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Tomasnz · 08-11-2019, 05:54 PM

Quote:Note to grader: Of the 1280ish words please pay 980k to @"toirekari" and the balance 300k ish to me. THank you.

Hi Everyone, Sid Renfrown here back for a two-for espisode, that's the second part in one day.

we are now sitting down with Ian Venables the new goalie for the anchorage armada and fourth round selection in the s49 juniors draft.

What do you think of the simulation hockey league so far? Is settling in anchorage going well?

Quote:I’m having a blast! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of hard work. Coach has set some pretty lofty training goals that we’re expected to achieve before the season starts. But it’s all worth it to play the game for a living and reach my peak potential. Anchorage is an amazing town, I didn’t expect to feel so at home so soon. The weather is amazing, the air quality is unrivaled, and the people are the kind of folks who fill up the tank before returning a borrowed truck and never avoid the end slices of bread.

what has your highlight been so far?

Quote:This is going to be a really lame and cliché answer, but meeting my teammates. As you can imagine, it’s a tough transition into the SMJHL. Learning how to keep up with the schedule, finding the most effective training methods, navigating the bizarre etiquette of professional hockey in this day and age, these are things that I can confidently say that I would not have been able to do without the guidance of my amazing veteran mentors. If I amount to anything in this league, I will owe it all to the S49 Anchorage Armada.

What are your goals for the season? Rookie expectations?

Quote:Right now I’m hoping to be able to develop my skills enough to earn some ice time. I’m guaranteed 6 starts as per the league rules, but my goal is to beat that. If I can prove myself to the management here that I deserve my spot in the roster, I’ll be happy.

What has been the highlight of your preseason so far?

Quote:In Game 73 of the preseason, I was sent in to relieve Beckett at the end of the first period. We outshot Kelowna, but they somehow managed to convert 3 of their 4 shots. By the time I started playing, the game should have been over. But everyone dug deep, and we managed to claw our way back. First Raphael scores off Elijah’s rebound. Two minutes later, Stavros scores on a give-and-go with Wang. Suddenly we’re back in this thing and the pressure is on. They had a couple good chances in that second period, but somehow, I managed to keep the puck out of the net. And I even only kicked out one rebound! That’s a big win for me, since rebound control is something I’ve struggled with all my life. Darnell really saved my butt on that one. We keep trading chances back and forth with them until midway through the third period. Faceoff in their zone. Both teams third lines are on the ice. Taking the draw is Daniel Bischoff for us against Ryan Shepard for them. Both rookies this year, Daniel 35th overall and Shepard 1st overall. When he won the draw, I remember thinking it’s nice to see our guy stick it to him. Anyways, he wins it back to Wang. D-to-D to Gabe. Back to Wang, who finds Rhett Ward sneaking down the right side. It’s all tied up! About a minute into overtime, Jake Primeau scores to give us the win. What a game, I think I’ll remember that one for a long time.

How did you spend your first SHL paycheck?

Quote:Haha, funny you should ask. I was a bit irresponsible. As soon as my check cleared, I immediately ordered a new set of custom equipment. But stupid me forgot to save any of that money for living costs, so I lived secretly in the locker room at the rink for much of training camp. Wang found out, and so I’ve been rooming with him ever since. It’s been… interesting, to say the least. I’m thinking of writing a blog post about what it’s like to live with him so I won’t get into too many details, but check it out on Venables Verbatim in the next little while. I’m aloud to plug my other projects on here right?

Tell us something that the SHL should know about you that they probably don’t yet?

Quote:Did my sister tell you to ask me that? Last night she blackmailed me into agreeing to mention her nickname for me if you asked any open-ended questions. Ugh. Anyways, she calls me Budgie and she thinks it would be funny if it caught on. But please don’t print this part.

…..unhhh you know we were on the record right?
Final question, and it’s a doozy, the most important question of all… pancakes or waffles?

Quote:Oh, that is a doozy. What an evil question. Alright, bear with me here. Pancakes are better, but it’s a smaller target to hit. Let me draw you a diagram. I like my pancakes to be barely done cooking. Cooked slowly on a low temperature, so the outsides are still pale, but the inside isn’t wet. A perfect pancake like that is the king of the breakfast table. But I’d prefer a medium quality waffle over a medium quality pancake, because how well it’s cooked doesn’t have as big of an impact. Even more so for French toast, it’s basically impossible to mess up a French toast.
I’m not that much of a snob about batter. I like fluffy pancakes, I like dense pancakes, I like thin pancakes. Sweet, sour, buttery, it’s all good to me. But don’t you overcook my pancakes.
<<there should be a really cool hand sketched image here that Ian drew on the coffee table of the acceptable cooking times of frech toast pancakes and waffles, unfortunately out image hosting service is temporarily down - come back later>>

where is the best place you go to get your choice?

Quote:My house is probably the best place. I’ve been cooking pancakes for myself for a long time, so I know how to get the job done. But Flo’s Pancake House in town is the best one. Mr. and Mrs. Woo are super thoughtful and caring and can almost even outdo me! I only had to tell them once the way I like my pancakes and they can nail it every time. Also, Flo’s Pancake House has an amazing wait staff who can make it feel like home. I started going there when living at the rink and I needed to clear out before any staff showed up. Flo’s opens at 6:30 so it was the perfect place to chow down on some pancakes and coffee and spend a couple hours before returning to the rink for training camp.

so there we have it, finally we have a member of team pancake, as long as they aren't over-cooked!

Thank you Ian for siting down with us and thank you to the Armada organisation for making them available.

Tomorrow we are expecting our last part of this series on one of the potential up-in-comers of the league, stay tuned to find out who!

Thank you and good night.