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Welcome back to Man in the Crease, your one-stop hockey shop.
Today’s first period, we are going to be talking about the rookies taking their spots on the Metros and the Raiders. These two teams have taken something of a gamble this season, their first draft picks are both top prospects and phenomenal centres, but both omegas!
We typically see omega goalies, that’s fairly common across all teams in Pack Hockey. We’ve all seen the clips in which some idiot winger goes charging at the goalie, and the whole pack turns and drops gloves. Every single player knows that you do not go for the goalie. And omegas definitely have the speed and dexterity needed to stop shots taken by powerful alphas, but to see two teams – specifically these two rival teams – select omegas as their centres, it’s going to make this rivalry going forward a fascinating watch.
Pack Hockey is known to be a little more violent than the version betas play, due to team dynamics. The aggression of the alphas, the speed of the omegas, the pack dynamics playing out on the ice. Pheromones and scents play an important role on the ice in Pack Hockey; binding the pack together and calling out plays, but it has caused issues in the past. Last season, an alpha went feral on the ice and went for his own team’s goalie! But, due to the team having an omega goalie, a pack omega, the alpha made a speedy recovery. So, Pack Hockey may be more violent in some regards, but in other ways it is a much safer game.
Omegas certainly have the speed needed to play forward, but they often lack the bulk necessary to take hits, to get thrown into the boards. It is something that the Metros and the Raiders must have taken into consideration when taking on these two rookies. That said, looking at Hollander and Rozanov, you’d hardly think they were omegas. Rozanov has shoulders as broad as Barrett over in Toronto and is as tall as Hunter down in New York. Hollander, on the other hand, has bulk, powerful thighs and a deadly shot. Walking down the street, you wouldn’t pick them out as omegas.
Personality-wise, these two players couldn’t be more different. I’m sure the managers and coaches have considered in detail how this will affect their teams. Hollander is quiet, focused on his game. Rozanov… well, Rozanov’s an asshole. Great in his own locker room, but chirps harder than any other player out there. He seems to have made it his life’s goal to absolutely destroy the other team. These are two very different approaches in using omegas to bond their respective teams. We all know these two teams’ reputations – Montreal is super-focused on their brotherly bonds, with teammates being close friends off the rink, whereas Boston is known for its aggressive style of play, and their new omega Rozanov is gong to add to that.
Both rookie omegas are likely to take the mantle of captain sooner rather that later, omegas tend to do better talking to the referees when tensions are high, as well as calming down the alphas on their respective teams, but even there we are likely to see a difference in approach. We’ve seen Rozanov being described as cocky and sociable, whereas Hollander is more factual and determined.
Tonight’s game is going to settle some old scores between the veterans of the famed original six teams. We have two alphas from Boston off with their ruts, and another is on ice in pre-rut, whereas Montreal is down their omega keeper who’s in heat and have two in pre-rut on ice. Always makes for an interesting game when we have pre-rut alphas on the ice, more decisive and violent, keeping all other alphas on the tips of their blades to protect their omegas because, of course, no team is going to let an insult to their omega stand.