Game one is almost underway, and we have the two shitty teams we're all tired of watching ready to hit the dot: the Calgary Dragons and the Minnesota Chiefs. Don't despair sports fans, we're really excited to read you the same damn names you've been hearing for a dozen seasons or more. We're gonna talk about experience, depth, defense, and goaltending. We're going to use phrases like "That's how you play this hockey game" and "you have to get pucks on net" even though they're horribly unprofound and obvious. But what more do you want? We've arrived here at a lackluster matchup, it's only fitting that you guys get lackluster commentary to match it. Maybe they'll surprise us, but if I were a betting man I think we're going to have a pretty vanilla shitshow here. Fuck Calgary and the horse they rode in on. Chiefs may be alright, we'll see.

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Sebastian Strange has to be one of the top contenders for the MVP of this postseason. He's lit it up for the Chiefs, nearing the top of the charts in a number of individual scoring categories while playing some key minutes for his club. Strange has potted 9 goals so far, good for a tied 3rd place in postseason scoring this year. His league leading 24 points only tell part of the story -- Strange has a staggering 85 shots on goal as well. While nobody is surprised to see Sebastian tearing it up, it's difficult to argue that the Chiefs would be seeing similar degrees of success without him. At under 22 minutes per game, it looks like Sebastian Strange has some room to take an increased role in the Chiefs lineup in future seasons, underscoring his impact as one that will span multiple seasons to come. Or maybe not.

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PM'ed


On paper, the goaltending battle surely goes to the Calgary Dragons. Richard C. Hocolate has more impressive numbers (0.922 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average) when compared to the Chiefs' netminder. Olli O'Koivu is posting a more modest 0.909 percentage and 2.79 goals against average. As with the rest of this game, these things don't happen in a vacuum though. On a team level, for example, we can look at shots on goal allowed per game. The Calgary dragons are at a disadvantage here, allowing a slightly higher number of shots per game (33.05) when compared to the Minnesota Chiefs (31.20). While close in number, those extra couple of shots could be a difference maker, even with an elite goaltender like Ricahrd C. Hocolate in net. This is likely less important than the goaltending battle on special teams, where the Dragons have an edge on both the powerplay (23.61% vs. 21.13%) and the penalty kill (81.82% vs. 72.06%). Thus, I think the Dragons will take it because they've demonstrated a slight edge in net, but a sizable edge in the supporting cast surrounding them.

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