Seattle, WA - The Seattle Riot have finally called up their second overall pick from the S42 SHL Entry Draft. Herb Robert is coming off his best offensive season with the Vancouver Whalers, where he scored forty four points in fifty games. As stated in previous media articles, Robert was the S41 SMJHL rookie of the year, after an impressive thirty three points in his first season. When asked about how he feels about the call up, Herb Robert had the following to say, "I'm very excited. I really wanted to make the team after I was drafted, but I guess Seattle thought I wasn't really yet. It made me stop training for a bit, since I was pretty discouraged, but there came a time when I figured, 'no, I can't keep going like this if I want to make it to the next stage' and I think it showed last season. My agent, r1c3bowl22, who currently works under the gerarob name, helped his previous player become a Hall of Famer. So, I'm going to put a lot of trust in those around me and see how this thing goes."

Although the Seattle Riot have not won a championship in quite some time, Robert hopes that his previous experiences can help create a winning culture for the team. "Ya, I've won a silver with Team Canada at the World Juniors and we won the Four Star Cup last year in Vancouver. I think I know what it takes to win, and I want to bring the champion's mindset to Seattle. They're already a great team, and I think that little addition in how they think will help a lot."

Unfortunately, there is a bit of uncertainty in Seattle as the team is seeing a lot of change from last season. Their head general manager stepped down this past off-season, leading to the promotion of the previous co-manager. It is not clear whether there will be a new co-general manager appointed soon, but Robert says it doesn't affect him. "No, I mean. I'm sure some of the guys here will want to know what that will be like, in terms of team stability, but at the end of the day, all we have to do is play. We just have to play some good hockey and make sure we get more goals than the other team. Whoever the manager is, shouldn't affect that."

One off-season change that the Riot will have to over come is the sudden departure of Liam O'Callaghan, one of the team's staples on the back end. "Ya, I was hoping to play with Liam. He's a nice guy, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We should probably find a way to plug that hole, especially with Elias retiring as well. We're going to need help defensively. I don't know how we're going to go about fixing that, but again, that's not my problem. I was brought in to help the team win, and that's what I intend to do. No matter who ends up stepping onto the ice with me, we're going to go out and give it our best."

When asked if he had any parting words for Seattle Riot fans, Herb Robert simply said, "It's a good time to be a Riot fan. Let's go out there and earn our pay."

Herb Robert SMJHL stats
150 GP 55 G 57 A 112 P +51 51 PIM

Projected Seattle Riot Lines
LW - C - RW
Robert - Zajac - Garrett
Twain - Smith - Lombardi
Loks - Seppanen - McVay

LD - RD
Eastwood - Cormier-Hale
Elias - Bodnar
Jones - McElroy

Blue
Yuma