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***EmoLeBron*** · 02-05-2023, 11:45 PM

theSimletic

Season 69 Half-Season Analysis: The J’s Edition
By EmoLeBron

For most of the Junior teams, half the season is written into the standings. Some squads have shown exemplary promise while others find themselves buried and in the throes of a rebuild. I will briefly analyze each team’s current season and outlook for the future. Without further ado, I present to you the Season 69 Junior Teams.

Anchorage Armada Armada

S68 Finish: 4th – Current Place: 4th
Talented fourth-year winger Bruno Tooyo has been flashy in Anchorage this season. Currently, a top prospect for the Barracuda, the Tampa Bay faithful is excited to welcome him to the club next season. But for now, he’s focused on bringing a championship to Anchorage. Forward talent isn’t what could prove to be the Armada’s downfall, they will have to dig deep to improve their defense. They will be losing quite a few players including their main D core Sean Davis and the Otasrob brothers after this season. The Armada’s window seems to be closing, and quickly.

Carolina Kraken Kraken

S68 Finish: 2nd – Current Place: 6th
I’m having a hard time and dealing with whiplash trying to figure out what kind of team this is. They’ve danced all around the standings and have a goal differential of -4 despite being in the top half of the standings. They have no shortage of talent led by third-year Prpich who has tallied 35 points up until this point. I’ve said this once before, this is a team that can start stringing together wins in a hurry. After the dust settles after 66 games, I could see the Kraken either just sneaking into the playoffs or falling just out of reach. You could attach a dark horse candidate to them as well. As I said.. Whiplash.

Colorado Raptors Raptors

S68 Finish: 9th – Current Place: 8th
Looking through recent history it looks like the Raptor’s have two speeds. 2nd Place, or middle of the road. This season is shaping up to be yet another middle-of-the-road-like season. Bergman is the highlight of the offense and is currently in his third season but they are desperately going to need to get blue line help after Forty-One and Zopf depart next season. Also, they made a huge reach and drafted Shorsey Wobet, the worst of the Wobets!

Detroit Falcons Falcons

S68 Finish: 1st – Current Place: 2nd
To no one’s surprise, the Falcons are perched high upon the standings. What may be surprising is they aren’t at the top. Although Maine has a 5-game advantage over the Falcons and the Falcons maintain a league-high .783 winning percentage. So, who is truly the top team in the league can currently be up for debate. Arguably the most talented defensive squad in the league, their d core, and Newman have only allowed 69 total goals in 30 games. And they boast an impressive +64 goal differential which shows their offense hasn’t slowed a bit either from last season. The preseason cup favorites remain just that, the cup favorites.

Great Falls Grizzlies

S68 Finish: 14th – Current Place: 9th
The Grizz’s defense is playing above expectations with a +16 GD and goaltender Bandit Heeler’s stats don’t tell the whole story. With a solid GAA of 2.49, he’s been putting together a pretty good season. The issue comes from putting the puck in the opposing net. They have defended their home ice but lack the offensive pressure when playing on the road. A deep look into their offensive tactics may be needed to try and salvage this season and sneak into the playoffs.

Kelowna Knights Knights

S68 Finish: 12th – Current Place: 5th
The Knights are currently enjoying their best campaign since Season 63 where they finished 5th in the standings and made it to the Conference Finals where they fell to Great Falls 4-2. But that was a long time ago, they have been on a seemingly perpetual rebuild ever since. But they’ve gotten their squad back on track. Lutz, Liebold, and Valieva all have one season left of eligibility if they aren’t called up to their SHL squad next season. Season 70 will be their prime opportunity to compete for a cup, they must use this season to build momentum into next year.

Maine Timbers Timber

S68 Finish: 7th - Current Place: 1st
I got two words for ya. No.. not suck it. Cale Salad. Cale has put together quite the season so far, racking up 54 points at the halfway mark. For comparison that was where he finished his rookie junior season. If Salad keeps this going he could eclipse Piastri’s Junior Points record of 103. Although you must give credit to their talented wingers and solid defensive core for helping the team hold onto that first-place spot. At this point in the season, the Timbers are a strong cup contender.

Nevada Battleborn

S68 Finish: 3rd – Current Place: 11th
Coming off a great last season, the Battleborn lost a lot of leadership as they graduated to the SHL. John Brown leads the youngest team in the league. Chock-full of rookies, they currently have 7 skaters getting quality minutes and a starting rookie goalie in Nogoalov. As well as 4 second-year players the future is up in the air for them. We will see which rookies take flight and which ones become grounded, this team will be interesting to follow in the next few seasons.

Newfoundland Berserkers

S68 Finish: 10th – Current Place: 3rd
The surging Zerks keep proving their rise in the standings is no fluke. While they may not have the strongest talent, they are deploying seamless tactics and have been hanging with the best of the best in the league. They are a dark horse for the cup this season. Ozolinsh had been leading the league in goals for most of the first half of the season; however, Maine’s Cale Salad has taken the number one spot by a goal as of late. If they can hold their positive momentum, to quote the GOAT Michael Jordan, “the ceiling is the roof.”

Quebec City Citadelles

S68 Finish: 13th – Current Place: 7th
It seems like the rebuild has been accelerated in Quebec. With no lack of blueline help and leaders like Hargreeves, Minaj, and Savage all eligible to come back for a fourth season, the window keeps opening more and more for the Citadelles. Maximova, Cormier, and Dothe all being rookies while putting up solid production must have this front office excited about the future. If the young guns keep up their solid performances into the following seasons and draft picks keep hitting, the future is bright in Quebec City.

Regina Elk Elk

S68 Finish: 5th – Current Place: 14th
I think the expectations were always going to be low for this Elk’s season, but I don’t think they, or anyone else, envisioned them in the basement. Cocker and Neutrality will be gone at the end of this season but phenom E E looks like a strong playmaker with 25 assists despite the dreadful season. His next season and possibly fourth season should be good ones but it’s up to the Elk front office to develop and load up the necessary talent around him to bury the puck into the net and protect the blue line.

St Louis Scarecrows

S68 Finish: 6th – Current Place: 13th
The good news for the Scarecrows is their top players are all going to be eligible to play next season, but the bad news is this season is lost due to a horrific -68 GD and only 66 goals scored. They had a pretty good talent turnover from the previous season, but they made a deal with Newfoundland just before the halfway mark that sent their top point producer this season Luca Pane in exchange for draft picks as well as forward Timothy Jimothy to help with their rebuild. If the picks are used wisely, they could accelerate the turnaround. Time will tell on this one.

Vancouver Whalers Whalers

S68 Finish: 11th – Current Place: 10th
Vancouver is in the throes of their rebuild but it is looking very promising. Rookies Wednesday Addams and LeBron James were solid draft picks and will be fantastic players for the Whalers in the next coming seasons. Kono and Ashford will be the leaders going into the next season and the front office will need to make a push to improve their blue line. As long as they stay the course this will be a squad to be reckoned with soon.

Yukon Malamutes

S68 Finish: 8th – Current Place: 12th
Just like the Battleborn, the Malamutes are also dressing 7 rookie skaters and rank as the second youngest team in the league. They are the only team to not have an above 420 TPE player, their closest is O’Connall clocking in at 408. However, rookies Wong and Waffles are showing fantastic promise and were good selections for the Malamutes. If they can string together a few good drafts they should be in solid shape in the next coming seasons.

The second half of the season should be something special. There are a lot of teams primed to make deep playoff pushes but as everyone knows there is only one team that can claim the title of champion. Good luck to everyone in their second halves.

JNH · 02-06-2023, 10:56 AM

This guy is just too good Berserkers

*Carpy48* · 02-06-2023, 12:29 PM

Go

!

*Eggcracker* · 02-10-2023, 11:59 PM

Great review!

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