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(GRADED) Deep Dive #1 - Moving On After a Disappointing Exit in Anaheim
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(This post was last modified: 11-02-2020, 09:52 PM by leafs1997.)

Outlaws

The locker room was optimistic in Anaheim at the start of the season. The team stumbled out of the gates with two overtime losses, but bounced back nicely with a 10-2-2 record, with seven straight wins to close out the month, outscoring their opponents 38-18 in that impressive stretch. The Outlaws kept building from their impressive start in November with big wins against the Carolina Kraken and the Nevada Battleborn, just to name a few. Early December was still kind to the team and fans were allowed to hope for a first championship. But then, by mid-December, you could feel something was off and the team started to drop more and more games, until January 5th, where the team learned the abrupt and surprise retirement of the SMJHL scoring leader at the time, James Boxman II. It was a tough loss for the team who never really recovered and went 3-4-1 without Boxman II in the lineup, with two of those wins coming against low-ranked teams in St. Louis and Detroit. 

The effect of Boxman's departure on the team was huge. With Boxman in the lineup, the team was 24-14-4, good for 52 points out of a possible 84, so about 62% of the available points, but without Boxman in the lineup, the only earned 7 out 16 available points, good for only 44% of the available points. Despite missing the last eight games of the season, James Boxman II managed to be the best scorer of the season. While he was responsible for a significant portion of the Outlaws offense, Boxman was also directly linked to the offensive production of other Outlaws players, mainly Long John Dunair. While he ended up with a league leading 30 goals, setting a franchise record, John Dunair was on pace for much more before his linemate called it quits. He only scored 0,375 goals per game without Boxman, while he was at .643 goals per game with him. Nobody else on the Outlaws team managed to match that production and the team's goal per game fell down from 3.76 to 2.89. This was also due to the fact that some players with less experience were asked to play bigger roles that they can handle and it was the beginning of the end for the Outlaws season.

After a sub-par end of season, the Outlaws had to play in the first playoff round again, after failing to get a first round bye and they faced the Kelowna Knights, a team they had a 3-1-0 record against this season, with their only loss coming after losing Boxman II. People were optimistic, but the Knights managed to be too much to handle for the Outlaws team who was still searching for its identity following Boxman II's retirement. Amongst the standouts in the playoffs for the Outlaws were Thomas Rose and John Dunair with nine points each. Both players are expected to be back with the team next season. 

While this season was surely disappointing for many after such a great start, fans and players need to stay optimistic for the future of the team, with only two players set to leave the team at the end of the season in Chet Hillier and James LeBlond. The offensive core will still be the same and will be much better after a well deserved offseason. While looking ahead, Outlaws fans can move from another disappointing exit and hope for the best for what might be the best Outlaws team yet.

601 words

Outlaws

Approved, +5 TPE @marco999

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