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Dangles13

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    The Struggle Returns

    in VHL.com Articles

    Posted

    In a recent trade, the Saskatoon Wild traded stars Otto Axelsson and Dragon McDragon to the Las Vegas Aces. The Wild received a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd round pick for the two studs and looks poised to kick off the rebuild in good fashion. Since arriving in Las Vegas, Axelsson, the young Swede has been underwhelming, to say the least. Despite the Aces going 4-2 in the six games since the trade, Otto has so far managed exactly zero points. An ugly -5 over that span certainly is reminiscent of Otto's early career struggles when he fizzled out of professional hockey for a season. 

     

    Has Axelsson lost all confidence? Was Axelsson just a byproduct of a good system in Saskatoon or was he carried by far better players? The pivot has been a ghost out there and the coach has reduced his minutes to a lowly 13 per game, 15 less than he was logging when he had Dragomir on his wing. Perhaps this is just a case of a player needing to find chemistry with new linemates and over time the forward will come into his own and show the same dynamic playmaking that he exhibited with the Wild. 

    Claimed: Wild Aces [1/2]

    in Archived Media Spots

    Posted

    Emh8dY8.png 842184_arrows_512x512.png daVGmgo.jpg

     

    "Could you come into my office Otto"? are the words I hear from the doorway after our latest team meeting. Right away I get nervous and I can feel my face flush; I don't do well with authority figures and the General Manager is the top dog in the organization. Reluctantly, I gather myself and prepare for the worst. Somehow, my boss is already down the hall and sitting comfortably in his chair despite being in the doorway of the video room two seconds ago, his "magic" abilities add to my anxiety and even though I know I am being foolish I can't help but to shake a little. A thought pops into my head, maybe I can spin this into my favour if I strike the first blow. 

     

    "C-c-c-coach says I have been playing well lately, he says I am much better now. I have been scoring well and playing with confidence and he has given me more minutes. Veran and I are making good plays and finally have chemistry sir. I am sorry for whatever I have done." I stammer this out with far less confidence than I had planned on. A smile spreads across the GM's face and I know that I have done it now, he thinks so little of me now. 

     

    "Sit down son" he says while his hand gestures to an open chair. As I take the proffered chair I hear a noise behind me and I see McDragon stride into the room. Dragon is the opposite of me, he is calm and full of swagger; every inch of this man exudes charisma and excellence. "Oh great timing McDragon, sit down beside our nervous friend please". The man who holds my future in his hands looks back from Dragon to myself in a calm and calculated manner before he proceeds. "Otto, you have indeed been playing very well lately and I am proud of you for that. You've overcome a lot in your young life and I am glad to have had you on this team. However, other teams have noticed how good you have become as well and have been making offers for you. Earlier today I moved Dragomir and Stronk to the Rush... I guess you should know that we are rebuilding now and it doesn't make sense to keep the pair of you. Las Vegas has put together a substantial offer for you two and I am going to accept it."

     

    Dragon and I share a look, the Rush are the best team but the Aces are not far behind them and this is a great opportunity to play championship hockey. My anxiety melts away and turns into excitement, I am still shaking but for a different reason. "When do we leave"? I ask and McDragon grunts, indicating that he would like to know as well. "You have to leave quickly actually, I have your plane tickets right here as you will both be playing tonight. Pack your bags and say your goodbyes but your car will be here in 2 hours and if you are late you will send a bad message to your new teammates. I am very grateful for everything you boys have given this team and I am sad to see you go. Best of luck and try to win a championship"!

     

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    S59 Discussion Thread

    in Saskatoon Wild

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

     

    Nothings offical, ideally id rather keep u guys. But if i feel we cant win id love to see u guys go out on top

    I get it. I wrote about it in my media spot today. It makes the most sense to sell us off to prep for the future.

    Resurgence for Wild

    in VHL.com Articles

    Posted

    The Saskatoon Wild are having a rough season but lately they have been turning things around. One of Seattle's top prospects, Otto Axelsson is currently finding himself in the midst of a resurgence. The slick Swede is leading the team in goals and is third on the team in scoring; Axelsson and Dragomir are finally clicking and making magic. The speedy pivot currently finds himself climbing the leader boards in the following categories:

     

    Goals - 10th with 17
    Shots - 9th with 156
    Faceoffs - 8th with 49.13%
    Hattricks - Tied for 2nd with 1
    Penalty Shots - Tied for 1st with 3

     

    We were able to catch Otto after a practice for a brief interview and the lad had this to say about his progress this season:

     

    Quote

    Um.. hi. I tired, coach skate us hard to get us in gooder shape for playing. Coach has made changes to our practices because early it not work for us. Since he make changes we play good and fun... um... I think that also GM has made good moves and now we have better players who make us hard to beat. Veran and me are good together and I like playing with him a lot. Every time we hop boards I think we going to score. Coach thinks so too because he sends us over lots.

     

    Wild-ly Inconsistent [1/2]

    in Archived Media Spots

    Posted · Edited by Dangles13

    Emh8dY8.png

     

    The Saskatoon Wild are not off to the best season. Currently, the Wild are doing all they can to stave off Ottawa as they try to avoid ending up in the basement. The Wild are actually not allowing too many goals to go in their own net considering how often they play without the puck. Sure, Saskatoon is allowing the second worst goals per game, allowing three goals to be scored each game but the fact of the matter is that they are top in terms of shot suppression. The Wild are allowing only 24.69 shots against and the Lynx, who they are chasing, are allowing 23.50. If the Wild are playing somewhat average defence then why are they so far back from the top teams in the league? Look no further than their paltry 17.69 shots per game; this mark is considerably lower than even the next place team, the Ottawa Lynx.

     

    Why is it then that the Wild don't know how to generate offence? Is that the team is just lacking quality players? According to the latest roster download for 2K's VHL game, the Wild are the third best team overall while boasting the three best players in the league with McDragon, Axelsson and Dragomir. How does a team with the top three players manage to not score? I am going to throw out a term that is hated by stat nerds the world round; chemistry.

     

    The Wild are a team that if fluctuating rather... wildly. Saskatoon loaded up recently for a big cup push and now are in the process of restocking the cupboards. Many players on the team have simply not played together for long and some are even learning new positions on the fly. Adversity such as this can certainly affect a players confidence and ease on the ice. I would like to take a look at the lines that Saskatoon currently sends over the boards.

     

    Line 1
    Otto Axelsson - Veran Dragomir - Patrick Triscuit 

     

    MeaslyDiscreteGander-max-1mb.gif

     

    The Wild's top line features the two best forwards in the league according to 2K's last roster release and should be driving offence. The smooth skating Swede, Axelsson, and the Romanian sniper, Dragomir should be making sweet magic on the ice but it hasn't been the case so far. Recently, Saskatoon's coach threw young winger, Patrick Triscuit, on the line to add some energy and early returns seem to be working. The line has recently seen itself climb into the positive side of the +/- stat while also helping the team to get some wins.

     

    Line 2
    Josh Stronk - Paul DiMirio Jr - Veikko Bjornberg 

     

    rangerstieit.gif

     

    Anchoring the second line is hulking centre Josh Stronk who is a much better skater than you might expect. Stronk creates a lot of space for his line-mates, especially Bjornberg who is leading the team in scoring. The Wild are very luck to have Josh fall into their lap and despite him only playing 5 games the returns have been huge. Bjornberg and DiMirio should develop into the top line for this team in short time.

     

    Saskatoon hopes that recent additions will push this team in the right direction, if not now then certainly in the future. The Wild could become sellers which would see a lot of young players thrust into bigger roles but I think that they can handle the rigours of pro hockey. Next week we may look at the defensive side of Saskatoon and see if we can find any positives or room for improvements. 

     

    NOTE: Stats are from the old index. 

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