2. The Vancouver Whalers had a great draft last season solely due to the outstanding scouting and intuition by their veteran general managers. Last draft they filled many key roles with devoted young talent. The first two rounds were used to solidify the Whaler defensive core by drafting Bob Wehadababyitsaboy with the first overall pick and Bellamy Blake with the seventeenth pick in the draft. The Whalers will probably look to give this rising duo some more help by drafting another shut down defenseman with one of their early round picks. The Vancouver management was also very successful with drafting forwards in the third round where they picked up Inactive Forever, Jonny Fourstar, and Thomas Liebold with the thirty first thirty seventh and fortieth picks respectively. While the young Vancouver forwards are a major sign of a bright future the Whalers will also be losing star forward and last season’s leading scorer, Klaes Ashford. The Whalers will probably look to acquire a high scoring forward within the first two rounds and possibly some role forwards later on in the draft. Lastly and possibly the most important role that needs to be filled is a strong young goalie. The Whalers were led by veteran goaltender Noah Charlevoix this year who earned twenty nine of the Whalers thirty three wins. Vancouver lacked depth in goal and that is most likely going to be a top priority as we get closer to the SMJHL draft. One could expect to see the Whalers select a goalie in the first or possibly second round. (258 Words)

14. Although the Vancouver Whalers could not fight their way past the Carolina Kraken and through the first round of the SMJHL playoffs Thomas Liebold had a very strenuous and taxing season. He has opted to leave Vancouver for the offseason and spend it with his family and dog at home in the United States. Liebold is an avid fisherman which makes him a perfect fit for the Whalers roster. He has been spending his time out at a lake or in the ocean drinking ice cold beers with his fishing friends and forgetting about the rigors of junior hockey. Liebold is also an avid cook and often takes the fishes he catches home and cooks them into delicious meals for his family. Recently he has not had much luck fishing so he often makes a stop at the fish section of the super market before returning home so that his family can enjoy a meal together. Although still relaxing and recovering from last season Liebold still has his eyes set on the SHL draft and a successful SHL career. Every day he wakes up and does 1000 push ups followed by 1000 sit ups and 1000 squat jumps. He claims his body is a temple so he only eats the highest of quality foods and uses supplements to keep his body in peak physical form. Every day he gets on the ice and does a private skate to help hone his skills. Liebold doesn’t only improve his game physically he also strives to improve his hockey iq by constantly watching his old games to see where improvements are possible. With the SHL draft approaching so quickly he has also been talking with many different SHL teams trying to find the best fit for his upcoming SHL career and somewhere he can make the biggest impact. (305 Words)

16. Ash Ketchum said it best when he said “I want to be the very best like no one ever was” and Thomas Liebold has the same exact mentality. Although it is still early in his junior career he has already begun to make a big name for himself. Liebold’s sixty three points last season was good enough for fifth on his team but he really prides himself on his defensive game amassing 230 hits over the course of his first season. He plans on continuing his hot start into next year as he hopes to continue to be one of the draft class leaders in TPE. Currently with 299 TPE going into the offseason after his first season Liebold’s biggest goal currently is to help lead the Vancouver Whales to their first Four Star Cup since the season sixty-one playoffs. Liebold is very confident that he and the other young Vancouver rookies can bring a championship home soon. Liebold also hopes to win a SHL championship thought out his career with whatever SHL team decides to draft him. As far as individual goals Liebold hopes to be names to the SMJHL all rookie team and SMJHL all star team at least once in his junior career. Another goal he has is to be named SHL Rookie of the year during his first year in the SHL. Liebold’s biggest and possibly hardest goal to achieve is to be inducted into the SHL hall of fame at the end of his SHL career and most importantly to have fun the whole time. (260 Words)

(823 Words Total) 
16 TPE
+3 TPE - Milestones