Phantoms young gun analysis

[Seabass 593]

Season 71 was both a success and a failure for the Prague Phantoms. 

 

It was a failure in a sense that they didn't achieve their team goal this year, which was to win in all by beating out the other teams for the Continental Cup. Of course as we all know by now the Phantoms didn't even end up passing the first round of the playoffs. 

 

It was a success in the sense that the team acquired new faces and those new faces gelled right away with the team and has even injected energy to a team who was looking at regression with the retirement of both VHL MVP, Brick Wahl and 3 time Cup winner, Joel Ylonen. Hopefully some of those new players will step up next season and take up some of Ylonen and Wahl's duties on the ice.

 

In this Media Spot I will be focusing on the new guys who have either joined the team after season 70 and how I think they'll help the team going forward.

 

Tom Landry II

@Doomsday

 

Landry is hands down Prague's most hyped up prospect right now. But, that hype is expected with such a high draft pedigree as the Phantoms selected him 5th overall in the S71 VHL draft.  He just came off a rookie season with the Phantoms that seen him get 1 shy of hitting two milestones, the 40 point mark (39) and the 20 goal mark (19). 39 points is very respectable for a rookie freshly coming into the VHL ranks but it's Landry's pinball style of game that seen him get 223 hits that has immediately made him a fan favorite and has hockey analysts talking. He hits absolutely anything on skates out there and shows a lot of heart day in and day out. It's only a matter of time that some of his offensive numbers from the VHLM where he scored an insane 145 points with the San Diego Marlins transfers over to the VHL. He's a kid you'll have to keep your eye on as he's going to be something else. I see Landry becoming a future captain down the road as he's already taken a leadership role in the Phantoms locker room and will no doubt be a top line forward for a long time in the VHL.

 

Ondrej Ohradka

@animal74

 

Ohradka was acquired at the last trade deadline in a surprise move that sent long time Phantom, Willie Dredge packing to the Calgary Wranglers in return for Ohradka and a 2nd round pick. Ohradka was unlucky in Calgary as he was stuck in a logjam up front behind other forwards such as Sigard Gunnar and RJ Jubis. Ohradka beat his career best this year after scoring nearly half his total points for the season during his short sample size in Prague. It seems like Ohradka is playing with an extra step in his strides since his trade to Prague. Ohradka seems to have found his niche in Prague as he has become a important contributor in the locker room and he seems to be very excited to be finally getting much deserved ice time and a opportunity to prove to everyone that he can be an impact player in the VHL. Ohradka's numbers are not much to look at as he never managed to break even the 20 point mark in the VHL but he's very hard to predict because he's had such a small sample size by barely playing during his time with the Wranglers but if Ohradka keeps putting in the hard work that's he's been displaying so far I think he'll fit in nicely among the team's top 6.

 

Woody McPine

@HearnNation67

 

McPine has been in the Phantom's system since the S71 VHL draft where he was selected 35th overall as a 3rd round selection. Not much was expected from such a late pick but Woody McPine has proven to possibly be yet another diamond in the rough selection by Gm John Glasser @diamond_ace as the wooden goaltender seems ready to make the move to the big club after the backup role in Prague opened up with the departure of starting goaltender, Brick Wahl. Wile McPine hasn't put up the best looking numbers in the VHLM he has shown the drive to keep improving his game day in and day out. We're excited to see McPine play his first game as a Phantom as he's been rewarded for his hard work up to date. 

 

Jack John

@GoadenGoalie35

 

 

Jack John was also added the the Phantom's system during the S71 VHL Draft, 41st overall in the 4th round of the draft. Typically most 4th round selections never make it to the VHL as there's usually a serious drop off in talent at this point in the draft. 4th rounders are usually career minor leaguers who go inactive within a season of being drafted to the VHL. It's been over a season now and Jack John is still progressing as a player, which shows there's hope for the young lad. He went a abysmal -26 in the his first season in the VHLM with the Mississauga Hounds but he has gotten a lot better defensively this season with the Yukon Rush as he posted 16 plus/minus this year. That's a improvement of +42, which is a hell of a improvement over his rookie season in the M. If John keeps working on his game at this rate, there's still a chance the we may actually get to see John play a game in a Phantoms sweater. 

 

Riley Knight Gee

@KnightRiley

 

All eyes are on Knight right now as he was the only player selected in this year's VHL draft by the Phantoms as they had traded away most of their picks in order to make a strong push for the Cup last season.  Knight was selected 32nd overall in the third round of the draft, a reason why we think he was on the board that late in the draft is his defensive play. Knight went -71 which was the the worst plus/minus score in the league behind his Bulls teammate, Riley Walker who managed to hit -76.  It's safe to say the Bulls missed the playoffs that year. However the young defender managed to turn heads at the draft with his near a point per game pace in his rookie season the VHLM with 63 points in 68 games which is a great point total for a rookie and is very promising to see. The Phantoms can sure use Knight's skill set as they lack a true offensive defenseman coming down the pipes but a defender's job is to defend at the end of the day and if Knight wants to make it to the big league he'll have to work on his play away from the puck before making that big leap. If Knight works on his game some more I wouldn't be surprised to see Knight wear the purple jersey at one point. 

 

 

Honestly I hope and wish that all our draft selections make it to the VHL as it's in our best interest. Sadly that is often not the reality but a man can always dream. This about all wraps up this week's Media Spot. I hope you enjoyed the read and I hope to see the team blast out of the gate come season 72.

 

Go Phantoms!

 

 

WORD COUNT: 1200+ words

Edited May 18, 2020 by Seabass

[ahockeyguy 110]

I loved this review of the draft. It gave player profiles, but not simply using stats as an input/output thing. Instead, this felt like a real player of a real team, which means you used the stats, player's history, your knowledge of VHL, and what your team needs to draw some interesting pictures for us! This is a very good contribution to the VHL culture; I can't wait to read more about the Phantoms! Score: 10/10

[Baozi 1,664]

The return of Landry!!

 

Good formatting, good content on the Phantoms. Not sure and haven't met the rest of those guys so I'm hoping they are actives that get to see the article and maybe hop on discord so I can get to know them better.  My only real criticism is the lack of "eye candy", things like pictures, underlining, italics or just color coding certain parts of the MS would add pisazzzzz. Keep up the good work though!

 

8/10

[diamond_ace 3,114]

1 hour ago, tfong said:

 so I'm hoping they are actives that get to see the article

Every player mentioned in the article is active

[Baozi 1,664]

19 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

Every player mentioned in the article is active

 

Excellent!

[diamond_ace 3,114]

1 minute ago, tfong said:

 

Excellent!

Including 2 3rds and a 4th. Prague's been the late draft snipe team recently - admittedly we've had to be, because we have only had one pick in the top 2 rounds in the last 2 drafts (Landry)

[Andre LeBastard 112]

I quite enjoyed reading this article. The writing was clear and it really achieved what it set out to do. I don't know any of the players, after reading it I think I have a better idea. It also loooks like a lot of thought and good research went into this piece. I'm not too concerned with the lack of special effects, which in a piece like this, I feel would be uneccessary and might take away from the profiles.

 

I enjoyed the article for what it is and for the playing history of players that it covers.  Finally, the structure is nice with a quality intoduction and a nice wrap up at the end. 

 

8/10 from me.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Andre LeBastard
tpyo

[Seabass 593]

Awesome thanks for the reviews guys I think this is the first media spot I get reviewed what an honor.

 

Also, claiming my 2nd week for this.