Alex Letang - Rookie Experience

[Spartan 4,521]

 

It's been a little bit since I played my last game as a rookie, so I took some time to reflect and look back on my past season. There is so much to recap, more than I could have expected in just one season, but that's the rollercoaster of a rookie season - all the highs and lows to look back on and learn and grow from.

 

Going into the season, my expectations for myself were high. In a year with 4 expansion teams, and the talent in the league spread out, there was good reason to think that I could have a great season. Moscow had me in their top 4 defenseman group, so I was thrown into a key role very early in the season. Having Lucas Brandt coming up with me was reassuring and calming, as he was a steady presence that I knew I could lean on throughout the season. Having another rookie to spend time with definitely helped out.

 

When the season started, I slipped into a bit of a groove early in the season. I enjoyed success, with 23 points in the first 23 games, good for the rookie lead. At this point, I was really confident, as what I was doing was working. Moscow was pulling out some tough wins and staying in a playoff spot, so I took it easy in terms of training, just doing what I needed to do. However, the rookie slump hit hard after that. I had a stretch of games with no points, while other rookies and everyone else on Moscow continued to play well. It was clear that complacency will tear you down in the VHL, so I had to get back to the grindstone.

 

The work paid off, but falling behind meant no catching up. I scored a bit more to finish off the season, ending with 53 points in 72 games. While it was a clear improvement over last year's rookie class, it wasn't even good enough for top 10 amongst rookies. Playoffs lead to more frustrations, where Riga sent us home in 6 games. A change had to come, and I had an idea of how to do so in the offseason.

 

I took time this offseason to train with Onde Sandstorm, a top 5 player in this past VHL draft. Playing together on Vegas, it was clear that both of us value success highly, so he was the perfect person to train with in order to make sure that I didn't hit any type of slump in my sophomore year. With the addition of Mikko Lahtinen, and Lucas Brandt seemingly hitting his ceiling, I need to step up and be the best defenseman I can be to help Moscow win a cup this year.

 

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