Claimed:Slaughter Update

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Slaughter Update

 

Another boring media spot this week as we focus on the early days of rookie Tom Slaughter's Victory Hockey League career. The New York Americans have gotten off to a hot start going 9 and 4 through their first 13 games while Slaughter has kept a slow pace of 8 points on the campaign so far. Certainly some expected a lot more from Slaughter as he works with one of the league's top forwards in Odin Tordahl.

 

"I'm happy with the start so far. We're winning games and we're playing good, sound defensive hockey. My point totals aren't really that high, but that's not what I've been training for. I've been training to log a lot of minutes and play good hockey. I have been lucky enough to play a lot of special teams minutes and you gotta think the points will follow when you're doing that. Most importantly, we've played some of the elite teams of this league real tough," Slaughter said.

The rookie spent the off-season preparing for the VHL and his VHLM statistics indicated that he wouldn't be the most offensive player on the ice. Through the 13 games, Slaughter leads his team with a +6 rating, a decent mark for a rookie playing top line minutes against some of the league's best. It is evidence that Slaughter's training during the off-season toward faceoffs and defence was well worth the effort involved. Slaughter will not be one of the most skilled players on the ice, but he is one of the most dedicated, focusing on continuing to work hard to improve his all around game.

"I think I've been pretty important to this team's success so far. I am logging a lot of penalty kill minutes and I'm winning some key draws when needed. I don't feel like a liability as a rookie, which I am proud of. I am looking to continue to improve and maybe in future seasons I will become good enough to chip in more on the score sheet. What is important to me is focusing on helping the Americans win. I think we have the skill to make the playoffs this season," Slaughter said.

The rookie has logged a team high 46 penalty kill minutes and is leading the team in face-off percentage as well. These stats won't put the forward in consideration for any awards, but they are what we call intangibles and when someone is providing the intangibles, it opens up the game for skill players to make plays. The rookie is said to be continuing his training to improve his face-offs and his skating.

"Yes, I really need to improve my skating in this league if I want to find success. I'm currently too slow to keep up with a lot of the guys I'm playing against. There's a tonne of skill in this league and I feel a little overwhelmed at this point. Thankfully I have some of the best players in the league for teammates. Odin and Conner (Low) are two of the best players at their positions in the league. I'm relishing the good opportunity to play with these giants and learn. I hope I won't let them down this season," he said.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Content: 3/3

539 words. Albeit on the generic side, you touched up intangibles and it appears you might be building a different style than we're accustomed to, and seeing as you've accomplished everything else under the sun here in the VHL, why not try something completely different? It appears that way anyways. But in speaking about the little things, they are important because we always seem to recognize goals and points, but those details that don't show up on the score sheet matter too.

Grammar: 2/2

teams = team's

faceoffs = face-offs

 

Appearance: 1/1

You're basic title and picture deal.

Overall: 6/6

 

FINAL GRADE

Edited March 21, 2014 by Svoboda_3

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