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Thunfish · 01-10-2019, 08:40 AM

Hi, mom, dad, sisters, brothers...

I finally got the time to write you this letter, I'm in America now. You may not know exactly who they are, but I'm now a member of the Anaheim Outlaws. I'm officially a professional hockey player now! Now, I still have to actually play a game, I got benched against another team called the Halifax Raiders. The Raiders also have this guy that sung a song like that one track from Beck people keep talking about. Fun stuff!

Now, statistically speaking, and that's only for you, Sakura, since I know you're the only one interested in numbers and all that, the Outlaws without me have won ten games and lost nine, two of those in overtime. We're currently the eighth-placed team in the league, where the top six get to play the playoffs... apparently. They've scored 54 goals while suffering 53. Now you go tell Hideo that we're not playing soccer before he gets too shocked about the numbers. Additionally, they're not exactly doing great at hits (15, worst in the league) and shooting at the net (23.63, worst in the league as well), but we're doing alright at Faceoffs (51,38%, 3rd in the league) and our penalty kill (84,72%, 4th in the league) is somewhat good as well.

I got to go now, though, they want me to train at the ice now. Hopefully, this time I don't smack any of them at the throat with the stick. See ya!

***HabsFanFromOntario*** · 01-10-2019, 01:30 PM

The Kelowna Knights have been off to a decent start with a 13-7-1 record, good enough to keep them healthily in the playoff mix. Not really known for being a defensive juggernaut but not being the worst in the league either, Kelowna is sitting with a +10 goal differential (71 goals for, 61 goals against). Again this is above average but not topping the league by any margin. The Knights have been monsters in their own arena this season sitting with an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 home games. Away games have been a completely different story however, as on the road in their last 10 games they drop to 4-5-1. On the special teams, Kelowna tops the league with a 28.57% on the power play but their penalty kill has been sub par to say the least 8th in the league right around 75%. The Knights throw the second least hits in the league oddly enough, a pacifistic team if ever there was on at just under 16/game. Kelowna's center-people need to get working on their face-offs as they sit third worst in the league right around 48%. This has been your Kelowna season in review!

***JR95*** · 01-10-2019, 02:15 PM

Well I'm not gonna lie, joining the Halifax raiders at this point of the season is probably going to come as a shock to many people in the league. The team is currently going through a historically bad season with only 2 wins in their first 21 games. that's almost half the season in the SMJHL. Team stats dont inspire much more hope with the raiders sitting dead last in PK%(69.41%) and 8th in combined PP+PK% (94.10%). They also allow the most shots on goal out of any team in the league at 29.3 shots against per game and take less shots than any team other team in the league except for Lethbridge. So from the outside it'd easy to see the Raiders and dismiss them as a legitimate landing spot. But you would be woefully wrong to do so.

This is a very very young team. I don't think people realize just how much Halifax is relying on rookie talent after trading away several top players in the offseason. From top to bottom every line has players in their very first seasons and with such youth comes growing pains. The part that really fills me with hope and optimism for the future is the personalities of these young rookies. Outlook is a big thing in a rebuilding team and every single person on this roster understands what the franchise is going through and every single player is ecstatic to be a part of the solution. This is a young team that is 100% committed to growing together and the league has seen time and time again that these are the teams that last and these are the teams that win. With such drastic improvements from each individual week over week, it won't take long for these young guns to grow into legitimate cup contenders and I for one am beyond excited to be a part of this youth movement.

Gobbles · 01-10-2019, 02:28 PM

The Detroit Falcons are on a consistent roll so far this regular season, standing at third in the SMJHL with 28 points, only 1 point back of joint leaders Montreal and Anchorage. The Falcons have remained one of the top teams in the league thanks to a strong returning cast supported by an excellent crop of rookies from the soon-to-be-infamous S46 class of players. The high-scoring offense of the Falcons (Top of the league in goals per game, 3.43) is evenly spread throughout the lineup, with no skater scoring at a point-per-game or higher, but with zero skaters held pointless. Leading the impressive Falcons rookie regime is Raino Kyllonen, who has 14 points (5 G, 9 A) in 21 games while securing the third line center position. Also down the middle is second-line center Kalvins Zvejnieks, a Latvian rookie who has so far been trusted with the most faceoffs taken on the team (518 faceoffs taken so far, with a 51.74% success rate), as well as scoring 11 points (2 G, 9 A). Kyllonen's rookie linemate Kit Smeb, of the infamous Korean Smebs, is in the top 5 goal scorers of the rookie class so far, with 6 goals in 21 games.

Ason94 · 01-10-2019, 03:38 PM

Colorado had a good start to the season going 6-2-2. Through the first 10 games Colorado posted a 2.2 Gaa and a 2.9 Gfa. Winning two of these games in the shootout and also loosing two games in the shootout. After this good start with maybe some luck and some unlucky in the shootout, we have taken a dive, a really deep dive going 3-8-0 in the last 11 games. 3.36 gaa and 2.24 gfa through these games shows that colorado has lost both scoring and defending and something has to be done if winning is what colorado is looking for this season. Maybe some shuffeling of the lines or maybe if times get really tough, a trade? There is still lots of time left in the season and with a young team there is potential for growth. There are 13 rookie skaters on the team and 1 goalie. Colorado has scored 58 goals this season which is 3:d last in the league. 21 of those coming from rookies. Looking forward the raptors need to grow together as a team and i think they have a great chans of making the the playoffs and be a threat when we get there because of all our great rookies.

oddly_colored_beef · 01-10-2019, 05:07 PM

The St. Louis Scarecrows have had an up-and-down beginning to the season. Currently sitting in 7th in the SMJHL standings with an 11-10-0 record, the Crows are just 2 points out of a playoff position just under halfway through the season. Ranked 6th in goals for with 66 on the year and 7th in goals against with 65, St. Louis is right in the middle of the pack. One of the keys to a second half turnaround for the club is an increase in their discipline. St. Louis leads the SMJHL in PIM with a staggering 212. They've been fortunate thus far to have the most effective Penalty Kill in the league, operating at an 86.42% clip. St. Louis' strength is their aggressiveness and difficulty to play against, ranking second in hits with 379. If the Crows hope to make the playoffs and have a shot to defend their title, they'll have to learn to play to this strength without taking penalties and give their opponents easy opportunities to steal games away.

Alex Mack · 01-10-2019, 09:01 PM

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***SpartanGibbles*** · 01-11-2019, 10:37 AM

The Anaheim Outlaws have begun their inaugural season better than most expected. Currently sitting at 6th in the league, the Outlaws are outperforming expectations for an expansion team. While most expected the team to be bottom feeders, they have pleasantly surprised onlookers. With a very young core, they are relying on the youth to push the team forward. Credit must also be given to GM Dangles who has pulled together a competitive team from scraps and the record-breaking S45 SMJHL Draft.

The teams success stems from solid defensive work. With the leagues 3rd best Goals Against at 2.81, they have been keeping a lid on opponents scoring. The Outlaws are making the most of possession, boasting the leagues 2nd best Faceoff % at 50.88%.

The most concerning figure this far into the season is the 9th place Shots For at 24.24. In order to succeed in the post season they will have to get more pucks on net and generate chances. The Outlaws are not known as a physical team trailing the lead in Hits per Game with 15.52.

sharksisback · 01-11-2019, 05:12 PM

It's a been a pretty rough start to the season for my Raiders. As of today, the Raiders are last in the league in goals scored with 53 and last in the league in goals against, giving up 86. Obviously, we can improve on both of these by playing better offense and defense. Sorry to be John Madden about it but that's probably the easiest way to improve. Now, of course, the elephant in the room for horrible Halifax stats is our lack of wins, with a total of 2. The expansion Lethbridge Lions and Anaheim Outlaws are putting us to shame by both having more than double our wins. Hell even triple. But it isn't all doom and gloom for Halifax, we also have the third highest power play percentage in the league at 23.26%. I'd say our special teams is good, but we also have the worst penalty kill in the league, at 70.45%. And a special shoutout to the centers on the Raiders for putting us 2nd in the league in faceoff percentage with 51.05%. We've got lots of work to do.

Mantroll · 01-11-2019, 05:38 PM

23 games into the season and the Lethbridge Lions are 6-17 for ninth in the league. Not much is going well for the Lions as they are either last or second last in all of the team categories.

The one stat the Lions are leading in is PIM/GP at 7.91 meaning we are so far the most disciplined team in the league.
The other sole bright spot is that the Lions are 7th in league in PK% at 77.11%.
Earlier in the season, we were getting heavily out shot by the opposition forcing our goalies to bail us out, which was unfair as both our goalies are rookies. This is reflected by our Shots For/Against value being last in the league at 83.51% with the next team, the Anaheim Outlaws at 88.54%.
There is no home ice advantage for the Lions. Our 6 wins are split evenly at home and on the road. We will have to work on making our ice hard to play on rather than teams being excited to roll through Lethbridge with a win.

Tomasnz · 01-11-2019, 07:37 PM

The anchorage Amarda has been building momentum like an iceberg heading towards Belfast. They have come together as a young team built mainly of second years and rookies. And this team chemistry is only going to improve with the team dominating the predictive stats for prolonged performance. The first predictive stat that armada dominate is goal difference with 24, almost double the next closest team, this more predictive of future success than win totals. And a huge part of this has been the armada's focus on defense in the off-season and supporting their defensive rookies to develop and to gain ice time. Already with one of the most stacked offensive units with two fully capped lines, the armada has become one of the toughest defensive units in the league with only one capped player. The second stats are the matched pair of shots taken, and shots conceeded, basically a measure of opportunity allowed and taken, with 693 and 508 respectively, these are both league leading figures, and highlight the sustainability of both the offensive lines and the defensive unit. The last factor is the amazing performances that the armada has been putting up is having the league leading goalie on their team, Larson has the highest sav% with .914% as well as the lowest goals conceded per game ratios. Unfortunately these last two stats are not predictive of future performance and actually likely to regress to the mean, what this means for the the second half of the year will be fancinating.

iOBESE · 01-12-2019, 09:43 AM

To be honest I could now have asked for a better team chemistry that we have in Montreal Militia and you can see the results of it on the ice as well. At the moment we are the second team in the league and the difference between us and the Anchorage who is currently first, is just 2 points which is one game. We actually were leading for the best of the first half of the season. Sure there is always things you can improve and work on and I know that my guys are definitely working on themselves to be even better than they are right now. When looking at our stats you can see that they are quite average but we make it work and that is the most important thing. You cannot really ask for nothing really as compared to other teams we are doing well, but if needed then I guess we could focus on more winning!

***micool132*** · 01-12-2019, 12:10 PM

The Kelowna Knights are off to a good start as after 25 games into the season they are solidifying a playoff spot being ranked 5th out of 10 teams. The main factor of our succes can be split in two major elements:

Goals for. With 82 goals for, the team is tied at 3rd rank in the league close to league leading 85. The Knights rely on solid players such as Nick Klaus, Nolan Sawchuk and Vladislav Konstantin to provide top tier scoring in the league.

The other element is the play at home;

The Knights have the best at home standing being 9-3. The team knows how to get energised by the crowd and the coach uses his advantage on the line changes pretty well, knowing when to send rookie players or not.

What the team can improve is also split in two major elements:

We mentionned playing at home was an advantage for team, but playing on the road takes a toll on the team as they are only 5-7-1, classing the team in the bottom tier with the Lethbridge Lions and the sad Halifax Raiders. Getting more wins on the road would help maintain a playoff spot and wil develop a good confidence for when said playoffs comes as you have to win games on the road.

The team can also improve in secondary scoring. The Knights rely too much on their first line to get them out of sticky situations. Rookie player Dick Clapper is doing his part with 7 goals and 9 assists but the rest of the supporting cast could produce more as well as being more solid defensively.

3rd line players Nathan Explosion, Barry Batsbak and Zach Laliberté have a combined point total of 18 in 25 games. Some would say those players are still rookies but sustainable success for the Knights will come from depth players producing important points.

-320 words

Raziel · 01-12-2019, 02:02 PM

I, Loki Odinsson, play for the Colorado Raptors and I could not be more proud of my team. After getting ejected from a game, for taking my skate off and attempting to stab the other team, I was not scolded rather praised for my creativity and, while I was told not to do so again, they encouraged me to try harder. My team is filled with incredible players and I am honored to fight alongside them.

***Citizen of Adraa*** · 01-13-2019, 12:32 PM

I think when it comes to Halifax, there are really only the bad things to cover. The worst goals for (64) and goals against (97), making sure there isn't a clear one spot to repair, whether it's the blue line or the forward core, further underlined with the worst penalty kill that has at least improved since the start of the season, yet still hovering at 72,28%, almost 5% shy of the 9th Kelowna. Surprisingly enough though, the rest of the special teams look fairly decently, with 3 shorthanded goals giving us second in the league in that regard, 21,5% on PP put us somewhere into the middle, and definitely having the man advantage contrary to all the markers is an actual advantage amongst the struggles of Halifax. Though, I have to mention the 3-5-2 record in the last 10 for the Raiders, maybe signalling at least a fringe of competetiveness of the squad, not completely writing them off for the play-ins for the post season even while the trades suggest full rebuild from us.

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