A Step Back is a Step Forward
by Mitchell van der Heijden, New England Wolfpack center
A new season is always a fresh breath of air. Everyone's excited to start anew, especially if you're a young player ready to prove yourself as a consistent SHLer or (in my case) attempting to build off a successful season prior to the new one. It's a time of preparation as the new season finally kicks off.
Ours did with a 10-2 loss to the New Orleans Specters, my former team.
Before that game, in the 2 prior games we'd played against New Orleans, I'd scored in a loss and was pointless in a win. We'd played them close both games so I thought (and we all thought) that it'd be a close game, not the utter demolition that it was. It was honestly painful to play in that game at the end; we were so thoroughly outclassed that night that even a heavenly intervention probably wouldn't have won us that game.
The locker room after the game wasn't one of dejection, though. It was the first game of a 50 game season and we had more than enough time to put that behind us and focus on making the playoffs. Sven called the game a fluke and said that we'd never lose a game that badly again in the regular season. And he was right. While we did lose some fairly lopsided games to teams like Manhattan (7-3), Chicago (7-1), Buffalo (7-1), and Hamilton (7-2), we never got our asses kicked as bad as we did in that first game. Plus, we went and absolutely pummeled Minnesota 8-2 in the next game (I had 2 points) so I think it gave us some good motivation too.
I started off the season really well. By the time 10 games had elapsed, I had 7 points, and I hit double digits soon after. But my season, at least in my view, isn't defined by the good start I had. It's defined by the many pointless games I had. I struggled to produce this season, which was frustrating for me after the good start to my Wolfpack career that I had last season. If last season was a major leap forward for me (34 points and a possible claim to best young center in the SHL), this season was a step back points-wise (27). And my defensive play was really bad as well. I finished with a -17 plus-minus and 33 giveaways. That's really bad, and for a player like me who prides himself on being a two-way center, it gave me a wake-up call to work on my defensive game because it's not where it needs to be.
I had some positives this season as well, though. My shot-blocking numbers (43 total) are impressive for a forward. I had the best goalscoring season of my young SHL career so far, scoring 16, and I scored at a high clip as well, with my 15.09 shooting percentage ranking tenth among players who had taken at least 100 shots (I'd taken the least out of everyone in the top 10 with 106). With my shot improving and becoming one of my big weapons now, I feel as if I can push on and break the 25 goal threshold next season, which is a big goal but one I think I might be able to break if I put the work in. I'm also shooting for 40 points next year (a 13 point jump), which I think I can break with both growth and an extended schedule looming.
The team also started off really hot, and it continued throughout the season. We won 5 on the bounce after the NOLA game and while we cooled off a lot after that win streak (a loss to Minnesota wasn't that fun) we still came in with a winning record of 13-12-0 at the halfway mark. There were some great games after the halfway point, with my personal favorite being a 5-2 win against Manhattan, but there were some not so good ones as well (a 6-2 loss to Atlanta being the worst one I feel). However, we finished with a winning record of 25-23-2, comfortably sitting in a playoff spot. Playoff hockey was returning to Boston and I couldn't have been happier to be a part of the team to bring us back in.
Of course, I think we all know that the playoffs didn't go the way we wanted them to. Edmonton heavily outshot us in every game except for game 5, where we couldn't really find a way past Emiko Spektor. And sure, we lost the series 4-2, but I think most people probably expected it to be a sweep or something along those lines so I'm happy we were able to prove some people wrong. Frans Eller played out of his goddamn mind this postseason and I think he deserves most of the plaudits, but Ethan Price emerged as a great playmaker for us this postseason and I think he'll have a breakout season next season. Of course, in the regular season, Slap McShotty continued to be his wonderful self with 53 points, and Jakub Brushevski had a great season as well, scoring 22 goals and finishing with 40 points.
Overall, I feel this season was a good one. Sure, I had less points and was less productive as a whole, but the team took a step forward and made the playoffs for the first time in a couple of seasons. Our time is coming soon and I'm really excited to see how that plays out for us in the future.
ty to @High Stick King @EvilAllBran and @Ragnar for the sigs
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