sterling 1,990 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Slaughter Enjoying Rookie Season Much noise was made of forward Tom Slaughter's emergence as one of the best prospects ever during the Season 37 VHL Entry Draft, but the quiet player from Washington State kept it all in perspective at the time. After going third overall, to some surprise, to the New York Americans, Slaughter was expected to make an immediate impact on the talented, but young Americans line-up. The centremen was thrown right into the fray immediately out of the gates and after some early struggles he seems to have found his legs a little more. "I don't really have much for an excuse when it comes to the beginning of the season for me. I am a rookie, I was expecting the learning curve to be fairly steep and so far it has been. I've been working really hard in practice and building some good chemistry with the boys. At this point, I'm happy with my progress and I really look forward to the second half. I definitely think I can improve on my play going down the stretch which will hopefully culminate in a post-season berth for us," Slaughter said. The rookie has enjoyed some nice success so far centring what is one of the top lines in the entire VHL. After 42 games, the Americans currently have the second best offense in the league and remain holding the third playoff position in the North American Conference with a 24-17-1 record. Meanwhile, linemates Odin Tordahl and Conner Low sit near or at the top of their respective positions in league scoring with 66 and 62, respectedly. Slaughter, for what it's worth, has notched a decent 44 points in those 42 games. Slaughter has become the playmaker we expected with 32 of his points coming as assists. "Offensively I think I've come a long way. I've had a few multi-point games as of late and that really helps the confidence going forward. I am logging a lot of minutes against some of the top talents in the league and I think I've been able to hold my own for the most part. I get to play with some really talented players which really helps me out too. The coaches are telling me to put more shots on net and that's something I am continuing to work on in my development. By the end of the season I'll hope to be putting more pucks in," Slaughter said. A lot of scouts around the league are impressed with Slaughter's polished nature already at this young point in his career. Slaughter currently leads the team with a +26 rating, showing a good two-way nature that doesn't involve a lot of contact. So far, the forward only has 2 penalty minutes to go along with 0 hits and a 140 hits taken. The forward is already notoriously difficult to get off the puck when he has it and coaches believe if he takes more shots he'll produce even more. Most impressively, the team relies on Slaughter as their number one guy for face-offs and on the penalty kill, sitting second on the team in face-off percentage and first in penalty kill minutes. "I pride myself on playing a good two-way game and although I don't hit a lot, I do play a defensive style. I am continuing to work on my face-offs this season. Overall, I think I've faired pretty well against some of the elite face-off guys in the league. I try to help the boys out anyway I can. Its not all about points when it comes to being a good teammate. I think I've been really productive so far and I really look forward to continuing to develop my skills. So far I just feel really lucky to be with XXX and Odin, these are two really talented guys. I really think we have a great group of players here," Slaughter said. The Americans are currently in a fierce battle for the final playoff spot in North America with the Seattle Bears. Thus far the season series sits deadlocked at 2-2, but the Americans aren't resting on their laurels by any means. Slaughter believes the playoff race may just come down to those remaining four games against one another. The Americans will look to increase their one point lead tonight as they head into more action. Check it out on VHLTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,638 Posted April 3, 2014 Head Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2014 Its fun playing with Sterling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarch 3,013 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Your just as bad as Evander Kane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devise 4,475 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 I just realized so many of our players have pun style names. New York Laichs to Slaughter the competition, forcing them to hit a proverbial Wahl which is a Stark reason they make other teams feel so Low. Hmm...that could get some work on it I think. In unrelated news, excellent read Sterling as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,531 Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Its fun playing with Sterling Seconded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head Moderator Baozi 1,638 Posted April 3, 2014 Head Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2014 I just realized so many of our players have pun style names. New York Laichs to Slaughter the competition, forcing them to hit a proverbial Wahl which is a Stark reason they make other teams feel so Low. Hmm...that could get some work on it I think. In unrelated news, excellent read Sterling as always. The hell D, u forgot about me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Svoboda_3 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Content: 3/3 732 words. A really nice simplistic Media Spot about Tom's season thus far. The quotes were done well and the overall flow of this was smooth.Grammar: 2/2 centremen = centreman respectedly = respectively and a 140 = and 140 Its = It'sAppearance: 1/1 Had everything included.Overall: 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kesler 1,514 Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.ed69a7260a477fcf4feead7a0e4b7506.png)
Recommended Posts