It’s the end season, 50 games have been played by each team in the SHL in the 50th season of the league. A quick look at the standings shows that this seasons points leader is the San Francisco Pride, with a record of 32-14-4, good for 68 points, edging out the top team from the east the Tampa Bay Barracudas. Some surprises this season for sure, with last seasons Challenge Cup finalists, the New England Wolfpack falling just shy of the playoffs as well as the Winnipeg Jets, who were picked by many to be top contender in the western conference.
With the teams that didn’t make the playoffs, they will no doubt be working hard this offseason to reach the playoffs next season, but for now, they will be watching the playoffs with the rest of us. The first round will pit the Calgary Dragons vs the Los Angeles Panthers in the east and in the west, we will see the Manhattan Rage take on the Toronto North Stars
The winners from the first round will go on to play the top seeds from their respective conferences, San Francisco Pride in the west and Tampa Bay Barracudas in the east. The 2nd and 3rd seeds will battle it out to see who will play for the conference title, with New Orleans Specters vs. Edmonton Blizzard and the Buffalo Stampede vs Hamilton Steelhawks.
This should be one hell of a playoff for the milestone S50 in the SHL, with some top talent teams poised to all make their case for the best team in the SHL.
The New Orleans Specters find themselves in the playoffs once again, they have not missed the playoffs yet since joining the SHL back in season 46. Their best showing in the playoffs was their inaugural season, making it all the way to the finals but failing to raise the cup after playing a hard fought seven game series. This season the New Orleans Specters are looking to take that final step and hoist the Challenge Cup at the end of the playoffs. The entire team is amped up and ready to get the post season started and the one rookie on the team is excited to get his feet wet in his first ever SHL playoffs. Lyle Odelein III playing in his first season in the big leagues took some time to talk to us about his rookie season and his preparation coming into the S50 playoffs.
Q: Good morning Lyle, thanks for chatting with us.
A: No problem, thanks for wanting to chat!
Q: You just finished your first regular season in the SHL, with the New Orleans Specters, how do you feel that your regular season went.
A: I’m happy with the way it went. We had a slow start to the season, but we picked up steam the last half of it and made our way up the standings. We knew the slow start wasn’t something that we should be worried about, because we all believe in our abilities, we knew that the w’s would start coming if we just kept playing our game.
Q: How about you personally? How would you rate your first season in the SHL.
A: I think I held my own, I wish I could have added a bit more though, but I’m always going to want to do better. Honestly, if I hadn’t had the chance to play with Team Canada in the IIHF tournament this past off season, I may have been disappointed in my personal results this season. But playing for Canada, I quickly realized that I have a long way to go before I’ll start getting the results that I’m hoping for. The talent level between the SMJHL and the SHL is huge. I’m playing with and against legends of the SHL, it’s a humbling experience to say the least. So, coming into the season, I didn’t have crazy, lofty goals for my performance, I know that will come with time and hard work. I more or less just wanted to make sure I didn’t fuck up too many times and let the team down.
Q: That’s a good way to look at it. But really, I think you did have a solid rookie season. You were able to keep the best + / -‘s for all rookie skaters and even one of the best in all of the SHL, you had the 9th best in the entire league!! You came into this very well-established New Orleans Specters team and held your own. You were 6th in hits and 5th in shots blocked for NOLA, the two stats that you have excelled in your whole career. And you were able to break the ‘Odelein curse’ and score your first goal in your rookie season, you waited until almost the last possible minute, but you did get that goal. So overall, I think you had a very respectable rookie season in New Orleans.
A: Thanks for that, like I said, I am happy with what I did, I just wish that I was able to add more to the offensive side of things. It’s part of my game that I’ve always worked hard at and I was hoping that I would add a bit more. But I know that it’s very early in my career, that I’ve got a lot of work to do to get to the same level as the top defenders in the league. I’ve got some work to do to get there, I’m willing and able to put in the effort to get there. I’ve got some great support to get there as well.
Q: Sound like you’ve got yourself a plan! Can you give us your playoff predictions?
A: New Orleans in going to win the Challenge Cup, that’s about all I got for predictions.
Q: Should have seen that coming!
A: Ya, you should have! I think we’ve got the team that can do it. The Specters have been super competitive ever since they joined the league. That isn’t any difference this season, we’ve got an amazing group, we are all hungry for the cup. This season even more so, with Fletcher and Physt hanging up their skates at the end of the season, we want them to be able to end their awesome careers on a high note. We want to show the league that we are the team beat, that we have the right team to go all the way. I know this is my first kick at the can here, but I really think we have a very good chance at it. We had a great second half of the season, hoping that momentum carries into the playoffs.
Q: What about the Eastern conference? Any favourites in your eyes?
A: To be honest, I’ve been so focused on our upcoming playoffs, I haven’t paid much attention to the east. I’ll personally be pulling for a few players, like Nicolaj Muller @esilverm in Buffalo and Mika Kandinsky @Mika_Kandinsky in Toronto. They were my teammates in St. Louis, Mika and I were alternate captains and Nicolaj was our captain. They are both great guys, and I hope they both do well, except if they play us in the finals of course! And gotta give a shout out to some of my Team Canada defensive teammates in Hamilton, they’ve had a great season, hope Jax @SecondSucks22 and Gabriel @Gwdjohnson both have a good showing.
Q: Well, I’m sure you’ve got a lot of prep to get going on, want to wish you good luck in your first SHL playoff series and hope that you and the Specters have a great run for the 50th season of the SHL.
A: Much appreciated, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that happens. Thanks a lot!
That wraps up the end of season review with the New Orleans Specters rookie defender Lyle Odelein III. Be sure to cheer Lyle and the Specters on in their upcoming playoff match up against the Edmonton Blizzard. Should be a great start to the playoffs for Lyle and his NOLA team mates. Thanks for reading.
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