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***boom*** · 06-22-2020, 09:39 PM

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10.‌ ‌Vancouver‌ ‌Whalers‌

Boom: The tough season rolls on for the Whalers, although they made a stronger showing this week by winning four of their last seven games at the time of writing. Vancouver nonetheless made a move looking towards the future, shipping rental centre Stracimir Petrovic to Anaheim for a mid-round draft pick and a depth defenseman. Sitting seven games behind the fourth-place Anchorage Armada with 16 games left to play, the postseason door hasn’t quite closed, although the chance is steadily fading. The team’s depth scoring has been showing up this week, with Johnny Shuffleboard and Domenic Alessandrini reaching 15 points on the season, but one player that needs to improve is winger William Hartmann. His all-around game rating has been strong at a tie for 15th in the league, but the third-year’s scoring touch has gone ice-cold with just one assist in the team’s last 10 games.

Dex: The Whalers have matched the total number of wins that they had in the first half of the season with these past number of games. Albeit, the Whalers only had 4 wins at the halfway point but it shows that in spite of trading away top line guys like Sven Yxskaft and Stracimir Petrovic, the Whalers are able to find a way to win. As boom has mentioned, we can probably attribute these couple of wins with the depth scoring that Vancouver has been able to find. However, with the terrible start that the Whalers got off to, it is tough to move them from this 10th place position as their chances of a playoff run have been written off by many early in the season. Although they are not technically out of it, it is tough to imagine Anchorage falling off and allowing the Whalers to surpass them. But hey, I’m sure weirder things have happened in the league.

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9. Maine Timber

Boom: A difficult stretch for the Timber, as they now sit seven points behind the Detroit Falcons for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Maine continues to roll with an offense-by-committee approach, as while leading scorer Alexander Roach only has 19 points on the season, 13 players have amassed double-digit points on the season. The issue is the team’s defense. Leo Bloomfield has performed admirably with a .910 save percentage, but he’s also faced nearly 200 more shots than the second-most shelled goalie, Name Redacted, and this is before factoring in the 135 shots blocked by second-year defenseman Will Windsor. The result has been 126 goals against, the highest in the SMJHL. If Maine wants to get to the playoffs, they’ll need to tighten up their defensive play and limit the amount of rubber directed towards their net.

Dex: This past week has been as expected by the Timber, they got themselves a couple of wins but nothing to push them ahead of the Detroit Falcons who were tied with them last week in points. It’s a combination of lack of goal scoring and the inability to keep the puck out of the net. At the time of writing this, Maine has allowed the most goals in the league and have the 2nd least goals for. These numbers clearly show in their player’s stats as although the Timber have defensemen Windsor with 80+ shots blocked and hits and Kalashnikov with around 40 shots blocked and hits on the week, their goaltender Bloomfield is still facing the largest amount of shots in the league. Additionally, this week saw 3 players completely drive their offense as Hellquist, Roach, and Danke each accounted for 30% of team goal contributions. I think if Maine wants to continue fighting for a playoff spot then they have to solve their defensive issues and find some more depth scoring.

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8. Detroit Falcons

Boom: Detroit continues to occupy the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but questions swirl for the defending champions that looked like a strong candidate to go deep into the playoffs again. The defense, which has allowed the sixth-most goals in the SMJHL, has been adequate, and goalies A Jobin and Thor Odinson have posted pretty respectable numbers. The issue appears to be offense, as the Falcons’ style of firewagon hockey that was on display last season, where the team consistently controls possession and was marked by high shot differentials, hasn’t been able to get going this year for some reason. Perhaps Kaarlo Kekkonen contributed a lot more to this team than was initially apparent, as Edward Williams has only 22 points this season without Kekkonen on his wing after tearing apart the league last season en route to the scoring title. With Frederick Wanesly the only Falcon to have 10 goals on the season, it’s possible that we may be seeing a real changing of the guard in the SMJHL instead of just a slow start.

Dex: This week has been better for the Falcons and I can see them pushing themselves higher as the season goes along. Detroit was able to string together a couple of good games while the St. Louis team ahead of them in the conference seems to be stalling a bit. Plus, the games that the Falcons did lose this week were pretty close games with many losses only being by a single goal. Now what does this mean for Detroit? Well, it seems like their defense and goaltending is taking form, even more this past week; however their offense continues to be missing. No one on the team is close to the top of the point leaderboards this week with 2 players that contributed to a good chunk of this past week’s offense. There’s Wanesly who contributed to 30% of goals and O’Shea with 20%. Plus, Wanesly isn’t even getting top line minutes so if Detroit wants to go improve further then they have to look into getting their first line going.

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7. Anchorage Armada

Boom: Anchorage will have a strong shot at making the playoffs this season given that the only team chasing them is the eight-win Whalers, but it hasn’t been quite what they envisioned for this season. Their offense has been decent with the sixth-most goals in the SMJHL, while their defense slots in with the seventh-fewest goals allowed in the league. Scoochie Stratton and Sergei Potvinov have split starts in net and have been just okay, with both hovering around 3.00 GAA and .900 save percentage. The offense has run through a solid top six led by Santtu Rasanen at 23 points, but the Armada seem to lack that game-breaking offensive threat to elevate them.

Dex: After a bit of momentum in the week prior to this week, it seems like the Armada came to a bit of a halt this week with a 5 game losing streak. Regardless, the 5 game losing streak didn’t seem to hinder Anchorage too much as they are still only 4 wins from 2nd in the division and 2 wins from 3rd. However, the 2 teams there of the Outlaws and the Raptors appear to have greater momentum over the Anchorage team. Currently, the Armada are relying heavily on Rasanen to bring the team’s offense and their goaltenders still are struggling in the net. On the brightside, the Armada’s defensemen of Matthew Sawful and Bork Lazer have been doing well with takeaways, big hits, and shots blocked. It seems like regardless of their current struggles Anchorage will make it to the playoffs but as of right now it doesn’t seem like they’d be able to go far.

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6. Colorado Raptors

Boom: Colorado has performed well this season on the back of a stout defense and a return to form for both Samat Beibitzhanov and Jerry Huuveri in net. The Raptors boast a defense led by Bryce Turner, Aumy Jr. and Bradley Barkov that has allowed the third-fewest goals in the league. The issue is on the offensive side. Colorado, similar to Anchorage, has ended up with an offense-by-committee approach, with Carlos Brown leading the charge with 22 points. Similar to the Armada, though, they don’t have a top-flight offensive threat that opposing defenses need to key on, with Brown being 22nd in league scoring.

Dex: I’d say that this past week has gone well for the Raptors as they played a little better than 0.500 this week. In addition to winning more than half of their games, the Raptors kept all of the games that they lost close, losing most by only a single goal. Well, this week's success can be attributed to Carlos Brown and Simothy Drunkebird stepping up on the top line, as well as Aumy Jr. and Bryce Turner stepping up on defense. Plus, their goaltender Jerry Huuveri has been playing exceptionally this past week while Samat Beibitzhanov has been playing well all season as well. As of now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Colorado do well in the playoffs but the Raptors need to keep up this intensity heading into these final quarter of the season. With this intensity, the Raptors can even fight for 2nd in the conference.

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5. St. Louis Scarecrows

Boom: St. Louis has slowed down a bit after a hot start, but they continue to sit in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Scarecrows’ offense is firing on all cylinders, led by Danny Marston with 27 points, with Kriss Darzins and Grapefruit Lizard leading the goal-scoring effort with 12 tallies each. Richard Majors has tailed off a little with a 2.77 GAA and a .900 save percentage to this point in the season, but backup goalie Nicolae Antonescu has put up some of the best numbers in the league in relief. The Scarecrows have done a pretty good job of limiting shots against their goalies, so if Majors can find another level to his game the Scarecrows will be dangerous again in the playoffs.

Dex: The Scarecrows have had a poor week in comparison to their rather hot start to the season. The team has seen themselves lose the 2nd place spot in their conference to the Carolina Kraken after going about .500 these past couple of games. I’d say that the Scarecrows have been missing their offense a bit these past couple of games, scoring no more than 3 goals with the exception of a single game against Anchorage in which they won 7-1. I’d admit, 3 goals is nothing to scoff at but it was certainly their goaltending by Nicolae Antonescu who made the difference, especially with Richard Majors going on a bit of a cold streak. To be honest, if the Scarecrows want to continue to play the low scoring game then go for it. However, the offense certainly needs to step up when needed unlike this week which highlighted a couple games in which they lacked the much needed offense.

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4. Anaheim Outlaws

Boom: Anaheim has been a rather eventful team this season. On one hand they have the fifth-best offense in the SMJHL with 90 goals, but on the other hand they have the third-worst defense. The offense is mainly led by one man: Rikard Hammarberg. The third-year centre has 29 points, tied for fifth in the league and eight points clear of second place on his own team, and also has some of the better defensive metrics of the league’s leading scorers with a positive giveaway/takeaway ratio, 21 hits and 34 blocked shots, and the second-best defensive game rating among forwards. The priorities going forward are twofold for the Outlaws. First, Hammarberg needs more help on offense, and the addition of Stracimir Petrovic as a rental should help remedy that. The second issue is in net. Strom Chamberlain has improved lately but still has a GAA over 3.00, and for Separa Borro there was nowhere to go but up after posting a GAA over 5.00 in his first ten or so appearances. If the goaltending can become consistent, Anaheim will be a legitimate threat.

Dex: I’d argue that Anaheim has shown signs of being a great team this week with the exception of a single game in which they lost 1-9 against the Berserkers. They only lost a handful of games when their offense went dry. But what really helped the Outlaws this week was their goaltending. Compared to their first half of the season, the Outlaws were able to get solid goaltending from Strom Chamberlain as he posted an above 0.930 save percentage and a below 2.00 goals against average. Even their other goaltender Separa Borro has played better with a save percentage of above 0.920 and a goals against average of a little above 2.00. This in addition to their goalscoring led by Rikard Hammarberg means that Anaheim is shaping up into a good playoff team. Especially so with their recent pick up of Stracimir Petrovic after only losing rookie defenseman Bud Light Lime.

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3. Carolina Kraken

Boom: Carolina continues a strong campaign this week holding on to the second seed in the Eastern Conference, led by an unlikely hero on offense: defenseman Adam Friedland. The second-year has put up 29 points in 32 games while also finding time to get into 10 fights. Behind him is one of the league’s best offenses with eight other players recording at least 10 points. The Kraken defense has been pretty solid as well, allowing the fourth-fewest goals in the SMJHL. If there’s anything to improve upon here, it could come from Frans Eller elevating his game, as he has been good with a 2.56 GAA and .909 save percentage but has a little room for improvement. It’s mostly nitpicking though, and Carolina will be a force in the playoffs with that offense.

Dex: As of now the Kraken are on a 8 game point streak which helps solidify the Kraken in the 2nd place spot in the East. Their offense this past week has been led by the likes of Dwight Knight who got himself 8 assists in these 7 games. Additionally, their defense has been great with Adam Friedland leading the way followed by Ben van Dijk and recently acquired Sven Yxskaft. Then there is their goaltending from Frans Eller. This past week Eller has been able to improve, potentially as a result of an improved defense, posting a save percentage of around 0.915 and a goals against average just above 2.00. Although Carolina lost the season series against Newfoundland, the series was close and they won the final 2 games showing that they have the ability to make noise in the playoffs.

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2. Kelowna Knights

Boom: Defense continues to be the name of the game in Kelowna, as the Knights have allowed just 53 goals in 32 games, by far the league’s best. The duo of Cillian Kavanagh and Peter Ramsey have been lights-out, with both putting up a GAA of under 2.00 and a save percentage of over .920 while combining for seven shutouts. This isn’t to discount the offense though, as the top line of Rotticus Scott, Jaska Seppala and Rocco Berni have been electric and are currently 1st, 2nd, and T-3rd in points in the league. It’s hard to find a weakness in this team, and a return to the Four Star Cup finals this season is well within the realm of possibility.

Dex: Kelowna is sticking there at the top and are gunning for first in the league. They are currently on a 8 game win streak and are sticking with the dominant Newfoundland team in the East. Cillian Kavanagh had an amazing week with a save percentage of about 0.920 and a goals against average of less than 2.00. This is in addition to their offense led by Rotticus Scott, Jaska Seppala, and Rocco Berni, as well as their defensive core in Luciano Vessot and Adam Scianna. If Kelowna is able to keep this up, I can see the Knights take over 1st in the league and have another solid playoff run. Honestly not much more is needed to say about this team unless they suddenly lose a step.

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1. Newfoundland Berserkers

Boom: On the other side of the country from Kelowna, we have their counterpart in the Newfoundland Berserkers. Newfoundland is similar to Kelowna in that they have a strong defense and an offense anchored by one line, which in this case is the unit of Matthew Forrester centering Ryuuji Minamino and Patric Twist. The team has scoring depth top to bottom, with defenseman Renji Atake being their “worst” producer with 8 points. On the defensive side, Cale Amundsen continues to be the wall in net with a 2.15 GAA and .917 save percentage, backstopping a defensive unit led by two-way threat Jukka Timonen. Should both the Berserkers and Knights make it to the finals this season, it will likely be a classic series.

Dex: From the beginning of the season the Newfoundland Berserkers have been at the top of the league. The team sees 4 of their forwards on the top of points on the week with 2 of their defensemen leading points for defenseman. Their 4 forwards of Forrester, Minamino, Potts, and Legrande trail only Rotticus Scott of the Kelowna Knights. Plus, there’s their goaltender of Cale Amundsen who had as many wins as Kavanagh this week in spite of having worse goals against average and save percentage in comparison. Goes to show that when Newfoundland is able to bail out their goaltender when needed with their lethal offense. Once Amundsen shakes off this bit of a slump, the team can continue to solidify their 1st place position in the league with a good chance of a great playoff run.

Graphs:

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[2996 words, ready for grading. Split pay between myself, @Dextaria ]

mee · 06-22-2020, 10:00 PM

3 ways between boom and dex... Can I claim the last third??
And why the heck am I leading the league in percent of goal contributed to as defenseman? Yet boom and dex call me depth scoring. Garbage.

Zombiewolf · 06-22-2020, 11:15 PM

06-22-2020, 10:00 PMmee Wrote: 3 ways between boom and dex... Can I claim the last third??
And why the heck am I leading the league in percent of goal contributed to as defenseman? Yet boom and dex call me depth scoring. Garbage.

It’s time we remove SJHN their takes are wrong and hold too much weight on our lives

Thank you Brandon, Fish, GeckoeyGecko, Karey, Kit, takethehorizon, and Ragnar for the sigs!
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Duff101 · 06-23-2020, 02:22 AM

06-22-2020, 11:15 PMZombiewolf Wrote:
06-22-2020, 10:00 PMmee Wrote: 3 ways between boom and dex... Can I claim the last third??
And why the heck am I leading the league in percent of goal contributed to as defenseman? Yet boom and dex call me depth scoring. Garbage.

It’s time we remove SJHN their takes are wrong and hold too much weight on our lives

Hear hear