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FinnRhys · 03-07-2021, 10:26 PM

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With Season 58 winding down, it is looking like it will be a tight race for the final few playoff spots in both the Eastern and Western Divisions. With the Hamilton Steelhawks and Texas Renegades holding almost insurmountable leads in their respective divisions, it seems like it is really a race for the last few remaining playoff spots.

In the Eastern Division, the Hamilton Steelhawks have all but locked up a first round bye entering the playoffs. With a nine point lead in the division standings over the Toronto North Stars, Hamilton is in the driver’s seat going into the final few games before the playoffs. With an impressive, yet relatively balanced offense, Hamilton has ridden its offensive firepower to this point. Behind the play of Michael Scarn, Aaron Wilson, Theo Morgan and Elijah Jones, Hamilton has found itself as the second highest scoring team in the league with 221 goals through 53 games. Making the Steelhawks offense even more potent has been their incredibly balanced scoring with 11 players accumulating over 30 points thus far, and five players (the aforementioned four plus Mitchel Van Der Heijden) averaging a point a game or more. If Hamilton has any Achilles heel, however, it is their defense. While still respectable in comparison with the rest of the league with the sixth best defense overall, they only rank fourth in their division in goals against, which shows that there is at least some weakness in Hamilton’s style of play. Up to this point, Hamilton has made up for their comparatively lackluster defense with a high-scoring offense, but in the playoffs anything can happen and the last thing Hamilton will need is for their offense to be slowed down and highlight their defensive vulnerabilities.

Racing for the second position in the Eastern Conference are the Toronto North Stars and the Buffalo Stampede with each having 76 and 72 points, respectively. Toronto has found itself nine points behind Hamilton and could, theoretically, make a run for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, however, based upon the gritty way they have been winning, I am not sure that they will be able to go on the run they need to without wearing themselves out in the process, and the last thing an assured playoff team needs is to go into the playoffs banged up and exhausted. Toronto’s performance this season has been fascinating to watch because they have rebounded from obscurity just a few seasons ago to being one of the league’s most impressive to watch. They have a physical style of play and, while they have a respectable offense and defense, their wins have been more even than one-sided as one would expect. Still, with 37 wins to their name, Toronto has proven that their gritty style of play works. With 9 players scoring more than 30 points thus far, Toronto has largely ridden the scoring coattails of forwards Mika Kandinsky, Bobby Lane, Ruslan Zaporozhets and defenseman Adam Barron. Of these four, arguably the most impressive output has come from Adam Barron with his 51 points cementing himself as one of the best offensive-minded defensemen in the league. With the fifth best defense in the league, in terms of goals against, it is clear (at least in the Eastern Conference) that having a powerful offense rules the day. If Toronto can keep their offense going and minimize the time the puck is in the defensive zone, they may just have the gritty style of play that could upend the playoffs and make a run to the Cup finals.

Another team that could make a run late in the season, at least for the second seed in the conference, are the Buffalo Stampede. No stranger to the playoffs, Buffalo is clearly one of the more potent teams, especially in terms of their stifling defense. What has made the Stampede so good this season hasn’t just been their vaunted defense, which ranks third in the league in goals against, but their high scoring offense. While they have endured some heartbreaking losses in overtime, tied for the league lead with six overtime losses, they still find themselves with one of the best records in the league and the third ranked offense in terms of goals scored with 202. With 9 players scoring 30 points or more thus far in the season Buffalo has shown remarkable balance, which is indicated by the fact that of the 9 only 3 have scored 50 points or more. That said, however, those 3 players with over 50 points include the highest scoring player in the league this season in Monkey D. Luffy and the league’s fourth highest scoring player in Bobby Sharp. That potent 1-2 combination may be the league’s very best and could be overpowering for even the best defenses in the league. And talking about best defenses, Buffalo has been no slouch in that department either. With the league’s third best defense, Buffalo has ridden the wave behind their spectacular goaltender Elizabeth Doyle, who leads the league with 13 shutouts to her name and has the best goals against average and save percentage amongst starting goaltenders with 2.07 goals against average and a 92.4% save percentage. If Buffalo’s top players, especially Doyle, can keep their form into the postseason, Buffalo could find themselves in the hunt for the trophy.

The final team in the Eastern Conference that I will profile here are the reigning champions, the Chicago Syndicate. With 67 points through 52 games, it is unlikely that Chicago will be able to make up the ground needed to vie for a first or second seed in the conference, however they are certainly within striking distance of third and could, if the stars align, play spoiler. While Chicago has a decent offense, they have really made their name this season as one of the league’s best defenses in recent memory. With 111 goals against through 52 games, Chicago is best in their conference and second in the league overall and their defense has clearly made a difference. Their goaltending this season behind Tibuk Soonika has been superb, with Soonika ranking second behind Buffalo’s Elizabeth Doyle in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts with 2.13 goals against average, a 90% save percentage and 11 shutouts, respectively. Making this team even more dangerous is their incredibly balanced offense with 9 players scoring 30 points or more thus far, two of which (Martijn Westbroek and Daniel Smeb) have more than 50 points to their name. That balance is extremely dangerous for opposing teams, especially entering the playoffs against the defending champions, as on any given day any of the Syndicate forwards can wreak havoc on opposing blue-liners. While Chicago certainly faces an uphill climb to the finals, it is doubtless that this is a formidable team that could absolutely make a run during the playoffs.

Shifting over to the Western Conference, no team in the league has been more dominant this season than the Texas Renegades. Arguably the best team from top to bottom in terms of sheer talent and skill, Texas has been able to put it all together this season and leads the league in both goals scored and goals against. Through 51 games thus far, Texas has an incredible 44 wins, and it has come from their overpowering offense AND their dominant defense. Indeed, from top to bottom Texas is clearly one of the best teams, not only this season but in recent memory. Their offense has been so formidable that 13 out of their 15 skaters have 30 points or more and five have 50 points or more. What makes Texas even scarier than their offense is their dominant defense and the manner in which the Renegades have shut down opposing offenses. It is remarkable because, instead of sticking with a single goalie, Texas has been sharing the load between two goalies and it has actually worked! Both White Goodman and Cillian Kavanagh have 20 wins or more and have absolutely stifled the opposition, giving up on average 2.19 goals against. Bottom line when it comes to Texas’s goaltenders, if you score against them you better keep the puck because it doesn’t happen often. With such incredible depth of talent from top to bottom, I really think Texas is the team to beat going into the playoffs, and I am secretly pulling for them to win it all.

If Texas can’t keep it together and keep their dominant ways during the playoffs then maybe the Edmonton Blizzard will be able to take advantage and make another run for the cup. With an aging roster, Edmonton clearly sees the end of the runway on perennially finding themselves in the cup finals. That said, this could be the season Edmonton makes it over the hump and brings back the cup to the Western Conference. With 68 points through 52 games Edmonton is tied for second in the conference and their offense is ranked third in the league overall with 214 goals for. While the Blizzard offensive output has not been surprising, especially considering the exemplary play of Barrett Blackwood and Jon Forty-One, it is the defense (or lack thereof) that has given Edmonton faithful cause for concern. Behind the solid but not spectacular goaltending of Peter Ramsey, the Blizzard are tied for the 8th best goals against average in the league. With such pedestrian defense, it is clear that the formula for Edmonton’s success is their potent offense and winning tough close games. While that formula may not sound like a Cup winner at first glance, it is exactly because Edmonton has played and won so many close games that makes them dangerous, especially when their backs are against the wall. If Edmonton can keep the positive momentum going they could find themselves on the right side of history for a change.

The next team in the Western Conference that could make a run deep into the playoffs are my personal rivals (just because apparently there is animosity between the real cities of Edmonton and Calgary and I am just carrying that over into the simulation world) the Calgary Dragons. The Dragons have had a solid season thus far, tied for second in the conference with 68 points. With both Calgary and Edmonton 20 points behind Texas, it truly is a battle of rivals for the second seed. The good thing for Calgary is they have one of the most potent one-two punches in the league in the form of Barry Batsbak and Esa Parmborg. The bad, if we can call it that, is the lack of depth in scoring that the Dragons can rely upon. With the seventh ranked offense in terms of goals for with 189, there is clearly room for improvement offensively. If their lackluster offense has been, well, lackluster, the Calgary defense has actually been solid. Ranking fourth in goals against average, Calgary has found a way to win behind its solid defense. Behind the play of Brennan Kennedy and Kaspars Claude, the Calgary blue liners have been some of the best in the league this season and if Calgary is going to have a chance to win another Cup, they will have to continue their stellar play.

The final team that I will profile, mostly because of exhaustion, is the Western Conference’s fourth best team, the Los Angeles Panthers. What can I really say about Los Angeles? They are fourth best in the conference with 54 points through 51 games and… well, let’s be honest, they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making it very far in the playoffs unless something drastic changes for them. Maybe, just maybe, my article will be the catalyst for them to turn things around, and if they do I will totally take all the credit. However, that is highly unlikely given their lackluster offense and paltry defense. With only six players scoring 30 points or more, and none of them with 50 points, Los Angeles needs to create a new identity on the offensive side of the ice because what they have been doing to date just hasn’t been working well enough to make them viable as a contender. Indeed, the Panthers are the only team in the top 4 of either conference to be in the negative when it comes to goals for versus goals against. Because of that statistic alone, I really can’t see the Panthers doing much of anything except being fodder.

And with that, my massive money-making cornucopia of a pre-playoff review is complete. Hope you enjoyed and, if you are offended, please just remember that it’s a game and please don’t slash my tires.

FINN RHYS

[Image: hockey__27674.1518661372.1000.1200.jpg?c=2]

***Ohtaay*** · 03-08-2021, 01:44 AM

Nice write up man

Cheers

*Carpy48* · 03-08-2021, 03:50 AM

Great analysis there.

dankoa · 03-08-2021, 06:46 AM

nice article, looking forward to seeing what the playoffs bring

DeletedAtUserRequest · 03-08-2021, 12:33 PM

+1

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charlieconway · 03-08-2021, 01:55 PM

Thanks for the kind words.

You've written about four very strong teams in the East, and yet... one of them won't even get to take part in the playoffs. How about that?

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