Ninetyfourgoalie 168 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Introducing the Walser This Way Starters With the off-season arriving, it is time for the much-hyped Season 38 Super Cup. Occurring every three seasons, the Super Cup is essentially a fantasy draft of all VHL and VHLM players who compete for the ultimate prize, the Super Cup. Part of what makes the Super Cup so exciting is the fact that players who otherwise never would have had the chance to play with each other are afforded to opportunity to join forces and forget about whatever rivalries may be taking place in their respective leagues. Perhaps even more exciting is the prospect of seeing regular teammates battle against each other and hold nothing back as they have just one thing on their mind: winning. As someone who is particularly out of the loop with the VHL, I am going to introduce the starters of Walser This Way to enable myself and others in the league to become acquainted with some of the top players in the VHL. Left Wing: Xin Xie Xiao - New York Americans Xin Xie Xiao is a three season VHL veteran who has scored over 250 points in his career. This season, Xie Xiao truly established himself as a top player in the league with 98 points in 72 games, good enough for twelfth best in the VHL. In addition, his +/- of 56 was third highest in the league and while also leading the league with three shorthanded goals. Xiao was Walser This Way's fourth round pick and second forward taken by the team. He should be able to provide the team with a strong offensive presence as he has developed into an elite scorer in the league. While Xiao is the type of player that will shoot first, and often find success doing so, he certainly is no slouch defensively and will be able to help out defensively with his strong defensive awareness. The biggest knock on Xiao, though, is his strength. While he does stand fairly large in stature, he simply does not use his body to anywhere close to its full potential. This will be something Walser This Way will have to deal with and be cognizant of as they look to take home the Super Cup. Center: Travis Boychuk - Calgary Wranglers Travis Boychuk enjoyed unprecedented success as a rookie this season. Travis Boychuk just completed his first VHL season of his career with exceptional individual success despite the Wranglers' rough season in which they never were truly close to making the playoffs. Boychuk was the team's scoring leader with 103 points in 69 games. His 68 assists were third best in the league while his 103 points were good enough for seventh best in the VHL. Boychuk easily took home the rookie scoring title, scoring 23 more points than the next best rookie and displaying to the league why he was taken eighth overall by the Wranglers in the Season 37 VHL Entry Draft. Unfortunately, Boychuk will be the weakest link on Walser This Way's first line as he has a ways to go to reach the level of some of the VHL's top talent. But, Boychuk is a well-rounded player who, despite being extremely talented in one area, can beat opponents in a variety of ways. He will be an interesting player to follow throughout his career that has started off strong with an outstanding rookie season and a spot on the first line in his very first Super Cup. Right Wing: Odin Tordahl - New York Americans Odin Tordahl was truly the prize of the Super Cup Draft as GM Kendrick selected him first overall. Tordahl has been used to being taken early in drafts as he was the third overall pick in the Season 33 VHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Legion. In his six seasons in the VHL, he's amassed nearly 300 assists and over 500 points, making him one of the top players in the league. This season, his league-leading 128 points helped power the Americans to the best record in the league and displayed his dominance as Kameron Taylor, the VHL's number two point-scorer this season, was still thirteen points behind Odin Tordahl. While he was unable to help the Americans avoid an upset loss in the North American Conference Finals to the Legion, he is absolutely key to Walser This Way's Super Cup hopes. Tordahl is one of the very best and most talented players in the league and nobody would be surprised to see him atop the Super Cup scoring leaders at the end of the tournament. Defenseman: James Lefevre - Seattle Bears While never truly impressive, it's hard to knock on Lefevre's ability. James Lefevre is one of the most experience players on Walser This Way with seven seasons of VHL play under his belt. While Lefevre has never been an elite talent, he brings with him a strong defensive presence as well as an ability to make big plays in the offensive zone. As the team's 15th round pick, he very well could be viewed as one of the biggest steals of the Super Cup Draft as he will certainly not be a detriment to the team's high hopes for the Super Cup. He very well may have gone unnoticed for his lack of top-tier ability or ever being a player many people recognized but at his draft position, it was a no-brainer for Walser This Way to go with James Lefevre. Defenseman: Malcom Spud - Riga Reign Like Lefevre, Spud is also a player who will provide the team with some invaluable experience as a guy with seven years of VHL experience. Spud is another strong defensive presence and has a very similar playing style to Lefevre. Both are two-way defensemen with very strong defensive ability, which will be absolutely necessary for the team to have if they are to shut down the top talent in the world in the Super Cup. This season, Spud was a defensive force for the Reign as they finished with the second best record in the European Conference. While they suffered a loss in the conference finals, Spud turned in an outstanding performance, scoring 10 points in their 10 playoff games. Goaltender: Lennox Moher - HC Davos Dynamo Coming off a huge playoff performance, how will Moher perform for Walser This Way? Moher is a young goaltender in VHL terms but Walser This Way GM Kendrick made him their second round selection in the middle of a very early run on goaltenders. This season, Moher established himself as a solid goalie for the Dynamo, who had the second best regular season record in the VHL and ended up winning the VHL Finals in six games over the Legion. Moher gained valuable experience in the playoffs and the team will be hoping that his playoff success will translate into Super Cup success. Playing the most important position in hockey, Lennox Moher will be looked upon to be a leader for Walser This Way as he has plenty of talent in front of him to perform at a top level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarch 3,102 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The biggest knock on Xiao, though, is his strength. While he does stand fairly large in stature, he simply does not use his body to anywhere close to its full potential 835 hits in 216 games? Good ms tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Team looks primed and ready to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Baozi 1,658 Posted July 12, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2014 Lets Walser this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I'm sure I'll be fine one Line 1 with the guys surrounding me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I'm sure I'll be fine one Line 1 with the guys surrounding me. With 103 points in your rookie season, Im not worried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molholt 2,185 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Content: 3/3 - Good article, Moher is a beast. The rest are bums Grammar: 2/2 - Of course.Appearance: 1/1 - Works for me.Overall: 6/6 Final: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball 453 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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