I feel like it shouldn’t need to be said: the Season 55 Newfoundland Berserkers were one of the biggest and fiercest juggernauts that teams had to face in the regular season.


Finishing with a 35-9-6 record in the regular season, the Berserkers were a team that opponents hated to play against. Whether that was because of the team’s fantastic goal horn of Jaja Ding Dong whenever they played at home, or the fact that the team had a league leading 185 goals scored, most teams knew that they were in for a rough time whenever they stepped foot on the ice versus Newfoundland.


It’s fair to say that the Berserkers cherish the feeling of being the one to beat. This is a team that is hungry to win it all after being eliminated by the eventual champions, the Carolina Kraken, in the seventh game of the Season 54 Simulation Major Junior Hockey League playoff semi-finals.


The Season 54 Berserkers were a strong team that tied for the best record in the regular season, led by a 53 point campaign from right winger Ryuuji Minamino. However, one of the most noticeable differences from this season compared to the last was definitely a significant increase in scoring contribution from the top three forward lines.


Centre Mats Marner, who only had 22 points in Season 54, rose up to the occasion by putting up a league leading 32 goals and 62 points. Minamino continued to improve while playing on a separate line from Marner, putting up 56 points and leading the league in assists. 


While Marner and Minamino were on separate lines at even strength, the two players formed a deadly tandem when the Berserkers were on the man advantage with a power play. Marner netted 12 of his 32 regular season goals on the power play, putting up a stellar 27 power play points, while Minamino put up 25 power play points, potting 11 goals and assisting on 14. This deadly first power play unit was a huge factor in the success that the Berserkers found this season.


On the blue line, the Berserkers were also able to find offensive production, with PBJ Souppan feeding the puck to his forwards for 25 assists in a 30 point season. Rookie blueliner and 2nd round pick Jonas Kahnwald found the back of the net six times in the campaign for an impressive 15 point rookie season.


No team is good without their last line of defense, the goaltenders, and the Berserkers had the perfect guy for the task in Cale Amundsen, who won 26 games in the regular season and put up a stunning .917 save percentage and a 2.06 goals against average. His backup, Junior Guarda, also made the most of his 11 games, winning 9 of them and putting up a 1.99 goals against average.


With the added history of the Berserkers only coming a game away from playing in the finals last season, to the surgence of Mats Marner and the deadly power play unit, the Berserkers are hell bent on winning it all this season. With most of their core likely graduating to the SHL next season, this is Newfoundland’s best chance to win it all, and they intend to capitalize.


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