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Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - Benpachi - 06-27-2021
What a way to kick off the season! Exciting games, blowouts, tight races and all around good hockey. Carolina had a solid week, currently sitting in 7th place in the League, and 2nd in the Southeast Division, behind a very strong St. Louis Scarecrows. So far the biggest upsides from Carolina have been their depth and their defensive-minded play from their forwards. Cormac Ponaire and Roderic Banes are sitting at 14 and 16 Blocked Shots so far. And with the only area of concern for Carolina being their relatively young goalkeeper tandem, this seems like a solid strategy to cover their weak points. With some fine tuning of lines, Carolina has all the pieces in place to make a deep post-season run. But with it being a shooters league at the moment, the lack of experience between the pipes could spell trouble on the horizon. But for now, the Kraken have been able to adapt to the new Season, and have had some truly standout performances so far, and show glimpses of potential greatness.
So without further ado, we're going to take a look at my top picks for the week: Studs and Standouts. There are plenty of contenders for both, so let's break them down.
Potential Stud of the Week 1: Lucas Raymond
No doubt, Lucas Raymond is on pace to have an absolute standout season. Currently sitting 2nd in the League for goals, and resting at a comfortable +5, Raymond has Powerplay and Penalty Kill presence, 16 hits, and a 26,9% shot percentage. With 26 shots on goal, his Shooting Percentage is still sitting at an eye-watering 26.9%. Is this week and outlier, or is Raymond emerging as a Sniper to chase down the league lead in goals? Raymond has had an absolute beast of a first week, and we are all super excited for more to come. With this only his second season in the J, the future of Carolina looks to be in good hands.
Potential Stud of the Week 2: Meeka Keprosoft
I talked about Meeka in my draft analysis, and stressed the importance of goaltending to Carolinas playoff hopes this season. Boy oh boy has the Finnish keeper delivered! Carrying the bulk of the teams games so far in his SMJHL debut, Keprosoft has put up a very respectable .918 save percentage, and a Goals Against Average of 2.98. But when faced with the high talent shooters currently rampaging around the J, this hotshot rookie has more than risen to the task! All signs point to the young goalkeeper developing into a stud goalie for Carolina. In the words of a Wise Senate: "We will watch your career with great interest."
Potential Stud of the Week 3: Cormac Ponaire
While Cormac performing well with neither unexpected or surprising to the Kraken locker room, his play deserves special mention this week, as he came out of the gate looking solid, and has been one of the most consistent Kraken players so far. 7 points in 8 games, a +6 overall, with 14 blocked shots. Cormac is 6th in the entire league with 5.8 Goals For/Sixty Minutes. A dominant forward presence, Cormac has remained responsible on defense, and is setting a terrific example for the new rookies, and the entire team with his output and two-way play.
Standout Performance of the Week Contender 1: The Game Winning Goal from 2026-10-07. Tied at 6 goals apiece, Carolina and Anaheim enter Overtime. Daud Ramza won the opening faceoff, Golden Face got a hold of it, sent it over to Patya who got past the Anaheim Defense, and scored on Zhen Rhoza to end it exactly 8 seconds in. What a splash entrance, for his second of the night. This kid is going places. More and more exciting, inspiring play from the Carolina rookie class. Patya
Standout Performance of the Week Contender 2: Osada Tamuras opening night shutout. This was a terrific game for Carolina, and exactly the kind of start everyone had been excited, and preparing for. The locker room had been abuzz with season planning for weeks, and Carolina went into this game feeling they had everything lined up, and they did. Dominant play, outshooting Nevada ??-??, Tamura stood tall and set the season off on the right track.
Honourable Mentions:
Eddie Kastrba has had a rock solid debut on the Kraken blue line. He is contributing offensively, playing to his role, and on his 'off' games, still manages to break even on +/-. Quiet, unspectacular competence, Eddie reminds me quite a bit of my favourite Defenseman of all time: Chris Tanev. Eddie looks set to have a terrific first season.
(oddly enough) Freyja Hellstrom: the inactive forward serving as the 6th D-man for Carolina has done surprisingly well. Having a forward on the blue line might seem a strange choice off the Powerplay, but Hellstrom has managed to keep up. A +3, with 2 points in 8 games is remarkable for an inactive player playing the wrong position. Is it worth heaping praise on an inactive plater? Probably not, but their ability to slot onto the blue line has been commendable.
Now it's time for my picks. This was not easy, and took quite a bit of deliberation.
For the Stud of The Week, I am going to have to pick Lucas Raymond. Putting up impressive point totals, nearing the top of the league in goals, all while playing solid minutes on the Powerplay and Penalty kill. Raymond is poised to have a terrific season as the Kraken have warmed up to make a strong push for Contender Status.
For the Standout Performance of the Week, this was an extra difficult decision. I have to pick Patya's OT winner, for a number of reasons. Carolina is showing great depth this year, and with some fine tuning, their 4th line could blossom into a dangerous one. Also, a 2 goal game with such an exciting, high pressure Game Winner is just *chefs kiss*. Osada's shutout in game 1 just fell short due to the detractor that Anaheim's offense was truly in shambles that game. Not that Osada had an easy ride, but it takes away from the SO just enough to let Patya's goal edge the win.
What do you think? Did I make the right calls? Fellow Kraken, do you think there was a Stud or Standout that I missed this week? Let me know! Thanks for reading.
RE: Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - slothfacekilla - 06-27-2021
Nailed it!
RE: Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - Benpachi - 06-27-2021
06-27-2021, 03:00 PMslothfacekilla Wrote:Thank you! Thinking of doing this as a weekly piece
Nailed it!
RE: Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - the5urreal - 06-27-2021
06-27-2021, 03:12 PMBenpachi Wrote:Please do. I want to hear about our studs every week!06-27-2021, 03:00 PMslothfacekilla Wrote:Thank you! Thinking of doing this as a weekly piece
Nailed it!
RE: Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - Benpachi - 06-27-2021
06-27-2021, 03:18 PMthe5urreal Wrote:I shall!06-27-2021, 03:12 PMBenpachi Wrote: Thank you! Thinking of doing this as a weekly piecePlease do. I want to hear about our studs every week!
RE: Studs and Standouts, Week 1 - hewasajazzman - 06-27-2021
lets gooo!