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**leafsftw1967** · 06-29-2015, 09:25 PM

Why Not Us?- Review of the Toronto North Stars First Twenty Regular Season Games

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With the SHL regular season one third of the way through, one of the biggest surprises of the season has to be the play of the Toronto North Stars. The Stars began the offseason with a bang making a blockbuster trade with the New England Wolfpack which saw them acquire to respected veterans in Phil Schenn and Willie Weber in return for multiple future picks. The draft was another success for the North Stars as they selected some solid top tier prospects, most notably Beau Ballard. Things went downhill from there though as during the free agent period long standing captain and leader of the North Stars, Tom Sawyer left the team for greener pastures in Minnesota during free agency while the Torontoâ€™s young franchise defensemen Barney Stinson packed his bags preceding his entry level deal to take his talents to Manhattan. In addition, long serving first line defenseman Azriel Stryfe announced he will be retiring at seasons end along with Phil Schenn who signed a one year deal with the Toronto North Stars to retire in the blue and white where his career began. This made the weeks leading up to beginning of the training camp and preseason tough as the situation in Toronto was looking pretty bleak and everyone but the guys in the locker room were already counting the team out.

To begin the season many hockey analysts had Toronto finishing near the bottom of the standings once again. The North Stars have been viewed as the bottom feeders of the league for the past couple of seasons as they patiently went through a full rebuild. Both the fans and players had been patient with the process and the beginning of the season demonstrated the patience beginning to pay off. Heading into the new season the North Stars management were ready to begin a new era and have a new generation of superstars take over the reins and begin to emerge as the new leaders in Toronto.

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(Newly named captain Kristian Erikssonâ€™s cool, calm and collective leadership has steered Toronto in the right direction.)

As a team the North Stars are exceeding all expectations through the first twenty games into the regular season with an impressive record of thirteen wins, six losses and one overtime loss which has put them in not only in second spot in the eastern conference but in the entire SHL. Toronto has proven that not only can they be a playoff team but can compete with the powerhouses in the East with Manhattan and Minnesota in the quest for the Challenge Cup.

New leaders have emerged as the stars in Toronto with newly anointed captain Kristian Eriksson on pace for a career year averaging over a point a game so far this season with eight goals and thirteen points in twenty games. In addition, third year forward Pierre Luc Laflamme has really found his game this season earning a spot on the North Stars first line and helping contribute seven goals and elven assists in twenty games. Rounding off the dynamic duo is Chester Cunningham who has also been having a good start to the season tallying a respectable six goals and nine assists. Overall this line has been arguably one of the best in the league combining for an incredible fifty four points in twenty games.

This season the North Stars also have an unprecedented amount of rookies in the lineup and they are making their impact known. The youth movement in Toronto has also taken full effect with David Benson, Andrey Barbashev, Lukas Johnson, Luka Zaitsev and Nazar Nichushkin all contributing secondary scoring and strengthening the depth of the roster. Each of these players are in the top ten scoring for rookies and has allowed for the North Stars to rely on multiple lines on any given night to help get them the win.

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(The future of the Toronto North Stars- from left to right is Lukas Johnson, David Benson, Andrey Barbashev, Beau Ballard, Nazar Nichushkin)

One of the best feel good stories so far in Toronto has been the incredible play of sophomore goaltender Mark Harter. In only his second season in the SHL he is already beginning to establish himself as a top five goaltender in the league. After being named by the SHL as one of the three stars of week one (posting a .925 save percentage and a 1.96 goal against after in his first eight games), Harter has continued his great play being ranked in the top five for save percentage, goal against average and wins while playing the most minutes out of any goalie in the SHL. To think this is only Harterâ€™s second season in the pros and is still progressing indicates that he could potentially be the next elite goaltender of the SHL.

Another big success during the first part of the season has been Torontoâ€™s dynamic defensive core. Coming into the season the management of the Toronto North Stars gave a lot of responsibility to the teamâ€™s top four defensemen, giving them the task of carrying pretty much the entire load on the backend. Stryfe, Weber, Johnson and Scherbluk have all averaged just less than twenty four minutes a game thus far and are ranked one through four for minutes played on the North Stars roster. The huge minutes has not fazed this group but instead allowed them to flourish on the big stage. The top two pairings have helped provide a unique balance on the backend with Weber and Johnson being one of the primer shut down parings in the league while on the other hand Scherbluk and Stryfe have exploded offensively putting up ridiculous numbers. Wille Weber has been a hitting and shot blocking machine this season and so far has racked up sixty nine hits (good for seventh in the league) and has a team leading twenty five shots blocked in twenty games. As a rookie Lukas Johnson has been really effective in his own end as well having blocked twenty five shots and putting up thirty hits. This has arguably been one of the best second pairings in the league and will need to continue their strong defensive play in order for the success of the North Stars to continue.

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(Torontoâ€™s rugged defense has left many opponents frustrated by the end of the night.)

As a result of Weber and Johnsonâ€™s extremely strong play in their own end it has allowed the first pairing of Scherbluk and Stryfe to loosen the reins defensively and take a ton of chances offensively to create many quality scoring chances. So far Stryfe is on pace to have a career year averaging just under a point a game through the first third of the season racking up nineteen points in twenty games (which is good for fifth most points in the league by defensemen) while Scherbluk is on pace to break the single season scoring record for defensemen as he currently leads the entire league (including forwards) in points with twenty nine in just twenty games. Overall, the dynamic duo of Torontâ€™s top four has left opponents scrambling as the defensive core has kept opposing teams on their toes with the constant change of pace and style of play.

Last but not least, arguably the most important part to the Toronto North Stars resurgence this season has to be their overall efficiency of their special teams. The team has the most deadly power play in the entire league running at a rate of just under twenty four percent. Not only has the North Stars power play been extremely effective but the penalty kill has been just as good being ranked second in the league running at eighty eight percent, just under the Calgary Dragons (by less than one percent). Special teams has won the North Stars pretty much all their close games this season and will need to continue to shine in order to challenge for the cup.

Overall, the Stars have been the leagueâ€™s biggest surprise so far this season and this play has Toronto fans excited for what to come in the near future as the team sets their sights on winning the franchises first ever Challenge come. So while many people counted Toronto out before the season even started I now ask you the question why canâ€™t the Toronto North Stars win it all this season?

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(The Toronto North Stars salute their fans after their recent win against the West Kendal Platoon)

JNH · 06-29-2015, 09:33 PM

=D>

This is an uprising Stars

Feel bad for all the people who had Stars last in the East.

Merica · 06-29-2015, 09:38 PM

Toronto has definitely had a lot of improvement, a bright future indeed and could surprise in the playoffs.

And once you get Merica, that Cup is as good as yours.

Muerto · 06-29-2015, 09:44 PM

Reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs, planning parade routes in December. Still lots of games for y'all to lose, don't get your hopes up!

Toronto sucks, and the curse is forever!

JNH · 06-29-2015, 10:04 PM

Quote:Originally posted by KezKincaid@Jun 29 2015, 08:44 PM
Reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs, planning parade routes in December. Still lots of games for y'all to lose, don't get your hopes up!

Toronto sucks, and the curse is forever!

Shithawks trying to come @ us Smile

)

Zaitsev · 06-29-2015, 10:05 PM

Hey! We don't need that kind of negativity up in here!

Dmoushey_31 · 06-29-2015, 10:25 PM

certainly looking good!

Mook · 06-29-2015, 10:45 PM

Quote:Originally posted by KezKincaid@Jun 29 2015, 09:44 PM
Reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs, planning parade routes in December. Still lots of games for y'all to lose, don't get your hopes up!

Toronto sucks, and the curse is forever!

)

) Typical Toronto

Best of luck guys! If I can't lift 'er up, I'd be thrilled to see you guys do it

Jala · 06-29-2015, 10:51 PM

Quote:Originally posted by KezKincaid@Jun 29 2015, 05:44 PM
Reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs, planning parade routes in December. Still lots of games for y'all to lose, don't get your hopes up!

Toronto sucks, and the curse is forever!

Ruthless lol =D>

JNH · 06-29-2015, 11:07 PM

Quote:Originally posted by jaladolar@Jun 29 2015, 09:51 PM

Ruthless lol =D>

I was going to chirp you, but I'd feel bad because you've accomplished absolutely nothing over your career that would make you feel even remotely good about yourself =D>

Mook · 06-29-2015, 11:09 PM

Quote:Originally posted by JNH@Jun 29 2015, 11:07 PM

I was going to chirp you, but I'd feel bad because you've accomplished absolutely nothing over your career that would make you feel even remotely good about yourself =D>

Backdoor chirpssssss

RaiN · 06-29-2015, 11:12 PM

Quote:Originally posted by RaiN@Jun 23 2015, 01:58 PM
I hope we can keep this core here and continue to get stronger. I am 100% committed to Toronto, and I want to be a part of the roster that brings TO its first cup.

Why not us you know?   

Remember when I posted this in TO LR?

#WhyNotUs Stars

JNH · 06-29-2015, 11:13 PM

Quote:Originally posted by RaiN@Jun 29 2015, 10:12 PM

Remember when I posted this in TO LR?

#WhyNotUs 

easymoneysniper · 06-29-2015, 11:28 PM

If its not Texas then all means Stars

Mark H · 06-29-2015, 11:31 PM

Woohoo !

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