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Rookie Season Recap
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TheBigSandeenieRegistered Member SMJHL Rookie Season Recap of Newfoundland Defenseman Matty Sandeen.
It’s hard to believe one season is already in the books as it feels like the SMJHL entry draft was just yesterday. Yet here we are, with Vancouver hoisting the cup and everyone else setting their minds towards next season. Following an up and down season filled with tons of valuable experiences let's take a look at how the year went for the rookie defenseman.
It all started at the entry draft. The early stages of a prospects career are extremely important for their development and being in the right environment can make a huge difference on whether or not a prospect will pan out. A year into his career and it is very apparent that Sandeen was extremely fortunate that Newfoundland traded all the way up to 4th from the 12th pick to select him. Although Vancouver ultimately came out on top this year, Newfoundland making back-to-back finals appearances speaks volumes. This is a very well managed team that is right in the middle of their cup window.
Sandeen’s season began pretty poorly as learned to play against the higher level of competition. Playing on the third pairing allowed for fairly sheltered minutes but it also meant two rookies were both dealing with the same learning curve. Playing on a team with a winning record of 28-17-5 and having a –16 rating is not a good look. But as the season went on things did begin to look up. I’m not sure I can say the +/- improved but let's say it went from plummeting to slowly dipping. Though the season has shown obvious room for improvement there were also some positives, like his 13 points highlighted by 8 goals on a 10.26SH%. Sandeen also chipped in with 35 hits, 34 blocked shots, and a game rating of 56. While nothing incredible, CF% and FF% of 51.8% and 52.1 respectively both indicate Sandeen was a positive play driver. As Newfoundland began play in the second round of the playoffs Sandeen came in playing very well along with the rest of the team. In the finals the points slowed down a bit and the +/- dropped a bit but that is to be expected as Newfoundland lost the series 4-2. Nonetheless a stat line of 17GP 1G-5A-6P with a +1 and a GR of 58 shows a player that has improved his performance over the course of the year and played some of his best hockey during the playoffs against the best teams in the league. Following that up with a WJC performance of 12GP 2G-3A-5P a +3 and GR of 57 in his WJC debut proved the playoffs were no fluke. Now don’t get me wrong, Sandeen’s playoff and WJC performances didn’t set the world on fire, but it sure a far cry from a –16 regular season with a 0.26 points per game. In the playoffs Sandeen scored 0.35 points per game and he scored 0.41 points per game during the WJC.
Ending the season on such a strong note has hopes set high for next season but as Sandeen now knows, nothing is handed to you even in the J. Heading into the offseason more motivated than ever Sandeen plans to focus on improving his skating and stamina in hopes of taking on a bigger role in his sophomore campaign. Only time will tell if Sandeen was the right selection with the 4th OA pick for Newfoundland and honestly, the two players picked following Sandeen had much better rookie showings, especially likely rookie of the year Jon St. Ark. I’d be willing to bet some of you are already calling him a bust. But I’d also be willing to bet Sandeen working his ass off right now preparing to prove you wrong.
637 words.
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