Toronto struggles against EU teams.

[Peace 1,562]

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- The Legions' 2-6-2 record in their last ten games may have some fans worried, but GM Peace has stated behind closed doors that the team can't lose forever and has reportedly told his club to forget the last five games and focus on the next two. The Legion will likely play Riga and Warsaw tomorrow, so it is important for the club to regroup and forget about the current five loss streak they are suffering through. Despite losing five straight games, the NA Conference as a whole has been set back and besieged by the European Conference. The only team to have made any headway in the NA Standings has been Chicago, but they haven't played the European clubs in this specific ten game span.

In that time the Seattle Bears and the New York Americans have quietly snuck above Toronto in the standings, but how many games have the five teams in the playoff picture played against their European competitors within Toronto's ten game span? 

Chicago has played only two games against the EU, defeating the London United 5-0 before falling in a shootout against Prague 2-1. 

Las Angeles has played seven games against European teams and has similarly struggled against them; they were defeated 6-3 by Helsinki, 8-6 by Prague, 4-2 by Riga, beat Riga 6-1, fell 3-2 against Warsaw, dropped 4-2 to Moscow and were blown out 8-0 in Warsaw for a 1-6-0 record in the window of Toronto's last ten games. As a result the NA Conference is now wide open as three teams are tied for second place, and Toronto has now slipped to fifth.

 

Seattle has had decent success against NA teams -- two wins over Chicago to be precise -- as the previous second and third place holders have struggled immensely over in Europe. The Bears' roster took full advantage of timely wins with conference rivals to slowly close the gap, and in their last ten games have played the EU Conference five times; they defeated Helsinki 5-1, lost to Malmo 3-2 in a shootout, were shutout 4-0 by Helsinki, stunned by Davos 5-3 and finally beat London 3-1. Keep in mind that all of those are within Toronto's last ten games, so they've got a record of 2-2-1. 

New York has a far different story... they've taken advantage of a weaker schedule strength against European teams but unlike any other team in the NA Conference, New York has been putting up victories against them while teams above them have not. They dropped Moscow 6-3, dispatched Malmo 5-2, fought competitively in a 6-4 loss against Warsaw, pushed London to a 4-3 OTL, defeated Riga 4-3 in the shootout, won 5-2 against Davos in New York, another victory over Malmo, 4-3, and earned themselves an overtime victory against Helsinki, 5-4; 6-1-1 record against EU teams during Toronto's last ten games is very impressive. 

And finally Toronto... The Legions' struggles after a blockbuster trade have been frustrating for everyone on the roster, but it's compacted and compressed from a very specific reason: Third period struggles. Toronto has dropped far too many games to be comfortable with in the final twenty minutes that the team has started to wonder why they can only play forty minutes. Too many third period comebacks have resulted in a loss, and the Legion are bleeding points from those irritating defeats. Regardless... how have the Legion fared against EU teams? They started off strong with a 3-2 win over Prague, but that's as close to a win streak they got. They were defeated by Davos 3-2 in a shootout, recovered for the final time as they blew Malmo away with an 8-3 victory, and tumbled the rest of the way. 4-2 loss against London, 3-1 loss against Helsinki, 5-4 loss against Helsinki, and a 5-4 loss against London. Overall the 2-4-1 record hasn't helped them none (obviously) and the club has fallen to the wildcard spot. 

So what is next for Toronto? 

Drastic line changes, perhaps another trade... ah who knows. 

Praying to RNGesus and the STHS gods might be the only solution.

[BOOM 8,846]