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TSN MEGA MOCK DRAFT NWJHL EDITION
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Welcome to TSN, we did it for the SHL draft and now we're back at it again as our panel of TSN Experts predicts the first 2 round of the upcoming NWJHL Junior Draft. As always i'm your host Jim Duthie and with me is Bob McKenzie, Pierre McGuire, Aaron Ward and a surprise guest: Top 3 Prospect Brandon Donini.

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Top prospects: Benoit Fortescue (top left), Kaspar Abraham (top right), Roman Schultz (bottom left), Rehn Miller (bottom middle) and Brandon Donini (bottom right).

Duthie: With the first overall pick: The Montreal Impact!
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McGuire: I'm going to have to say Brandon Donini. The Impact have top tier send downs Joel Westbrook and Chris Serpe who will be eating up to pairing minutes very easily on this strong looking Impact squad. Drafting Schultz will take some of the spotlight off Schultz as he'll be playing 2nd pairing which will hurt him down the line and will create a big hole in their offense.

Ward: Roman Schultz. Any time. Any day. Any where. Schultz is the top prospect in this entry draft by far, He has the complete skillset to be a franchise defender, his dedication to hockey is just unbelievable and what he can bring to a blueline is unreplaceable. Any team who wants to win a cup will choose him no competition.

McKenzie: Brandon Donini, easily. The Impact have Westbrook and Serpe and a 6th and 7th overall pick to pick up a 2nd pairing dman. Brandon Donini is easily the best forward in this draft and will be a tremendous part to the success of this Impact squad. Donini has a superb physical skillset with a natural ability for finding the back of the net. If the Impact were to pass on Donini to pick a dman who'd play on their 2nd pairing, it would be a sad sad day for their fans.

Donini: Well i have to pick myself here, if any player does not believe they have what it takes to go first overall then they shouldn't be drafted period. I have a strong passion for the game of hockey, i'm commited to my game, to my team, to myself and i plan on prooving to all the non-believers that i am the best out there.

Duthie: That's it for the 1st overall..time to move on to the Prince George Firebirds and the 2nd overall pick.
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McGuire: Roman Schultz. The firebirds will content themselves with building their core from the backend as last year's offensive build didn't work out. Schultz will be a great player for the Firebirds this season, he is the best defender in this draft and plays a very tight, non-physical but shutdown type of game, with a player like Schultz on their blueline, the Firebirds also wouldn't need to waste their 2nd round pick on goalies Mike Verminski or Cyan Winters.

Ward: I'll pick Brandon Donini. Great player, almost a sure bet for the Firebirds, Donini knows how to play the game, he loves to play the game and he will be able to carry this firebirds teams to glory. Schultz-Donini top 2, easily, anybody who thinks otherwise has little to no knowledge on the NWJHL. Donini will be able to make his mark in Prince George as one of the top players and possibly the scoring leader in the NWJHL next season.

McKenzie: Prince George Firebirds will easily have to select Roman Schultz here. After a horribad season last year, Roman will be able to get this team on track for a great season. I'm not a huge believer in building from the backend because if you can't score having a perfect defense will do nothing for you but in a draft where defense will be so hard to come by, any team who doesn't have half of their defense set from top SHL send downs, should jump on a top dmen as soon as they find it.

Donini: Well i don't think there's any other choice here besides Roman Schultz. Roman is a great guy, top player, amazing in the locker room. I've had the chance to meet him personally, he's an amazing guy he can talk forever and always has something useful to say, out of all the prospects i've spoken too at combines/interviews/etc Roman is definitely the best skilled and best leader.

Duthie: Alright boys, Chicago Hitmen and the #3 pick now.
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McGuire: This is a tough choice because of the drop in talent from the top 2 to the 3rd but i will say Emma Watson. Watson is going to be a top 3 forward in the NWJHL, probably the best player available after Donini and Schultz go, he'll have lots of prooving to do in the NWJHL but if he could do that prooving he'll be the right choice to use with this 3rd overall pick.

Ward: Rehn Miller. Top playmaker, he may not be as skilled as the top 2 but Miller has that sense of placing the puck right on his teammate's blades for "gift goals." Rehn Miller makes the players around him look better and does it in style, definitely a good player for Chicago to build with....the only question is, does he have what it takes to bring his talent to the next level and be a top contributer in the NWJHL.

McKenzie: I will have to pick Benoit Fortsecue. Benoit is a player that seems to have interested Chicago for quite some time now and i think he'll fit in well with the system over in the windy city. Fortsecue is another defenseman, one of only 3 or 4 that could possibly go in the first 2 rounds and he'll do wonders for this Hitmen team. Unlike Schultz, Fort uses his huge size and build by delivering punishing hits. Being the son of one of the greatest defensmen in SHL history; Gabriel Fortescue could be to his advantage as i'm sure his dad will be helping him improve throughout the season. Could be the steal of the draft if he falls further than 3rd overall and pans out.

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Fortescue handles the puck in the top prospects game

Donini: I'll have to side with Bob McKenzie here, Benoit is a top talent defensively, getting past him and Schultz on the same pairing was a bitch in the top prospects game and i'm sure Benoit will be that hard to beat even without Roman Schultz as his D partner. I also like Benoit for this pick because following the combine, we all got our interviews with teams and Benoit and the Hitmen were talking for quite a while, they seem to like him very much.

Duthie: Looks like this mock is finally starting to get interesting, Whalers have the next pick at 4th overall.
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McGuire: Rehn Miller. He's quick, he's agile and he has very soft hands. Not to mention his ability to make clutch passes. Most people look at Rehn Miller and that's all they see is his passing, let me tell you he's much more than that. He stick handles beautifully, his explosiveness is top notch and he's a player that will be appreciated on any team. Obviously he'll be a risk from Vancouver as this seems to be a team who usually builds more around not only offense, but big shot snipers. Definitely a gamble for a team not used to this type of player but they'll make it work.

Ward: My pick here is Dave Smith. He's like a replica of Brandon Donini just with less of an edge and i'm sure you've heard this before. Both players excel at both ends of the ice, but the way they choose to do it is different. Smith sees his game as leff of a physical game, his defensive skillset is usually turning over the puck, blocking shots and poking whereas Donini's is more hitting and knocking a guy 20 feet away into the bench, Offensively Donini uses size, force and flash to hit the back of the net, Smith uses pure skill. He chooses to snipe from a distance, his accuracy is unbelievable which is why he can carry the puck just slightly into the zone wind up and boom. goal. Great player for Vancouver, similar-ish to Ivo Willems so need to think of a complete new game plan. Can't wait to see what he might do for this Whalers team.

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Smith showing off his distance sniping skills

McKenzie: Kaspar Abraham. He is the highest ranked player in this draft who fits with Vancouver's style. Donini may be a better player but Abraham is the type of player that Vancouver knows and loves, he's the type of player that led to their 1st place finish last year and their 4 star cup final appearance. He scores like it's nothing and he's very unselfish with the puck, if he thinks he'll get stuck he knows better and finds a teammate rather than turning the puck over and hurting his team. I also don't think there's a faster skater in this draft. He should fit GM Phil's system to a T, expect a stellar season out of him in Vancouver.

Donini: How can you guys forget about Emma Watson? Another top forward, he will be a star and Vancouver will allow him to shine. Watson was one of my linemates at the top prospects game and really knows how to play this game....especially offensively. Watson is the Ivo Willems of this year's draft. He may not be as good as Willems but his playing style resembles that of Willems very closely. He's the only 100% pure sniper in the 1st round of this draft. That's pretty much what he does is score. Like i said playing with him in the top prospects game, it was shot after shot after shot as he kep trying to score. That's what this Vancouver team has always been known for and that's what they'll continue to be known for when they pick up Watson.

Duthie: 4 different picks for 4th overall, all very valid points. Now let's go on to The Detroit Falcons and the 5th overall pick.
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McGuire: The Detroit Falcons will comfortably select Benoit Fortescue with this pick. Detroit won a cup last season and they did it by keeping a good balance of offense and defense. They weren't a 10-goal-per-game offense or a constant shutout defense but they had good players at all positions and that's what made it work for them. With the 5th and 8th picks they'll be able to do this again this year. They'll gladly snatch up Fortescue as their top pairing dman with the 5th and then begin to build their Offense with the 8th.

Ward: Based on their previous success with unknown/longshot players (Smirnov Light) i think the Falcons will content themselves with a nice reach on this pick. Angelo Cerilli is my pick. Earlier on in this draft campaign this guy was compared to Drizzy Drake and his potential was glorified. He's dropped quite a bit as of late but i believe this team has confidence in Cerilli and i believe they know how to fix Cerilli and get him back to being that top defenseman that everybody was going crazy about. It's been said already tonight and i doubt it's the last time you'll hear it but defensemen essentially are almost non-existent in this draft class as there are not that many of them to begin with, and not that many good ones either.

McKenzie: Dave Smith will be my pick for Detroit. Smith has flown under the radar but he could potentially be the steal of the draft. Dave Smith has all the tools of climbing to the top and it'll be interesting to see how he uses them and how the team he ends up on plays around with them to make him be at the top. Smith nonetheless will be a key player for the Falcons to build their offense around if they could find a great center for him with the 8th pick this could be a Falcons team looking for a repeat.

Donini: Best player available here would be Kaspar Abraham. All around offensive player, one of the only in this draft who not only is strictly offense but also one who concentrates on more than just passing or just scoring or just puck handling, etc. Kaspar finds a way to use every resource possible during a game which will make him a threat down the line. Detroit will be very happy to pick him up with their 1st round pick. Kaspar has been relatively quiet over the course of this draft campaign which probably kept him from being up there with me and schultz in the top 2 mix.

Duthie: Alright, Impact on the clock with their 2nd pick of this round.
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McGuire: Brandon just brought up a good point actually and that's why i will say Kaspar Abraham fits the bill here in Montreal. The team i see Montreal building will resemble last year's Whalers very closely: all offense, all the time. Donini and Abraham will be a huge goal supplying machine for this squad. Abraham like many other players in this draft has been shadowed by the bigger names like Schultz and Donini but had he been more present throughout the process he could have been going much higher.

Ward: I need to disagree with Pierre completely here. My vision for this Impact squad is too be as tight defensively as possible and what better pairing other than Fortescue-Schultz is there to be that team i want them to be. That's why my pick will be Benoit Fortescue. Fortescue will be the toughness of this pairing, with Schultz turning the puck over and making those huge last minute poke checks and Fortescue breaking bones with his hits, i don't see how the Impact will be stopped next season in the NWJHL.

McKenzie: Emma Watson. He'll take on the role of 2nd line C nicely on this squad with Light covering the 1st line C position. Watson will be key to the depth of this Impact offense. He knows how to score which will be good especially with the role he'll be taking on. With the low presence of defense 2nd D pairings will be really weak. That will be Watson's opportunity to capitalize and that will be the key to Montreal's success, i'm saying it now, and i'll say it more than once throughout the season. Depth on offense will be the difference between a joke team and a serious team who wants to win the 4 star cup.

Donini: Easy pick for me here. Davide "Dave Smith" Ferrari. One of my best friends out of the entire draft class, Dave is a hidden superstar and i'd jump on any opportunity to play on a line with him. Smith will be a great addition to Montreal's offense, our chemisty together will do wonders for this Impact team and playing on a line with Light will make it even better. The ultimate line right here, The ISS said it in their report and i'm saying it here this line united equals 4 star cup.

Duthie: That caps off the 1st round, Now Montreal Impact with the 7th overall pick to start off round 2
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McGuire: Shawn Swerin. Time to complete this team that i've been talking about. Donini, Light, Abraham, Swerin....this is an all out, all offense team and not a weak one either. Donini and Swerin will take care of the bruising while still being active in the scoring department. Light will assume his role as the supplier of the offense and Abraham will just be a machine. This offense will be unstoppable, i really like this build i've created here.

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Swerin makes his opponent pay during Olympic play

Ward: I'll pick Mike Verminski. The main part of any team is their goalie. You can have the best offense, the best defense but you need a goalie and Verminski will be just that in Montreal. Verminski is probably most likely to be the goalie of this draft who ends up being a starter right away in the SHL and who will be a top candidate for goalie of the year in the NWJHL.

McKenzie: Best player available, Angelo Cerilli. Balance is key to success and this is what Montreal gets by selecting Cerilli. He's probably the only defenseman that will be available this late who can play 1st pairing. Cerilli was a top player earlier on but has fallen a lot. He'll struggle early on in the NWJHL season but i believe he may be able to come back and regain his spot on the throne of the junior hockey world with the right training and the right dedication.

Donini: Alicia Keys. Very underrated playmaking forward. Keys is a very similar player to Rehn Miller, team first, win first attitude. I've seen him playing with Watson before and they really connect perfectly with each other, so if you don't draft Watson, choosing Keys would probably be a very good idea if you want to keep them seperated. Keys should do well patrolling the Impact's 2nd line and should be very similar to Light by the end of the season. Great vision, knows when and how to place a pass, he's fast and puck handling skills are surreal, nice pick this late in the draft.

Duthie: Moving on to Detroit with the 8th overall pick.
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McGuire: Well i don't know how i have him sliding all the way down here but Dave Smith will be my pick. Sticking with the balanced team that Detroit is used to, they'll more than happily select Smith with the 8th overall pick leaving Fortescue to pull the weight on defense and Smith doing the heavy lifting upfront. Smith has superstar potential and even if he goes this late in the draft, he'll be able to break out of his shell and become a 1st round pick into the SHL just like Smirnov Light did.

Ward: I'm going to choose another goalie here: Cyan Winters. Simply because i believe the drop in talent from the top 2 ranked goalies (Winters and Verminski) to the next ranked goalie is too high. I think any team who doesn't get a send down goalie absolutely has to hop on one of these goalies and that's what Detroit will do with this pick. Winters is a reliable goalie, he'll make those 40 saves a game for you....star goalie with star quality. Future SHL starter for me.

McKenzie: Rehn Miller. I know, you guys might think i'm crazy for making him slide all the way down here, but it comes in good reasoning. Miller is a good player, yes. The problem is, he's not a fanchise player and that's why he won't go in round 1. Miller is the kind of player who will deke 5 players be all alone on the goalie and still look for a pass rather than shoot. He doesn't feel comfortable in his ability to score and for me that's something big that he will need to improve if he ever wants to be considered a franchise player in the NWJHL or in the SHL.

Donini: Miller will be my pick too. I've been waiting for the right time to make this pick, Miller will be a good player in the NWJHL, but he'll be a player requiring a bit more attention. Like Bob said, if he wants to be a major impact player who can shape the way a game is played every night, he'll have to trust himself more, he'll have to know that he has the ability to score in him and although he shouldn't lose his ability to pass the puck, he should definitely improve his scoring. If he can do this he may wind up being a steal for the Falcons at #8.

Duthie: We're almost at the end here, 9th overall will be a forfeited pick by the Whalers so let's move on to the Kelowna Knights who will be making their first pick of the draft at #10.
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McGuire: Stud defender Angelo Cerilli. Pretty easy choice for me here because i think he's the last sure bet of this draft. My next 2 picks will be hit or miss, along with the rest of the picks of the draft. If Cerilli pans out the way he was originally expected to pan out he could make up for Kelowna not having a pick in the 1st round but it will require much more dedication on his part. His laziness was slightly overlooked early on but it has definitely affected his final ranking. Kelowna management/coaching staff will really need to work hard to maximize Cerilli's potential and Cerilli will need to be much more dedicated in the long run for this to work.

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Cerilli in Junior AAA play last year

Ward: Emma Watson. He's easily a top talent and i'm looking back now at my picks trying to figure out how i managed to make him slide this far down my charts. The Knights organization will be absolutely laughing if they manage to get Watson with the 10th overall pick. He's not a complete player which makes him a top 2 longshot but he definitely is better than #10. He's similar in play style to Ivo Willems and although he'll never be as good as Ivo, he's going to catch the NWJHL by storm this season and build his case to be a top 5 pick in the SHL.

McKenzie: Mike Verminski fits this pick nicely. Verminski is one of only 2 goalies who have what it takes to go 1st round. He'll have lots of playing time in Kelowna which is just what he wants as a rookie in the NWJHL. Verminski's dedication to hockey is what makes him one of the top goalies, he makes a mistake he'll spend a whole day/week/month if necessary to fix it. He's that one player that you can count on 365 days a year to be constantly improving and he'll be an absolute wall in goal for the Knights.

Donini: Pierre said it well, this spot has Cerilli's name all over it. Most of the teams with higher picks or with picks in round 1 will not want to take a chance on him because of his poor dedication recently but a team like Kelowna who's earliest pick is almost at the end of round 2 will definitely try him out. It's not too late for Cerilli to be saved, Kelowna just has to pull the right strings and play the right cards and Cerilli will be right back up there as that top player he was at the top prospects game and early on in this campaign.

Duthie: Alright boys we're down to our last 2 picks, It's Prince George now with the 11th overall pick.
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McGuire: I'll go a little bit off the board and choose Cameron Gibson. Gibson has something valuable that a lot of the other prospects available this late don't have: Olympic Experience. Gibson played for Team World at the Olympics as a part of the late surge of NWJHL Eligible prospects who applied for dual in order to gain experience. Gibson was one of those players and will improve his draft stock because of that. Those 10 Olympic games that he sutied up for with Team World will bring him valuable experience that a lot of prospects won't have early on. Gibson isn't someone to overlook when it comes to making these "risk picks" later on.

Ward: Kaspar Abraham. Another forward who i believe will fall due to the need for defense in this draft. Abraham will be a great player for Prince George playing alongside Donini who i think will go there 2nd overall. Kaspar personally needs a little more work all around before he can be considered a 1st round pick. I think Prince George will be able to work with Abraham and he will find a way to grow playing with Donini and become that player that was hyped about by the media.

McKenzie: I'll pick the other top goalie, Cyan Winters. Prince George, from what i understand, will not be recieving a send down goalie. Winters has already been compared to future all star goalie Josef Heiss. Winters will be able to shutdown some of the best scorers in the league on a regular basis and with Schultz infront of him expect the Firebirds to have one of the lowest goals allowed totals in the league next season.

Donini: Powerfoward Shawn Swerin should hear his name called up on draft day. Swerin has a history of hurting opponents, making enemies pay and being a physical force while still being able to score. Although he isn't the best powerforward in the draft he is still a dangerous one and will be a feared threat for everybody playing against Prince George this season. Of course that won't be the case against the Impact after i put him in his place in the top prospects game but aside from that, Swerin is a dangerous player.

Duthie: On to the final pick of our mock draft boys. It's the Kelowna Knights with pick #12.
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McGuire: Cyan Winters, he's the only goalie i think will go in the first 2 rounds and he'll land in Kelowna. Winters missed the top prospects game with an injury but has been constantly meeting with teams ever since and he's making sure everybody knows that he wants to be a top goalie, he has the drive to be at the top, he wants to start and he's destined for a great SHL future and playing in Kelowna, the place where John McBride was discovered, is just the beginning of the road for him.

Ward: Kelowna will pick up Alicia Keys with the 12th pick to complete the Watson-Keys duo. Again this is the 3rd player that i have near the end that many will think should go earlier but i really really believe that forward value will drop in this draft because of the lack of defense and excess of forwards. Keys will fall this far and Kelowna will still be able to build a decent team even with their late pick, their defense will not be good but some late depth picks might be able to wield them a gem.

McKenzie: Shawn Swerin will find his home in Kelowna. After predicting they'd take a goalie with the 10th pick, Kelowna will likely look to build their offense with this pick and Shawn Swerin will be their man. He knows how to score, he plays with a very physical edge. His NHL comparison will definitely be Milan Lucic. He can be the guy to carry this offense on his shoulders if he wants it, Kelowna will have to make sure to outline to him his duties and i'm sure he won't dissapoint them.

Donini: Let me cap off this draft with Cyan Winters. There was a lot of talk about Cyan wanting to play here in Kelowna, new management for this team seems to believe in building from the crease. I saw him sitting with Knights management as he watched the top prospects game and he'd definitely fit in well with the system. I haven't played against him personally yet but from what i've seen on tape and from what i've heard Winters will easily be a contender for goalie of the year in the NWJHL this season.

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Duthie: Well that wraps up our mock draft, our 3 experts and surprise guest have made their picks and now it's up to the GMs to decide which names they call up on draft day. For full coverage of the NWJHL draft please visit www.tsn.ca or tune in to TSN starting noon on draft day. Until next time, i'm James Duthie and this is your sports leader TSN.

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Set up for the NWJHL Junior Draft is underway for this week's draft.

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Credit to Taron who did the SHL version

P.S. The cheap imitations can start coming in now Wink
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#2

Congrats on the 2 mill for this Tongue jk

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#3

Gonna be a stud, keep up the work Smile
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#4

No Cezar Jr, terrible mock...

Tongue
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#5

Quote:Originally posted by cezar@Sep 23 2012, 10:40 AM
No Cezar Jr,  terrible mock...

Tongue

:ph34r:

you joined too late i was pretty much done when you created
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#6

Great article, very nice read Smile

The Firebirds will receive a send-down Goalie though (Edwin Ask), so there is no need for us to pick a Goalie in one of the earlier rounds. But that's just a small detail Wink

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#7

Quote:Originally posted by OcAirlines@Sep 23 2012, 10:57 AM
Great article, very nice read Smile

The Firebirds will receive a send-down Goalie though (Edwin Ask), so there is no need for us to pick a Goalie in one of the earlier rounds. But that's just a small detail Wink

thanks and ya sorry i didnt know all the details about every team
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#8

Leads all prospects in scoring at the Olympics.
Ales Hemsky's past open nets.

I don't think BobbyMac did his research this time Tongue

Good read though.
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#9

There has been a development....Some kid from Alberta is now avail in the entry draft and he looks like the real deal. Brady Hoperle plays the centre position like no other rookie.....If you haven't heard of him before. YOU will very soon.
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#10

try not to toot your own horn too hard there Brady Wink

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#11

IMO with the 1st Impact take Fortescue, Firebirds take Schultz, and Hitmen secure Donini.
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#12

good job Donini and this earned you a shit ton of money...

in the new system it would still earn you 3.75 mil + 150k bonus = 3.9 + 250k bonus = 4.15k. How's that? Tongue In current system it would get you 4.35 so it's not bad at all. I gave it 5 mil though because it was a really good read and lots and I mean lots of work was put in. Keep it up Smile

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#13

Thanks for the compliments Donini! Very sweet article.

No way am I going 1st though, Storm. :lol:

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#14

Quote:Originally posted by JmanPens19@Sep 23 2012, 11:59 AM
good job Donini and this earned you a shit ton of money...

in the new system it would still earn you 3.75 mil + 150k bonus = 3.9 + 250k bonus = 4.15k.  How's that? Tongue  In current system it would get you 4.35 so it's not bad at all.  I gave it 5 mil though because it was a really good read and lots and I mean lots of work was put in.  Keep it up Smile

well 5mil to 4.1mil is pretty big Tongue

but i'm sure you'll make the new system work

and thanks Cheers
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#15

Quote:Originally posted by Toast@Sep 23 2012, 12:02 PM
Thanks for the compliments Donini! Very sweet article.

No way am I going 1st though, Storm. :lol:

Impact have the 1st and since leafs loves you and you were there GM I think he'll take the risk.
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