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SabresFan · 02-03-2022, 08:13 PM

Not so long ago, I wrote an article that briefly posed a question about the St. Louis Scarecrows becoming a failed franchise. At that time, we were losing every single game. One game saw us outshot 139 to 29 in terms of shots attempted. Even then, I pointed out that the team was building from the bottom up, with a highly motivated S64 class. Since that previous article, we have picked up a good coach, a couple more S64 UDFAs and made a trade for a class of S65 early second round pick. It’s time for an overview of our progress so far and to take a peek into the future without too much detail. A more detailed analysis of the status of the team can be done after the next SMJHL draft. So now, as the snowflakes fall outside the window of my apartment near St. Louis, the brewing winter storm is providing me with the quiet time for this reflection.

Every individual on our team and on our staff is important and does provide value. However, our greatest chance for improvement will come from the youngest members of our team. It is with that in mind that I’m starting with our S64 class. Rather than digging down into the skills and roles played by each of these players, I’m recognizing that a bottom feeding team such as ours needs improvement in all areas. Any improvement in any attribute will help us.

If the S64 class is the foundation of our team, then Outdoor Truck is the cornerstone of that foundation. Truck comes in tied for third in the latest scouting rankings in his class with 258 TPE. He is also a leader on the team already as an alternate captain and part of the war room in helping to work through trade offers. Truck is a highly motivated recreate who is positioned to help out newer members as well. His 258 TPE already ranks eighth on his team. At 258 TPE, he is approaching the point of being a truly viable player and will certainly be an above average SMJHL player by next season.

I’ll digress for a moment to point out that the role of a junior team should be player development rather than simply pulling together a stacked team in an effort to win a championship. In this regard, we Scarecrows are doing a good job for the league. Most of our S64 class are first timers. For someone like me, who has had a few cups of coffee in the SHL now, it’s a rewarding activity to mentor some of the rookies.

After Truck, our next S64 member is our starting goaltender, Joshua Corcoran Twitch at 245 TPE. Joshua stumbled ever so slightly out of the gate in his first SMJHL season, missing some small amount of training at the very beginning. He has learned how to navigate the SMJHL quickly and has hit his stride, moving from 25th to 22nd to 19th in the scouting rankings for his class. Even that 19th ranking is misleading since it is actually a tie for 16th with Evan Winter of the famous Winter lineage in the SHL. Considering other ties, the ranking is even higher. With a cluster of near top earning players, Joshua is only 13 TPE down from Outdoor Truck. Joshua is tracking to be a pillar of strength in the net for us in the near future.

Offensive defenseman Jayden Cloutier is what I would refer to as a talented underage player. I’ve personally played a mentoring role to him. One aspect of his development that I’m proud of is that he is right-sizing his investment in the SHL. It’s one aspect where the mentor might learn a little from the student. Cloutier has ranked consistently in the mid to late twenties in his draft class. It is still early. If his activity increases, Cloutier could make a run at an SHL career down the road. Even if he stays at this level, he can be a very good player in the SMJHL in time, learn the ropes and shoot for an SHL career for a player yet to come. Those decisions can be made at the right time. There are forks in the road before then. At the least, I expect Cloutier to be an effective quarterback on our team in the coming seasons.

There are three more members of the S64 class including Matt Tress and the two recently acquired UDFAs, Michael Myers and Talan Bacalso. All three of these players are rumored to be training, yet are shown in the draft tracker as still at 155 TPE. Tress is worth his weight in gold as a coach. The results were immediate when he started working with the team. We were not outshot as badly, he got us to reduce our turnovers somewhat, and we have even won a few games. I can confirm that Myers is engaged in training and should read out soon as 184 TPE or higher. I’m not sure what is happening with the Bacalso and Tress as a player at the moment, but as a cohort this S64 class should help improve our performance over time.

Looking into the S65 class, St Louis holds its own first round pick and three early second round picks. This should help add to the growing active base on the team. Of the seven players above Outdoor Truck in TPE, we expect to lose one at the end of the season due to him playing out his eligibility. We could potentially lose one more via trade, but would expect to get fair value in return.

As a team, we are generally enjoying ourselves through a losing season and showing signs of improvement. With the activity of the team on the increase, the Crows will be feeding the SHL with fresh talent for many seasons to come.