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NateAndStuff · 07-16-2018, 12:41 PM

St. Louis Scarecrows Preseason Review

To say that the S42 Preseason was a success for the St. Louis Scarecrows would be an understatement. The Crows posted a record of 34-12-4, earning them the top spot in the standings. Obviously, there is still an entire regular season to play, but there are a lot of reasons to be excited in St. Louis. Today, I will be taking a deeper look at the team’s preseason performance and giving a preview of what’s in store for the upcoming season.

The first thing you will notice upon viewing the Scarecrows roster is the abundance of youth on the team. The thirteen rookies outnumber their older counterparts. This, alone, generates a significant amount of excitement for St. Louis fans. It also makes their performance this preseason a bit more impressive. That’s not say that the veterans didn’t carry a significant portion of the load, but we’ll dive into that later. For now, let’s take a look at some team stats.

As you would expect from a top team, St. Louis finished among the best in goals scored and goals against. Their average game score of 3.30-2.46 led to the second-best goal differential in the league at +42 (significantly higher than the third-best mark of +14). Only the experienced Kelowna Knights outperformed them in this regard. But where the Crows really shined was special teams and, in particular, with the man-advantage. They converted on a spectacular 27.8% of their powerplay chances, which was good for tops in the league. The penalty-kill, second only to one, was also solid, at just shy of 81%. Much of that could be attributed to the stellar goaltending provided by Crow netminders. That will lead us into the topic of top performers, and we’ll go ahead and start with the man in goal.

Top Performers

Friedrich Schmidt was a wall over the course of his thirty-four starts in net. Of the goalies with at least 20 games played, he finished second in save% with .910 (behind only Geezus Kryyst, himself), first in goals against average with 2.20, and nobody was able to post more than his five shutouts. If there is one thing St. Louis won’t have to worry about this season, it is goaltending. Schmidt looks ready to build off of his tremendous S41 campaign.

On the other end of the ice, we have the top two skaters of the preseason on one team. Here, we will start with Nicholas Falk. He is a second-year player that has really exploded onto the scene in a big way. Falk’s 26 goals (T-1st), 10 of which were powerplay goals (3rd), 5 of which were game-winning goals (T-4th), 39 assists (1st), 223 shots (1st), and +14 rating (T-6th) point to, in my opinion, the most-improved player in the SMJHL this year. The 10 points he racked up during his rookie campaign won’t be hard to top. All-in-all, Nicholas Falk looks poised for a dominant sophomore year.

Something that might be going overlooked is that Falk isn’t doing all of this alone. His linemate, Tony Snow, might have put together an even more impressive preseason campaign. He finished just two points shy of Falk’s mark, but did so while playing five fewer minutes per game. There are two things that particularly stood out about Snow’s performance. The first is his aforementioned efficiency. He made the most of his opportunities, averaging a ridiculous 1.34 points per 20 minutes of ice time. The second is his absolute lethality with the man advantage. Of his 63 points scored, 33 of them (12 goals, 21 assists) came on the powerplay. There is no doubt that Snow played a paramount role in St. Louis’ top-ranked powerplay. Scoring isn’t something new to Snow, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him challenging for the league scoring title by season’s end.

Biggest Surprise

When he was selected with the 45th pick in the S42 SMJHL entry Draft, defenseman Kiko Rytmeyr was expected to be a weapon that could be used on both ends of the ice. Nobody expected him to show such clear signs of his potential so quickly. A solid skater with quick hands and a nose for the puck, Rytmeyr spent his preseason demonstrating just how valuable his skills can be. Paired with veteran defender Gordie Maple, Kiko has found a home on the second defensive pairing and it doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere for a while. The youngster’s ten preseason goals were good enough for fifth-best on this Scarecrow squad. On top of that, he was a force on the powerplay, tallying six goals and four assists in such scenarios. With a shooting percentage of 16.67%, there’s room for Rytmeyr’s scoring to regress a bit during the regular season, but if the rookie can look half as good as he did during the preseason, the Scarecrow front office should be pleased. This young man looks to have a very promising future.

Jack’s Back

Things are really looking up for the Scarecrows, who got more good news today. It seems that winger Jack Daniels has been sent back down to Juniors by the Calgary Dragons. Daniels has been one of the leaders on the team for the last few seasons. His 42 points last season were good for 7th best among left wingers. He plays a strong end-to-end game and can be relied on in any game situations. The return of Daniels significantly bolsters the Scarecrows’ chances of competing for the Four Star Cup.

The return of Daniels will shift the lines a bit. Right now, he’s projected to slot in on the right wing of the second line. Here’s a look:

Center - Left Wing -Right Wing

1 Goku Muerto - Tony Snow - Nicholas Falk

2 Nikolaj Boyle - Nicky Pedersen Jr - Jack Daniels

3 Steven Moyer - Adam Taylor - Lil' Manius

4 Steven Moyer - Edgars Skalde - Nicholas Williams

Defense Defense

1 Daniel Karlsson - Rowdy Smithers

2 Gordie Maple - Kiko Rytmyer

3 Milo Momoka - Ricky Weaver

4 Gordie Maple - Helmuts Akmenlauks

S42 Outlook

The preseason is just that. There is a long way to go before anyone can be crowned Champion. Right now, there is a lot of reason to be optimistic about the Scarecrows chances. Early indicators point to a team that is firing on all cylinders. If everyone can stay focused, there is no reason to believe that St. Louis won’t make waves this year. There are a few question marks around the Scarecrows’ youth, but it is difficult to imagine them not earning a playoff berth this season. This team just has far too much talent.

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NJBadApple · 07-16-2018, 05:37 PM

Good article!

Scarecrows

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