Americans pleased with year
The New York Americans can into Season Thirty-Six as a rebuilding club that is a few seasons away from seriously competing, with almost everyone that follows the Victory Hockey League calling for the team to finish well behind a playoff position. Fast forward to three games before the end of the regular season and the Americans are in the thick of the playoff race in the North American conference, thanks in large part to two major factors. The team that was supposed to occupy the final playoff spot in the conference, the Seattle Bears, have underachieved all season long leaving the door open for the Americans. Also the team has seen their young core overachieve in their first season together in the Big Apple. Today we’ll look at that core and how far they have come since the beginning of the season.
Xin Xie Xiao
The third picks from this past seasons draft has made a huge impact in his first year in the VHL. Xiao comes to the Americans after the Bears and Reign decided to go with other options the Americans were thrilled to see Xiao land on their plate to help along the rebuild. The young man has been a man possessed this season throwing his body at anything that holds or has recently held the puck, posting an amazing 352 hits this season. Although Xiao has amassed over 300 hits this season he hasn’t been a one trick pony in his rookie season. Xiao has also been a point per game player with sixty-nine points in sixty-nine game so far this season. If things progress the rest of his career as well as they have this season for Xiao, great things lie away for the young man.
The Americans can read, sort of.
Brick Wahl
Another rookie player for the Americans, Wahl has been someone the fan base has been excited to see since he signed a contract on intent back before last season to play for the Americas come Season Thirty-Six. Wahl has started sixty-one games so far this season for the Americans, winning twenty-five of those games. If you looked at Wahl’s win loss record you wouldn’t put much stock into the season Wahl has had, so it’s in his save percentage you find the real story. Wahl has a .912 save percentage in those sixty-one starts this season behind one of the worst defenses in the league. The save percentage is ever more impressive with the fact that Wahl has faced the third most shots in the league at 2254. Even though his name isn’t tosses around much for rookie of the year voting, don’t be surprised if you see Wahl’s name on the ballot at the end of the season to top of a wonderful rookie season.
Simon Tremblay
Tremblay was acquired from the Calgary Wranglers before the beginning of the season with Keiji Toriyama to provide depth for the young core. Tremblay has blossomed into much more than a depth player in his first season with the franchise. After having a short hiatus from the league Tremblay has returned to practise and started to light up the league currently sitting seventh in the league in goals with forty-three in sixty-one games. Tremblay has also been great in the locker-room, contrary to some reports that came out of Calgary about his behaviour behind closed doors. With Tremblay’s contract expiring at the end of the season, no one knows if the sniper will be in an Americans jerseys at the end of the season.
Chris Miller pulls double duty behind the bench and in the office as GM
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