Looking at the Pre-Season – A Scarecrows Perspective   

The pre-season was not one that had much to cheer about for the St Louis Scarecrows. Granted, it is just the pre-season and none of the numbers count, but with a team that is as competitive as the Scarecrows, the results were nothing to write home about.
 
The Crows ended the practice season with a dismal 1-6-0 record. There only win of the season was a 3-0 victory at Nevada in the final game. But as we stated before, these results don’t matter, only the standings at the end of the regular season are the ones that count. That still doesn’t mean the players and fans don’t want to know how their teams did, so here we go.

So as the saying goes, lets look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

To start with, the good….LW Alexa Johnson was the top goal scorer with 4 goals in the 7 games. The points leader was RW Scar Beasley with 2 goals and 4 assists to earn 6 points. Center James Madison ( 2 goals, 3 assists) and Center Supreme Dalek (1 goal and 4 assists) both earned 5 points for the team. The 5th highest point total was earned by LW Emile Dionne with 1 goal and 3 assists to earn 4 points in the 7 games. Goalie Evil Kyle Murray led the league with 234 saves, which is a reflection on the number of shots that the skaters allowed the opposition to take.

The bad, the things that just didn’t go well for the team. They ended the 7 games with a -21 goal difference, allowing the puck to find the back of the net 36 times. That number of goals allowed was the 3rd worst in the pre-season, only behind Nevada with 37 and San Diego with 38. The 15 goals scored was tied with Newfoundland and Yukon for the 2nd worst in the effort, better only than Carolina’s 10 goals scored.

The Scarecrows were not able to even be a factor in the top-10 of the tracked stats. The exceptions were Nathan Abel (tied for 1st in fights won with 1); RW Louis Belanger (1st for Forwards in Shots Blocked with 11); Supreme Dalek (tied for 2nd for Forwards with Shorthanded Goals with 1); and Jack Booth (3rd for Defenders with shots blocked at 29).  While the team is not looking for personal accolades, the success that is reflected in these rankings correspond to the success of the team on the ice and the lack of Scarecrows in those rankings sadly matched their lack of success on the ice.

Before moving on to the ugly…lets take a look at how the 3 new rookies did with their time on the ice. Left Defender Matthias spent most of the pre-season on the 2nd line, getting 149 minutes on the ice. Matthias scored 1 goal and had 1 assist. Matthias also had 5 blocks and 8 hits, earning game ratings of: offensive: 58; defensive: 69; for an average of 64. Fellow defender Ozzy Bradford played on the 1st line with 160 minutes on the ice. During that time the defender scored 1 goal and had 2 assists. He also had 6 blocks; 8 hits; an offensive rating of: 64; defensive rating of: 58; to give him an average rating of 62. David Van Housen spent 103 minutes on the ice, but unfortunately didn’t get any points during this time. He did however get 6 blocks and 8 hits while earning ratings of: offensive: 55; defensive: 65 and an average of 59. So all things considered, not a bad showing for the 3 new members of the squad.

Now, for the ugly…the reality is the defensive stats and the inability of the team to score is the ugliest part of the Scarecrows pre-season. No one can expect the team to win when they are only scoring an average of 2 goals a game while giving up an average of over 5 a game. No matter what else happens this season, if they team cannot close this ratio then the Scarecrows are going to have a very long season indeed.

However, the pre-season is just that, the pre-season. It is a chance to practice new lines and tactics. It is a time to move players around and see what combinations the team may use. It is just this…a glorified practice season. The Scarecrows are upbeat that the season will not be reflective of what they saw during this glorified practice time. If they continue to struggle, it will not be due to a lack of effort!

Now, let’s wipe the slate clean and start afresh as the Scarecrows look to repeat the glories of the past as they etch their names into St Louis lore.

Onward and upward we go!

Word Count: 800

Defender St Louis Scarecrows: S78-

Nice! Let's go Crows! We'll rebound when the games matter