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***Citizen of Adraa*** · 10-08-2019, 04:14 PM

So, we are roughly 12,5 games in which means that we officially ended the first quarter of the SMJHL season. I wondered, can we look at how the teams did so far and look at how different the standings are compared to the end of S49 to see which teams improved, which teams tanked and which teams kept it together over the offseason? (That’s a long-ass question)
So, the current SMJHL standing is as follows:
1. Colorado Raptors – 19 points
2. Kelowna Knights – 16 points
3. Lethbridge Lions – 15 points
4. Anchorage Armada – 15 points*
5. Halifax Raiders – 14 points
6. Carolina Kraken – 14 points*
7. St. Louis Scarecrows – 11 points
8. Vancouver Whalers – 10 points
9. Anaheim Outlaws – 10 points
10. Detroit Falcons – 10 points
I will mention one thing right away – there are seemingly tiers opening up in the league, however we saw these small few point gaps open all the time in S49 and it generally led nowhere but to them repeatedly closing and opening again, with teams suddenly shifting places and no one knowing what they are on. But, if we want to use this as an isolated point of the season and have our groups made out of exactly what we see here, its pretty easy to do:
S tier – Colorado
A tier – Kelowna, Lethbridge, Anchorage, Halifax, Carolina
B tier – St. Louis, Vancouver, Anaheim, Detroit
This, however, has it’s own problems. Mainly that the two stars by the points of Anchorage and Carolina mean that these two teams played one more game than anyone else, meaning their standing might be a little bit unclear at this very point, but considering the gaps to the other tiers aren’t 2 points but more, I don’t think it heavily changes this at all.
So, first things first, let’s remind to ourselves the standings from last season’s end. We only need standings here though, the points aren’t all that interesting.
1. Detroit Falcons
2. Kelowna Knights
3. Halifax Raiders
4. Vancouver Whalers
5. Lethbridge Lions
6. Montreal Militia (now Carolina)
7. Colorado Raptors
8. St. Louis Scarecrows
9. Anaheim Outlaws
10. Anchorage Armada
With this in mind, we can get to actual write-ups about the teams.
1. Colorado Raptors
Position at the last controlled points – 7th
Colorado used their last weak-ish season to build up their roster, and to start this one up they are firing all cylinders so far. The only S-tier team to exist right now, their small point lead is always volatile, but its a nice to have anyway. What gets Colorado here is honestly that they do everything just decently enough. Where other teams struggle at some and are great at some points of their game, Colorado seemingly is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. The only outstanding stat they are boasting is the one very likely helping them to outedge the opposition – their league leading shots for, and second best shots against. This creates a situation where it is hard to beat Colorado properly thanks to them simply having more chances to get that extra goal on the board and beating you, while negating most of the advantages other teams might have over their opposition thanks to their fairly all round team.
2. Kelowna Knights
Position at the last cotrolled point – 2nd
Kelowna is returning from their spot of a runner-up to claim this spot again. Obviously not as good as necesary to lead the league, but still being that bit better than the rest, Kelowna looks to this season as the one they want to win it all as they are coming from a finals appearance in S49. Kelowna’s performance seems reasonably similar to that of Colorado – a good all-round team that does everything well, but nothing spectacularly, however they allow just that bit less goals per game than Colorado does, in fact leading the league in goals against, and that is the main point of strenght for them. The difference between them and Colorado is very miniscule and expect them to challenge this spot very hard.
3. Lethbridge Lions
Position at the last controlled point – 5th
Lethbridge saw a mild improvement to their fortunes so far, which is nice for the team that didn’t achieve a whole lot in the playoffs last season, as it gives them a better starting spot to use. Lethbridge’s recipe to success seems to be an impecable defensive game, even at cost of their own offense, having the second best goals against, but the absolute worst goals for in the league. This difference of defense carrying the offense so far shows even in special teams (worst PP%, best PK%), even if their shots for and against are much more average than these numbers suggest. It means their offense seems to be a little ineffective, while their defense definitely works overtimes to bring in the points for this roster. Lethbridge needs to find that scoring formula that works for them to trule contend the top of the table, otherwise they will have to fend of attacks from the teams below.
4. Anchorage Armada
Position at the last controlled point – 10th
It was only upwards for Anchorage after their last season that was a major disapointment considering how powerful their roster seemed to be. Alas, now Anchorage has at least some level of success sitting at the top 6 spot guaranteeing them to see the 2nd round of the playoffs. Anchorage shows a lot of similarities to the team they are just ahead of, Halifax, in having seemingly very calm games shot wise, while still maintaining fairly decent goals for, and obviously with not as many chances for the team against them keeping the goals against in check aswell. Anchorage definitely seems to be playing more of a controlled style of hockey, not giving up many chances but obviously not making too big of a splash themselves, but as long as it works, it works and Anchorage could still have a shot at contending up, rather than trending down.
5. Halifax Raiders
Position at the last controlled points – 3rd
Halifax had a massive draft to work with considering most of their personel from last season is right now doing their first shifts in the SHL. Still, they haven’t dropped too far down from their original spot and are looking decently strong, even if some of their numbers are fairly worrying. Mostly, as mentioned, this team and Anchorage share a lot of similarities. Low shots for but low shots against, mostly average PK but a league leading PP allowing them to score enough goals to win them the games even with their nonexistant offense otherwise, and a playstyle that seems to be rather controlling rather than very active, probably being a little bit boring to watch. Halifax is probably a little bit higher than their roster and most of their numbers would suggest, but if it keeps working out for them, they seem to have a semi-realistic chance for a top 6 spot which would be a really unexpected feat from this franchise after all.
6. Carolina Kraken (formerly Montreal Militia)
Position at the last controlled point – 6th
Just before anything, this is the last time I mention the name of Montreal Militia, its just for the newer members that might not be aware of this name change to have an idea of who I am talking about. Carolina is doing exactly as well as they did last season – on the fringe of the top 6. While last season being anywhere really didn’t mean much and it was a wild wild west until the very end, so far seemingly tiers of teams that are creating themselves are showing that Carolina belongs to the better ones. One big thing stands out for this team – unlike Halifax and Anchorage, their main idea is to shoot a lot and score as much as they can, so they cover for their less than stellar defense. Definitely a more exciting way to play the game, but it can have it’s backsides and they are clearly showing at this point as Carolina is only sitting at 6th. Maybe if the defense picks themselves up by their straps, they can become a more dangerous team, but for now this gaping hole at their blue line makes Carolina fight their way out of most of their games.
7. St. Louis Scarecrows
Position at the last controlled point – 8th
A mild improvement for the otherwise middling Scarecrows, where are the times when this team was the menace of the SMJHL and was winning cups left right and center. Now, St. Louis is trying to find their way into the favourable spot in the playoffs, but so far seems to be failing at this task. Their offense seems to be struggling a bit, and while the defense is doing formidably, its not nearly as well as for example Anchorage’s, and therefore it doesn’t cover up the lack of scoring nearly as well. St. Louis needs to find a way to improve their offense and ideally to tighten their defense aswell to not allow as many shots against, and might just find themselves in the 2nd round from the get go.
8. Vancouver Whalers
Position at the last controlled point – 4th
Fall from grace so far for Vancouver, they have tried their best to rebuild last season shipping off key personel and yet performed surprisingly well even without these players. Now, their decisions caught up with them and Vancouver finds themselves where they expected to end last season. Vancouver seems to be pretty average at most stats aswell, however they lack what Colorado or Kelowna have – their big clutch forward groups that can buy them a goal either in 5v5, or during a powerplay. This cripples their chances to look higher at this moment – but don’t be surprised if Vancouver finds themselves higher in the next iteration of this checkup. I certainly won’t be.
9. Anaheim Outlaws
Position at the last controlled point – 9th
Anaheim was middling, and stayed middling to start this season aswell. While other rosters from the bottom of S49’s standings found their ways up, Anaheim is still struggling to find those few performances that right now separate the decent from the not so hot teams. Anaheim’s offense is struggling a lot, unable to score a lot right now while their defense is that bit worse from St. Louis, so there really isn’t anywhere to hide and their position shows it. While their shots are fairly average, it seems more like a lack of bit of that puck luck, as an inability to get that last bounce in and that steals them the points that they would probably deserve at this point at lets them at the bottom of the standings where they might not even exactly belong. Anaheim should probably be higher by the next iteration of this article, but juts how much higher can they go is a big question.
10. Detroit Falcons
Position at the last controlled point – 1st
Detroit is definitely not having the season they would imagine after their last showing. Regular season performance of S49 didn’t bring them a lot of success in the playoffs, and now they struggle to even hit those heights again. Detroit is more of a Carolina-like team – extremely offensive, but as their defense lacks even that little bit more than Carolina’s, while their offense isn’t as overwhelming and their special teams struggle to give them another punch in the gut – Detroit simply doesn’t seem to have the performance to truly attack anywhere higher than they are right now. They are a frustrating team to play against, but seemingly easy to beat in their own game – this won’t be a defensive game like Halifax‘ likes them, you got to have to firepower to outshoot this roster, but once you can muster that, Detroit has very little to offer.
So, that’s my opinions on the performances of our Js teams so far. Whether you agree or disagree, I am gladly taking your opinions in, it’s a personal and subjective take anyway, so try to argue for your team, or against your opponents. As the last thing in this, I want to predict the standings at the 25 game mark and see how far from the actual standing I will be.
1. Kelowna Knights
2. Colorado Raptors
3. Lethbridge Lions
4. Anchorage Armada
5. Vancouver Whalers
6. Halifax Raiders
7. Carolina Kraken
8. Anaheim Outlaws
9. St. Louis Scarecrows
10. Detroit Falcons
Again, a personal take from the trends I see right now. Whether its right or wrong, I will be shown at the 25 games mark. Until then, enjoy the Js folks.

jason97 · 10-08-2019, 04:26 PM

ACapitalChicago · 10-08-2019, 05:17 PM

Vancouver Whalers are so good they can get both 5th and 9th at the same time lol. This was a good read, thank you for writing this!

S66 Damian Littleton

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***Citizen of Adraa*** · 10-08-2019, 05:34 PM

10-08-2019, 05:17 PMACapitalChicago Wrote: Vancouver Whalers are so good they can get both 5th and 9th at the same time lol. This was a good read, thank you for writing this!

Yeah uuuuh totally intended

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