<div align="center">Killing It
On the Buzz saw's Impact at Montreal
SMJHL.com 22 July


The Buzz saw has been Killing it in S24.

Montreal is a city known for many things: it is a city with a rich heritage, a unique culture, a plethora of heavy metal bands, and the always exciting Formula One Grand Prix held at its Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It's also known for poutine and ice hockey, boasting NHL giants and 24 time Stanley Cup champions the Montreal Canadiens, as well as SMJHL side the Montreal Impact. Lately it has become known for something else: a popular SHL and SMJHL podcast, and brutality incarnate on skates, both of which can be attributed to one Buster 'Buzz' Killington.

Killington was drafted 14th overall in the S23 SMJHL Draft, and enjoyed a solid if unremarkable first season in the league. His performances were nevertheless good enough for the Briton to be drafted 8th overall in the S24 SHL Entry Draft by the New England Wolfpack, who promptly sent the young power forward back to the SMJHL to continue his development. This season saw Killington rack up over 1,000 minutes on the ice during the regular season, and his 40 point haul was only surpassed in Montreal by Klaus Wagner and prodigy Evandrus Jesster. The stats alone will show that Killington has been a valuable asset to the Impact, but to stop at his points tally would be to grossly underestimate just how valuable the winger has been.

In addition to his 19 assists and 21 goals, Killington also lead the league in hits, exerting his physicality 153 times over 52 games. At 5'11" and 245lbs, the Buzz saw, as some of the Montreal faithful have taken to calling him, is a formidable presence on the ice, and in S24 he averaged one hit every seven minutes. A typical regular season encounter saw him dish out 2.942 hits per game, but more notable is the correlation between his hitting and Montreal's success on the ice. The Impact won 27 of their 52 games this season (18 in regulation), and isolating these 27 games we see Killington's hitting average move up to 3.074 hits per game. In fact, over the course of their 18 regulation wins, he dished out 59 hits, an average of 3.278 per game. Regulation defeats for the Impact coincide with a Killing-It average of just 2.65 hits per game.

The maths backs up what any Montreal fan will tell you: if Killington is in mean form, the Impact have a much higher chance of winning. Of all the teams in the SMJHL this season, their worst record by far was against the St. Louis Scarecrows (a dismal 2–8–0), and—unsurprisingly—Killington averaged less hits versus St. Louis than against any other team. Far less, in fact; his 22 hits over 10 games provides an average of 2.2 hits per game, far lower than his league average of 2.942. The most fiercely contested series of the Impact's campaign was that against Kelowna (5–4–1), and Killington certainly upped his physical game against the Knights. While his hitting average was below 3 per game against Vancouver, Detroit, and St. Louis, against the Knights he averaged 3.5 hits per game.

Moving on to the playoffs, Killington has upped his game once more. Despite their dismal regular season record against the St. Louis, Montreal swept the Scarecrows out of the post-season 4–0, with their inimitable power forward averaging 3.25 hits per game. While the Conference series against Detroit will almost certainly be a tighter affair, there is one thing that is certain: if the Impact are to march on to a Four Star Cup Final appearance, they'll need the Buzz saw to pad up and kill some Falcons. Preferably 3.25 of them per game, or more.</div>

Don't forget to look out for episode #4 of Killington's The Buzzkill podcast!

(656 words, and a shout out to my man GCool! You asked for this )

"brutality incarnate on skates"

Hell yeah, man. This was awesome to read. Finally something about ME! Haha. And agreed that Montreal is home to some brutal death metal. Despised Icon is one of my favorite bands of all time.

Recommend Pejonis next. That Latvian bastard gets NO attention.