McScruff talks Rooks
Player's Issue by Slip McScruff, for the SIM Herald

Uh... Yes hi, it's me, Slip McScruff.  I'm coming to you as two different people today.  One that is the Captain of the Defending Four Star Cup Champions, looking at all the fresh talent that could be joining our locker room.  The other that is an excited player in a bustling league, looking at all the fresh talent that could be joining our locker room.  So I guess, uh... I'm coming to you as the same people in two different roles? I don't really know, but I do know that there are some rooks that I've personally been checking out.  The most exciting thing about this time of the offseason is that any of these rooks could be coming with us, so you just get to enjoy watching them all shine.

Let's start with Nick Brain (@StadiumGambler).  This kid comes on the scene in full force with an amazing Prospect Profile, when he's come so far you've got to wonder how far he's going to go.  And then with the controversial Game 3 against the Blazers?  It reminds me of Game 2 from the recent S44 SMJHL Finals (Crows won the cup, not a big deal).    Jean-Pierre Gay getting called on 3 minors, including one in overtime, yet still putting up a point for his team.  Everyone can have one of those games, sometimes they happen when you're trying to impress a scout, sometimes they happen in the Finals.  I'm interested to see how he moves past that.

Last thing I have on Brain is about that interesting Dan Curry character, controversial host of "Curry's Corner" as you all know.  It seems like wherever this kid goes, there's Curry with something to say.  Ya know, I hope for Brain's safety because clearly this man is not right.

Next up is Guy Zheng (@goldenglutes), an Offensive Defenseman from the UK.  I've actually played against this kid already in the WJC Exhibition games and he did not disappoint.  I couldn't believe my eyes when he dummied a pair of my S44 teammates to score the go ahead goal in the 1st period.  Only game the USA dropped in Exhibition and we got scored on by Zheng... I'm hoping this isn't a pattern.  He's also another kid that's got some crazy good media attention, from his SMJHL combine appearance to the MVP Defensemen analysis.  I'm hoping that IS a pattern, because he makes a good media subject.  He's the kind of defensemen that's gonna hand out a lot of apples to his teammates, but at the same time you'll never know when he's rip the G himself.

Last up is Bobby Sharp(@Nerio), the Lions' first line center for the Prospect Showcase.  He's an impressive playmaker with well rounded decision making skills leaning more towards passing.  His stat line reflected that with a 2:1 ratio of Assists to Goals, plus he kept his FO% up to 55.5% on almost 800 face offs taken.  I'm excited to see where he can go when he spends a whole season with a team, learning their system and finding his place on the lines.  You gotta think that Team USA is happy to have another solid Center in the pipeline as they have depth problems in that position through to the big show.

I'd also be remiss not to mention his skills at the sports desk.  He was tapped to give his take on the teams in the prospects and boy did he knock it out of the park.  I don't think anyone expected him to break out the graphs, but I'm definitely glad he did.

Well, that's all I have time to talk about for now, I've got to get back to compulsively, uh... refreshing draft news sites.  I've got SMJHL on one screen and SHL on the other.  I'll be sad to lose any of my teammates to the Expansion draft, but at the same time I'm busy getting ready to work with our rooks on their fundamentals.  I think we'll see this season as the battle of the rooks, and I'm going to push ours to be the best.

Word Count: ~700
Double Media Week

credit to Flappy, ToeDragon, and Carpy

Great read, thanks for the shoutout!

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