[525 Words]

LETHBRIDGE - It's no secret that the expansion Lethbridge Lions have struggled in their inaugural season. Out of their first nine games, the Lions have only managed to skate away with two wins, sitting only above the winless Halifax Raiders in 9th place. Their most recent win against St. Louis had snapped a 5-game losing streak, the longest after the aforementioned Raiders. While many were celebrating yesterday's win, it should be a worthy cause to analyze the losing streak and attempt to find the most consistent flaws. There were two that were glaring:

Wait, the first period exists!?: The first and most obvious thing to consider is the scoresheet, and it says a lot: in those 5 first periods, they only scored a combined one goal. In comparison, all other teams (yes, including Halifax) have a higher combined goal tally. This highlights a much bigger problem: the Lions, as a team, have difficulty getting anything started early on. In each of their losses, save for the shutout by Detroit, the Lions tried to rally in the later periods. While it worked to a certain extent in some games, other times it was too late to even consider a comeback. For comparison: in their win against St. Louis, the Lions scored 2 goals in the first. Why did this succeed? They were able to get going earlier, and not saving momentum for a comeback that could, but more than likely wouldn't work

As Deep as a Kiddie Pool: As some of you might have guessed, the lack of depth scoring is hurting the team. Currently, there are a total of 4 players that have 5 points or more. Because of that, there really isn't much their offense can do: The top 3 in point totals are veterans, with only two players with 3 or more goals. This is most noticeable on the power play units. For any team to make an impact, one must always consider special teams: a team with a good Power Play unit will succeed. For the Lions, they have much to learn. Out of the 21 Power Plays awarded to them, they scored on... 0 of them. Beyond the losing streak, their Power Play effectiveness is only at 7.5%, the lowest in the league. It doesn't help that they have to split up their top scoring units to allow both lines to score.

How can they improve? Well...there isn't a whole lot they can do... for now. Sure, they can sign a few free agents to help bolster depth, but in order for the Lions to succeed, much like teams in the SHL and SMJHL, they have to grow from within. Future drafts will, of course, bring in more raw talent to be shaped, but it will also be the job of coaching to shape these players into a successful team, and more so, successful hockey players. Unsurprisingly, it takes multiple seasons to accomplish, but the long-term reward for doing so is undeniable. With the current front office, this is more than an achievable goal.

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

     

we'll get there!!!!!!!! :D

9gag pretty lit tho

gang

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