

last season he = last season, he

camp the = camp, the

leagues, he = leagues; he

an = a

Appearance: 1/1

Nice work!

Overall: 5.75/6

[Doomsday 4,130]

Content: 3/3 - As good of a job as Kendrick did, I think you have a much better chance of getting Cologne to really break through as a contender. He's a smart guy, but his personality definitely didn't help him bring in the free agents, that last big push to really transcend being OK to being great. You've already got an excellent draft under your belt and you're in good shape to add to your young stable in the upcoming seasons. Keep up the good work!

 

Grammar: 1.75/2 - Slobo got this covered.

 

Appearance: 1/1 - Certainly gets the point!

 

Overall: 5.75/6 -

 

FINAL: 6/6

[Smarch 3,153]

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