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CD12 · 06-01-2021, 05:28 PM

There is little doubt that S59 was a rebuilding year for the St. Louis Scarecrows. With seven rookies as rookies in the line-up, there was a lot of learning, and unfortunately, a lot of losing that came along with being such a young team. The Crows finished the regular season with a 20-40-6 and a -80 goal differential, both of which ranked 11th out of the SMJHL's 12 teams, and were bounced in the first round of the SMJHL playoffs Toronto Maple Leafs-style, blowing a 3-1 series lead and falling in seven games to the Maine Timbers.

But what does the future hold in St. Louis?

Goalie

The key to St. Louis turning things around will likely start in goal. And they've got the goalie to do it in Iorek Byrnison. Byrnison's statistics last season don't look super-impressive because he didn't have much help in front of him, but he was by far the busiest goalie in the league, making nearly 250 more saves than any other SMJHL goalie last year. Despite the heavy shot volume he faced, he still finished with a very respectable .907 save percentage. As he moves into his third season in the league, and hopefully has some more help in front of him, he could develop into one of the league's best goalies when he is no longer being tasked with making 40 saves every night just to keep his team competitive.

Defensemen

This was an area where the Scarecrows needed to make a significant improvement, and it looks like they have done that. They'll return three solid veteran players in blue liners Ethan Bouchard, Daryl Urquhart, and Dane Von Gucci next season. They also have two of the top earners from the S59 draft class in defensemen Marcel Beck and Mars Stanton. Those two will be significantly better in their second season than they were as rookies, as they steadily improved throughout the season. There is still one hole left on the blue line that will need to be addressed before next season. But if the Scarecrows can find another solid defenseman in the draft, they should have one of the deeper units in the league next season, and should be much better defensively.

Forwards

The Scarecrows will have to replace forward Zybnek Dobrovsky due to aging out, which is a big loss, along with Victor Fedorov, who will be called up to the SHL, and may potentially lose another player or two to call-ups. But such is life in a junior league. There is always going to be roster turnover. If the Crows can get some most everyone back, they'll be a solid squad up front. Friedensreich Hundertwasser finished last season with a +4 +/-, which is incredible on a team that finished -80 in goal differential. Greg Davies and Lebron Brady will once again be asked to carry the load when it comes to goal-scoring. The most exciting prospects for the Scarecrows, like on their defense, are a pair of picks from their S59 draft class in forward Maverick Seabrook and Nikolai Ayerzov. Both has promising rookie campaigns, and if they continue to develop, should provide some excellent secondary scoring. There is still room to add some depth through the draft on the bottom lines, but the overall talent level is gradually improving.

Overall

It's probably not realistic to expect the Scarecrows to go from one of the worst teams in the league to a championship contender in one season. But with a strong draft class last season, it looks like the Scarecrows have laid the foundation to make a steady improvement in the league next season, and the year after that may be the year that St. Louis is ready to compete for a league title once again.

@CD12 GRADED! +5 TPE

Urq660 · 06-01-2021, 05:56 PM

By-Tor · 06-02-2021, 03:07 PM

Yaaassss

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, tweedledunn, and jaypc8237 for sigs

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