(519 Words)

Despite losing quite a few key pieces to their deep playoff run from S67, namely forwards Din Djarin and Luke Laraque, the Nevada Battleborn exceeded all expectations and secured a first-round bye as the season concludes. There were many factors to this, but the main reason for their success was the meteoric improvement of many of their players, namely, their top line. Let's take a look:

Alexi Piastri

Through his rookie season in S66 and S67, Piastri put up very good numbers, (around 55 points in each season). Despite fairly decent numbers, he seemed to plateau in his sophomore season. Even with Djarin and Laraque moving up to the majors, he still had to compete with teammate, rookie of the year winner, and newly appointed captain Paul Peterson for the first-line center position. To both players, it was really an opportunity to show that they can improve. In turn, Piastri lit it up this season for 103 points, 60 of which were goals, crushing Din Djarin's 77 points from the prior season. Put simply, Piastri found Mach 2 and just dominated the playing field. On top of these point totals, Piastri also leads the league in shots on goal, which allowed for the heightened scores. Going to triple digits is probably the best thing to happen to Piastri, and is the frontrunner for the MVP award.

Dominik Froste

Another player that doubled their points, Dominik Froste reached their highest point peak after falling a bit in his 3rd season, going from 70 points in their second season to a career low 44 points in their 3rd season. Moving back up to the first line this season helped immensely for Froste's comeback, and with the addition of an on-fire center in Alexi Piastri, boosted Froste to a career-high 90 points. Among these points includes a league-leading 63 assists, beating out last season's high of 53 from Maine's Nibbles the Squirrel. Froste was also a major defensive player for the team, as can be gleamed from his 2nd highest 209 shots blocked.

Boom Stick

The story around winger Boom Stick lies more with the concept of "taking a chance." Prior to this season, Stick had not eclipsed 40 points in his 3 years in the SMJHL, and was firmly seen as a bottom 6 option among analysts. This season, with major departures, there was a lot of line shuffling. In this instance, Boom Stick was given an opportunity to be on the first line. To say that it was a major success would be an understatement: he not only thrived, but more than doubled his point totals to 80 points. This is a major step up, and was significantly more surprising considering his previous season total of 22 points. As mentioned before, Dominik Froste was tied for 2nd in shots blocked: the other player with this amount is Boom Stick, who also has 209 blocked shots. The fact that these two players pulled these results as forwards is beyond amazing.

This season, these 3 players combined for over 200 points, with all 3 players being in the top 10 for points.

Jøln DuBølk || D || Lethbridge Lions

Drafted 39th Overall in the S45 SMJHL Entry Draft

Drafted 24th Overall in the S46 SHL Entry Draft

19 G/67 A/86 P

S48 Four Star Cup Champion

S48 IIHF - Gold Medal

S49 All Rookie Team

S52 IIHF - Silver Medal

S54 Challenge Cup Champion

     

@MCP_ APPROVED! +5 TPE