Lance Flowers Rookie Profile [1/2]

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

 

Name: Lance Flowers

Birthplace: London, England

Birthdate: 2/24/2001

Team: Halifax 21st

Height: 6’7”

Weight: 244

Number: 11

 

It’s safe – and accurate – to call Lance Flowers a raw player. Growing up in the Chelsea neighborhood of West London, the dominant sport was football, then rugby, then more football, and certainly nothing to do with ice hockey. And yet, at one glimpse of the ice upon a chance trip north when he was 11, Flowers fell in love with the sport.

 

An odd thing occurred when he began to practice though: Most young phenoms isolated from team play would picture themselves as elite Matt Thompson-esque scorers, but Flowers went the exact opposite direction. Perhaps it’s the rugby influence, but he developed into a bit of a bruiser, more willing to knock somebody off the puck than make a good play on it himself.

 

Now, entering the VHLM just ahead of the playoffs, a number of scouts have inquired on this enigmatic defenseman to see just what he can do. Here’s what one of the few who saw him play in the UK have reported, to his now-team Halifax 21st and others.

 

Pros

 

Defensive Instincts­ – For a player who hasn’t played much organized hockey previously, Flowers does have an uncanny knack to make a play on the puck at the right time. Perhaps it comes from a childhood playing fullback on the football pitch and knowing when to step up and challenge or when to fall back, but even at the light speed of hockey, Flowers makes the correct decision more often than not.

 

Passing – In an age where more and more players want to be the star, Flowers has committed to working on his passing ability from the blue line above all else. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him the star of the power play quite yet, but he’s quickly becoming more adept at finding the correct lanes for snipers to bury it home. Given that Halifax is loaded with scorers, Flowers should have plenty of opportunity to perfect this part of his game, quickly.

 

Teamwork – The CIA agency has had its fair share of individual success with recent players – both goalie Hans Wingate and forward Gabriel McAllister have MVPs, Finals MVPs and a good number of other trophies to their names. For Flowers, that’s decidedly not the goal from the start; he just wants to be a team player with teammates he enjoys, and try and win a championship or two. And if anything more comes from his play in service of that goal, so be it.

 

Cons

 

Scoring – Frankly, Flowers isn’t quite sure he’s ever going to work on his scoring ability during his entire team in the VHLM or VHL. It’s not that he doesn’t like to score; everybody likes to put the puck in the net. It’s just that there are enough other players out there with that goal, and he feels like he can contribute more in other ways. If Flowers ever reaches a double digit goal total in a season, it may be a miracle.

 

Team Pickiness – Remember that Teamwork section, where we mentioned that Flowers wants to be on a team with teammates he enjoys? There’s a flip side to that: I wouldn’t expect Flowers to necessarily be an eight season, one franchise type of guy. Especially if he’s going to be uprooting his life to go play hockey in Malmo or Vancouver or wherever, he’s going to want a team that’s as committed to winning as he is. And if he doesn’t feel that’s happening, sources say he’s not afraid to travel the free agency route.

 

Leadership – The VHL is at one of its strongest points in the last 30 seasons, with a large influx of players ready to come in, work hard and make an impact. It’s not that Flowers isn’t that type of player, but especially coming from the CIA agency that has been there before, the young defenseman is willing to take a back seat to other, more vocal leaders. Flowers is the type that prefers to lead by example; don’t expect any particularly juicy post-game quotes or big speeches to get the team fired up.

[HenrikZoiderberg 469]

Review:

 

Summary's good, but add a conclusion to really pick it up here.

 

That's a cute picture, but it doesn't really match the height/weight stats. This is a big boi.

 

Pros and cons look good, not a whole lot else to add here. Unique concept, looking forward to seeing what you can do.