THE FALCON'S WING

Hello everyone, and welcome to The Falcon's Wing - a weekly review of the Falcons' season, taking a look at the week that was and the week that will be. I know what you're all thinking, "isn't The Falcon's Wing published on Mondays?" Well, you're right. However since we're nearing the end of the season that means we're going to be having issues come out on some odd days in the coming weeks in order to cover everything we want to cover (such as the end of the regular season, the playoffs, and the draft) so we moved our weekly publication up a day!

Today we'll be taking a look at the last fourteen games the Falcons have played, and where they stack up against the other members of the SMJHL.

Then we'll move onwards and grade the Falcons performance this season in our Falcon's Report Card!

And then we'll be looking at the performance of the Falcons' High Flyer of the week!

This edition of the Falcons' Wing is guaranteed to have lots of penalty minutes - and not just by Brandon Girard this time!

Now, let's get things started with the Falcons' week in review!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Games 35-47

The Falcons were red hot this week, going 7-3-3, Good enough for seventeen points out of a possible twenty-six. It was an absolutely stellar performance, and one that will hopefully continue through the rest of the SMJHL season.

GAME THIRTY FIVE: Every week seems to start the exact same way. The Falcons and the Whalers face off against each other, and seem to always play to the same result. Falcons fans knew what was going to happen before the puck was even dropped, and that was reflected by one of the lightest crowds of the season, with the crowd split about down the middle between Falcons and Whalers. The game took a while to get started, with both teams putting a few shots on goal but not really willing to play a wide open game until Andre Martushev went to the box for tripping at 12:58. It took only four seconds for Beau Ballard to pass the puck back to Jordan Uptuck and for him to give it to VLAD McZehrl for the game's first goal. Twenty two seconds later, we saw the Falcons' response - the Whalers were allowed to skate right up the middle of the ice, and this time it was Jordan Uptuck who finished on the play, with McZehrl and Fife Gibbs picking up the assists. The Falcons could only muster enough energy for one goal in response, when Alex Mack buried his twelfth from Bjorn Knutsen and captain Brandon GIrard halfway through the second, and the game ended 2-1.

The biggest problem for the Falcons in this game was penalties. While the team was strong on the penalty kill, only allowing one goal, they were horribly undisciplined, with players taking the skate of shame seven different times. Andre Martushev and Bjorn Knutsen each picked up two penalties in the game. The Falcons were unsuccessful on their two powerplay attempts. Lee Bowden had a standout performance yet again, turning away twenty eight of thirty shots in the loss.

GAME THIRTY SIX: Back to Vancouver we go, with the Falcons looking to somehow find a way to beat the Whalers, and the Whalers looking to continue their surprising domination of the Falcons this season. The Whalers were out for blood, and looking to score first in front of the sold-out crowd, but it was not them who would score first. Instead, just over four minutes into the game, it was rookie Michael Burch who would snipe one past the goaltender, Erik Lundqvist. It only took the Whalers two minutes to respond, as Colin Wood was the one to find the back of the net next. His third found its way behind Lee Bowden after the setup by Jack Durden, and the score was all knotted up at one. Some time later we had a role reversal from the last game, when VLAD McZehrl was the one to skate to the box when the referees called him for a hook. It took only twelve seconds for defenseman Bastien Salabanzi to put away his fourth of the year, and Michael Burch picked up his second point of the night with an assist. The period ended this way, with the Falcons up by a goal.
Period two was much different than the first. While the Falcons had dominated the first, outshooting the Whalers 13-6, it was the Whalers who would dominate the second. They came out quickly, with VLAD McZehrl making up for that earlier penalty by scoring his fourteenth, quite fittingly fourteen seconds into the period. Six minutes later, Paska Jakatis picked up his lone goal of the year when Hoover’s pass set him up perfectly to beat Lee Bowden. Yorgen Bartenberry went to the box towards the end of the period for roughing up Zack Hoover, and Colin Wood took advantage scoring his second of the night, again with assists going to Jack Durden and Patrikov Bure – that trio was just having a great night. This is where we said goodbye to Lee Bowden, and hello to rookie Austin Lemieux, who stepped in and finished the game perfect on ten shots. The Falcons added one more goal in the third period, Bjorn Knutsen from Alex Mack and Shayne Gow, but that was it for the night as the Falcons dropped two straight in regulation to the Whalers.

:impact: GAME THIRTY SEVEN: Like the Whalers, the Montreal Impact are another team that seem to give the Falcons a run for their money every time the two play. The Impact opened the scoring, when Michael Gerrard scored his fifth of the year with an assist going to Devon Mack just a minute and a half into the period. This was followed up rather quickly by Sage Tanner, when he took Bobby Trill’s pass and fired it behind Lee Bowden to put the Impact up 2-0 less than five minutes into the game. Kaapo Kekkonen responded for the Falcons, scoring his sixteenth from Andre Martushev at the six and a half minute mark, to make the game 2-1 with three goals scored in quick succession. There was a lull in the action for a while until Adam Falk scored his eleventh of the year, almost fourteen minutes into the game, followed by Clive Stonehands picking one up for the Falcons twenty two seconds later, and we went into the second period with the score still at 3-2 in favor of L’Impact. Onto the second we go, where the game was proceeding slowly until Brandon Girard took a holding penalty twelve minutes into the period. This didn’t turn into anything, but at least it was Girard acting in the way we’ve come to expect from him this season. In fact, it was the Falcons who scored the game’s next goal, when Elvis Libra buried his ninth of the year sixteen and a half minutes into the period to tie the game at three. And at three it remained after three, despite three penalties going to the Impact, currently in the standings at spot three, through three periods of play. Not saying that the Impact are the illuminati, but that’s a lot of threes to just be a coincidence. In overtime, the Falcons were the only team to take any shots – three to be exact, but with no goals we went on to the shootout. Alex Mack, Ray Pejonis, and Bastien Salabanzi all missed the net on their attempts for the Falcons. Shane O’Ferghall, Buster Killington, and Evandrus Jesster, on the other hand, all managed to put their shots on goal for the Impact. Bowden was almost perfect, stopping O’Ferghall and Jesster, but Killington’s tally was enough to give Montreal the victory – L’Impact 4-Detroit 3, final score in the shootout. Neither team scored on the powerplay, with Montreal failing on five attempts and Detroit failing on four.

GAME THIRTY EIGHT: You know how the Falcons can’t get anything done against the last-place Whalers? Well how about a team that can’t get anything done against the Falcons? That’s what the St. Louis Scarecrows are being forced to deal with here. Right out of the gates came the Falcons, with Tyson Apostol picking up his first goal of the year with assists going to Ross Burke and Bastien Salabanzi just two minutes into the period. At the other end of the period, the Falcons picked up their second of the game, when Barney Tuzis scored his eleventh from Kaapo Kekkonen with two minutes remaining in the period. In the second, the Falcons quickly extended their lead. Jasper Clayton took the puck at the point, passed it up to Elvis Libra whose cross-ice pass found Yorgen Bartenberry waiting there for the goal – his seventh of the year eight minutes into the game. Thirty seconds later Tim Tebow took a shot that looked better than any spiral he’s ever thrown, and he scored his second of the year with assists to Michael Burch and Barney Tuzis. Three minutes later William Hendrickson received a five minute major and a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct when he punched Tim Tebow in the back of the head. On the ensuing powerplay, Bastien Salabanzi found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season. Alex Mack and Bjorn Knutsen picked up the powerplay assists. In the third period, it looked like the Falcons were going to skate away with the easy shutout victory, but it wasn’t to be. Anton Federov scored his eleventh of the year from Nick Leier with ten seconds to go in the period. The Falcons took home their 5-1 victory backed by a shot margin of 41-16.

GAME THIRTY NINE: The Falcons came out of the gates fast and hot in this game, putting up eleven shots on goal to the Firebirds’ six in the opening period. Despite some discipline problems on the part of Rick Chleb, who took two penalties – one for holding and one for hooking – there were no goals scored as a result of this dominating play. In the second period, the Falcons again dominated the pace of play, taking seven shots to the Firebirds’ three. As in the first period, the only two penalties went to Prince George, specifically to Travis “Kudles” Kudleychuk for tripping and Sparks Lightning for slashing, but yet again nothing was to come of the ensuing powerplays. In the third period, the shots told a similar story – going fifteen to six in favor of Detroit, but it was Detroit who took the period’s first penalty, going to Alex Mack for tripping. Patrick Brumm answered the call, and scored the game’s first goal – his fourteenth – almost three minutes into the third. Detroit quickly responded, as the reunited pairing of Kaapo Kekkonen and Ray Pejonis teamed up for the tying goal at the five minute mark. Elvis Libra followed their lead, and scored his tenth of the season with seven minutes to go in the game to put the Falcons up by one. This lead didn’t last, however, as Cynthia Taylor took the pass from Luke Fleming to tie the game back up with three and a half minutes to go. This tie held until the shootout, where the first three shooters saw goals from only Mirko Antonio Scuderi and Bastien Salabanzi, with the other shooters being turned aside by goaltenders Kyle Prince and Austin Lemieux. The fifth shooter for the Prince George Firebirds, Luke Fleming, was the next to score, but Jasper Clayton responded on his attempt and put us to the sixth shooters, Sparks Lightning and Ray Pejonis, each of whom scored on their attempts. The seventh shooter for the Firebirds, ZzJack’s Robot Milan, scored for the Firebirds, and Allan Stewart was unable to respond for the Falcons as Kyle Prince turned him aside. The Falcons fell 3-2 despite out shooting their opponents from Prince George 36-15.

GAME FORTY: The St. Louis Scarecrows came into Detroit looking to at least get a point against the Detroit Falcons – they hadn’t won a game against them all year, and had only managed to take one game (the first one) into overtime. Not a very good record in any respect. Well, it didn’t start out looking like things were going to change here. Right out of the gates, the Falcons scored the first goal. Thirty seven seconds in, Jasper Clayton moved the puck up to Elvis Libra who gave it to Ray Pejonis for the game’s first goal. The second came ten seconds later, as Yorgen Bartenberry passed it to Tim Tebow who gave it to Barney Tuzis who faked the shot, then fired it behind Nikita Nevzorov for his twelfth of the year. Late in the period, Derek Underscore took a trip to the box after he tripped Kaapo Kekkonen, and Bastien Salabanzi took advantage by scoring his sixth of the year from Barney Tuzis and Brandon Girard to give the Falcons the three goal lead after twenty minutes of play. Just a minute into the second, The Carl Mountain took a trip to the box after he hooked Jasper Clayton, and Kaapo Kekkonen scored his eighteenth on the setup from Ray Pejonis exactly two minutes into the second period. It didn’t take the Scarecrows long to respond after this one, as Nick Leier scored his ninth from Derek Underscore and McLaren Nasher twenty seconds later. About a minute after the goal, Brandon Girard decided he was tired from skating up and down the ice for so long, so he decided to try and get someone to fight with him. He found a willing partner in The Carl Mountain, and the two scrapped in a relatively short fight, as Mountain quickly lost his balance and the two fell to the ice. Seven and a half minutes into the period, the Scarecrows were able to capitalize again, as Damien Wert scored his nineteenth from Mitchell Dambach and Robb Wind. Into the third we went, with the score at four goals to two in favor of the high-flying Falcons. Michael Burch picked up his tenth of the year, with assists from Bjorn Knutsen and Brandon Girard just a minute and a half into the period. Ray Pejonis added his fifteenth of the year six minutes later to make the lead four goals. The offense still wasn’t done, however, until Andre Martushev added his second goal of the year at the twelve minute mark. Damien Wert would add one more for the Scarecrows with two and a half to go, but that would do it. Shots were forty five to twenty three as the Falcons stomped the Scarecrows by a score of seven to three.

GAME FORTY ONE: The Falcons looked to start a win streak by winning their second game in a row, but the dangerous Vancouver Whalers stood in their path. Things started well for the Falcons, as Bjorn Knutsen picked up his twenty third of the season from Alex Mack and Michael Burch just forty three seconds into the game. Not long after that, Yorgen Bartenberry was thrown out of the game after spearing defenseman Colin Wood in frustration. Immediately after the ensuing faceoff, Brandon Girard stepped in to answer for the play of his teammate, and dropped the gloves against Jordan Uptuck. Unfortunately for Girard, he never did get a good hold on Uptuck’s jersey. All Girard could do was hold on as Uptuck wailed away at him, throwing punch after punch, each one bouncing off the defenseless defenseman’s head. Finally, after about fifteen seconds of this slaughter, the referees stepped in to break things up. The hometown Whalers fans gave their player a standing ovation for standing up for his teammate. The Whalers would score about a minute later, as Fife Gibbs picked up his seventh of the year during the five-minute powerplay. The Falcons didn’t sit back and wait for the man advantage to expire though, and Alex Mack picked up the shorthanded tally three minutes into the period. Kaapo Kekkonen would score his nineteenth of the season from Ray Pejonis and Jasper Clayton on the powerplay to end the period with the Falcons up 3-1 – a rare good start for the Falcons against Vancouver. Of course, the second went very differently. Ray Pejonis took an early hooking penalty, and Jordan Uptuck capitalized with his ninth of the year from Patrikov Bure and Geoffrey Allen. Andre Martushev immediately took a hooking call himself, and Uptuck again capitalized, this time from Zack Hoover and Beau Ballard. Six minutes later, VLAD McZehrl scored his seventeenth of the year, to give the Whalers the one-goal lead. But this lead was short lived, when Kaapo Kekkonen crossed the twenty-goal plateau with four and a half minutes to go in the period. The game moved on to overtime, tied at four, but it didn’t take all that long for us to find our winner. Rostislav Pirozhkov took the cross-ice feed from Sergei Volchenkov, and just forty one seconds into overtime it was all over.

GAME FORTY TWO: Things moved back to Detroit now, as Falcons fans were just happy that they had no more games remaining against the Whalers after tonight. Fans were surprised at the start on behalf of the Falcons – they took a shot a minute in the first period, putting up twenty to the Whalers’ seven. And their persistence most definitely paid off – Yorgen Bartenberry scored his eighth of the year from Andre Martushev and Brandon Girard at the three minute mark to open the scoring. Six minutes later, Alex Mack put away his fourteenth tally of the year from Bjorn Knutsen and Bastien Salabanzi. At the thirteen minute mark, Kaapo Kekkonen scored number twenty one from Ray Pejonis and Tim Tebow, and he added another on the powerplay a minute and a half later from Pejonis and Barney Tuzis. In the second period, Beau Ballard scored the Whaler’s first goal, his eighth from Jordan Uptuck and VLAD McZehrl at the four minute mark. Jack Durden would add one more, from Patrikov Bure and Colin Wood with three and a half to go, and the Falcons defeated the Whalers for the only time this week. The season series ended with the Falcons going .500 – 5-3-2 in ten games.

GAME FORTY THREE: The Scarecrows came back to Detroit, desperate to find some way to finally win a game against them. Both teams took a defense-first shut down approach after the puck drop, with the Falcons taking only six shots, and St. Louis taking seven. Damien Wert found the back of the net first, with assists from Winston Windsor and Robb Wind at the eight minute mark. That was the only goal of the opening period, so the Scarecrows went into the second with a glimmer of hope – could this finally be the day that they exact their revenge on the Falcons after failing over and over and over again for the past six games? No. The Scarecrows were still scrubs. Bjorn Knutsen scored on the powerplay for his twenty fourth of the season, with Bastien Salabanzi and Alex Mack providing the assists. Anton Federov responded for the Scarecrows just four and a half minutes later on a Scarecrows powerplay with Andre Martushev in the box, but it was Brandon Girard who would tie it back up just a minute later on the powerplay from Bjorn Knutsen and Alex Mack. We entered the third period with the score knotted up at two apiece, until Barney Tuzis took advantage of a John Wick hooking penalty and scored his thirteenth of the year just a minute and a half into the third. Bjorn Knutsen followed that one up with a powerplay goal of his own at the three minute mark, with assists going to Alex Mack and Michael Burch. The Falcons won it 4-2, with Austin Lemieux making twenty seven saves in the loss.

GAME FORTY FOUR: The season series returned to St. Louis, with the Scarecrows still looking to actually have a game where they show up against the Falcons. The Carl Mountain got things started quickly for the Scarecrows, giving them the 1-0 lead on the powerplay just four and a half in. Kaapo Kekkonen responded at the eight minute mark, putting up number twenty-three from Tim Tebow and Ray Pejonis. Brandon Girard scored number twelve, from Ray Pejonis and goaltender Austin Lemieux at the ten minute mark, while Mitchell Dambach was in the box for St. Louis. Pal Vikingstod went to the box early in the second period, and Ray Pejonis capitalized at the six minute mark with assists going to Brandon Girard and Kaapo Kekkonen. Yorgen Bartenberry added his ninth goal of the season at the thirteen minute mark to make the score 4-1 Falcons after two. The Scarecrows struck quickly in the third, with Winston Windsor picking up his fourth from Damien Wert and Robb Wind just fifteen seconds into the period. But when Pal Vikingstod went to the box for tripping, Elvis Libra made it 5-1. The final goal of the game came off the stick of Bastien Salabanzi, who buried his seventh from Ray Pejonis and Kappo Kekkonen with three minutes to go. The Falcons’ special teams looked really strong tonight, going three of four on the penalty kill, and an impressive three of seven on the powerplay.

:impact: GAME FORTY FIVE: Detroit traveled to Montreal to face L’Impact in their next game. While the Falcons dominated play in the first period, taking fifteen shots to the Impact’s five, it was the Impact who got on the board first. Andris Burkss fed the puck across to Sage Tanner, and Devon Mack buried his fourth of the year at the six and a half minute mark. The Impact quickly scored again, as Lord Pretty Flacko picked up his eleventh from Adam Falk and Klaus Wagner at seven minutes. Barney Tuzis scored his fourteenth for the Falcons, with the lone assist going to Jasper Clayton at the thirteen minute mark, and we ended the first with the score 2-1 Impact. The second was relatively uneventful, seeing only a penalty to Montreal’s Alexander Wolff for roughing. The third period was all Bjorn Knutsen, all the time. The Falcons’ forward picked up his twenty sixth and twenty seventh goals of the year, one of which was on the powerplay, and the Falcons won this one 3-2.

GAME FORTY SIX: It was the Prince George Firebirds who got on the board first here. With Kaapo Kekkonen in the box, the Firebirds capitalized when Kyle Prince fired the puck up to Mario Nyquist and Mirko Antonio Scuderi, and on the two-on-one opportunity Scuderi put the puck away for his twenty second of the year on the powerplay. In the second period, seven minutes in it was Bjorn Knutsen who found the back of the net, with assists from Alex Mack and Michael Burch to tie the game at one. Just two minutes later, Sum Ting Wong scored his sixteenth of the year from Luke Fleming and Jacques Ford at the nine minute mark. In the third period, Prince George Firebirds’ Leon Webb made the lead two when he buried his eleventh of the year two minutes in from Luke Fleming. The Falcons’ Alex Mack picked up the final tally of the game from Bjorn Knutsen and Michael Burch to make it 3-2, but that was all she wrote as the Falcons dropped this one to the Firebirds to snap a four game winning streak.

GAME FORTY SEVEN: The final game of the week was held in Detroit, between the Falcons and the Scarecrows. Yet again, the Falcons dominated play in the opening period, putting up thirteen shots while the Scarecrows barely managed to put up three. Barney Tuzis scored the game’s opening goal eight and a half minutes in on the powerplay from Tim Tebow and Jasper Clayton. Eight minutes later it was Bjorn Knutsen, bringing himself up to twenty nine goals with assists going to Alex Mack and Jasper Clayton. Thirty seconds later add a tally to Yorgen Bartenberry, as he scored his tenth from Brandon Girard and Barney Tuzis to put the Falcons up three to nothing. The second period looked a little more even, as the Scarecrows managed to put up seven shots against ten by the Falcons. Anton Federov scored his eighteenth of the year from Derek Underscore and Mitchell Dambach at the thirteen minute mark on the powerplay, and Naeem Chamas added his fourth shorthanded with Mitchell Dambach in the box. In the third, Bjorn Knutsen picked up his second goal of the game, which was enough to put him up over the 30 goal mark. Jasper Clayton added a second tally, his sixth goal of the season, for the Falcons on the powerplay (a five-minute powerplay resulting from an unsportsmanlike major to Johnny Cahill). Alex Mack added a second tally for the Falcons on that same powerplay, his sixteenth of the year. Damien Wert was able to answer for the Scarecrows, but Elvis Libra made that a moot point by picking up his twelfth of the year. The Falcons continued their utter domination of the Scarecrows, winning this one 7-3 and outshooting the Scarecrows 35-19.

SMJHL STANDINGS
Through 47 Games

1. Detroit Falcons 27-13-7 (Last Week: 3rd, 7-3-3)

All year the Falcons have been chasing after first place, right behind the Scarecrows just waiting for their moment to sit atop the league and look down upon everyone else below them. Well now it’s finally their chance. The Falcons looked great all week, firing from all cylinders. Some minor shake-ups to the lines, most notably resulting in putting Ray Pejonis and Kaapo Kekkonen back together, have done wonders for the team. Whether it’s the confidence of a team that has done well all year finally clicking perfectly, or just that extra push you get at the end of the year when you realize that playoffs are right around the corner, the Falcons have really given it their all this week. A superb effort all around, by the forwards, the defense, and the goaltenders to pull the team up to the position where they sit today – and they position they hope to sit in when the regular season comes to a close in the next few days.

2. St. Louis Scarecrows 28-18-2 (Last Week: 3rd, 8-8-0)

Just like we said last week. The Scarecrows just weren’t playing anywhere near as well as they had been the last few weeks. Take out their goaltender, and suddenly they start to struggle. They’re a team that was being carried by one player, and it’s really starting to show now. There’s a slim, but still possible, chance that this team might not even hold on to second in the league if this is the way that they keep playing. With very little time left in the season, time may be on their side right now. There’s no way they would be able to hold on if the season went much longer, and it’s doubtful that we’ll see them go very far in the playoffs. But hey, who knows – there’s still a lot of hockey left, and anything could happen.

3. Kelowna Knights 24-18-5 (Last Week: 4th, 9-6-0)

This is probably the biggest surprise on the board this week. For the first time all season, a team in the Western Conference has managed to jump up into the top three in the league standings. And what team deserves it more than the Knights? A powerhouse team led by Randy Randleman and Adam Abodobe, the Knights have been strong all year long, and quickly emerged as the top team in the conference. They’ve done rather well for themselves in many categories, including being the best team in the league on the powerplay with an almost 30% conversion rate, and second best in the league on the penalty kill at 80%. This is a team you can expect to win the West with ease, and definitely contest for the Four Star cup at the end of the season.

4. :impact: Montreal Impact 23-20-4 (Last Week: 4th, 4-9-2)

This is a bit of a surprise. It’s hard to say what happened to the Impact in the past week. They’re a really strong team, and there’s no reason they should’ve posted only four wins in fifteen games. The biggest thing all year has been the team’s issues with shooting. They’ve consistently put up a really bad shot differential, with the least shots taken and the most shots against in the entirety of the SMJHL. But it’s hard to believe that it would have taken this long to finally catch up with them. Even so, it’s a problem that they need to fix before the season ends – they probably should play a more wide open game so that they can get more shots on their opponents, even if it means giving up a few more shots on their own goal. While it won’t be the greatest help to the team’s shot differential, it might help their confidence if they can start putting up greater goal numbers.

5. Prince George Firebirds 21-19-7 (Last Week: 5th, 6-6-3)

The Firebirds had another okay week. They didn’t do great, but it wasn’t the worst week they’ve ever had. They’ve been a great defensive team all year, with one of the lowest shots against, but unfortunately they haven’t been able to follow that up with a strong offensive performance, putting up the second lowest total of shots for. This most likely contributed to their poor showing this season, as they’re backed up by one of the best goaltenders in the league in Kyle Prince. Hopefully the team can turn things around in coming seasons.

6. Vancouver Whalers 19-26-3 (Last Week: 6th, 10-5-1)

I have nothing to say. Honestly. Would you like to explain to me what happened to the Whalers this week? Rather than blowing it up and starting over, the front office staff of the Whalers sat back and did nothing at the trade deadline. They didn’t move a single growing player, and have no additional assets to try and turn things around in coming seasons. It’s like tanking a team but forgetting to start the rebuild. They still sit eight points back of fifth place Prince George, and there’s (almost) no possible way for the team to end up in any place but last. Yet now they’re starting to play like a team that might actually have a decent performance in the playoffs. Who knows what’s going to happen here, it’s impossible to say really. But at this point, with the way the team is built it’s looking like they’re still trying to win now rather than trying to win later.

FALCONS REPORT CARD
Through 47 Games

SCORING: A+

177. That seems like a nice number, doesn’t it? Well, do you know what that number represents? It’s the number of goals the Falcons have scored thus far this season. That’s eleven more goals than the Kelowna who sit right behind them. That’s 3.77 goals per game, .24 more than the Knights. The Falcons have taken an average of 30.30 shots per game, 4 more than Vancouver Whalers who sit right behind them in that category. Really, the only place where the team should try and do some work is in the faceoff circle, where team currently sits at just a hair below .500. A few more faceoff wins would be nice to help the team both offensively and defensively, but we’re putting this under scoring since it’s the responsibility of the forwards to work on this. But in the end, a hair below .500 is good enough that you’re in a position to win every night.

DEFENSE: A+

Defensively, there’s nobody better. The Falcons have allowed an average of 2.94 goals against per game, and only 24.94 shots against per game. Both of those numbers are top of the league right now. 138 goals is all they’ve allowed this season, eleven less than the Kelowna Knights who sit in second in that regard. All in all these are good numbers, which show that the goaltenders are not being forced to do all the work – they’re getting a good amount of help from the players in front of them as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

Hey look, the Falcons finally have a decent penalty kill! Most likely helped by the fact that top penalty killer Brandon Girard has slowed slightly in his recent pace of taking every penalty known to man and a few that the referees have made up just to get him off the ice, the team has posted a decently average 77.31% on the penalty kill. The powerplay has still be struggling, however. They’ve posted a 20.88% conversion rate, but they’ve been doing better in that regard. It’s clear that the units are starting to gel a little bit more, and it’s paying off. They’re still not doing well by any means, but at least they’re doing better. And that’s how things have to start – you have to get better befre you can get good.

GOALTENDING: A+

It always feels weird to write about the goaltenders. There’s nothing bad to say, and just complimenting them without end seems pointless. But whatever, I’ll keep on doing that and prove that the stats back me up. Austin Lemieux is currently third in the league with a 2.92 Goals Against Average. He’s also faced the sixth most shots in the league – 590, for those of you keeping track at home – in the fifth most minutes played – 1,481. “What about wins?” you might be thinking. Well he’s got thirteen of them in his twenty six starts – that’s seventh in the league. And you can’t beat this guy with a penalty shot either – he’s got a .615 save percentage on thirteen penalty shot attempts. Let’s flip over now Lee Bowden, just in case you thought you might have it easier with the Falcons’ other goaltender. Well Bowden’s seen two less games than Austin Lemieux, at twenty four, but he’s managed to pick up fourteen wins – fifth most in the league. He’s played 1,384 minutes this season, putting him at seventh in the league, and has faced 582 shots, eight less than Lemieux, for seventh in the league. And you can’t beat this guy with a penalty shot either – he’s got a .611 save percentage on penalty shots alone – and that’s despite having faced eighteen of them! These guys are unstoppable, and anyone trying to beat the Falcons are going to have a hard time getting pucks past these two.

OVERALL: A+

First of all, have you seen the top ten in plus/minus? If you haven’t:

Code:

1 Brandon Girard (DET) - 20
2 Ray Pejonis (DET) - 19
3 Bjorn Knutsen (DET) - 18
4 Alex Mack (DET) - 17
5 Shayne Gow (DET) - 16
6 Bastien Salabanzi (DET) - 16
7 Tim Tebow (DET) - 13
8 Elvis Libra (DET) - 13
9 Kristjan Vilhjalmsson (KEL) - 13
10 Yorgen Bartenberry (DET) - 12

Yeah. Nine out of the top ten are Falcons.

And that’s not where the domination stops. We’ve already talked about their domination of the offensive and defensive aspects of the game, but now let’s put the two together. Goal differential – one of only teams to still have a positive goal differential, and it isn’t even close – the Falcons are at +39, twenty two more than the Kelowna Knights, the only other team with a positive differential. The Falcons also have 21.5% more shots for than shots against in any given game. Pretty impressive, especially considering that only two other teams are at or above even, and neither team is more than 1% above even. Add to that the fact that the Falcons managed to snag first in the league this week and that they still haven’t lost to the St. Louis Scarecrows, I’m willing to give the team an A+ this week despite some powerplay struggles which seem to be slowly resolving themselves.

FALCONS HIGH FLYER OF THE WEEK
Michael Burch

This was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make for the high flyer of the week. Burch has had an amazing season that has gone highly unrecognized by those outside the Falcons. But this is a rookie who started the season on the third line, slowly worked his way up to the second line, and is now playing up on the first line with some of the top players in the SMJHL. He’s first on the team in rookie scoring, with ten goals and twenty assists for thirty points. He’s also been great on the powerplay, with two goals and six assists for eight points there. And he’s no defensive liability, sporting a nice +9 on the season. Michael Burch is probably going to go somewhere in the first round of the S25 SHL draft, and he’ll make an amazing addition to whatever team is lucky enough to draft him.

Thank you for stopping by and reading The Falcon's Wing!

WHOOSH

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Code:

6,314 Words

ISSUE #1

ISSUE #2

ISSUE #3

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This edition of the Falcons' Wing is guaranteed to have lots of penalty minutes - and not just by Brandon Girard this time!

) Clayton, you are becoming a Falcon legend! Keep this up!

Player Page - Update Thread
[S70] - Alekss Ivanova - [NBB|MIN] - 499 TPE

Name: Alekss "Nova" Ivanova
Birthplace: Ventspils, Latvia
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 205
Number: 28
------------------------------------------------------------
[S69] Claimed off waivers by GFG
[S69] Traded to NBB
[S70] Drafted 31st Overall by MIN
------------------------------------------------------------
Career Accomplishments:
------------------------------------------------------------
Career Statistics:
SMJHL Regular Season:
[S69] GP:66|G:17|A:23|P:40|+/-:-16|PIM:12|FO:49.9%
------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by rfbeaudry@Jul 12 2015, 05:00 PM


) Clayton, you are becoming a Falcon legend! Keep this up!

It works out rather nicely. I'm guaranteed at least $5M per week if I keep doing these, sometimes more as was the case this week and last week, and the Falcons get a lot of positive media out there. It's a win/win for both myself and the team.

Going to be one more issue this week, probably on Thursday. Planning to tie together the regular season wrap-up with the last few games of the season because there aren't many of them and it makes more sense to have one long issue rather than two short issues.

After that I'll be done with these until the playoffs are over, where I'll do a wrap-up of the entire post-season, followed by an S25 draft preview of all of the draft-eligible Falcons.

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I love this! I may have to steal this idea for the Platoon next season.

Originally posted by Eggy216@Jul 12 2015, 05:05 PM


It works out rather nicely. I'm guaranteed at least $5M per week if I keep doing these, sometimes more as was the case this week and last week, and the Falcons get a lot of positive media out there. It's a win/win for both myself and the team.

Going to be one more issue this week, probably on Thursday. Planning to tie together the regular season wrap-up with the last few games of the season because there aren't many of them and it makes more sense to have one long issue rather than two short issues.

After that I'll be done with these until the playoffs are over, where I'll do a wrap-up of the entire post-season, followed by an S25 draft preview of all of the draft-eligible Falcons.

Sounds good, looking forward to it! You should include unofficial Falcon awards as well. i.e. "Most Improved", "Team MVP" and things along those lines! Hell we could even vote on them as a team in the LR! :lol:

Player Page - Update Thread
[S70] - Alekss Ivanova - [NBB|MIN] - 499 TPE

Name: Alekss "Nova" Ivanova
Birthplace: Ventspils, Latvia
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 205
Number: 28
------------------------------------------------------------
[S69] Claimed off waivers by GFG
[S69] Traded to NBB
[S70] Drafted 31st Overall by MIN
------------------------------------------------------------
Career Accomplishments:
------------------------------------------------------------
Career Statistics:
SMJHL Regular Season:
[S69] GP:66|G:17|A:23|P:40|+/-:-16|PIM:12|FO:49.9%
------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by rfbeaudry@Jul 12 2015, 05:10 PM


Sounds good, looking forward to it! You should include unofficial Falcon awards as well. i.e. "Most Improved", "Team MVP" and things along those lines! Hell we could even vote on them as a team in the LR!  :lol:

I really like this idea, and I'm totally going to do it. We'll figure out the logistics as a team, and I'll include them in Thursday's edition.

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Originally posted by Schmidt@Jul 12 2015, 05:07 PM
I love this! I may have to steal this idea for the Platoon next season.

Go right ahead! Would love to see more articles like this one!

Besides, I got the original idea from Girard with his Flacon's Flyer, I just made mine longer and a weekly segment rather than just a pre-season analysis of all the players.

But yeah, it's a lot of fun to write, I just go back into my last issue, hit edit, copy everything so I don't have to worry about the formatting again and it all looks the same from week to week, and then I go back and look at the index to see what happened in the past week.

Some weeks I have the team give me their suggestions for the MVP of the week, other weeks (like this one) I have someone in mind and I just run with it.

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=D>

Originally posted by Mook@Jul 12 2015, 05:24 PM
=D>

Don't you have a message to be answering?

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Absolutely brilliant. Good job. =D>

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(RETIRED) D - Fernando Pergher

Originally posted by Ferdy@Jul 12 2015, 05:34 PM
Absolutely brilliant. Good job. =D>

Thank you! >:D<

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