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4 - WYR: discuss the sex life of your medic or never have sex in your own bed?

FIDAN

THE HOCKEY TALK: New Acquisitions and Breakout Players: Who to Watch This Season on the Regina Wolves

During the late offseason, the Regina Wolves traded 28-year-old left winger Hugo Packard as well as two draft picks to the Minnesota Wild for 21-year-old right-winger Fidan Koskinen. Starting at the beginning of this season, it appears that 21-year-old forward Hugo Romero has made the cut past the preseason and will be staying on the roster. As far as changes, the offseason trading has left the Wolves largely unchanged, and largely ignored, but let's talk about why these small but mighty trades are likely going to bring some much needed offense to an already strong squad.

At the end of the summer trade season last year, the Wolves acquired defenseman Steph Sagamore and goalie Miloš Stojanović from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forward Hunter Osling. Without Osling, the team is left to rely on their big-named but small-pointed remaining forwards: captain and center Fenrir Von Albrect, left wing Benjamin Douglass, and center Finnican Williams. Although this is a strong core, being able to put away goals is a failing area and scores from last season's games largely indicate that the team can only win by holding out goals with a strong defensive system but can't quite make the break into success in the offensive zone.

The Wolves are bringing in an entirely new offensive style with young forward and Calder Trophy winner Fidan Koskinen, who relies on his speed, turnovers, and breakaways to score. Our analyst, Maggie DeAngelo, predicts that after some adjustment to the team, he will replace forward Owen Langley on the first line with captain Fenrir Von Albrect and current leading-scorer Benjamin Douglass.

"The danger the potential of this line poses to other teams is stark," DeAngelo explains. "With Von Albrect's dynamic ability to call plays and read the ice, Douglass' capability with isolating the puck and turnover wins, and a season's worth of evidence that Koskinen has the shot placement and patience of a much older player, as well as the confidence to drive the net, these three playing side by side will be a force to reckon with for teams that are previously not used to playing a strong defense against the Wolves."

When asked about new forward Hugo Romero, DeAngelo had something similar to say: "Romero is a bit of a wildcard, coming from an almost unheard of european professional league, but review of his tapes from the last two seasons indicates that he, like Koskinen, has an incredible knack for breakaway plays. Though, it does bring into question whether or not the Wolves are putting all their chips in on trying to get two large breakaway players without putting any effort into their offensive lines."

Other players to watch on this young and upcoming team may come as a surprise. The 26-year-old Selke-finalist, Håkon Rex, is frequently touted as one of the league's "biggest potential" players. At a hulking 6'6" and 240lbs, the colossal defenseman plays to protect his goalies, but underutilizes what DeAngelo calls a "slapshot to compare to Zdeno Chara's". DeAngelo goes on to say that "if we start seeing him play more consistently like he's shown he can, utilizing his size, strength, and aggression, we could see him laying some of the biggest hits this season and being a real turnover powerhouse for the Wolves."

A second player to watch is goalie Miloš Stojanović. Called a "risky bet" at the beginning of last season and meant to replace on-again off-again goalie Gregor Paikkala, Stojanović has made drastic improvements in the last season. Working closely with Vezina-winning goalie Gage Paxton, we watched his skillset refine over the course of the season. Stojanović brings flexibility and a rapid reflex to the net, but was missing in several other categories. We're expecting to watch this young netminder come into his own this season, giving the Wolves not one, but two major goalies on their roster.