No Looking Back

[Smarch 2,939]

No Looking Back

 

As the Victory Hockey League enters the second half of the Season Seventy-Four, we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the Season Seventy-Four draftees that now half some VHL time under their belts. For many of the clubs and draftees, their full potential has yet to blossom, but as you will see from the following list, some draftees have already hit their stride, while some are struggling to adjust to the professional level of hockey they are now experiencing.

 

Aloe Dear (First Overall – Warsaw Predators):

After a lot of speculation leading up to the draft on who would actually be taken in the top spot by Warsaw, the Predators selected Danish Native Aloe Dear. After a dominating season in the VHLM in Season Seventy-Three with the Houston Bulls, that saw Dear put up forty-six goals and forty-nine assists, many fans around the league wondered if Dear could continue the offensive output at the next level for a franchise in just their second year of existence. So far Dear has responded with a very enthusiastically yes. Dear has played in all thirty-seven games for Warsaw this season, putting up sixteen goals and thirteen assists in his first thirty-seven games. Although the twenty-nine points only sits him ninth in rookie scoring this season, Predator fans and management are extremely happy with the first year forwards progression so far.

Christian Mingle (Second Overall- Chicago Phoenix):

Mingle was a late comer to the league last season and missed being selected in the Season Seventy-Three VHLM Dispersal Draft, so when Chicago took the Israeli forward at number two, it was the first time being drafted for Mingle. Not many that follow the league picked Mingle to climb all the way to Second Overall in the Season Seventy-Four VHL Entry draft, but Chicago clearly saw potential and a very reputable agency that brought Mingle into the league as major upsides. Now with thirty-six games now under his belt for the Phoenix, Mingle hasn’t been able to get his footing quite underneath him just yet. Mingle currently sits tied for last place on Chicago’s roster with just six goals and eight assists in those thirty-six games. Thankfully for Mingle and the rest of the Phoenix roster, the franchise is already one win away from tying their eighteen-win season from their inaugural campaign, so Mingles performance is somewhat flying under the radar.

 

Venus Thightrap (Third Overall – Vancouver Wolves):

Thightrap was another top end prospects whose name was floating around the First Overall conversation leading up to draft day, but in the end Thightrap fell to Third Overall, right into a perfect situation. Thightrap was another member of the offensive powerhouse Season Seventy-Three Houston Bulls roster, where Thightrap put up eye-popping numbers, including fifty-two goals and seventy-three assists in seventy-two VHLM regular season games last season. Thightrap has continued that torrid offensive pace in the Wolves thirty-six games they played so far this season putting up eleven goals and twenty-three assists, numbers good enough to place Thightrap in sixth on the rookie scoring list. The perfect situation that we referred to earlier may have a lot to do with the high offensive production Thightrap is experiencing so early on, as Vancouver currently sits in the top spot in the North American Conference, which will help drive point totals up for most of the roster. No matter the reason that Thightrap is performing this season, I’m sure Wolves fans and management are wishing it to continue for this season and future seasons as well.

 

Emi Rune (Fourth Overall – Vancouver Wolves):

After picking up a superstar in the making with the selection of Thightrap Third Overall, the Wolves turned their attention to obtaining another superstar on the defense side of the ice. Emi Rune comes to the Wolves after spending just a little over a full-season with the Saskatoon Wild of the VHLM. After winning a Founders Cup with the Wild in Season Seventy-Two, the Wild brought back Rune with the Twenty-Four Overall pick in the Season Seventy-Three VHLM Dispersal Draft. Now with the body of work Rune has tallied up in the VHLM and through the first thirty-six games in the VHL this season, many have to wonder what those twenty-three selections before Rune looked like in the VHLM Dispersal Draft. Rune has started off in the VHL as strong as well, putting up three goals and twenty-four assists from the backend for the Wolves, which also ties Rune for second on the Wolves roster for defenseman scoring. Currently Rune sits just on the outside of top ten rookies in the VHL in points, but with a strong core around Rune and an amazing work ethic to match, Rune will likely show up on the leaderboard sooner than later.

 

Dough Dimmadome (Fifth Overall – Los Angeles Stars):

Dimmadome was the first goaltender to her their names called on draft night, although many didn’t expect a goalie to go in the top five, especially with not many clubs looking to shore up a netminder on draft night. While the selection of Dimmadome hasn’t paid off for the Stars as of yet in the standings, the fifty-year-old is standing on his head just to keep the Stars within striking distance each night. Currently after playing in thirty-five games for the Stars this season Dimmadome sits third in the league with a .918 save percentage. Dimmadome also finds himself second in the losses column for VHL goalies, but as clearly demonstrated by his .918 save percentage on 1328 shots, Dimmadome cannot be at fault for many of those nineteen losses. With what appears at this point to be the netminder of the future for the Stars roster, the club cannot turn to building a better roster in front of Dummadome to help him out.

 

Onde Sandstrom (Sixth Overall – Vancouver Wolves):

With their third selection in the first six choices in the VHL Entry Draft, the Wolves went back to the forward pool to help stock the cupboards.  Vancouver ended up grabbing Swedish right-winger Onde Sandstorm, who was coming off a sixty-seven-point performance in Season Seventy-Three with the Las Vegas Aces of the VHLM.  While Sandstorm hasn’t performed as well as the other Wolves draftees from the Season Seventy-Four VHL Entry Draft, his six goals and ten assists is not awful for a rookie straight out of the most recent draft. Sandstorm also brings a physical presence to the Wolves roster as well, with his seventy-four hits placing his tied for the fourth most hits on the Wolves roster. As Sandstorm closes in on 400 practice hours on his young career, Sandstorm and the Wolves are hoping for a little more output as the season winds down.

Markus Schauer (Seventh Overall – New York Americans):

The second defenseman off the board during the Season Seventy-Four VHL Entry Draft, Schauer and the Americans are not where they want to be at this point of the season. Schauer was selected by the Americans Seventh Overall after putting up an impressive twenty-four goals and eighty-five assists for the Houston Bulls last season in the VHLM. After putting up over one hundred points last season in the VHLM, the expectations were very high for Schauer, and those expectations hit the celling when the Americans came calling. Schauer joins a franchise that is looking to get back to their winning ways, as the team now enters their twenty-first consecutive VHL season without a championship. The Americans currently have only fifteen wins on the season, and Schauer is also experiencing an offensive power outage with eight goals and ten assists in his thirty-eight games played in his rookie season. When times are tough you need to look for the positives in what may feel like a black hole, and Schauer should be doing that with his shots blocked total. Schauers’ eight-five shots blocked currently lead the Americans and also places his ninth in the league in shots blocked. With very little time behind them, the good thing for Schauer and the Americans is, there is plenty of time moving forward to turn the ship around.

John LeClair II (Eighth Overall- Prague Phantoms):

Coming into the VHL draft, LeClair made it very clear to the VHL that he is very much like his namesake in the VHL, he is going to make you pay physically each and every shift. After being drafted by the San Diego Marlins, Ninth Overall in the Season Seventy-Three VHLM Dispersal Draft, LeClair was able to showcase his physical game, as the American power forward amassed 355 hits over seventy-two VHLM regular season games last year with the Marlins. LeClair was also able to show his offensive upside as well last season as he put up eighteen goals and sixteen assists as well in those seventy-two games. LeClair has continued that hitting pace through his first thirty-seven games with 153 hits throughout those games this season in the VHL, which is the seventh best total in the VHL as of writing this article. LeClair has chipped in slightly offensively too with his six goals and six assists, but if you ask LeClair, I’m sure he would be the first to admit he would certainly like more at the thirty-seven game mark.

 

This won't be for this week with the announcement of the theme week while I was 1200 words into this. I will edit to post the dates in the near future. 

*For Weeks or Oct 19-25

Oct 26-Nov 1

Nov 2-8

Nov 9-15*

Edited October 5, 2020 by Smarch

[Beaviss 4,949]

Love these kind of articles!

[Smarch 2,939]

Claiming week 1/4

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Claiming week 2/4

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