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Bishop · 04-02-2016, 01:20 AM

<div align="center">SMJHL Top 3 Rookie Defensive D-men and Rookie Goalies</div>

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<div align="center">Welcome to the second half of my Top Rookie Articles for the midway mark in the season, this time we are focusing on the top 3 Rookie Defensive D-men and Top 3 Goalies.

**Rookies were determined based on the stats and that they showed as Rookies in the Sim**</div>

Defensive Defensemen

To start off with we are looking at Defensemen that are strong in their end, playing solid minutes per game (including PK minutes), have good +/- and if required can be physical (HT) and aren’t afraid to get in front of a puck (SB), so without further delay here is my top 3 Defensive D-men:

#3 – Ilmari Matta (MON) Militia

Ilmari plays for the powerhouse Montreal Militia and though this obviously helps with his +10 rating, there are other factors that resulted in him being placed in the number three spot on this list. Ilmari is a big bruising defensive d-man with a little bit of nasty streak (40 Hits), but Montreal relies on him a lot defensively playing 66 minutes on the PK already this year, when averaging only 17.67 minutes per game, the lowest Min/g of any of our top 3. Ilmari also is not afraid to get in front of the puck, having blocked 26 shots so far this season. Now don’t expect this guy to put up big offensive numbers (4 assists on the season so far), but you can definately rely on him defensively.

Second Half Predictions: With the veterans on Montreal, don’t expect a lot of movement in the line-up for Ilmari, but expect more of the same solid defensive play for the third line defenseman and PK specialist.

#2(1b)- Darian Tupper (KEL) Knights

I was torn deciding between 1 and 2, because both player bring excellent skills to the table and in their own way could be #1’s. However, decisions needed to be made and so Darian finds himself in the #2 spot. Darian is a workhorse in Kelowna playing over 22 minutes per game, during that time recording 32 shot blocks and 39 hits. Combine that with his 13 points (2 goals and 11 assists) and you have yourself an all around great d-man, and definitely someone to keep you eye on heading into the second half of the season. That being said his +/- is an even 0 and his 44 PK minutes so far this season are the lowest of any of the top 3 in this list and are the main reasons why he is #2.

Second Half Predictions: Darian will continue to develop and be a stud heading into the post season for Kelowna. Don’t forget this name, because he has a bright future ahead of him

#1(1a)- Gustav-Hans Mohrs (STL)

Mr.Mohrs edged out Darian by the narrowest of margins, as it could have gone either way. Gustav-Hans has played over 20 minutes per game and recorded 47 hits (15 more then Darian) and is a +4 on an equally weak defensive team as Kelowna (1 goal against separate these teams). Though offensively he might not be as strong as Darian (1 goal and 8 assists) with 9 points, this rating is based on defensive play and not offensive numbers. The only thing he trails Darian in is that his shot blocks are lower (23 compared to 32) which made me lean toward Darian initially, but if you take into account Gustav-Hans plays almost twice as much on the PK (85 minutes’ vs 44 minutes), second on the Scarecrows in this stat, it made me lean toward him in the end.

Second Half Prediction: Gustav-Hans Mohr is a solid all around defenseman and should excel the rest of the season. If he can continue to work on his shot blocking skills, he could be one of, if not the top defensive rookie prospect heading into the post season.

Honorable Mention:

Tobias Thorvaldsen (DET), Patriks Porzingis (HAL), Fedor Shirobokov (KEL), Alessandro Fondent (VAN)

Goalies

There isn’t a lot of rookie goalies in this year’s draft, in fact there is only 5, so picking a top three was actually very hard, because they all had similar numbers half way through the season. So lets begin:

#3 – Casey Holmes (STL) Scarecrows

Casey has weathered the storm in St. Louis, being on a team that has allowed the third highest shots against in the league and the second most goals, however unlike a lot of the other rookie goalies Casey has been given the reins in St.Louis and has played the majority of the games boasting a 7-8-2 record in 17 games played and a .878 Sv% combined with a 3.21 GAA. Unfortunately for Casey the other goalie Michael Ryan is on fire right now, with 7 wins and 1 loss in the last few games, so management will have some tough decisions down the stretch.

Second Half Predictions: Casey will be the #1 goalie in St. Louis and will see all his stats improve heading into the playoffs. Dark Horse candidate for Rookie Goalie of the Year by seasons end.

#2(1b)- Triforce Link (VAN) Whalers

I will be honest, as I almost put Triforce as the #1 goalie on this list, because he is on the worst defensive team in the league, they have allowed the most shots and most goals, but he still have an impressive 6-7-1 record and a very respectable .890 Sv% with an minuscule 2.66 GAA. My hesitation is that for some reason the team has not given the rookie the reins and he is splitting duties with the other goalie on the team Gavin Trent, with Triforce only playing 1 more game so far this season. Whatever the reason for the decision, Triforce still has potential and could emerge as the #1 Rookie Goalie in the league by seasons end if he continues to develop.

Second Half Predictions: Considering the rubber he faces, I expect Triforce to continue to impress and be in the battle for top rookie goalie by seasons end.

#1(1a)- Richard C.Hocolate (HAL) raiders

Richard plays on the Halifax Raiders, a much better team then Vancouver and his rival Triforce Link and rightfully so has better stats to show for it, so he is getting the nod for the #1 rookie goaltender at this point in the season. Now some might think this unfair, but you need to dig into the stats to see the Raiders have faced the second most shots against in the league, only 30 or so shy of Vancouver (that a little over 1 shot per game), as a result team wise these goalies both play in poor defensive teams and therefore can be looked at more comparably (even though Triforce has played more games and therefore has faced more shots). Richard has a .894 save percent, while maintaining a shiny 2.37 goals against average which has helped him have a 7-4-2 record over 13 games.

Second Half Prediction: Expect Richard to compete with the other challengers to maintain his #1 Rookie Goalie ranking heading into the playoffs.

Honorable Mention:

Daniel Vann – his 1-7 record knocked him out of the top three, while Sivy McSieve lives up to his name with a league worst .818 save percentage for all rookie goalies.

~1200 words

NONAME · 04-02-2016, 01:23 AM

Another awesome article man! Keep up the good work.

Scarecrows

hype

ORIGINSZ · 04-02-2016, 01:37 AM

I played similar because they forgot to play Trent 6 games last year, so they paid the fine. And have to play him as many games they misses last year so they played all 12 to start the year.

Bishop · 04-02-2016, 01:40 AM

Quote:Originally posted by ORIGINSZ@Apr 1 2016, 10:37 PM
I played similar because they forgot to play Trent 6 games last year, so they paid the fine. And have to play him as many games they misses last year so they played all 12 to start the year.

Good to know and best of luck the rest of the season (except against the 'crows) :lol:

Cheers