Joseph Laraque was drafted 12th overall by the Halifax Raiders    in the S46 SMJHL Entry Draft last night. He joins an extremely strong draft class by the Raiders who selected Esa Parmberg at 1st overall, Ender Zavala at 31st overall, Jaguar Johnson at 42nd overall, Isaiah Reece at 45th overall, and Kobe Krisp at 52nd overall. This was a dream selection for Laraque who has been linked to Halifax's Perry Morgan as the two were elementary school pen pals growing up. You know when you write a letter to some rando across the pond when you're like 8. Nevertheless Laraque was ecstatic with the selection and wouldn't have picked a different team if he had the choice. The Halifax management team was happy to see Laraque available at 12th, believing he would be selected before they had a chance to select him after the obvious selection of Esa. "We saw a first round talent that somehow luckily dropped to us, we love that Laraque not only shows a scoring touch that every team craves, but he’s also well rounded in all areas of the game.  We are looking to Laraque to contribute in all areas his rookie year." - Raiders Co-GM Sloth

There seems to be some trouble brewing now that Laraque has joined the team though. Laraque reportedly showed up to his on-boarding meeting with General Manager Jearim wearing a New England Wolfpack sweatshirt. Dean Atkins nearly kicked Laraque out of his office spouting some expletives declaring the Wolfpack merchandise wouldn't be allowed. His allegiance to San Fransisco clearly set some bias against his new 2nd round draft pick. Laraque was quoted leaving the meeting saying, "Mr. Atkins really got pissed when I walked in with my hoodie. I've never seen a guy hate a team so much and threaten to bench me over my favorite SHL team. You think he would have realized I was a NEW fan as I'm from Massachussetts".  Laraque's fellow Raider Dominic Montgomery had this to say after the meeting gone wrong, "Hey, I was also raised as a New England fan, but I don't think it was the best move. [Laraque] will for sure get some teasing for it when the season starts." Troy Reynolds was a bit less forgiving with his response, "If he wears that garb around here again, I'm throwing his stuff into the showers." It seems Laraque will be shipping his   gear home to save for another day if he hopes to gain any favor with his new GM or his new teammates. Although Halifax head coach Ed Balls looks to be on Laraque's side, "I heard about their confrontation but at the end of the day the final say in lines come from me. I'm here to win a cup not get involved in politics. If Dean doesn't like that he can sack me." Only time will tell how this will all turn out in the coming weeks.

Another big story going into the draft was Laraque's Blazers teammate Lex Peters. The two reportedly had beef after the second game of the finals in the S46 Prospect Showcase, but the argument was resolved before things got out of hand. Now we see the two drafted to different teams and will once again become rivals as they were growing up through youth hockey. With Peters being drafted by the Detroit Falcons, the matchups between these two teams will be one to watch in the upcoming season. We asked Laraque for a comment on Lex, "As far as I'm concerned we will see each other on the ice. I'm not here to make friends with anyone but my teammates." Let's set the over under at 3 fights between these two to start?

We will have to get you some Raiders sweatshirts to avoid any confrontations in the future.  Great stuff, so stoked to have you in Halifax 

Now what he doesnt want you to know is this quote from raiders v important cool kid hecko

"When we, raiders management, looked into Parmaraque's eyes, we saw ourselves reflected in them. Literally. The man has shiny mirror eyes, how cool is that? Anyhow, we're pretty sure we can teach him to use his mirror eyes to blind goalies and shit. So we drafted him and guess what? They were just contacts! But he's pretty good at hockey anyway, so whatever."

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Now what he doesnt want you to know is this quote from raiders v important cool kid hecko

"When we, raiders management, looked into Parmaraque's eyes, we saw ourselves reflected in them. Literally. The man has shiny mirror eyes, how cool is that? Anyhow, we're pretty sure we can teach him to use his mirror eyes to blind goalies and shit. So we drafted him and guess what? They were just contacts! But he's pretty good at hockey anyway, so whatever."

I was saving it for another article! Can't give it all away in the first one eh

Now what he doesnt want you to know is this quote from raiders v important cool kid hecko

"When we, raiders management, looked into Parmaraque's eyes, we saw ourselves reflected in them. Literally. The man has shiny mirror eyes, how cool is that? Anyhow, we're pretty sure we can teach him to use his mirror eyes to blind goalies and shit. So we drafted him and guess what? They were just contacts! But he's pretty good at hockey anyway, so whatever."

I was saving it for another article! Can't give it all away in the first one eh

nope its a conspiracy to silence the voice of

me

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