Addison McLaren - Rookie Experience

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Addison McLaren faced the mirror and gave himself the "this isn't the minors anymore" lecture the night before opening training camp with the Riga Reign. The next morning, on the first shift of an intrasquad game, he proceeded to get walked in his own end by Rocket, leading to a one-on-one with the goalie and an early 1-0 lead for the purples over the oranges. Consider it the first of what will likely be more than just one "welcome to the show, kid" moments in McLaren's rookie season. Even the best prospects take some time to adjust.

"Yeah, I mean you know it's coming, that guys are bigger, faster, more talented at this level than they are in the VHLM," said McLaren after Day 1 of camp. "You try to prepare yourself for it but it's something you need to experience for yourself before you can see exactly what they mean. It happens, it's part of the learning curve but I'm not going to make a habit out of getting beat like that, don't worry."

Over the past season and a half, McLaren's gone from a player who'd never been out of Minnesota for hockey to a back-to-back Founders Cup champion, top VHL prospect, and one of the top players in the VHLM. But now the time has come to take the toughest step - transitioning that minor league success to the highest level of competition in the VHL. He's mature beyond his years defensively - he captured the VHLM's Best Two-Way Forward award last year, perhaps due to his physicality, but he was also the best forward in the VHLM with defensive positioning and technique. Though he didn't get a lot of penalty killing time with the Philadelphia Reapers last year, he likes doing it and showed the ability to do it in Miami, so expect that to be a big part of his game in his rookie season.

He says he's starting to get adjusted to life in the big leagues now. Being reunited with Miami linemate Cabe McJake (Vivek Weiner is also on the roster) and playing with a lot of fellow S75 prospects has helped McLaren feel more at ease moving up a level. But McLaren knows there will be stiffer tests coming. "I mean, I've never gone up against a Kris Rice or Mikko Lahtinen, never tried to go up against an Erik Killinger in the offensive zone... these guys are superstars, I model my game after Lahtinen, it's surreal to think you're going to share the ice with them. I'm excited to get out there and prove myself against that calibre of player."

McLaren was the 8th overall pick in the S75 draft, and the Reign are counting on him (and several other very talented young players) to convert a promising rebuild effort into a contending team. If things go well for McLaren this season, he could find himself in contention for the Stolzschweiger Trophy as the VHL's Rookie of the Year - but more important, he hopes to build on his successful minor league career and be a part of plenty of team success in Riga. "Obviously, the goal is to win championships and I'm really excited to be on a team with an outlook as bright as Riga's for the future. I know there's going to be a bit of a transitioning phase here, but we all want to win and are going to work hard to make it happen."