When looking at the success of the Newfoundland Berserkers, most of the praise is put on the forwards and goalies. However, today we’re going to look at the Berserkers defense and see why they deserve as much praise as the other groups.
 
To start, let’s look at the 6 defensemen Newfoundland has used throughout the year. The team has swapped the pairings throughout the year so we’ll look strictly at TPE. There is only one 425 capped defenseman on the roster, Matty Sandeen. Compared to a team like Quebec, Newfoundland’s division rival, this is a big difference as Quebec has 4 capped defenseman. Looking at the rest of the team returning from S57, we have Billy Brooks at the 350 TPE cap, and Shion Okamoto at 340 TPE. In terms of rookie defenseman, we have 1st overall pick Aleksandrs Balcers at 281 TPE, Pasta the Turtle at 260, and Sabarro Torretta at 220 TPE. Overall Newfoundland has a very young defense core, and that shows as they are 7th among defense cores when ranked by TPE. However, all 6 are active and continuing to progress, making Newfoundland’s defense a big hurdle for teams not just this year, but for seasons to come.
 
Looking at the on-ice contributions for Newfoundland’s defense, they are contributing more to Newfoundland’s goals against versus goals for. In terms of points scored, Matty Sandeen is leading the way with 25 points, 60th in the league. He is 3rd on the team with 20 assists, and Okamoto leads the Berserkers defense in goals with 10. 5 of the 6 have hit 10 points on the season, with Pasta just behind at 8. 4 of the 6 have hit 20 points as well, with Pasta and Torretta being the only two left out. This groups best contributions come on the defensive side, however, as many of them are geared toward playing in their own end versus excelling on offense. Pasta leads Newfoundland in Hits with 92, with Brooks and Torretta also having high hit numbers at 73 and 72 respectively. In terms of shots blocked, Pasta leads all defenseman with 46 blocked shots, 3rd overall on the team. All defenseman have over 20 blocked shots except for Torretta, showing that this group is willing to do what it takes to keep pucks out of the net. Looking at takeaways, Sandeen leads the group with 31, 2nd on the team behind Dwayne Gretzky. Takeaways is another stat the group as a whole excels in, as 4 of the 6 have over 20, with the only exceptions being Balcers and Torretta. Finally, looking at plus/minus, an important stat for defenseman, Balcers leads the way with a +35, 4th overall in the entire SMJHL. 4 of the 6 have a positive +/-, with Torretta at a +29, Brooks at a +23, and Okamoto at a +9. While Pasta and Sandeen have a -4 and -10 respectively, Pasta makes up for it with high hit and block numbers, and Sandeen with a high number of assists.
 
Overall, while the defenseman may be the Berserkers least talked about group, they are more than pulling their weight for the team, contributing mainly in their own end but adding enough firepower on offense to sustain Newfoundland’s current push. Look for this unit to be strong not just through the end of this season, but for seasons to come.


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Approved! +5 TPE @"Minnesotafine"