Post by New York Islanders on Oct 15, 2021 14:20:57 GMT -6
With the PFHL dispersal draft less than 48 hrs away fans on Long Island are speculating on which direction GM Westman will take the new franchise. Expectations are high since the new GM have several championships on the CV, one actually from this partical legue’s childhood many years ago. But history is history, and no championships are won on old merits. So what does the new management believe will be the winning recipe in the resurrected hockey league and how will that affect the dispersal draft?
”To begin with, I believe that picking as number 13 is ideal for our strategy on how to build a team”, Westman comments. ”There will be no expectation or pressure on us picking a certain player, forcing us to build the team around that name. Instead we can focus on desired skill sets and team chemistry.”
Then again, knowing the history of the new GM; what are the odds the players drafted will still be on the roster on opening night?
”We never make trades just for the sake of it, but we do also not fear to make a trade to improve team performance, even if only a little”, Westman defend the history of many trades. ”We want physical, hard working players with a specific combination of skillset. We monitor performance and chemistry carefully and while some fear movement disrupts just that, performance and chemistry, I believe passivity and inability to correct mistakes is way worse”.
So what is that specific skill set, how is the best team chemistry achieved and how will that affect the upcoming dispersal draft?
”I guess the answer to that is ’role players’, with people complementing each other rather than competing. Forwards with scoring ability is of course important, but someone needs to set up the plays, and if the offense cannot trust the defenders to cover their back, make recoveries and quick turnovers they will lose focus, just as defenders will suffer if they cannot trust the netminder. Expected from every player on our team though is dicipline and a supreme work morale. You need to have the desire to walk that extra mile, always. Pretty basic actually, but still you see so many go wrong and overload on certain personalities and skills.”
Any prediction on what to expect from the first two rounds of the dispersal draft?
”Offense sell tickets, but defense win championships. You will see from our first picks that we have the ambition to do both”, Westman concludes.
