Icelandic Expansion Mulled Again

[bluesfan55 103]

As many of you know, last time expansion was mulled I wrote an article advocating for expansion to my home country of Iceland. I'm a major Icelandic patriot and want to see hockey grow exponentially in my home country. The last time expansion was mulled, I was one of 2 Icelandic players at the time, with the other, Jakob Vihjalmsson, in a VHL role. Vihjalmsson is now a free agent, and I have now cracked the roster of the Riga Reign and am having a decent season, already besting my point totals of 12 for last season with 20 right now. And I've yet to mention that there's more Icelanders? Kolur Bjoernsson is a goalie who's been stellar in the VHLM. Last season he led Philadelphia to a championship with some outstanding stats (.909 save percentage, 1.81 GAA), but has struggled to perform in the VHL with New York, with a staggering 23 losses and a GAA of 4.13. Bjorn Scoringsonn is arguably the most promising Icelandic player since Grimm Jonsson. I think he's gonna be better than me. He's been awesome for Davos this season as a rookie, scoring 36 points after starring for that Reapers team last season with 66 points and 19 in the playoffs. Philadelphia seems to have a thing for Icelanders, as Sigurd Gunnar plays for them. The left winger has been outstanding this season, averaging over a point per game with 68 points in 62 games. And we can't forget about the son of "The Dentist", Wolf Stansson Jr. Stansson, who plays for my alma mater in Yukon, has 58 points as a defenseman, which is insane. He's also 6'8" and 250 pounds. He's a big dude, but he's an offensive defenseman who shies away from physicality, unlike his father, who was a brute.

 

How does this relate to Icelandic expansion? Well, the sport has been on the rise in Iceland, if you can't tell by more Icelanders like Gunnar and Stansson Jr. playing in the VHLM. Reykjavik is more deserving now more than ever of a hockey team. Iceland is transitioning into a hockey nation, and I myself couldn't be more excited. I grew up idolizing Grimm Jonsson and hoping one day that the VHL would expand to Iceland. With the recent boom of hockey in the country, and Icelanders like myself, Bjorn Scoringsonn, and Kolur Bjoernsson making the VHL and doing moderately well there, expansion to the Laugardalsholl Sport Center looks more and more likely. And I wouldn't be happier if I found out that my home country would indeed get a team. It would mean the world to me to see a football nation, raised up by legends such as Gylfi Sigurdsson, Eidur Gudjohnsen, and Asgeir Sigurdarsson, turn into a hockey nation where players like the twice aforementioned Grimm Jonsson would be seen as sporting heroes and would encourage young Icelandic players to play hockey and get an actual professional hockey team into the country. We have a small league where all four teams are in Reykjavik, but we need more. We need a VHL franchise in Reykjavik to boost the populace.