The Newfoundland Berserkers came close to winning a championship last season, eventually being beaten by a strong Carolina Kraken team, the eventual s54 champions, in the conference finals. What will they have to do to make the next step to reach the finals and win it all? The Berserkers are already considered favourites to be champions, and it is for good reason.

The Berserkers have a very experienced group of players, with a majority already maxed out at 425 TPE. Led upfront by Mats Marner and Ryuuji Minamino, their offensive group runs riot throughout the defensive zones of their opponents. Minamino and Marner share the league lead in points with 42 each. Marner leads the league in goals with 23, and Minamino leads the league in assists with 31. Patrick Twist, Steve Harrington, Matthew Forrester and Guy Legrande have rounded out a very strong offensive Newfoundland group with Harrington sitting at 34 points and Twist, Forrester and Legrand all at 28 points. Their depth in scoring will be essential to them succeeding in the playoffs and becoming champions.

On defence, every single defenceman, other than their quickly improving rookie Jonas Kahnwald, is sitting at 425 TPE. This solid defensive core has proven extremely tough for opponents to break down, as the Berserkers are leading the league with 66 GA so far. Their defensive group also adds to the offence, with 5 out of 6 of their defencemen in double digits for points so far in the season with 15 games left to go. Young Jonas Kahnwald, the rookie, actually leads the group of Newfoundland Defencemen in goals with 6, which bodes well for the future.

In goal, Cale Amundsen has been extremely solid, ranking second in the league in save % with .926, and also third in shutouts with 5 this season, while leading the league in wins with 21 on the season so far. His back-up, Junior Guarda, has also been admirable when he has had to step in this season, winning 6 of his 8 games. These two, especially Amundsen, will have to stay sharp in order to ensure the Berserkers can win it all, as it is hard to win championships without good goaltending. I do not believe the Berserkers will be worried when it comes to their goaltending though.

Special teams is also very important in the playoffs, and the Berserkers will look for their powerplay to continue to be hot. They have scored 28 goals on the powerplay this season. Mats Marner leads the team in powerplay goals this season, with 9 of his 23 goals so far coming on the powerplay. Second is Steve Harrington with 5 powerplay goals. Ryuuji Minamino leads them in powerplay assists with 11 as he is the key playmaker on the Berserkers powerplay, and he is also tied for the team lead in total powerplay points with Mats Marner as they both have 17 powerplay points. They could perhaps add a little more offense to their penalty kill, but then again, the purpose of the penalty kill is not to score.

The Berserkers have a wealth of experience and talent at each position, and I see them as being 4 star cup champions at the seasons end.


APPROVED +5 TPE @Festinator