Ove Dyrdahl - Rookie Experience

[GRZ 179]

 

Ove was widely considered as a "safe" 1st round pick, a high floor but an unknown ceiling type player, who was ready to come up to VHL instantly. On draft day there was a rumor going around that not many GM's actually fancied Dyrdahl in the first round and some not even in the second. 
The draft started and the first round flew past really fast and Dyrdahl was nowhere to be seen, which made some of the norwegian fans worried.... Did he do something bad before his draft day? Did the league discover something that they didn't like about him? The 2nd round started and Dyrdahl was still not on the board, All of this meant that so many rumors/questions were thrown around by the fans and media...... at least until the 25th pick of the draft when D.C Dragons with their 1st selection of the draft selected the young norwegian defenceman.

                                                  After the draft ended one of the leagues GM's was approached and he commented on this situation:
                          "Yeah he [Ove] was on our boards, but not until the 3rd round, he is a big defenceman but.... that's about it, he looks lazy out there on the ice and                                 sometimes he hurts his team more than he helps them, a "big risk player' is what I'd call him"


All of this made his VHL debut even more interesting, especially for D.C fans, who didn't think they'd be getting Ove if you asked them before the draft.... And to everyone's surprise he looked like a completely different player, though still throwing big hits, taking "stupid" penalties, but now he was more of a refined player. All of this was achieved only because of the Dragon's coaching staff, with all their guidance they took all the raw skill Ove had and helped him better his game, in 72GP he got to 26 points, was a +30 and had 235 hits with 203PIM, so he still was who he was - a norwegian giant who loved to throw hits and fight, but now he was more of a teamplayer and a fan favorite among D.C Dragon fans.
                                                         
 

One for the future:
Many Dragon's fans have noticed that maybe Ove has more of an offensive upside than people thought, he had 5 goals with only 49 shots taken, 2 of which came from the powerplay, he has an absolute rocket of a slapshot but right now he just doesn't utilize it that well, but if we know something it's that D.C's coaching staff can sure turn a player around, and everyone is silently hoping that they help Ove transition more to a two-way defenceman role.
 

Edited January 4, 2021 by GRZ