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LarksTongue · 01-15-2019, 05:28 PM

3rd Lines in the SMJHL Top 5: (1013 Words in Google Drive)

With the season half way over the standings are starting to come into place. Overall there is intense competition for first place with 5 teams within 6 points of first place. Rookies are leading the way in the league and a big component of teams are their 3rd lines and how they use them. This article will look at the top 5 teams 3rd lines.

1st: Detroit Falcons 44 Pts Falcons

The Detroit Falcons play a high flying offensive game excelling scoring off the rush so far. The Detroit Falcons 3rd line is made up of; LW - Kit Smeb, C - Raino Kyllonen, and RW - Tobias Viklund. A dominant 3rd line composed of 2 rookies in Kyllonen and K. Smeb. Kyllonen one of the top rookies in the league is leading the way with 22 points in 32 games. Kyllonen also plays on the powerplay for the Falcons with 11 of his points coming from the power play. It’s safe to say the Falcons third line is a true scoring 3rd line needing a shut down line to match. However they are deployed a lot compared to the other 4 teams third lines in the top 5.

Raino Kyllonen ®: 8 Goals, 22 Points, 16:15 ATOI, Playmaker
Tobias Viklund: 9 Goals, 20 Points, 14:40 ATOI, Power Forward
Kit Smeb ®: 8 Goals, 14 Points, 14:47 ATOI, Sniper

25 Goals
Interesting Stat: 199 Shots Collectively

2nd: Montreal Militia 41 Pts Militia

The Montreal Militia are a much more defensive team than the Detroit Falcons having a low GAA and a low GFA. Complemented by good goaltending and a strong defensive core the Militia have snuck into 2nd on the mantra that; defense wins championships. The 3rd line of the Militia is much different than the Falcons. The Militia’s 3rd line is composed of all rookies; LW - Commander Shepard, C - Kristoffer Svensson, and RW - Hans Zucker. Deployment of the Milita’s third line is much different with a preference of deployment in the defensive zone. The makeup of the line does not have a clear sniper, however Zucker prefers to shoot than pass This 3rd line has faced tough competition, leading to a low +/-. The line has produced a little more in the past week than the beginning of the season.

Hans Zucker ®: 3 Goals, 8 Points, 15:23 ATOI, Offensive Forward
Kristoffer Svensson ®: 5 goals, 7 Points, 14:52 ATOI, Playmaker
Commander Shepard ®: 2 Goals, 5 points, 11:55 ATOI. Two-Way Forward

10 Goals
Interesting Stat: 86 Hits Collectively

3rd: Anchorage Armada 40 Pts Armada

The Anchorage Armada might be the best team in the league right now with the Highest goal differential of +20 and lowest GA with 83 matching the Falcons offense of 104 GF. The third line of the Armada has only one rookie compared to the Falcons and Militia. Starts with LW - Bust, C - Kenji Yoshimura, and RW - Oliver Cloutier. The Armada play a classic Top 6/Bottom 6 style of play with the top two lines deployed offensively and the bottom two lines deployed defensively. This makes the Armadas third line placed on a shut down role. They all share the same +/-, and Bust has played the most PK minutes on the team.

Kenji Yushimura: 4 Goals, 9 Points, 14:35 ATOI, Playmaker
Bust: 2 Goals, 8 Points, 14:55 ATOI, Two-Way Forward
Oliver Cloutier ®: 3 Goals, 6 Points, 12:05 ATOI, Two-Way Forward

9 Goals
Interesting Stat: Shooting at 6.2% Collectively

4th: Kelowna Knights 39 Pts Knights

The Knights are the highest scoring team in the SMJHL with 114 Goals for. They have 10 more than the next best teams. The third line of the Knights is composed of entirely of rookies. It starts with, LW - Nathan Explosion, C - Barry Batsbak, and RW - Liam Hutchinson. The Knights run a normal Top 9 Offensive team with heavy defensive deployment of their 4th line. The Knights third line produces respectably considering their sheltered minutes. Lead by the massive Hutchinson who plays the least amount of minutes compared to his linemates, but gets power play time whereas the other two linemates do not. The third line also has a relatively neutral +/- this third line, garnering the reputation of being very balanced, being able to be deployed in any situation.

Liam Hutchinson ®: 2 Goals, 10 Points, 11:45 ATOI, Power Forward
Barry Batsbak ®: 4 Goals, 7 Points, 11:50 ATOI, Playmaker
Nathan Explosion ®: 4 Goals, 6 Points, 13:05 ATOI, Power Forward

10 Goals
Interesting Stat: Average Height/Weight of around 6’4/210 lbs

5th St. Louis Scarecrows 38 Pts

Winners of 7 of their last 10 the Scarecrows are climbing the standings and lead a balanced attack similar to the Anchorage Armada. With only one rookie on the Scarecrows third line they consist of; LW - Jerry Larry, C - Rainbow Dash, and RW - Michael Fox. One of the more productive 3rd lines in the SMJHL being deployed equally as much as the top 6, the Scarecrows like to roll their top 3 lines. Leading the way since being acquired from Hailfax is Rainbow Dash, who has a very good .73 points per game on the third line. The Scarecrows use their 3rd line more than any other team in the top 5 and are tied with Halifax with % of coach deployment.

Rainbow Dash: 3 Goals, 8 Points (11 Games), 19:00 ATOI, Two-Way Forward
Michael Fox ®: 7 Goals, 13 Points, 17:35 ATOI, Playmaker
Jerry Larry: 7 Goals, 10 Points, 13:40 ATOI, Sniper

17 Goals
Interesting Stat: Jerry Larry is 5’2’’

In the end on average 2/3rds of all third lines are composed of rookies. The Falcons look like they have the best 3rd line in the SMJHL with no one coming close to their total points of 56 Points. But you cannot discredit the experience of the Scarecrows third line. It will be a good race to the end.

Falcons: 56 Points (25% Deployment)
Scarecrows: 31 Points (30% Deployment)
Knights: 23 Points (20% Deployment)
Armada: 23 Points (18% Deployment)
Militia: 20 Points (25% Deployment)