In this edition of the prospect profile, we take a look at one of the upcoming draftees in the S67 smjhl entry draft, Jason Robinson. Robinson is a six foot two, two hundred and ten pound defenseman who's best attributes are often described as the fact that he has few weaknesses. But before we get to Jason the player, let's talk a little bit about Jason the person.

Jason was born on a boat in the middle of the ocean (which one? we'll never know) which lends to some mystery as to his nationality. This lends an interesting wrinkle to his IIHF status in the Simulation Hockey League as he is not currently assigned to any nation within the league systems. This effectively makes him an international free agent allowing him the chance to be persuaded by nations to provide them his services. But back to Jason, his love for hockey started at a very young age, when his older brother would often use Jason as a practice target. See, Jason didn't want to play goalie, nor did they own goalie equipment, so Jason did the next best thing and played defense. And by that, I mean mostly taking unnecessarily hard shots to the gut repeatedly from his brother.

Soon after Jason was playing on a team of his own and had experience positioning himself defensively against his brother and friends who were in an older, more advanced age group. This very quickly made Robinson a go-to player on the ice and shortly after, on special teams as well. Jason excelled at puck retrieval and clearing the zone in an effective manner that often leads to a scoring chance for. This made him incredibly useful in both special team scenarios as he was able to clear the zone effectively on the penalty kill and provide an offensive opportunity while on the powerplay. Now I know it sounds like Robinson is a jack of all trades, but he truly is currently a master of none. He shows a constant maturity in his game that allows him to adapt to any situation, but he doesn't necessarily possess high-end talent offensively or defensively. Robinson's style of play lies somewhere in between, where both are done to an effective degree without compromising on one or the other and without really over emphasizing on one or the either as well.

After a relatively successful junior career, Robinson finds himself on the doorstep of the SMJHL. It's draft day, and that means he's about to find out where he will get to call home, and who will be his teammates along this new journey. Robinson has received a fair amount of interest, but his hopes remain fairly reserved. When asked about where he think's he'll end up, Robinson had this to say:

"I don't think there's one particular organization that has shown more interest than another. At this point, it's a bit of a crapshoot where I'll end up, but in a draft class this impressive, with so much talent, I wouldn't expect to be going in the first round. There are just too many high-quality players and people around me today to really see myself going in the 1st round. If anything, I'd be guessing somewhere in the mid to late 2nd, but that's wishful thinking maybe."

One thing is for sure, whoever takes the chance on Robinson is going to be getting themselves an important piece on the blue line for many seasons. While there aren't many things on Robinson's checklist for a team, he would like somewhere that can accommodate him for 3-4 seasons. He has iterated a few times that he would like to enjoy the SMJHL while he is there and soak it all in before his time inevitably comes to go up to he SHL. That said, that's probably more of a warning to SHL managers than it is to junior managers. In the minors, being able to keep a player for longer is obviously favorable.

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to take a second to speak as JR here, I just want it to be known that I'm open to trying anything anywhere. I don't have many wants, the only thing i care about is being in a good LR with good people. LR culture is a primary concern for me and while I'm not necesarilly looking for spam levels of chatting, a decent community to enjoy the smjhl ride with would be nice.

And some parting words for fellow SMJHL draftees who may be reading this as well: Good luck but most of all, just have fun tonight. The live draft is one of the league's unique experiences and I really hope you all get the chance to participate tonight. If I had to give one piece of advice after nearly 7 years on this site I'd say remember this; The SHL is a marathon, not a race. The player experience is a long one if you follow through and a constant, steady stream of activity throughout will see you finish the marathon compared to many who burn out in an early sprint.

Anyways, have a great night and weekend SHL and good luck again to all the draftees tonight. I can't wait to see with whom I end up!

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