From Miami to Moscow

[ahockeyguy 110]

                Wolf Stansson waited patiently. He knew his time would come. It was just a matter of time. Breathe, he told himself. He knew he wasn’t going in the top five picks of this season’s VHL Entry Draft. And yet he had been contacted by several GMs in recent days about being drafted by their team. Stansson honestly had figured they were talking early second-round picks. But with the most recent mock drafts and scouting reports, Stansson found himself looking at a 9-16 draft range. He knew what this meant. First round, he thought. Breathe.

 

                So Stansson heard the name of his frenemy (because Stansson is, at heart, a teenage girl, I suppose), Groovy Dood, called as the number one overall pick. He was a little jealous. “I’m happy for him,” Stansson would say later. And I think he believed it. But you could tell there was a part of him that wishes it was him going in that first spot.

 

                Nonetheless, he knew his name would be called—maybe in the first round, maybe the second—but it would indeed be called soon enough. And he would be plenty happy! So when the 13^th pick was announced he was thrilled. “With the 13^th pick in the VHL Entry Draft, the Moscow Menace select…Wolf Stansson, defenseman, Miami Marauders!”

 

                His time had finally come. All that preparation growing up in Iceland, all that time and hard work in improving skating, defense, puckhandling, shooting, hitting, etc. It was all finally paying off. “I trained in North America, you know? For this moment. I came to Miami and I didn’t have a care in the world outside of trying to get better.”

 

                And get better he did. In playing all 72 games and logging significant ice time for Miami, Wolf scored 30 goals and added 53 assists for 83 points in 72 games. These are excellent numbers for a rookie. 15 of those goals were scored on the power play, meaning Wolf had become a threat to score on special teams. “He’d just blast it from the point. He was almost like a quarterback out there, moving, waiting, and shooting when he needed to,” said a teammate. On special teams Stansson proved so valuable it helped him net his first (and only) hat trick of the season. “I’ll never forget that one. That was a special game,” he laughed.

 

                Getting drafted by Moscow in the first round is no small thing. “I am truly honored to have my future in Moscow. Being back in Europe is something I am very happy about,” he adds. When I asked him what his plans were for next season, Stansson said, “I am wanting to finish up what we started in Miami. I want to win a championship. But that’s what I bring to Moscow. I won’t necessarily be the most talented player they have ever seen. But I will work hard, finish what I start. And that is valuable.” Indeed. Only time will tell what Wolf Stansson will accomplish in Moscow—and when.

[bigAL 2,176]

Wolf Stansson in da дом!!

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW 

 

My future defensive stud

[eaglesfan036 4,605]

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW

[Victor 11,043]