Latest news with #Hansons
Montreal Gazette
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Montreal Gazette
Cowan: Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj really is a unicorn
By Laval Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent described Florian Xhekaj's rookie season as 'remarkable.' It really was — especially for a 20-year-old forward who was selected in the fourth round (101st overall) at the 2023 NHL Draft. The Xhekaj name on the back of his sweater — and the tough-guy reputation his older brother Arber has established in the NHL with the Canadiens — made things even tougher. 'Especially with his last name — there were expectations,' Vincent said about the younger Xhekaj last Friday when members of the Rocket met with the media for the last time this season after getting swept by the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference final. 'He hasn't played a game yet and the referees are already telling him: 'Relax.'' It was sort of like being a Hanson brother in the classic Slap Shot movie from 1977. Vincent said he didn't have a lot of expectations for Xhekaj as an AHL rookie and added that nobody expected him to score 24 goals. But that's what 6-foot-4, 195-pounder did, to go along with 11 assists, a league-leading 175 penalty minutes and a plus-10 differential. Xhekaj was also learning to play centre after being a left-winger in junior with the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs, posting 34-31-65 totals in 63 games during the 2023-24 season to go along with 81 penalty minutes and a plus-17. 'He scored a lot of goals,' Vincent said about Xhekaj's rookie season in the AHL. 'His shot is amazing. He's got a quick release, accurate, too. But I didn't know about his brain and, to me, that's the thing that intrigues me the most. How they (young players) manage expectations. How they manage and how can they apply info that we give them and to do it right away on the ice or how long does it take for you to gather the info and execute on the ice at a very high speed. For me to see Flo gathering those informations and teachings and to do it on the ice and to execute at the speed he did in his first year with his last name — because the other teams on the other side, they know — this kid has this confidence and he's walking the line. He's not cocky, but he's confident that he can be the man. He's still physically not there yet, but in his mind ... so I was quite impressed with him. 'We know about the toughness and all of that,' Vincent added. 'But for him to play the way he did in a position that's really hard to learn as a centre to improve. Early in the season he couldn't win a draw, or it was really hard, and then he got better. He's a thinker and he's a great teammate. Guys love him. We're very fortunate to have him. Very impressed with him. Not so much the goals and stuff, but how he executed the details that we talked about. And because of that I think he scored goals.' The Xhekaj brothers lived together this season in Montreal — but they probably weren't playing with toy cars like the Hansons in Slap Shot. Arber spoke this season about how he was hard on his brother, who is three years younger, while they were growing up in Hamilton along with sisters Sophia and Dominika. 'For me, I was the hardest guy on him because my dad was hard on me and then my dad was not hard on the youngest child,' Arber said. 'So that pissed me off. I'm like, OK, if you're not going to do it, I'll do it. 'It's all love at the end of the day,' Arber added. 'I'm the first guy there for him. I think I saw his potential and I knew what he had and I knew I just had to dig deep for it. So I was hard on him and he pulled it off. He's a good player.' Another person who saw the younger Xhekaj's potential was Nick Bobrov, the Canadiens' co-director of amateur scouting. Bobrov described Xhekaj as a 'unicorn' ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. Xhekaj was ranked 131st among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting heading into the draft. 'To me, I'd personally like to walk away with that guy,' Bobrov said about Florian in a behind-the-scenes video the Canadiens released of a scouting meeting held ahead of the 2023 draft in Nashville. Xhekaj showed his versatility and why he is a 'unicorn' by playing on all four lines this season with Laval while making the adjustment to playing centre. 'I can score goals, I can make plays,' he said. 'But I'm also a physical kind of in-your-face player. I think those are good tools to have to be put in any line, any role.' Xhekaj said his main goal this summer is to add more weight and muscle. When asked to assess his rookie AHL season, he said: 'I think it was pretty good. My first year pro and everyone was so great, so welcoming. I feel like I've grown a lot as a person and a player, so a lot of positives.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fans are concerned Critical Role's Suikoden one-shot will be ruined by one player's "complete incompetence and blaming the game"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Critical Role is soon to air a Suikoden one-shot campaign – a notoriously underrated JRPG setting, according to many forums, but one that lives rent-free in the hearts of millions. With Matt Mercer as the Game Master, Ashley Johnson, Taliesin Jaffe will be playing along with Zeno Robinson (of Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman and My Hero Academia fame), D&D content creator Zachary Renauldo, and Arin Hanson of Game Grumps. The latter of whom's appearance has been stirring up some doubts on the Critical Role subreddit. Using one of the best tabletop RPG systems around as usual, D&D 5e, this will be an interesting mishmash of old-school JRPG mechanics with the well-known Dungeons & Dragons system. The party will be working through a short story set in the republic of Dunan – a prominent location in the Suikoden 2 video game – and have hinted that the campaign will begin in the cozy White Deer Inn just outside of Muse City. There the players will be in store for a nice warm meal, and a whole load of shenanigans I imagine. That's what fans are expecting from Game Grumps' Arin Hanson, at least, with commenters on a r/Criticalrole thread trumpeting Hansons role along with the announcement latching onto Hansons prior antics. There are heaps of upvotes on comments that doubt Hansons ability to stay on track. "The problem is when Arin fails at an extremely basic task (almost always because he didn't read), and then blames the game" puts user Kyleometers rather bluntly. "He can't play any long game he hasn't already played as a kid without a guide, because he's completely incapable of reading instructions and coming to simple conclusions on mechanics." The post goes on "It's PAINFUL watching Arin fail to do something the tutorial showed him how to do, and then yell about how the game sucks because it's not intuitive." Another commenter notes that "It was funny at first but as time went on Arin showed how little he actually knows about game design and watching his game play it became more and more apparent." That's according to Doctor-Piranha, who's looking at 63 upvotes echoing the sentiment. They continue "My breaking point was the ocarina of time playthrough. It was infuriating to watch". In Hanson's defense, one commenter believes "Arin has been making an… attempt to be less dismissive of tutorials lately", though the lack of upvotes here suggests the consensus is leaning the other way. You can expect to find the party knee-deep in some Scarlet Moon Empire political struggles on March 11 at 7pm PST / 10pm EST over on the Critical Role podcast. For those in the UK it'll be aired at 2am the next day (March 12), if you're willing to stay up that late on a Tuesday. For more recommendations, why not check out the best card games or best two player board games.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
What is Bargain Hunt's Charles Hanson accused of in domestic violence case?
Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson used violence against his wife over a 10-year period, which began after he put her in a headlock during an argument, a court heard today. A jury was told how the TV auctioneer began using "sufficient force" against Rebecca Hanson from 2012 – two years after they got married – on some occasions leaving visible marks on her. Describing the first incident of violence to the jury, the prosecution said the chartered surveyor 'held his arm around her neck, under her chin from behind her, for a few seconds before just letting go again', after she threw an empty box on the floor. Opening the prosecution case, Stephen Kemp said: 'Rebecca does not say she lost consciousness, but she was understandably scared and shocked by what her husband had just done to her. 'When she spoke to him afterwards, he told her he felt he had to restrain her. That is not accepted by either Rebecca Hanson or the prosecution. There was no need for that, and certainly not by means of a headlock. The prosecution also alleges that Hanson's violent behaviour in the following years "was such that it amounted to controlling or coercive behaviour". On another occasion, in 2015, it is alleged that Hanson, of Ashbourne Road in Mackworth, Derby, 'gripped her so hard that it left three fingertip bruises on her arm' which 'really hurt her and caused her to cry' In a message in May 2023, after the defendant allegedly pushed her twice, Mrs Hanson said to her husband: 'I shouldn't be scared of my husband, they are meant to protect you, not hurt you.' The court heard that in a message from Hanson to his wife the following month, he said: 'You know I would never hurt you. I can go for sessions for my anger.' The trial, which is expected to last up to two weeks, continues. A famous face in the world of auctioneering, Hanson, 46, is known for his appearances on BBC's Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip and Flog it. Born in Holbrook, Derbyshire, he began his career at Christies in London in 1999 before establishing his own auction house, Hansons, in 2005, according to his website. Building on the successes of his Derbyshire site, he went on to launch Hansons London, in 2018, with his business now running salesrooms in several parts of the UK. The chartered surveyor became the youngest expert on Bargain Hunt after joining the show in 2002, aged 25. He lived with his wife Rebecca Ludlam and their two children in a £1.5m property in rural Derbyshire since 2014, but was understood to have since moved out of the six-bedroom home, according to the Telegraph. Hanson appeared at Derby Crown Court on 10 February charged with controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and assault by beating. He denied all charges during a court appearance in February last year. In a statement shared previously with MailOnline, he said: 'I deny all the charges. I have never behaved aggressively or unlawfully towards my family. 'We have been through some difficult times in our marriage and it is extremely sad that this has become a criminal matter. I will be cooperating fully with the investigation and legal process.' Michael Baggott death: Flog It star and antiques expert dies, aged 65 (The Independent) Antiques Road Trip star Ishy Khan's life off-camera: from jet-setting lifestyle to job away from show (Hello!) Eric Morecambe's glasses fetch £20,000 at auction (PA Media)
