Scarecrow Season with Slip McScruff
by SD, for the Sim Herald

Hey folks, I'm checking in here with Slip McScruff halfway through his sophomore season to see how things are going for the Crows.  Slip took over as the captain after the Crows won the cup last season, but currently the Crows are tied for 6th place with the team they swept in the finals, the Colorado Raptors.  Let's hear what he has to say about their performance this season.

Quote:SD: Well Slip, you're tied for 6th in the league at the halfway point of the season, what do you think about that?
McScruff: Yeah, so first, uh, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to uh...
SD: Yeah, yeah, cut the pleasantries, I want to get this over with.
McScruff: I don't uh... I'm not sure what you mean, but whatever.  We uh... we're not winning games like you'd expect given our stats.  Our team is very uh... well balanced offensively and defensively.  We're 5th in the league at Goals For and 4th at Goals Against, overall 2nd in For / Against.  Now, Anchorage is ahead of everyone by a lot, but it's kind of disappointing to see the standings when everyone is doing their jobs so well.

SD: What parts of the system are going well, do you think?  What is really clicking out there?
McScruff: Overall, out of everything, uh... there are three top, most important things that come to mind.  First of all, our rookies are kicking major ass, which is something I'm really happy to see.  5 people on our team have earned two first stars, and one of those is the rookie Gordie Boomhover (@gordieboom ).  The three other first stars outside of that group have been earned by  rookies, including Michael Fox (@FuzzSHL ) who rounded the bases with one star at each rank.

SD: Ok, you said there were th..
McScruff: Second, is our special teams.  We're just beating out Vancouver for best in the league PP + PK.  The PP guys are pulling their weight, but I'm especially proud of how our PK is shaking out.  I told Joe at the start of the season that I'd carry our PK to the best in the league, and here we are.  We're ahead of 2nd place by a wider uh... margin than the uh... difference between 2nd and 5th.  That's also considering a heavy PK load since we're 8th in the league for PIMs per game and 2nd in the league for Hits per game.

SD: ...
SD: And third?
McScruff: Hmm?
SD: The third thing that comes to mind as an important contributor to your team's success.
McScruff: Ok so rookies...
SD: Yeah, you said that.
McScruff: Special teams...
SD: Check.
McScruff: Our first line...
SD: Bingo, let's hear it.
McScruff: These guys... Fleming ( @Nereus ), Freeman (@Allen ), and Hoover (@Hoovuh ) have been lighting it up on the first line.  Each over 20 points and leading the +/- at 12, 9, and 9 uh... respectively.  I'm really happy to see this line finding some chemistry together because they've been big in my own career.  Flem and Hoov were brought in together to share a rookie season with our draft class, and Freeman was super helpful as the Alternate Captain when I was starting out.

SD: Ok, ok, ok, that's enough, let's get to the juicy stuff.  What isn't working out for the Crows this season?
McScruff: Is it a fair answer to say our schedule?  There are a few match ups that we haven't seen yet this season.  Kelowna hasn't played Lethbridge or Anaheim, Detroit hasn't played Colorado or Anchorage, and we haven't played Halifax.  That's a team that hasn't been playing well, with only 3 wins on the season, but that's because they have 15 rookies on their roster.  We don't play them until game 155 and then 4 more times between games 208 and 241.  By the time we get to play them, their rookies will be a lot more comfortable on the ice and a lot more formidable.  We're hot right now, top of the power rankings with a 7-3 record in our last 10, but at the end of the season we'll have to stack up against teams that had a chance to farm some W's off this rookie lineup.  (I'm talking about Kelowna, Vancouver, and Detroit who already played their season series against Halifax and fleeced them for 4 to 5 wins.)

SD: Yikes, ok let's wrap this up then.  Thoughts on the back to back cup?
McScruff: At this point, I'm just thinking about getting the best possible seed because it's a whole new set of downs once you hit the playoffs.
SD: I think that's the wrong sport...
McScruff: I mean, seeding didn't work out great for Detroit last season, but really the most you can do at this point is find what chemistry works best for you and help your rookies get ready for the playoffs, and that's exactly what we're doing.
SD: Ok, thanks Slip
McScruff Guys have to go to the net, we've got to keep it simple, play for 60 minutes, take it one shift at a time and bring our "A" game
SD: Ok, ok, ok, that's it, I'm out

There you have it folks, same old Slip just with slightly bigger words this time around.    We'll check back in closer to the end of the season.  Especially since that series against Halifax will come at a crucial time of year and we won't know what to expect out of that young team with most of a season under their belts.

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