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NONAME · 03-21-2016, 11:40 AM

<u><b><div align="center">Dos Diablo Signs!</div></b></u>

The name Dos Diablo has been buzzing around the league since the day he decided to enter free agency. The highly skilled right wing sniper had many teams come to him wanting his rare skill set to join their team. Dos Diablo made it clear the day he declared he was joining the league that every team had an equal chance to signing him, it did not matter if they were contenders or rebuilding. He said what matters most to him is ice-time and whatever team could offer him the most ice-time would be getting his service. Dos Diablo ended up deciding on signing with the St. Louis Scarecrows.

I have Dos Diablo here with me so we can ask him a few questions about the process in decided which team he signed with.

Q: Hello and welcome Dos Diablo. It is a pleasure to have you here and I thank you for taking some time out of your busy day. First question is, how many teams showed interest in you and which ones?

A: Thank you for having me here! It's always cool to get some media attention. Now to answer the question I believe there was six teams. The Kelowna Knights, Halifax Raiders, St. Louis Scarecrows, Colorado Mammoths, Detroit Falcons, and the Prince George Firebirds.

Q: So the Montreal Militia and Vancouver Whalers showed no interest? Do you have any idea why?

A: Nope but I imagine they just didn't have an opening on their roster spot. The draft had already passed, free agency was already open, so I joined pretty late into this process. They had plenty of time to fill their holes so its understandable why they wouldn't pursue me.

Q: Back to the teams that offered you a contract, what did each team offer?

A: The Kelowna Knights was the first team to get in contact with me and they were extremely kind and easy to talk to. Right off that bat they were straight with me on were the team is. They told me the team was in a bit of a rebuilding phase which I had no problem with. They also offered me 2nd line time and power-play time to start and said they would bump me up to the 1st line once I showed off some of my potential.

The Halifax Raiders was the second team to get in contact with me. They offered me 2nd line time to start but eventually they offered 1st line time. The problem was they wanted me to become more of a pass first player to get those minutes. I am all about working within a teams system but this type of change is very drastic and it really destroyed my interest in playing for them. They also asked if I would be ok with not taking the league maximum 2M contract so they could sign more players. I understand were he is coming from with this request but there was no way I could do this. I am just beginning my pro career so I do not have a ton of money. I need that contract to buy myself equipment and to train hard throughout the season. The Halifax Raiders seem like a great organization that is going to succeed in the future but unfortunately I didn't see myself fitting there.

The St. Louis Scarecrows was the third team to contact me and they meant business. This was the only team that had both the general manager and co-manager contact me. They started off the negotiations by telling me the teams needs and were they are as a team. Then they said they would guarantee me 2nd line ice-time which was great but once they learned that the ice-time was going to be the deciding factor in whatever team I joined they said "Honestly, if it's ice time that you're about, I'll give you first line minutes with top special teams minutes as well. If you want assurance, we can make it a clause in your contract that you must be playing first line minutes.

I'll make sure you get at least 20 minutes a game, if you decide to become a 'Crow!" They offered me everything I wanted and more which obviously got my attention and ended up making my decision an extremely easy one.

The Colorado Mammoths was the fourth team to get in touch with me and they made it clear how successful they have been and were going to be. They told me they were the defending champions. It felt kind of surreal to have the defending champions showing interest in me. The only problem was they never mentioned what time of ice-time I would be getting. I had already had an interview were I stated the importance in ice-time to me and with them not mentioning it I assumed they never read my interview which means they didn't have as much interest in me as other teams. With them also being the defending champions I assumed there line-up was skilled and there wouldn't be room for me to get a lot of ice-time. I wish the Colorado Mammoths good luck this season!

The Detroit Falcons was the fifth team to get in touch with me and they were very professional. They started off by giving me a brief run-down on the general manager and the teams history. He stated that the right wing position is their biggest weakness and they wanted me to help fill it. They also mentioned my interview which showed to me that they were serious about getting me. Unfortunately they could only offer me 3rd line time to start with the obvious potential chance to move up the line-up. With every other team starting at 2nd line time and the Scarecrows even offering 1st line it was an easy decision to not sign with them. With that being said, with my early impression this team is one of the most professional teams and I wish them nothing but luck in the future.

The Prince George Firebirds was the sixth and final team to contact me. This team stood out to me above them all because they didn't start the negotiations off with 2nd line time. The very first thing they offered was 1st line time and they would guarantee it as long as I kept up with my training. They stated how they had a hole on the right wing position and after they read my interview they wanted me to fill that hole. My final decision ended up being between the Prince George Firebirds and the St. Louis Scarecrows.

Q: How has it been with the St. Louis Scarecrows in the short time you've been there? Any regrets?

A: It has been amazing. The locker-room is very active and helpful. All my team-mates seem like great people. I had a blast at training camp with them. Unfortunately we had a rough 5 pre-season games together but the coach was trying out some new things. I'm looking forward to this season with the boys.

Well thank you for stopping by and I wish you the best of luck in your rookie season, good bye.