Before we start this article, let us take a quick review of last season playoffs. The Blizzard finished with 60 points in the regular season and managed to claim the last playoff spot in the West. The greatest upset last season was the Texas Renegades as they had a horrid season and missed the playoffs finishing third last in the league and sixth place in the Western conference. While the Winnipeg Jets managed to grab the top spot in the SHL by having one more W than the Los Angeles Panthers.

This year the roles are almost opposite. The Blizzard managed to get in the same situation with Los Angeles this year, but unfortunately the Panthers had one more W this year, resulting in the Panthers claiming the President’s trophy. The big question that came up this year is “Where are the Winnipeg Jets”? The Winnipeg Jets had nineteen less points this year and managed to miss the playoffs by three points. Who grabbed the last spot you asked, the Seattle Riot? They finished with five less points than last year; I guess McZ was not that big of a factor as we thought he was.

The last turning point in the West this year was the Texas renegades, from last place in the West to achieving third place in the West. They now are set to play the Edmonton Blizzard and the series can go any way. Texas finished only two points behind, however, the Blizzard have a +17 difference in the goals scored/goals allowed ratio compared to Texas’ puny +4. Obviously since I am on the Blizzard I am predicting that Edmonton wins the series, but I can definitely say this will probably be the most intense first round series in the league (Minnesota and New England could be pretty close too).

And now for the moment you have all been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your Edmonton Blizzard!!!!!

Captain Jackson Rogers-Tanaka leading the way for the Blizzard

The Edmonton Blizzard is looking to take the SHL by storm and claim the cup this year as they look even stronger than last year. Compared to last year, they have scored more goals, finished higher in the standing, every single active player has achieved more points than they did last year and the defense has gotten even better with the acquisition of German defender, Friedrich Müller.

While some may have thought the Blizzard would struggle without the great Riko Muerto and Dave Smith, players like Yousuf Scherbluk, Emils Vilmenietis, Kyle Keenan and surprising youngster Theo Kane took charge this year leading the Blizzard’s offense. Keep an eye on these four to be offensively dominant in the upcoming series against the Renegades. Let us take a closer look at these four.




Yousuf Scherbluk can arguably be the comeback player of the year. Coming from back to back 30 point seasons, I think the entire league thought this grandpa was taking a toll for the worst and slowly becoming dust. But he exploded this year by beating almost every single player in the league in points. With 19 goals and 34 assists, he is technically the third best player in the league this year and is tied for second best player in the league with Vidrik Onoprienko(who has more goals). If he can keep this up the Blizzard could have the edge in beating the Renegades and Panthers, only time will tell.



Emils Vilmenietis is another player who finished off with a thirty point season last year. With the departure of Riko Muerto, Emils saw this as an opportunity to take control of Riko’s responsibilities he had last season. Not only did he have a 49 point season (19 goals and 30 assists), he got twelve more points this year than Riko managed to last year and proved to Gm’s Vikstrand and Keenan that he is able to handle more responsibilities on this team. If he can keep this up, the Blizzard will be taking home the challenge cup.




Kyle Keenan is a man that just cannot be contained. For the past two seasons he has been a 40 point player and every season recently he’s in the top 3 for points on the Blizzard squad. He is probably Edmonton’s most consistent offensive player and no goalie can stop this man from completing his mission. Finishing with forty points this year (17 goals and 23 assists) he is Edmonton’s most consistent offensive forward. I truly feel he can make a great splash in the playoffs and every team needs to keep an eye on him.




Theo Kane, a name that is becoming more familiar to every SHL team as the seasons go on. He managed to get 19 goals and 21 assists this year almost doubling his point production from last year. Theo is also a great candidate for the breakout player of the year award and I would not be surprised if he took the award home for season twenty three. He is going to be the offensive X factor in the playoffs because if he can control himself in the playoffs and keep up his great play, he can be a huge reason that Edmonton wins the cup this year.



Now that the offense has had their moment to shine, let us take a look at the dynamic duo on defense for the Blizzard squad this season with two god defensemen captain Jackson Rogers-Tanaka and Magnus Vikstrand.




Jackson Rogers-Tanaka has taken on a very important duty this year. Passed down the C by the Legend himself, Harry, after he retired truly mean that the Edmonton organization has faith in his leadership. He finished the season with five goals, twenty nine assists, a +4 and seventy one shots blocked. Jackson has not fallen by the new weight on his shoulders and I feel is meeting expectations of the GM’s. The big question will be if he can shut down Texas’ all star snipers and playmakers. If he can do that, along side with Jakub Aittokallio, the Blizzard can make a deep playoff run this year.




Magnus Vikstrand has done well this year. While he only managed to put up five goals and twenty one assists, his defensive play did more of the talking. With a +8 and leading the team with 75 shots block, he managed to keep control whenever the opponent was in Edmonton’s zone. Magnus might need to step up offensively a little more as he has to face up with Partlow, if he can, the Blizzard can definitely defeat the Renegades.


And now we turn to the man in net for this great franchise, Jakub Aittokallio!



Jakub Aittokallio had a good year in net. He managed to get 26 wins, a.902 save percentage and finished with a 2.5 goals against average. He improved in every category this year compared to last season and I truly believe he can out play Fourfour who might have more wins than him, but has worse save percentage and goals against average stat. We can definitely say that these two goalies will be battling it out once the first round of the playoffs begin, but only one will come out victorious.


With me today I managed to get a hold of Yousuf Scherbluk over the phone who will be doing a small playoff interview. He could not come down to the studio as he is practicing today with the blizzard.

So Yousuf, in the East, who do you feel has the chance of making it to the finals?

Yousuf- Well Right now everyone's probably got their eyes on the Hawks, but I have to go with the Chiefs. If Ranjan can keep up his great play and Stryker/Jarkko can continue leading the offense along with the help of Pedro and Rufus, I feel they might just be enough to overthrow the Hawks, however it will not be easy.

Out of the Riot and Panther series, who do you think wins it?

Yousuf- Well right now I am putting my money on the Panthers, however you are never safe in the playoffs. Look at what Edmonton did last year. We managed to grab the last spot in the West and we were up against president trophy team of the Winnipeg Jets, however we obliterated them 4-1. Even in the East, last year the Rage grabbed the last spot and managed to beat the Panthers in game 7 of the Challenge cup finals. SO it is really hard to predict what will happen.

Mark my words, anything is possible in the playoffs, we will just have to wait and see what happens.


I see you mention the "fantastic four" as the name of the four players that lead Edmonton's offense, what made you come up with this name?

Yousuf- Hold up a sec. these four players might have higher points than some of the other guys on the team, but we would not be where we are without Miles Berger, Mark Longford and Aviad Ratzon who combined for 49 goals and 49 assists, that is almost 100 points!

As for the name, I like coming up with stuff like that. Even in my toronto days I created the name of the "Expendable Line". I just feel it adds excitement and hype to the team and the players, that's all.

Last question before you go, do you feel that your defensive line can contain the playmaking machine known as Chris partlow?

Yousuf- Well I cannot say it will be easy, I mean he does lead the league in points after all. I feel that if we do manage to shut him down though, it will shut down the Renegades as he is the main assist man of the team.

A point that I want to bring up for Partlow though. He's gotta tighten up defensively. With all those points and you are at a +/- rating of zero? Better watch out cause the Fantastic four and the entire Blizzard team might just go through you left right and center if you can't adjust to our high scoring game style

That is all the time we have here. SHL, enjoy the playoffs and may the best team win!

Code:

1600+ words and the article is playoff related

this series isgoingto be a good one! Good luck!

Akashi SixNine Jr. Updates


Akashi SixNine Jr. | TPE: 473 | Detroit Falcons | Hamilton Steelhawks
---------------------------- SIGNINGS/DRAFT ----------------------------
(S61) Drafted 61st Overall by the Detroit Falcons
(S61) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Detroit Falcons
(S62) Drafted 44th Overall by the Hamilton Steelhawks
(S62) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Hamilton Steelhawks
(S63) Signed a 1-year, $2.5mm contract with the Hamilton Steelhawks
---------------------------- SMJHL REGULAR SEASON STATS ----------------------------
S61 | DET | GP: 66 | G: 16 | A: 24 | PTS: 40 | +/-: -24 | Hits: 95 | SB: 32
S62 | DET | GP: 66 | G: 21 | A: 16 | PTS: 37 | +/-: -54 | Hits: 141 | SB: 47
---------------------------- SMJHL PLAYOFF STATS ----------------------------
S61 | DET | GP: 6 | G: 2 | A: 4 | PTS: 6 | +/-: E | Hits: 17 | SB: 4
S62 | DID NOT QUALIFY

Originally posted by FourFour@May 16 2015, 12:50 PM
this series isgoingto be a good one! Good luck!

it will definitely be a great one