Some players just work well together - who were those people in the SMJHL this season?
Written option: Tell us about the best line or defence pair you've either played with or had the misfortune to play against this season. What do you think makes them so lethal? Must include 150 words and some stats or attributes.
Graphic option: Make a magazine feature page about a line or defence pair. Must include at least two renders and their stats and/or attributes.
Reward
4 TPE for doing the thing. (Just one of the options, not both.)
Only S52 SMJHL Rookies (S53 SHL Rookies) are eligible for this PT.
Do NOT claim TPE for this task until a post has been made in the claim thread.
Link PBE or NSFL submissions here to get credit for Welfare claims.
(12 even strength goals) - (14 even strength goals) - (17 even strength goals)
The leaders inside the locker room and on the ice, this line scored 53 total goals in 50 games. That’s an insane pace, and a big part of why we had one of the top offenses in the league this year. Fiddler is a perfect center for the line, he plays hard on defense (82 DF), and is a great facilitator of the puck (80 PA) for the two designated scorers on the line. Rykov and Watcher are both shoot first guys (83/73 and 90/71 SC/PA respectively) who are great at getting open for some of Fiddler’s dimes.
They all play off each other so well, having seasons of experience under their belt now. Fiddler and Rykov are both S50 guys that have been around the block 4 seasons now, and Watcher has been here for 3. It’s not often you see that much chemistry in the J, and it’s a big part of why they’re so effective. They grew up and learned the pro game with each other and always seem to know what the other two are gonna do. It’s my hope that I can have that same level of effectiveness with Velveteen Dream and Sterling MacTavish these next 2 years.
leviadan Player Progression Director
be nice to me it's the law
For my MVP write-up, I wanted to pay homage to an incredibly tough line that I had the misfortune of seeing all season, including in the first round of the playoffs. This line was a force every time we played, and they made each shift a living hell. I'm talking about the Newfoundland Beserkers' top line of Vanice, Okabe, and Cody.
Thomas Vanice - Left Wing - 50 GP / 16G / 26A / 42P / 47H / 185S Rintarou Okabe - Center - 50 GP / 20G / 22A / 42P / 42H / 183S Cody - Right Wing - 50GP / 23G / 26A / 49P / 38H / 189S
Here we've got nearly three point per game players, all playing on the same line, with a rock solid ability to play in both ends of the ice. If you're an opposing team's coach and you break down each of their stats on a per game basis, there's a couple things that should scare you.
For one, you immediately know that each of these guys is good for a point, and your team is going to have to out-gun them. If you rely on strong defence and locking down a one or two goal lead, chances are that won't work here. Not to mention that despite this line's ridiculous numbers-- Vanice was shooting about 4% under average. This means that if he had shot the standard 12%, you'd have expected to see about 6 more goals out of him, as well as a handful of assists for his linemates helping out.
Something else worth highlighting is their relentless overall effort. If we look beyond points, these guys are still making an impact. Every player is good for both a hit, as well as almost four shots in every game. You can bet that every shift they'll be out there smashing bodies and lighting up your goalie to the tune of around 12 shots total. Not to mention these guys also play significant time on the powerplay and penalty kill. They do it all, and they look good doing it.
So a major shout-out to this line's incredible season, and thanks for an awesome battle in the playoffs. I wish you guys the best of luck next year, except for when you face Detroit. Also... if you could minimize the time you play against me in the future, that would be great too.
1st D Pair - St. Louis Scarecrows
Flash Gordon - Axel Meszaros
3rd year (S50) D-man Flash Gordon got paired with 1st Round S52 pick Axel Meszaros and immediately took the young rookie under his wing. At certain points in the season Flash led the team in points and the league in assists. He ended the season tied for 2nd (38) only one behind the leader at 39. Flash finished the season with 45 points on 7 goals and 38 assists and a +8 rating. Axel finished with a very respectable 16 points on 4 goals and 12 assist and a -4 rating.
Despite all the scoring, this pair stayed true to their defensive responsibilities as well. Flash finished the season with 80 hits, 2nd on the team only behind human wrecking ball Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette. Axel finished with 25 hits on the season. Flash also finished the season with 57 shot blocks, which was the most on the team, however Axel wasn't very far behind with 41. Flash clearly showed Axel how to position himself and to be fearless when blocking the shooting lanes. This pair was one of the teams workhorses spending 20 minutes or more on the ice per game.
If not for this top D-pairing, we wouldn't be in the position we're in now, making a deep playoff run. Rookie Axel hit the ground running and is already striving to be the best. Flash is helping mold him to do just that!
Member of Team Prospects North America - S51 WJC, Team Captain
For me, the most dangerous line we faced all year would definitely have to be the top line of the Detroit Falcons of Kaarlo Kekkonen on right wing, Cal Labovitch on the left and Luke McMaster in the middle. Any time you have two guys go over a point per game and the third guy just missed it, you know there's a lot of talent there. Kaarlo can do just about anything with a puck with that 80 puckhandling, and if you give him time and space to make a play he will punish you for it with that 81 scoring. At 234 shots, he takes a lot of chances and scores on a lot of them. It's no wonder he was the league's leading scorer this year with 29 goals. Then you've got Cal Labovitch on the left wing feeding him the puck in great position to score with that 83 passing to make things happen, plus his 71 scoring to put the puck in the back of the net himself when Kekkonen wasn't open. McMaster didn't quite have the pure passing or scoring ability of his linemates as much with just 78 in each, you don't get 48 points by luck, and his ability to win draws with that 64 faceoff skill helped the Falcons effectively play the puck-possession game on offense that they're so good at. They're no slouches on defense either, with Kekkonen having 84 defense and Labovitch having 80. With this team, they'd either win the faceoff, take it down and score, or they'd steal the puck from you in the neutral or defensive zone, take it down and score. It was just nuts to watch.
One of the top lines in the league this year was Detroit's first line of Labovitch, McMaster, and Kekkonen. This group had 113.5 goals created (G+0.5A) which was the highest by a first line by more than 5 goals created. Kekkonen lead the league in goals with 29, and scoring with 62 points, 7 more than second place. Labovitch finished 3rd in scoring during his sophomore season, and should be dominant in his third season in the league. This group is deadly, and a force to be reckoned with. McMaster was tied for 3rd in team scoring with 48 points, good enough to tie for 11th in scoring league wide. He also was a participant in 3 fights, sticking up for his teammates when things got rough. This line helped propel the Falcons to first in the league - and has been key in their fight for a 4 star cup. (156 words)
Thanks Wasty, Carpy, JSS, TurdFerguson, Geekusoid and Awesomecakes for the sigs!
03-02-2020, 04:33 PM(This post was last modified: 03-02-2020, 04:33 PM by roastpuff.)
2nd Defensive Pairing, Detroit Falcons
Early on in the year, after Joakim Ohlund got traded, I was paired up with Khabib Nurmagomedov as my defensive partner. Khabib was actually a left wing, not a defenseman, but due to the roster construction he had to play in a different position than one that he was naturally used to. That didn't matter to him, he didn't complain at all, and took instructions from the coach as a good player should. He had to do the same last season as well, I believe, before I joined the team.
Even when he was playing out of position, Khabib still performed really well. He was always in position to take away pucks or intercept passes, and to find open seams and ways to get around opposing defenders, and he led all defensemen in our team in scoring with 48 points (14 goals, 34 assists) - matching Luke McMaster's point total - and all defensemen (tied with me!) with 9 +/-. He was also very disciplined and knew exactly how far to push the line in terms of physical defending, with only 18 PIMs, which is something that I've been trying to learn from him as I take quite a lot of penalties.
Now, in the playoffs, Khabib has gone up to the first D-pair and plays with Guy O'Shea. They have been tasked with the hard minutes against the top line of the opposition, and I got paired with Jack Kanoff, who got traded to us from the Raiders. Jack is a different kind of defenseman, and I have found myself as the more responsible pair of the duo as Jack is more offensively orientated. I know to get him the puck and to support him on the rush, but to not go too deep so that I can get back and cover if I have to. So far, this pairing of Jack and I have been great, and we've been winning against the secondary and tertiary competition that we have faced. I have gotten better at my positioning, passing and defending just from playing with and learning from Khabib, so thank you Khabib!
I played the whole season with the same line: Simothy Drunkebird at center, Chris Cerullo at right wing, and myself, the one and only Sven Svenson, at left wing. While we didn’t put up the most points in the league, we were deadly because of the tight defense that we played. The three of us were a combined +25 playing 16 minutes a game against our opponent’s second line. For the most part we stayed out of the box, only getting 79 penalty minutes… 15 of which are the result of a line brawl that I may or may not have started (and got ejected) for. Drunkebird was a huge part of our success, shutting down the opposing centerman with his physical presence and power in the face off circle. He led the Raptors with 103 hits and had an unprecedented 59.23% faceoff win percentage. On top of our strong defense, we still chipped in offense scoring 27 goals.
I only ever played on one line, that would be the Raptor's fourth line.
But if you'd ask any of us, we weren't fourth liners, every day we went out there to score goals. Tomas Grygera and Matthew Anderson were my linemates, Grygera at Center and Anderson on the right wing. They welcomed me on their unit when I came into the league midway through the season and together I'd like to think we helped our team during our great run. Despite having less experience than them as soon as I came on the team they recognized my abilities as a goalscoarer and weren't afraid of feeding me the puck. leading to a couple of goals despite our short playing time. I don't know wether I'll start next season in the same spot but if I have to, I'll gladly grind away with these guys for another season.
Okay so get focus because this will be big analyze
Here we go
Like you can see, not only am best player, but too i score 7 PP points, one is goal.
Total, i score 3 goal. That mean, if we make math, i score 2 goal not on PP. So what is goal, and who make all the pass ?
I have make research to find you all data. Game 214 :
3. Newfoundland Berserkers , (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 2 (Cody 22, Jakob Hamr 15) at 1:39
Jakob. Great pass player. He make 21 pass in 50 match. Good chemistry.
Now, i work hard to find all my points to find pass player. :
1. Newfoundland Berserkers , Jukka Timonen 2 (Gregory Stiemsma 3, (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 2) at 1:50 (PP)
2. Newfoundland Berserkers , (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 3 (Akira Ren 29, Cody 24) at 2:06 (PP)
Here same game, i make TWO points ! wow
3. Newfoundland Berserkers , Disisde Dayudie 11 (Cody 20, (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 10) at 8:21 (PP)
4. Newfoundland Berserkers , Jukka Timonen 7 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 11, Patric Twist 11) at 9:26
5. Newfoundland Berserkers , Vince Chalut 6 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 9, Jebany Franciszek 10) at 11:46
Here AGAIN i make TWO points ! best player
6. Newfoundland Berserkers , Riley Kuse 5 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 7, Disisde Dayudie 22) at 9:12
7. Newfoundland Berserkers , Cody 16 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 8, Gregory Stiemsma 1
Timo, Stiemsma, Cody, Dayudie, all appear 2 time on my point line. So, need to look deeper.
HERE
8. Newfoundland Berserkers , (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 1 (Riley Kuse 6, Vince Chalut 11) at 1:00
Game 165, KUSE and CHALUT, both already appear, that mean
Timo, Stiemsma, Cody, Dayudie, Kuse, Chalut, all appear 2 time on my point line. So, need to look deeper.
Let's look at playoff
3. Newfoundland Berserkers , Patric Twist 1 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 1, Jebany Franciszek 1) at 13:01
1. Newfoundland Berserkers , Jukka Timonen 2 (Gregory Stiemsma 3, (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 2) at 1:50 (PP)
2. Newfoundland Berserkers , (Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 1 (Disisde Dayudie 5, Jukka Timonen 1) at 13:14
2. Newfoundland Berserkers , Gregory Stiemsma 1 ((Clean) Andrei Kostitsyn 1) at 12:15
Okay so Timo and Stiemsma both appear two time on playoff point of me.
So in conclusion, like we can see, i have best chemistry with teammate Steve Harrington. He is best pass player.
But in the end, hockey is team sport, team spirit, and even if i lead my team in score, dont mean team is bad.
03-03-2020, 03:29 PM(This post was last modified: 03-03-2020, 03:31 PM by Lligma Broomstick.)
My first season in the SMJHL was okay. I did not show on paper my fullest ability. I do not like playing the blame game or point fingers, but the line I was on was not effective enough to produce as I would like. I played on the second line of the Vancouver Whalers this season. The chemistry of my line was very monotone has right-winger would be call for a penalty almost every game, but my left-winger provided so many goals. My right winger penalty minutes was fifty-three minutes virtually a full hour in total in the sin bin. Hockey is a team sport, so if one person gets into the penalty box almost every game, we are all-sufficient negativity by that one player decisions. My left-winger, on the other hand, was terrific as he was second, on the team with goals and points. Being on the line with him had it easy to get an advance and tip the ice onto our favour. My left-winger was lethal as he could be this season I have no doubt he is going to impact the pros in a big way, and I was glad to be on his centerman. I am sure if he stays on my line we could produce even better next season together.
03-03-2020, 04:45 PM(This post was last modified: 03-03-2020, 04:46 PM by Aephino.)
The second line for the Detroit Falcons changed around quite a bit, but we found our most success with a line of:
Edward Williams - Jmac NCheese - Zoltan Topalo
We were a lethal line that really was able to step up for our ice time. The big names of Detroit (Kekkonen, Labovitch, McMaster) stole the show as the first line, but I believe we were the unsung heroes that helped bring Detroit the number 1 seed in the playoffs! It really was a part of the "team mentality" that we held in Detroit. Each of us knew that we were all a piece of something bigger. As they say, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It's a good feeling to know that you're contributing, too, and you're not relying solely on the big names. I'm sure it was also a load off the first line's back; they knew that if they couldn't get the job done, the Falcons had other lines that were almost as effective!
This success also translated to our stats. Across the regular season, our line combined for a total of 41 goals and 66 assists - a whopping 107 points! We were incredibly successful on the power play, with a combined 37 of these points coming from the PP. This was definitely one of the highest scoring (if not THE highest scoring) second forward line in the SMJHL!
In honor of the Scarecrows making the finals, I'd like to bring up their first line
Ruslan Zaporozhets - Trey Nets - James Ronlain
The two wings, Zap and Ronlain, were an absolute tour-de-force for the crows and certainly a major part of their success.
Ronlain was 3rd in goals scored in the regular season, good for 6th on the points list. Zap was 20th in points and 4th in P/20.
Trey Nets was the young guy on the line, but was still brought home 26 points for the crows. Luckily he was 7th in the league in FO%.
Now that's some nice output, but what's really scary is when you combine it with their defensive pairing.
Flash Gordon - Axel Meszaros
Gordon put up a whopping 38 assists, tied for second place in the leaderboards.
Unfortunately ml was trash lmao 16 points look at this scrub
Long story short, expect to see this line deal some serious damage to Anaheim in the upcoming finals.
03-03-2020, 10:12 PM(This post was last modified: 03-03-2020, 10:24 PM by Nhamlet.)
One amazing pairing that I've had a lot of fortune to play with is the surprising duo of the SMJHL star Disisde Dayudie and first year rookie Jukka Timonen. This rearguard pairing actually wasn't a thing to start the year. That was Akira Ren, the other star defenseman on the Newfoundland Berserkers but coaches thought that it would better off splitting the duo to ensure they both get as much opportunity to handle the puck compared to playing together. While Jakob Hamr continued to be a steady and dependable partner in his 4th year in the SMJHL, the big surprise is how well Timonen took the top pairing responsibilities and actually exceeded expectations despite his youth. Despite the other 6 forward rookies, Timonen outscored them all in points (21) while also scoring the most goals out of all rookies at 10, with the next closest, Steve Harrington at 7. Averaging a hefty 21.67 mins per game along with his Dayudie playing 22.94 mins per game probably helped but they both really shined for a team desperate for depth and talent.
To top it all off, the Berserkers were down 2-0 in Round 1 against the Armada and down 3-2 late in the 3rd. Who else steps up to tie the game with 33 seconds left? Jukka Timonen. Who played the most ice time out of all players on both teams at 30mins and 14 secs, freaking Jukka Timonen.
ej27![[Image: sve7en.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/sve7en.gif)
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Thomas Vanice - Left Wing - 50 GP / 16G / 26A / 42P / 47H / 185S
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Cal Labovitch - Luke McMaster - Kaarlo Kekkonen ![[Image: reidsuth.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/reidsuth.gif)
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