Food for thought.

[kareykoala 62]

  The draft is usually the time of year when a team can reflect on their past season and look to the future by adding in some youthful players who can enhance the team in some way. The norm is that a team would pick up that top prospect and develop them into their system to go along with the team that has already been built, praying that the potential they see can come to fruition and change the dynamic of the team for the better without losing assets. Occasionally, a team has a good year where they pick up a couple quality players, but in a lot of cases, many years are complete busts for teams where no player drafted that year ends up making a significant impact in the league. 

 

  For the Helsinki Titans, this year was f***ing brilliant.

 

  The undisputed top 4 prospects of the S39 draft were easily Faraday, Miller, Koji, and Stokes. Mock drafts were all over the place as they couldn't pin down where each player would go. It seemed as if the spots were completely changeable, but the fact is that the unpredictability of this years draft wasn't due to the players not being of elite quality, the unpredictability came from each of those players being a sure-fire, can't miss, game breaking, team changing player. 

 Faraday, came into the draft as the hot-topic player due to his immense potential. Never has a player been so feared, not for his skill now, but the prospect of his skill down the road. He almost resembles that of a microwavable Pizza Pop. You know it's going to taste amazing when it hits your mouth, but you have to wait 90 seconds of rotating cheesy bliss before you burn the roof of your mouth with this beauty. We know Faraday is going to take the league by storm, but first we wait. One could be lured by the bag of chips hanging out in the corner to quench that salty fix, but the idea of waiting, just a little bit longer to bite into that saucy pocket, is enough to play the waiting game.

 

 Koji, the sole player in this article not to be drafted by the Helsinki Titans is the new kid in school, and has taken the league by storm with his work ethic, creativity, and overall charm. There has never been a first generation, Japanese bombshell like him before. Teams, drooling at the possibility of being able to own this hard-nosed defensemen are willing to risk their lottery pick to take this flashy prospect early on. Sticking to the food analogy, Koji Yamazaki resembles that brand new flavour of cereal your mom buys from the store, you know, the one that isn't cheerios because you have been slaving away at that super big bulk box of cheerios your mom bought at Costco last month and it's getting boring to eat the same sh*t everyday, so when you see that colourful new box of fruity pebbles, you tear open the brand new cereal, pour yourself a bowl, realize that you are already done, pour yourself another bowl and gulp down the fruity flavour sugar milk without a care in the world because it wasn't cheerios. Yeah, Koji is that cereal. He brings a new flavour to the league and teams are not going to pass up on that opportunity to gulp him down.

 

 Stokes is a lock. He is a player that is going to win you games, put up big points, and make you regret not drafting him. These qualities are a lock for any first overall pick, but because of the deep draft pool, Stokes was taken at number three. Mr. Reliability may end up being the best player in this deep draft and nobody would bat an eye as the two previous picks themselves were justifiable but there is no denying the quality of this young prospect. Stokes, is always going to bring you joy, he is always going to be there, and there is absolutely no way that you will ever regret drafting him. Stokes is bacon, there is no regret when you are eating bacon, and regardless of how fat you get, you will love it. Imagine this, if you were the only person on the planet, and you had a surplus of bacon, there is absolutely nothing from stopping you devouring as much bacon as you possibly imagine because bacon is always good. There is no pretty girl to impress and when you die of sodium induced cardiac arrest, you will die happy. 

 

 Miller, ok hear me out. Jackson Miller is by far and away the best player in this draft. At the time of selection, he was the best player available at number one. But, because of his history as well as the enticing attributes of the other players, Miller fell out of the top three down to .... NUMBER 5?!? The best player in the draft fell to number 5? Ok. Jackson Miller was not given as much credit and teams were lured into drafting others before him, yeah to fit situational needs, but there is no way it was justified that he drop that far. In the history of the VHL, never has a player with that much skill gone that low, and in a 10 team league, going at the midpoint of the first round is not a place for any future elite player, but because of the other variables, he fell. Miller is that bag of chips. He is good right away, he was good yesterday, and if you seal up that bag, he will be good tomorrow. He is the perfect bite, crunch, salty snack to give you that fix. He may not be as savoury as a pizza pops or bacon, nor is he as flashy as fruity pebbles after a month of cheerios, but he is a timeless snack that can be enjoyed on a universal scale. 

 

   Now, Helsinki, the team this article started at before I got sidetracked by my desire for a midnight snack, was able to draft 3/4 players listed above. 3/4 potential 1st overall picks. That is almost the equivalent of owning the first overall pick for 3 years straight. That is a rare luxury but Helsinki was able to do that in one year.

 

So now that I have professed my love of my new team, and have become that annoying home-team homer everybody hates, I am going to eat some carb/fat heavy snack food and be happy. 

Edited July 13, 2014 by .eQ

[sterling 2,000]

Should been a ms

[Higgins 3,618]

Pizza pockets?

 

that's literally the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me!

[kareykoala 62]

Should been a ms

Man, I couldn't stop. I have over commitment issues

[Guest]

Man, I couldn't stop. I have over commitment issues

giggity