Simulation Hockey League

There's always that one team that you can't seem to beat, no matter what you do.  Tell us about the team that's giving you the most trouble. 

Requirements

Written: Must include 150 words and at least 3 SIM stats.
Graphic:  Create an infographic comparing your team and your team's biggest rival. Must include at least 3 SIM stats.

Reward
4 TPE for doing the thing. (Just one of the things, not both.)


Only S51 SMJHL Rookies (S52 SHL Rookies) are eligible for this PT.

Do not claim this TPE until a post is made in the claim thread.


Deadline  Sunday 12/15 @10pm CST

It's still a bit early in my career, but the game that sands out to me is when we hosted the Kelowna Knights. We were riding a 4 game losing streak and were desperate for a win. I had a great morning skate with my linemates and I was feeling pretty good and confident that we were about to turn a corner. When the puck dropped it was like the ice was shifted for Kelowna, we kept grinding line after line but it felt like we couldn't do anything right. They got the first two goals and even though we got one back, it still felt like the game was over after the 1st. We had trouble generating offense, I think we only had 21 shots, but Del Vecchio was outstanding all night. He stopped 20 out of 21 and made some fantastic saves. It was just one of those games where nothing really went right. I took a hit early in the 2nd by Zhernov and to be honest I felt off my game after that. I think I only got one quality shot on net all night and we were 0 for 5 on the power play. It's the kinda game you wish you could get back because our defense really played well and Dhami really made some great saves but we just couldn't put it together offensively.

My team, the Detroit Falcons, just can't seem to beat the Anchorage Armada. We've played the three times so far and lost all three games. They're outscoring us by eleven to two, even at home we could not score more than once, while they seem to be able to score equally well with all of their first three lines. The only glimmer of hope for us shines in our power play and penalty killing percentages. We are converting one out of every three power plays against them in a goal, while shutting them down during our penalty kill in over seventy percent of these situations. However, if we want to use this to win games we have to stay out of the box more ourselves and try to draw some more penalties from the boats, because cuyrrently they're doing a better job in the discipline department as well.

For a team with a relatively solid defense, Colorado has had a massive amount of trouble inside their own blue line against Lethbridge. Goalie Samat Beibitzhanov has a currently league-leading 2.41 GAA. However, in four games vs. Lethbridge, that number skyrockets to 4.25. Without the four games against Lethbridge, Beibitzhanov's GAA drops to 2.24. In addition, Lethbridge is one of two teams to have scored 5+ goals on the Raptors, the only one to do so twice and the only one to do it on the Raptors' home ice. Much of this domination has been more recent, with Lethbridge being the only 2 losses in the Raptors' last 7 games. Lethbridge is the clear leader in goals against the Raptors, with their 17 goals being far and away the most out of any team. For reference, the gap between Lethbridge and the second-place team, Detroit, is the same as the gap between Detroit and 2nd-to-last place. Lethbridge continues to be a serious thorn in the side of Colorado, though both teams will have plenty of time to reassess and adapt as the teams will not play again until the last two games of the season.

While it would make sense to write about the Outlaws' division rival, *Lethbridge Lions*, as our chief troublemaker it comes as a surprise that the biggest pain in the neck so far this season is the *Carolina Kraken*.  With a top-line team that Carolina has, it comes as no surprise though.  For Anaheim, the issue here isn't so much that wins can not be procured against them, it is that Carolina makes it increasingly more difficult than other teams to get any sort of win.

On the season, the matchup between Anaheim and Carolina has netted an even 2-2 record, yet the Kraken have taken a leading 3-2 points lead in the process thanks in part to both of their decisive victories and sending one game into a shootout, which nets both teams playing a point each.  

Scoring wise among all four games so far this season, the Kracken have outscored the Outlaws 18-15 and in every game using early first period goals to their advantage to secure momentum and game tempo.  A testament to this is their fourth meeting in which the Kraken scored two goals within the first thirty seconds of gameplay.  I'm not entirely sure about anyone else, but to me that is a definite morale killer.  

The Kraken's tenacity for putting puck in net is just hard to beat even in ideal situations.  Perhaps its how hard they hit that is also jarring Anaheim players.  Over the same period of time, the Kracken racked up twelve more hits over Anaheim, despite losing twenty-two more faceoff attempts.  

Regardless though, I have no doubt that the Kraken's sinking ability will continue to be a thorn in the side of the Outlaws for the remainder of the season.

The Anchorage Armada is the only team that Vancouver hasn't beat yet, with a 0-2-0 record against them so far. We're really looking forward to thwart the Armada from any further success with the two upcoming games in less than a week!

The Anchorage Armada busted out of the gate the start the season winning their first 8 of 9 games and the only loss was on a shootout against Anaheim. Since then, the Armada still are having a fantastic season with a record of 13-5-5 for 31 points behind their leading scorer Daniel Bischoff with 28 points in just 23 games, the Armada are second in the SMJHL behind Carolina. The one thorn in the Armada’s side this season however is the Lethbridge Lions as they come in with an 0-2-1 record while being outscored 12-7 in those games. Lethbridge is also having a good season as they are 3rdin the SMJHL with a 11-7-5 record for 27 points just behind the Armada and Carolina. Lethbridge has seen solid production from their goaltender, Markus Tegernako who has posted a 9-6-3 record with a .898 Save % and a 2.45 GAA in 18 games he has appeared in.

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So far this season, the team that has been giving the Whalers the most trouble has been the Kelowna Knights. Personally I’m assuming it's either their smell or Zoone that’s doing it for them but that’s one man’s opinion. However, looking at the stats, they have managed to outscore us 12-7 so far in the four meetings we have had this season. This can be seen as one of two things, one being our offense stalling or two which is Zoone standing on his head like a trapeze act on ice. Other than that, they have stalled our powerplay which sits at 12.5% against them which is suboptimal. Adding that with a Faceoff win % of 45% in the offensive zone and 43% in the defensive zone, that also stands as a major contributing factor. All in all though, I believe the main reason they are winning to be that they are smelly and we can’t play on the ice with their stench. Kelowna just isnt a good smelling place I guess.

Unsurprisingly, the Halifax Raiders are having the hardest time so far this season playing against the Anchorage Armada. The two teams from opposite coasts have already met up four times this season, and the Armada has come away victorious 3/4 of the time. This is no great shock, as Anchorage currently sits across the league standings while the Raiders are in a five-way tie for fourth place. All four games have been decided by a difference of one or two goals, for an overall goal differential of only +3 for Anchorage, so despite the uneven standings the rivalry has been fairly closely matched. The games are at least never boring, being some of the highest scoring for both teams. The deciding factor in the match-ups has been special teams, with Anchorage having a Power Play % of 45.45% against the Raiders, almost twice their average across the season, and a Penalty Kill that isn't stellar at 76.92% but is above their season average. The Raiders, in comparison, are suffering on special teams against Anchorage with a PP% of 23.08% (fairly average) and a PK% of 54.55% (abysmal).

Kelowna's hardest challenge so far this season has been the Detroit Falcons. At time of writing they are only 1 point ahead in the standings, but in the 3 meetings between the two teams so far this season, Detorit has won all of them. Kelowna will have 2 more chances to beat them, and those games are coming up very soon. However, as it stands now, despite not dominating many other teams, Detroit has dominated Kelowna. The obvious factor why is offense. In the three games in question, Detroit has scored 6, 5, and then 5 goals against Kelowna. Kelowna's strong suit is defense, so being able to crack the defensive play like they have has been a bad sign regarding future matchups. Second is Kelowna's lack of scoring. Kelowna's highest point scorer, Kalevolaripaavo Kaspertommevisnapuu, has 21 points. Out of players who lead their team in scoring, this is last in the SMJHL. In addition, Kelowna is 2nd to last in the SMJHL in goals for, only in front of Colorado. In order to beat Detroit, and in turn beat others to move up in the standings, Kelowna will need to score more as the season goes on.

One team that I sure as hell never want to face is Anchorage. They’re #1 in the standings right now and my Falcons have already lost to them 3 times this year. They have two guys in the top 10 in goals (van der Heijden and Bischoff) and they have three guys in the top 10 in assists (Primeau, Bischoff, and Wang). Along with this solid core of scorers, they also have 3 regularly producing rookies on their bottom two lines. To make matters worse, defenseman Augustus Wang leads the entire league in power play goals with 7 in 26 games. Stud Daniel Bischoff is tied with my linemate Khabib Nurmagomedov for the league lead in points at 33 and is surely looking like a mid season MVP candidate. They currently have the most goals for at 90, and the least amount of goals against at 69. With the best ranked offense AND the best ranked defense in the league, Anchorage is looking like an early favorite to win the chip this year.