Being Candor on Lander

In many ways, the emergence of Anton Lander in the second half of the 2014 – 15 season was the best part of a very bad season for the Edmonton Oilers.

In one fell swoop the Oilers had shown they could develop a true top nine forward (not drafted in the top five) that had a combination of grit and skill, could win faceoffs, and possessed some natural leadership abilities as well as character. Once Dallas Eakins was fired, and Lander became Todd Nelson’s chief reclamation project, the player gained momentum and confidence and finished the season with decent numbers (.52 ppg for 20 points in 38 games last season.

As should happen, Lander was rewarded with a modest, but appropriate 2 year $1.975M contract and suddenly a player that was on waivers at the beginning of the year had etched out an important niche on the team.

But in spite of that success new challenges loom on the horizon for 2015 – 16, hurdles that Lander will need to overcome if he wants to maintain forward momentum. The coach that helped him get on track is no longer with the organization, and with numerous off-season upgrades, (both in trades and player development), Lander could indeed slip back if he doesn’t find a way to keep pace.

Mark Letestu – Columbus Wired

And a rival emerges . . .

The first person Lander will need to impress at training camp is his new hockey boss, Todd Mclellan. Coaches generally speaking, favor veterans and Oiler’s GM Peter Chiarelli’s off-season signing of seasoned center Mark Letestu provides motivation for Lander, but also a threat to his ice-time.

Especially when you consider Letestu has four season’s where he has played an average of 64 games and is an Alberta boy to boot, hailing from the town of Elk Point (also Sheldon Souray’s hometown) in Alberta’s Lakeland region. Letestu will be considered a reliable veteran. He has been a plus player the majority of his seasons in the NHL and coaches tend to favor defensively sound skaters. Lander for his part has never really been close to being a plus player in the two seasons  he has played 20 + games with the Oilers. Of course that needs to be tempered with the fact the Oilers have been among the worst NHL teams in the last 10 years, but nonetheless, it doesn’t help his case.

Lander can overcome the challenge to his number 3 center spot but he will need to continue to improve on what he does well. Topping that list would be face-offs. In today’s possession game, things are a whole lot easier when you start with the puck, and last season Lander emerged as true duelist on the dot. You would have to think Lander’s faceoff development gave management the confidence to deal Boyd Gordon and free up some cap space.  And while he became a leader on that regard he could certainly improve. Through 38 games last year Lander had a faceoff percentage of 50.1% based on an average of 15.01 minutes TOI. When we balance that number against other centres on the Oilers, he looks ok, almost halfway between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (45.7%) and Boyd Gordon (55.9%). However Lander needs to keep his eye on Letestu who sports a very nice 52.9% for face-offs. Realistically, to maintain his pecking order, Lander will have to at least match a faceoff win percentage of 52 – 53%.

The importance of Lander’s faceoff percentage is likely linked not only to his ice-time, but his time on the PP where Lander netted almost half of his season total. Last year he saw a lot of duty on the #2 powerplay where he could win the faceoff and pull a Craig Simpson or two in front of the net with some ugly goals. If he isn’t able stay strong in the faceoff, not only will his ice time suffer, but the precious time he receives on the powerplay as well. So his focus on this aspect of the game is key.

The other elephant in the room is Lander’s skating, which most feel is labored and can use some work. Letestu by comparison is considered a strong skater, so Lander should be taking some direction from Oilers skating coach David Pelletier in the off-season. As far as I can observe, Lander gets to where he needs to be and survives with Hockey IQ and anticipation, but I’m not a hockey scout either.

But the one intangible that may just allow Lander to leverage a spot on the Oiler’s core is not a skill but definitely an asset, and that is his leadership abilities. Lander and a C on the crest have been a pairing for a good chunk of his hockey career. He was a captain of the Tre Kronos U-18 team in 2010 and for Sweden’s WJC U-20 team later that year. A few years later in 2013 he would earn the C for the Oilers affiliate in Oklahoma, and would keep the captaincy for two years until he was promoted to the Oilers in 2015, no easy task for a Euro player in North America. Do we see a pattern here? Lander is a leader and the Oilers have very few natural leaders in the core, or on the team.

So at the end of the day Lander can ensure his spot on the team, and ice time are consistent by simply shoring up his game. Make improvements on what he does well (faceoffs) as well as what he doesn’t (skating) and everything will fall into place. Draisaitl could emerge and challenge Lander for the no.3 spot but most feel he is a top six skater and will either shift to the wing or maybe get more seasoning in Bakersfield. As for Mark Letestu, he’s a useful addition for the Oilers, and should only be positive motivation for Lander.

 

 

Team Canada and the U20 Showcase

The U20 Showcase is nearing its end, and though many people put little stock into the summer exhibition series, there have been quite a few interesting developments to come from the camp.

Out of the 40 athletes invited to the camp, it’s unlikely all 40 will return come December when the final roster is constructed. It’s possible that players like Lawson Crouse, Michael Dal Colle, Dylan Strome, Robby Fabbri, and Jake Virtanen stick with their NHL clubs, but it’s also likely we see a guy like Jakob Chychrun or Jake Bean make an appearance at the camp. There are a lot of moving parts from now until puck drop on Boxing Day, but it’s clear Canada will be a contender given the extensive list of players in their arsenal, such as the following standouts from this Augusts camp:

Mason McDonald and Mackenzie Blackwood: It was clear these two were a step ahead of Samuel Montembeault, and are likely the front-runners heading into the December selection camp. I do feel we may only see one of these goalies on the final roster. There are a lot of good options out there, such as Lethbridge Hurricanes net minder (and 2017 eligible) Stuart Skinner, as well as Lucas Pressini or Adin Hill. I could name goalies that have a chance all day long, but what I’m getting at is that the position is wide open for whoever earns the job.

Travis Dermott: Was surprised by his defensive ability and overall awareness. Played a physical game for a guy who’s been primarily labelled as an offensive defenceman. He’s a smooth skater who makes smart outlet passes. He’s young, which is something Team Canada has shied away from in the past when selecting defenders, but if he keeps up the play we saw this week he has a legitimate chance.

Brandon Hickey: If you’re going to teach someone how to skate, make sure you show them some video on Brandon Hickey. He’s the smoothest skater I’ve seen in a while, and though he’s considered an underdog to make the squad, I think he has a real chance to be that reliable 5/6 guy who can kill penalties and play in key defensive zone situations. Oh and if you’re wondering whether or not he’s coming to Red Deer, I’d say there’s a better chance the Oilers deal McDavid.. But I’ve been wrong before.

Lawson Crouse: For a while now scouts have said “you have to see him live to understand what he brings.” Well, last night was a first. His defensive instincts are off the chart. He doesn’t quit, and I don’t mean he goes 80% up and down the ice, he goes 110% for the entire game. The thing about Crouse is that he does all the little things right, whether it’s cycling the puck when the defence double down on him or knowing when to make a big hit, he does it right. I would not be surprised if he cracks the Panthers roster this year.

Travis Konecny: Throughout his draft year all you really heard about was the injuries and inconsistency around him. If I knew absolutely none of the players and sat down to watch this four game set, I’d say Travis is a first line player all day long. His vision and passing ability are something to marvel at, and though some may label him as a playmaker or an offensive player, he played some solid defence and was always one of the first guys on the backcheck. Philly has a good one here.

Though there were some solid standouts, such as the players listed above, there were just as many players who were quite underwhelming. Both Hadyn Fleury and Travis Sanheim played unusually weak. Sanheim was beat to the outside more than a few times, and Fleury seemed to have trouble in the decision-making department as he made some poor passes and wasn’t the best in his own end. Jake Debrusk was inconsistent. The Swift Current sniper looked slow and made some bad shot selections. John Quenneville had a chance to display his physical ability, but ended up looking fairly sluggish on most shifts. Don’t get me wrong, I love Johnny’s game, but if he’s going to crack the roster he needs to bring that physical presence we’re used to seeing.

What exactly would a Canadian World Junior article be if I didn’t make a comment on Josh Ho-Sang? He’s good. Very good. In fact he may be one of the best offensive players at the camp. The problem with Josh, that I haven’t had the chance to see prior to the Russian game, is his inability to grasp the concept of passing the puck. There were three instances in the game against Russia where we saw Ho-Sang circle around the offensive zone with the puck on his stick for about 20 seconds then end up losing it. He has this sense that he always has to be “The Guy” and though he is a tremendous offensive player, I doubt he makes this team.

So if the team was being selected from the players invited to this camp, here is what I believe the lineup would look like:

McDonald
Blackwood

Fleury – Dermott
Sanheim – Hicketts
Hickey – Juulsen
Chabot

Dal Colle – Fabbri – Virtanen
Crouse – Strome – Marner
Perlini – Point – Konecny
Chartier – McCann – Bleackley
Beauvillier – Quenneville

1996 World Cup of Hockey

When I was young my father had this inane ability to get tickets to hockey games that were hard to come by and I’m not really sure how he did it, to be honest I never bothered to ask. I got to see a lot of great hockey players by the time I was ten years old, Brett Hull, Wayne Gretzky (as a King), Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman, etc. Unfortunately I don’t remember a whole lot from those games but in the summer of ’96 I was able to attend a very memorable hockey game. Nothing special, just an exhibition match between Russia and Canada before the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

All the names were there for the most part. Federov, Messier, Coffey, Kasparaitis, Lindros, Mogilny, Brodeur, Gretzky, Zhamnov, Kovalev, Fleury, Jovonovski, Rob Blake, and Claude Lemieux too. I think this was Glen Sather’s last true hurrah as an NHL coach. He did have a couple stints with the Rangers in the early 2000s but nothing compared to what he did in Edmonton.

It was a dream for me to be able to see such greats! We were treated to a few Paul Coffey end-to-enders and some vintage Eric Lindros hits. Russia countered with Federov and Mogilny dazzling the crowd with their ability to perform wizardry with the puck and Darius Kasparaitis was his typical self getting into it with both Mark Messier and Eric Lindros.

Our seats were right at the top of the Saddledone but at centre ice. Even with that though there was a pillar in the way and the roof slopes down so that made it a tad difficult to watch but nevertheless I got to see almost all of my heroes (#66 wasn’t on that team). As I wrote recently here about Paul Coffey, he was definitely the player I wanted to watch the most. Canada played “Canadian” hockey and Russia played “Russian” hockey and it ended in a 4 all draw. What a treat! Head here for an old write-up on the game.

Here are some highlights of a different game though. Possibly the most famous of all the games at that tournament. Game three of the World Cup of Hockey Finals vs. the USA. A few Oilers and ex-Oilers feature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agJMOAh3e_U

As I said earlier, I don’t know how my dad got tickets to these games (he found a way to get tickets to the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals too) but I’m really happy he did. I think he enjoyed going to these games more to see my reaction to the players and how happy I was rather than for the entertainment of the game itself. I get it now.

Thanks Dad.

Morning Coffey

My favorite defenceman of all time is none other than former Oiler Paul Coffey.

The Toronto native was drafted 6th overall by our Edmonton Oilers in 1980. He won three Stanley Cups before being dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he would win his final Stanley Cup in 1991. Throughout his career he racked up over 1500 points and was a career +294. He won the Norris trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman three times and was named to the First/Second All-Star teams eight times. In 2004 he was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Why was he my favorite? There are a few reasons but I think it was my parents that really turned me on to the player that Paul Coffey was. My dad liked him because he was the best skater in the world (my dad was a horrible skater with moulded micron skates) and he was old enough to remember Bobby Orr yet here was this young guy playing for HIS team breaking Orr’s records. To put that into context that’s like McDavid coming in and breaking Gretzky’s records… The ones that everyone says are unbreakable. So it’s hard not to become a fan of the guy. My mother liked him because she thought he was handsome and being the mommy’s boy that I was I made sure I liked him too so that I could get approval from her every time I seen a highlight on tv or a press clipping in the Edmonton Journal.

But I loved the way he would rush the puck from end-to-end. His shot was low, hard, and accurate. He knew exactly where to be on the rush or in the offensive zone and if he was caught out of place, he had legs like sequoia trees, he could be back in position before the other team had a chance to get set.

*Could you imagine if Coffey was playing for Dallas Eakins?… His two-way game needs to get better! Wait… Maybe some of our older readers can answer this but am I wrong in saying that Coffey used to get shat on quite a bit by the media in Edmonton for the amount of times he gave the puck away in a game? Now, I’m not the biggest advocator of Justin Schultz but there are some similarities between the two… Nothing earth shattering but I think there are some commonalities.*

To be honest I was a bit young to remember his time with the Oilers but I do remember him on the Penguins and the Red Wings and all the All-Star Fastest Skater competitions.

I often wonder if we’ll ever see another Paul Coffey. I guess now we have Erik Karlsson but the game has changed so much and it’s changing again in favor of the skilled player. So maybe someday we could see a dynamic end-to-end defenceman emerge but until then we’re left with memories of Coffey to satisfy us.

So with that I’ll leave you with a 13 minute clip of Paul Coffey’s days as an Oiler. Perfect to sit down and enjoy your morning coffee with!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D34io1uZ4nI

Who was your favorite defender of all time?

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BLH

Where will the Oilers right wings finish?

After a longer than expected delay we are back with the third installment of my point prediction series. Today we are going to make some guesses and see where the Oilers right wings finish the season. We know who the four guys are more than likely that will dress the majority of the 82 game schedule, barring injuries or trades of course, with three being locks to make the team in the fall and see some major minutes. The top three right wingers for the Edmonton Oilers is obviously going to be Jordan Eberle, Teddy Purcell, and Nail Yakupov. The final member of this quartet could be a toss-up between Rob Klinkhammer and the younger and cheaper Tyler Pitlick. Young Tyler has had a rough go as a professional hockey player with injury after injury constantly delaying him from taking the next step to become a full-time NHL player. After all the kid has been through I’m hopeful he can finally put together a full season of hockey and fight for the minutes that will be Klinkhammer’s f not challenged. For my purposes, since I need to choose one for this I am going to have to go with the more experienced option and assume that Rob Klinkhammer will fill the fourth line right wingers position.

Now that we have our list let’s look at where the Oilers finished the 2014/15 season to see roughly where we are at so far in our predictions. Last season the Edmonton Oilers scored a paltry 193 goals. While not the leagues lowest scoring franchise they were definitely a far cry from the league leading Tampa Bay Lightning with 259 goals or the western conference leading scorers, the Dallas Stars. So far to date I have a total of 135 goals from only eight players. It is fairly safe to assume that I am predicting a fairly big increase in production this coming season. A lot of that increase will be the result of a vastly improved power-play under the new coaching staff. Now that we have the introductions done let’s get down to business and make some guesses.

 

Jordan Eberle

Jordan is by far the best player on the starboard side for the Edmonton Oilers and has been a very consistent producer since first joining the NHL with Taylor Hall and Magnus Paajarvi in the fall of 2010. Since his first NHL goal where he brought fans to their feet with one of the nicest goals I have ever seen.

I’ve probably seen that goal a few thousand times by now and it still amazes me. The skill needed to pull off something like that are just astounding. I don’t care what anyone says, that is still the nicest goal that I have ever seen a Oilers player score. Back to the topic at hand though. Since that amazing first NHL goal Ebs has been a very consistent point scorer for the Edmonton Oilers. Other than his first season as a pro Jordan has proven to be an extremely durable player missing a grand total of seven games over four seasons of hockey. So we generally know that Eberle will play unless he absolutely can’t. Another thing that we know about Ebs is that he has excellent shooting skill. He will usually opt to pass the puck if he doesn’t get the perfect shot that he wants. That can be both a good and a bad thing as even the imperfect shots sometimes find the twine.

Last season Jordan led the team in scoring with 63 points. That included 24 goals and 39 assists. HIs third season of more than 20 goals in fact, and he did it while posting a below career average shooting percentage. His career average is 14.0% and last season he dipped slightly to 13.1%. Still a very solid number and a reason to be hopeful for slightly higher numbers next season.

The addition of Connor McDavid will affect everyone on the team as we all know. At home the Oilers can gift the McDavid line with easier competition, which would ensure the Nuge line would in effect be fed to the wolves, but on the road no such luxury exists and the opposition would likely run out their top players against Hall and McDavid. This is when the trio of Pouliot-RNH-Eberle will make them pay for it too. Their chemistry together last season was excellent and I think unless they are split up, which I don’t foresee happening, that they will continue right along putting pucks in the net. My prediction for Jordan is that his shooting percentage will take a slight bounce upwards but his even strength minutes will drop slightly. This will mean that his totals from last season are fairly close to where he will likely finish the season. 27 goals ad 41 assists. That is a pretty solid number, even more so after you see what the rest of the right side will bring to the table.

 

Teddy Purcell

Teddy Purcell was acquired last summer for the overpaid and under-performing Sam Gagner. The trade was, in essence, a swap of bad contracts. Purcell had more experience but was thought to be heading toward a buy-out from Steve Yzerman and his Tampa Bay Lightning. Definitely not a ringing endorsement from his former club, but it isn’t like we didn’t know that he had warts to his game. Anytime you swap two bad players you know they are coming with some baggage. Teddy may not be the most physical or the fastest guy on the team but does bring things to the roster that  few other forwards can say that they do. He is a real veteran forward, one with nearly five hundred games on his resume. He is a dependable two-way forward with a good defensive conscience. He is one of the few if not the only player that will play in the top six that can say that. He may not provide amazing numbers points wise but having him on a line with Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid gives the trio a defensively responsible forward that will be able to cover somewhat for the other two when the play beats them back up ice.

There is a veritable cornucopia of posts and tweets arguing the idea that Purcell should have been headed for a buy-out instead of to training camp this fall. My question to them is who takes his spot then? Yakupov? He isn’t ready for that yet. His game is still far too much chaos in his own end and other teams would quickly take advantage of that fact. Purcell is the best available option to play second line minutes to start the season. He is spending the summer training with the inhuman Gary Roberts. You know, the guy that broke his neck had surgery and still came back to be an effective pain in the ass in the toughest league in the world. Yeah that guy. Roberts will kick his ass all summer long, along with Connor McDavid, and Purcell is going to come to camp in 6 weeks in the best shape he has ever been in. Don’t be surprised to see a bigger but faster player than we did last September.

Last season Teddy had an atrocious shooting percentage, 8.2% to be exact, but not actually that far below his career average of 9.4%. That isn’t really any difference when you think about it. Over the season if he had been at his average it would have added two more goals to his total. Teddy did manage 12 goals and 22 assists last season. Not bad numbers but definitely not the offense I would expect from a guy making 4.5 million this year. One other thing to remember when we are projecting this player is that he is in a contract year. With the number of players that are being left unsigned year after year one has to think that is weighing heavily on the minds of players that are in the same position as Purcell.

I predict that Purcell comes into camp in better shape than he has ever been in and he takes the bull by the horns to earn the second line minutes that he is best suited for. My hypothesis for Purcell is that he will be on McDavid’s right side until roughly Christmas when Yakupov will take over the spot. In his time with the franchise player Purcell will definitely make the most of it and will capitalize on his quality linemates. After being shifted off this line I still see Teddy being an effective forward aiding Anton Lander in his development. This coming season I see 15 goals and 23 assists for Purcell. HIs slick hands will ensure that he still sees his share of power-play time.

 

Nail Yakupov

Some have called him enigmatic. Some say he is a victim of the “Russian” factor. For myself I prefer not to jump to conclusions about this young potential star scorer. Nail has had a rough start to his career to this point. He started out under Ralph Kruger and his development seemed to be heading the right direction. He wasn’t asked to do what he wasn’t accustomed and he equated himself very well He had 17 goals and 14 assists for 31 points. Very solid numbers for a rookie, but keep in mind that Yak did that all in 48 games. His rookie year was the lock-out shortened season. After his freshman year Craig MacTavish was given the role of general manager after Steve Tambellini was released from his duties and he decided that the correct path of action was to remove the coach that finally seemed to be moving the team in the right direction in favour of the AHL flavour of the month. In what could have been the worst mistake of his career as GM, MacT decided to let Kruger go, via Skype no less, and hire Dallas Eakins. We all know how that worked out for this team. Right back into the sewer we went and we are just emerging now.

Yakupov had his minutes cut and seemed to lose all his confidence under Eakins. The pair never seemed to be able to mesh as a coach and player and as such it really hampered Yakupov’s development. Once Eakins was finally put out of our misery Nail seemed to flourish under the tutelage of Todd Nelson. After the coaching change Yakupov seemed to come alive and we got to see the free and easy smile return to this young mans face that has helped this fan base make him an icon!

Predicting Yakupov’s points is a little harder than most, just because there is so much chaos to his game that one never knows just how things will transpire when he is on the ice. That is precisely why I see him starting on the third line this fall. Adding that much defensive chaos to an already pressure filled season for McDavid to start just isn’t a smart thing to do. I do think that McDavid will rise to exceed expectations just like he has at every other stage in his career and will prove capable of handling a little additional chaos in his game. For his part I think that Nail will take a huge step forward in his development this season and while he won’t ever be the most reliable player in the defensive zone he will likely be more predictable in his habits and less of a liability.

His point totals should rebound this season as well. After such a promising start to his career it isn’t hard to envision future years of 30 plus goals for this sniper. And let’s be honest, there is no one on this team that likes to score more than Nail. Remember the greatest celly in Oilers history? Here it is.

https://youtu.be/tfysDNnuX64

How can you not cheer for a guy like that? His enthusiasm for the game is the best thing about this humble and kind-hearted young man. Well actually the best thing about him is that he can be an Oiler for the next 15 years still! Okay so we know that the start of last seasoning was really just a continuation of the season before under Eakins so point totals from last season are for the most part irrelevant but we will look at them anyways. Last season Nail played 81 out of the 82 games possible but still only managed to net 33 points, 14 goals and 19 assists. Not good numbers for a first overall pick but we have already established that  there were extenuating circumstances involved that did nothing to help the situation. This season I think we will see a rebirth of Nail and that he will finally take steps forward under proper coaching and mentorship. Don’t get me wrong, Derek Roy seemed like a tremendous mentor to the young man and it helped make the second half of his season a lot better than the first half.

My prediction for Nail is that he will finally reach the 20-goal mark this season and that his point totals will exceed forty for the first time in his short career. I see 21 goals and 24 assists. Just think that has the potential for 21 more celebrations for the fans to adore and other teams to hate this season! Sounds like magic to me!

 

Rob Klinkhammer

How can you not root for a guy with Klinkhammer for a last name? Colonel Klink joined the Oilers part way through last season as part of the David Perron to Pittsburgh and filled the role he was acquired to fill. He is a fourth line defensive minded player that will never pot a lot of points but brings intensity and dependability to the bottom half of the roster. In his 40 games with Edmonton last season he only managed 3 points, including his only goal in the blue and orange. He is not a goal scorer that is for sure. He had a grand total of 5 goals last year split between the three teams he suited up for. To be fair though his shooting percentage with Edmonton was abysmal for lack of a better word. While his career average is nothing to scream at with a mediocre 9.2% but in his 40 games with Edmonton he could only muster a pathetic 3.2%. That is really bad, I mean insanely bad! Obviously his percentage almost certainly will revert back to closer to his career average but he does have more than one season with a lower than average shooting percentage. So how much he will bounce back is up for debate.

He will likely be on the opening night roster but should he falter at any point through-out the season he will quickly see himself sitting in the press box or sent down to Bakersfield. My guess is that he will see roughly 50 games this season and will eventually be replaced with a younger and cheaper option. Not that Rob is that old but at 28 he definitely won’t be a part of the McDavid cluster in the future. It is hard for me to rip on the guy too much as I’ve watched him play since his days with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. I like Klinkhammer and I like what he can bring to the bottom six but unfortunately this isn’t a popularity contest and there will likely be better options available before the end of the year. That being said I will venture to guess that the Colonel will play admirably  while he gets the chance and will contribute 5 goals and 6 assists to the cause. Solid numbers for a fourth line player.

With only 49 more days until the first pre-season game in the league, 50 for us Oilers fans that are interested in the split squad games against the abhorred Calgary Flames, there is going to be excitement building in the city of Edmonton and all of Oilers nation. How many people are actually going to stay indoors on what will likely be one of the last nice weekends of the year to get the chance to watch Connor play in a prospects tournament in Penticton? I know I sure will be. The Oilers first game will be on September 11th at 8:30 pm in case you were wondering. I was hoping to attend the tournament for my fourth time this year but alas it is not in the cards. Kids sports start earlier and earlier every year it seems.

In any case I will be back soon with the next in the series covering the starting six defensemen and the one or two others that will likely make the opening night 23-man list. Thanks for reading and I want to hear from all of you in the comments. I will try to get back to every comment that I see but sometimes that just isn’t possible. If I don’t respond on here feel free to tweet me, @cooke_rob. Thanks again for reading and be sure to visit the Beer League Heroes T-shirt shop. My own designs will available here soon, stay tuned for an official launch date and a couple small contests that I am going to run for you fine folks.

 

Cheers

Rob