Sometimes players just click. Even on a team that isn't doing well overall, there are usually a few players who play their best together. Who's that for you?
Requirements
Written option: Who plays on your team's most effective line or defence pairing (or both), and what contributes to their success? Must include 150 words.
Graphic options: Make a graphic showing the stats of your team's most effective line in a creative way.
(ty good_ole_kimmy for this pt concept)
Payout
4 TPE for doing the thing. (Just one of the things, not both.)
Only S44 SMJHL Rookies (S45 SHL Rookies) are eligible for this PT.
Do not claim this TPE until a post is made in the claim thread.
Deadline Friday 11/16 @ 10am CST
At the current moment, Montreal isn't doing too hot. They've started the season with one extremely disappointing record of 2-6-1, scoring the least amount of goals and being a terrible 0-3-0 at home thus far. Despite the lack of success for the team overall, the team has at least had some form of hope when it comes to players kicking in. While some aren't, Daniil, Brogen and Bohne have at least shined some hope on the Militia's season and while it even isn't the brightest and is fairly tough to talk about considering Bohne has 10 points and the other have 5 and 4 respectively, it's still a sign... maybe. Bohne has clearly lead the way with 5 goals, 5 assists and 10 points through the 9 games. Pretty damn good and he backs it up with a 22% shooting percentage. You add the other 2 in to combine for 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists), and you got yourself at least something that could spark. Maybe not spark. It is sparking, but you need it to ignite. I'd say over time, watch for these guys to improve and find their way even more as a line.
The end.
Part of the Kelowna Knights' early successes have been attributed to their recent injection of youth. Despite this injection, the two aspects of the team that have helped spur them to a 7-3-0 record have been the Konstantin-Aizawa-Denisovich line, and the Niedermayer Jr.-Kocsis pairing. These five players have contributed a total of roughly 47% of the Knights' offense. Whether if it is their deployment, Aizawa's emergence as a strong defensive 1st line center, or the unnatural chemistry between a free-wheeling Niedermayer Jr. and a steady defensive presence of Kocsis, it has been overshadowed by the successes of the Knights' rookies. In the end, there are multiple players who are contributing to the Knights' early success, whether if it's the already established veteran SMJHL talent, or the up and coming rookies. The majority of the Knights' line-up is contributing and it's showing in their record.
-154 words
While the Cold Pizza Line gets most of the attention for the Colorado Raptors, their top defensive pairing is the true impetus for their recent offensive successes, paired with a stingy team defense. Kevin Maddox and Sachimo Zoidberg Jr are currently playing out of their minds and complement each other well. Zoidberg is an absolute blur on the backend, as the team's best skater. He pairs his outstanding skating with conditioning that allows him to play near endless minutes. He seeks opportunities to use his heavy slap shot, while Maddox focuses more on setting up teammates like Zoidberg, whose one timer is as scary as any in the SMJHL.
While Maddox lacks Zoidberg's physical gifts, what he brings is a more all-around game. The Czech righty is a very strong defender, consistently leading the Raptors in blocked shots and playing in all situations. He also is one of the best pure passers in the league, leading to his current league-leading 10 assists this year. It's also almost impossible to separate him from the puck due to his outstanding puck control. These two players' skills complement each other at even strength and on the first power play unit, and will be key to driving the Raptors' offensive engine as the season continues.
The Detroit Falcons are off to one of the best starts in recent memory. The season is still young but the Falcons are enjoying a 1A 1B set up right now. Who knows if that will continue or not later into the season but right now line with a slight edge and current lead in points is that of Dank Boija, David Fantobens, and Franz Cooper. This line has put up a combined 28 points in the first ten games. Originally a right winger, Dank Boija is the center for the top line. This powerful forward is leading the team in hits and tied for the team lead in goals with four. With the modern game moving more toward speed and agility Boija is a reminder of what a real power forward can bring to a team. On Boija's left wing is David Fantobens. Fantobens is playing on his off wing but it doesn't seem to be bothering his production at all. He is tied for the team lead with ten points in ten games. Fantobbens prefers to shoot first but he does have an eye for the pass too. Finally, on the right wing, is Franz Cooper. The German right winger is leading the team in assists with 7. He usually prefers to be the shooter but with Boija creating space with his ferocious forechecking and another gifted shooter in Fantobens, Cooper has adjusted his game and it is paying off big time.
SD here,
As much as I hate to support this clown, Slip, I think his pairing is actually getting some work done. Their stats may look to be on par with the rest of the D pairs, but when you normalize the stats to a per 20 min basis the picture looks a bit different. Now, it may just be the bias of a smaller sample size since their pair gets 20% ice time vs the 35% of the top 2 pairs, but Slip and Airi (@
DeathClutch19 ) have both the best hits and blocks per 20 on the team. That is to be expected since they are a total defense focused pair, but with that, they are still getting on the board offensively at 4th and 5th place out of 8 in terms of points per 20 among Defensemen on the team.
All that being said, they are tied for last in +/-, so maybe the rest of the stats here are just manipulating the numbers to make them look good. I guess we'll have to play the rest of the reason and find out.
Don't tell him I had anything good to say about him, I've got a reputation to uphold.
The duo I'll be looking at is Vegeta Muerto and Leopold Lockhart. The rookie duo has been the number one pairing for the last place Armada. But the rookie pair has been playing well. They have combined for two goals and thirteen assists. They are unfortunately overall a minus seven. The duo plays well together since Vegeta is a shut down defender while Leopold is an offensive dynamo. They're still trying to figure out the ropes but they should have a long future together in Anchorage. The pair leads the Armada in icetime, Vegeta is number 1 and Leopold is number 2. They also are 1 and 2 in shots blocked, with more shots blocked as a pair than the rest of the team combined. Both are still young and there chemistery is developing so they should only get better as the seasons progress. We expect to see them together for probably three seasons if not maybe four seasons.
Effective is a little bit subject to interpretation, so I have offered a view on two sides of the coin, purely from a statistics basis.
The Armada's second line has consistently managed to be the most efficient point creating line, with Dean Colt III, Doug Dimmadome and Mika Mayfield combining for a total of 28 points in 14 games played. The chemistry between the three of them has been evident, overshadowing the rest of the team by a reasonable amount bar the top line who currently sit at 24 points. But what's most interesting about these stats is that these lines seem to be defensively culpable, with every single player being in negative plus or minus territory. Given the Armada's recent misfortune of luck this is unsurprising, but it's highlighted due to the third line. Kenji Yoshimura, Arsene Arsenich and Maxime Bouchard are the only members on the team with a positive plus or minus, and they all play together. Whilst they do have a slightly reduced ice time which statistically means they have less chance of being scored on, it's an interesting fact nonetheless.
Whether that indicates good chemistry or just higher defensive prowess (or luck), it's something Anchorage hopes doesn't disappear anytime soon.
For the Armada, our big chemistry line so far has been our second line consisting of Dean Colt III, Mika Mayfield, and Doug Dimmadome. Mayfield is having a bangup rookie season, contributing more than any other rookie on the team and more than a lot of the veterans for that matter. In sixteen games, this line has combined for a total of thirty points, with twelve goals and eighteen assists between them. The top line isn't too far behind with a combined 29 points, but you expect that from your top line. Those points totals may not seem like a lot compared with the rest of the league (Colt is sitting at number thirty-one in league wide scoring with Mayfield at forty-nine and Dimmadome at fifty-three), but Colt sits at the top of the leaderboard for team scoring and Mayfield and Dimmadome sit at four and five respectively. If we can get this line and our top line to start scoring on pace with the top scorers on teams like Kelowna and Vancouver, we'll be set offensively. For a team that's struggling, this line is a bright spot.
Maximilian Egger and Craig Finley are the Halifax Raiders' first defensive line and for good reason. Finley has become captain of the Raiders in just three seasons since his rookie year in s42 where he made 21 points and 18 assists in 50 games with the 48 shots blocked. Egger was also a rookie in s42 with 25 points and 20 assists and 58 shots blocked. It seems the two have been in a friendly competition since then and may have pushed each other into the spotlight of responsibility that they are in now. They both received 38% of ice time on their respective pairings that first season, and even after a full season together when the Raiders still couldn't manage to make the playoffs in season 43, it appears that Egger and Finley have kept the trust of the coaches, still receiving 39% of ice time for the defensive lines. Both players have skating as one of their strengths, which I think is important even for a defenseman, and they have stayed dedicated to their training, both with the highest TPE of defenseman on the Raiders. It appears they aren't having the greatest season, but that may also be due to the fact that the Raiders are still improving and not to do with their lack of trying.
The Anchorage Armada has two amazing lines. In the first sixteen games the top line has a combined twenty nine points and the second line, not to brag, is a bit better with thirty points. This second line consists of Dean Colt III at center, Mika Mayfield at left wing, and Doug Dimmadome at right wing. What makes the second line more impressive is that Mika Mayfield is a rookie sitting at 252 TPE, first in the class. These lines may not be up there in the top of the leauge but they spread the wealth among all the line. Currently after eighteen games, the armada is in last place but only one point away from fifth. With the second line having great chemistry it is only a matter of time until we dominate again.
Lets go Armada!
![[Image: sZLRCoy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/sZLRCoy.png)