As most teams are now at or approaching the two-thirds mark of the SMJHL season for all teams, Yukon Duwitt News has chosen to take a look at a few of the teams as Playoffs looms ever closer.
 
New Dogs
 
As previously mentioned, the Yukon Malamutes reloaded in this year’s SMJHL draft with new wingers and a few defenders to replace the sled dogs who moved on. While the Malamutes currently sit at 9th in the league, they currently have a positive goal differential of 10 which is better than three teams in front of them. They have been led of course by veterans Svatos and Söderberg-Motyla whose steady presence on the Malamutes’ first line has allowed for a combined 86 points between the two of them.
 
Seven of the Malamutes players are new to the SMJHL this year with Wingers Tony Blundetto, Squidwardo Tentaclés, Fred Bread and Langston Hardison-Laurent and defenders Kaarlo Koivunen, Newton Campbell, and Jaxson Reaper. Should this core or even elements of it be retained by the Yukon Head Office, Yukon could be a force to be reckoned with in the coming seasons, if not sooner.
 
The new tinkering by the Yukon Front Office has led to new effective line combinations, particularly the 3rd line of Fred Bread and Langston Hardison-Laurent being centered by Vyacheslav Shevchenko. Both Bread and LHL were struggling offensively earlier in the season, but have since been able to find chemistry together. Bread has been spectacular for Yukon this season with a team best plus minus of 12. He is leading all of the Yukon rookies with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points.
 
Meanwhile, touted rookie Squidwardo Tentaclés has been fantastic on whichever line he has found himself on, with the second-best stats of the Malamute rookies with 16 goals and 19 assists (35 Points). What’s more is that he has emerged as an early leader on the Malamutes, getting involved in several aspects of the organization. He has gotten to work with graphics and writing, making it very obvious that this kid is serious about improving.
 
We would be remiss to not mention the ice breaking goal of Kaarlo Koivunen who finally got their first goal of their SMJHL career. However, while they have expressed disappointment in their goal amounts, Koivunen currently has 21 assists which leads all of Yukon’s rookies.
 
A somewhat unsung hero is Goalie Jim Wen. Wen has been great as the primary netminder for Yukon all season. Their ability to keep the majority of games close has immensely helped Yukon keep a positive goal differential despite the losses. Jim Wen sits at a .914 Save percentage with a 2.93 GAA.
 
We caught up with Langston Hardison-Laurent after one of his games and asked if how he felt the season was going. “Cold.” Was his response. “I didn’t realize it could get this cold this consistently outside,” said the Gainesville, Florida, native. We then clarified that we meant the Hockey season. “Oh good. Yeah, we have three great lines and I’ve been catching up with Tanner, who comes from Miami, and we’ve had a good time. He’s been helping me get acclimated and recommending some good winter coats. On the ice, he’s told me to not be afraid to be a little more physical, maybe work on my fighting a little more.” Hardison-Laurent has the sole fight of any Yukon player this year and, while it was a loss, Langston has mentioned that the fight helped ground him in the league and understand the ferocity of play.
As a final question, we asked if he had upped his game on Pokémon to which we got an emphatic “No.” We actually had follow up questions, but Langston walked off before we could ask them.
 
Yukon sits at the top of their division with Carolina and Great Falls struggling. The Malamutes may enter the playoffs in a similar position that they were last year. The Malamutes have proven scrappy in playoffs in the past and should their current form continue, they will not be a write off come February again. Yukon has bounced around the standings this season with both hot and cold streaks throughout. With consistency seemingly out of the question, the Malamutes will hope to being a hot streak come playoffs.
 
News from around the League: featuring the Colorado Raptors, the Vancouver Whalers, the Nevada Battleborn and more.
 
Clever Girls: Raptors Make a Reemergence
 
Since our Deep Dive article naming the Colorado Raptors as the most exciting team in the SMJHL, the Raptors have drastically improved in terms of standings and stats. https://simulationhockey.com/showthread.php?tid=133453
As we previously mentioned, the Raptors have had the most success under Jussi Mutou and Shadow Fenix and now their stats are truly reflecting that. Jussi Mutou still sits at 2nd in the league in terms of shots taken with 194.
Nik Smith still is by far the leading shot blocker of the SMJHL with 207 blocked and their body seemingly permanently colored black and blue with bruises. They are the only person in the league with more than 200.
 
What has really plagued the Raptors this season continues to be the affinity for finding the penalty box. The leaders we have mentioned in Mutou, Fenix, Beausoliel, Rodgers and Smith also lead the Raptors in Penalty Minutes. This has been to the detriment of the team as the Raptors have PK rate of 78.9% and have ceded at least 49 goals when down a player or two. These have accounted for about a quarter of all goals given up by the Raptors this season.
Due to the state of the team and the abundance of the odd-man situations, we will not hold the goals allowed on average against either of the Raptors goal tenders. Both Pitts and Lasma have raised their games in the recent stretches and are approaching the .500 mark on a win/loss ratio. Both have been bombarded with 39.22 Shots on average. Pitts has a 4.16 GAA and Lasma 4.94 GAA, and both often find themselves pulled in games.
 
As things currently stand, they are not necessarily looking for a deep playoff run this season, but they also (like almost anyone) would not say no to it either. As they have already taken games off several of the league leaders, including the Vancouver Whalers and the Anchorage Armada.
All this being said, this unpredictable and young team will surely be a wild card come playoffs.
 
Vancouver vs. Nevada vs. Anchorage: The Battle of the Puck Buriers
 
The Vancouver Whalers has been the team to beat all year in the SMJHL and are currently sitting 14 points clear of the second place Nevada Battleborn, but both teams have been offensive powerhouses this season. Both teams have blown away the rest of the league in terms of goal scoring. Both teams do have a single player with a negative plus minus. Additionally, the top ten plus minuses in the league belong to one of these two teams (8 from Vancouver and 2 from the Battleborn). Both of these teams sit on top of their respective conferences (although how these Conferences were named is beyond me. Nevada, Anchorage, Yukon, Colorado all in the Atlantic?). Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Anchorage has caught up to Nevada in the standings and are boasting scoring stats close to that of Nevada.
 
The Whalers are being led by Lily Jin Morrow and Inactive Forever in terms of offensive output.
Colt Fox and Johnny FourStar have been leaders on the ice as well.
Colt Fox has a shot percentage of 10.25% and they have been able to get the most out of their limited number of rookies with Center GM’s Son (12G, 20A, 32pts), Right Winger Erno Joonas (9G, 21A, 30pts) and Goalie Joulu Kuusi (.917 Save percentage). With only 3 rookies, the Whalers have the fewest number new players of any team this season.
The really impressive element of Vancouver’s plays this year has been how it has been a team effort this year. Every single member of Vancouver’s roster has a PDO above 101 meaning not only are they getting a lot of offense, but their chances get in the back of the net. By the way Graham Schwartz leads the entire league in PDO with a 107.3.
 
Now this article is not going to gloss over the amazing goaltending of the Vancouver tandem. First year netminder Joulu Kuusi (17-6-1) has only allowed 2.78 Goals on average. The now four-year veteran of the SMJHL Scary Jerry (17-2-1) has an even more impressive .920 save percentage with a 2.47 GAA. Both these goalies have helped and been helped by a staunch Whaler defense
 
The Battleborn have been lighting the lamp thanks to Thomas Sawschuk, Aksel VINSen, and Brock Samson. These three players have combined for 188 points this season. Sawschuk has helped elevate his game even after an immensely impressive previous season. Last season, Sawschuk had 106 points or 1.6 points per game, but Sawschuk has a 1.64 points pe game average this year. Sawschuk is also the first player to hit 30 goals this season as well.
Meanwhile, Brock Samson has been able to rack up 40 assists which leads the league as well.
Nevada has been able to achieve these heights with 5 rookies in the lineup as well as 2 rookie goalies.
 
The Goalies for Nevada have been exceptional this year as well. Yerik Akmetzhanov and Just Perfection have on allowed 98 goals this season.
True to their name, Just Perfection has 2 shutouts this year and has made most of the leaderboards in desirable stats this year including wins, goals saved above average and save percentage.
 
In Nevada, they will look to continue to stave of the Anchorage Armada in both their Conference and Division going into playoffs. Meanwhile, Vancouver has absolutely stormed ahead of the competition this season, being 20 points clear of their opponents within their conference. With the amazing success of the Whalers, if this season does not end with winning it all, it could be seen as a massive collapse.
 
While regular season stats are important, particularly for those looking for a call up or to be drafted into SHL, everything will be reset come playoffs and we will see if one of, both or even neither of these teams will continue to show what they have so far. A reminder that last year a middle of the pack Yukon managed to upset the Vancouver Whalers in the second round of the playoffs.
 
The Armada is Sailing Smoothly
 
When I first started writing this article, Anchorage was solidly in third place, but now it seems like they could challenge for second. Anchorage has not had the same level of electric goal scoring that the Battleborn or the Whalers have had. Instead, their ability to get wins involves their fantastic defensive play and their goaltending. The Armada has 4 rookie skaters and 2 rookie goaltenders.
 
Their current points leader Joseph Reed commands the first line with Barg Hazbite and Rookie Deep Thought. However, the Armada has an impressively solid roster with no apparent weaknesses.  Second year player Ubba Lodbrok is tied for the second most Shorthanded Goals this season.
 
Rookie Goalie Stun Gun has proven to be a brick wall between the pipes. With well over 1000 saves already this season, they have a 2.84 SAA and a record of 24-10-0. Their goals saved above expected sits at a 14.08.
 
Tidbits about the Chasers/Playoff Pack: Newfoundland, Regina, Maine, and Quebec City
 
The Berserkers Are Shockingly Not Raging
 
If there is a word to describe the Berserkers, it would surprisingly be steady. Dan Craig and Erik Erikson have provided the scoring and most of the rest of the team seems to be holding fast against the opposition.
 
The Elk Prancing Along
 
Regina is not a one person show, but Mercedes Baylé is certainly putting a show on. Four season veteran Baylé is on pace for their best regular season in the SMJHL, topping last season’s 89 points. Interestingly enough, this boost in scoring may have to do with the temperance shown by Baylé this season as opposed to those prior where Baylé racked up 41 PIM and now two-thirds of the way through this season they are at 10 PIM.
 
Yelling Timber
 
Maine has managed to climb up the standings, but will need to work on special teams rather than the immense amount of shots they have per game with 41.12 for on average.
 
The Young Citadelles Bombarding Their Opponents
 
Quebec’s season could be defined by their deadly power play. Jeff Hunziker, who leads the league in shots on goal, also leads in power play goals with Rookie LW Celeste Desjardins also ranking in the top ten and has a staggering 18.49% shot percentage. Speaking of Desjardins, she is the currently the best performing rookie this season with 60 points.
Quebec City will likely need rally around their odd player situations come playoffs as well. This incredibly young team has also had fantastic performances from rookie twin sisters Sonja and Frøya Solberg (combined 21G, 37A, 68pts).
Quebec is in for a bright future with 11 rookies (which appears to be the most of any SMJHL team) on a very good run this year.
 
To close out this report, we should note that the SMJHL is quite close this year and no team is truly falling behind the playoff cutoff. An extremely tight middle pack could mean an extremely mirky playoff situation. Only 7 points separate Quebec City (who sit in 5th place) to Colorado (who sit in 12th).
 
Reporting irregularly in Yukon by Tapper Ib-Arelinoher, The Yukon Duwitt News “Woof” January 4th, 2040.
 
WC: 2363