What happened and Where do we go? - The Legion RollerCoster

[Smarch 2,952]

What happened and Where do we go?

Another season of disappointment for Toronto VHL fans and players. 

 

There’s no recollection of the evil things I’ve done. Head feels Like I must have had some fun. Unlike the Sublime song “what happened”, the Toronto Legion and their players do not feel like they had any fun in Season Seventy-Eight. After finishing in Second place in the North Americans Conference in Season Seventy-Seven, the management and fans of the Legion believed the team was on the upswing. After starting Season Seventy-Eight 10-3, those beliefs of a team on the upswing seemed to be correct. All until a 3-2 loss against the Chicago Phoenix in the teams fourteen game of the season, put the entire season into a downward spiral. The Legion would lose sixteen of the next seventeen games after starting the season 10-3, putting the team into a hole they were never able to fully recover from. For a team that appeared to improve in the off-season, we have to wonder what happened?

As the league off-season functions took place during the VHL off-season, the Legion were looking to improve their existing roster, thanks in large part to the announcement of a soft and hard salary cap in the VHL for the season. First off the Legion made a deal with London United, shipping off defenseman Micah Adrienne and a Season Eighty Toronto Third Round pick, in return for defenseman Erik Killinger and a Season Eighty London Second Round pick. The move was made with the thought process that even though Killinger was in his last year in the VHL, with him having close to 200 TPA more, Killinger could help the Legion more in the short term. While Killinger was able to put up decent point totals in his fifty-one gams with the Legion, the Killinger move unfortunately didn’t pan out and help the Legion move over that hump.

 

Outside the trade that brought Killinger to the Legion in the off-season, the Legion were able to re-sign two members of the roster, those being SS Hornet and Jon Webber. Both players were brought back on one-year deal, with much different expectations for each player. Hornet was brought back to be the cornerstone on the number one line in Toronto, while Webber was brought back to continue with his depth role he took hold of in his VHL rookie season in Season Seventy-Seven. Neither of those players should shoulder any blame for the Legions poor season, as Hornet put up a career high in goals with forty-one, and matched his career high in points with seventy-eight. Webber also improved on his career high in goals and points, putting up eighteen goals and fifteen assists, for thirty-three points on the season. While both players had decent individual seasons, they were unable to carry the load for the Legion, who say only two roster players end the season with a positive plus/minus.

 

Now as the off-season has begun for the Legion management, fans are wondering where does the team go from here? With many different options currently at the fingertips of General Manager Rylan Peace, the direction of the club should become more clear in the coming weeks.

[jRuutu 2,319]

9.5/10

 

Great recap of Toronto's season. Someone like myself who might not follow every team so closely gets a lot of information out of this article! The comments regarding trades were also fun to read.

 

Solid article overall. The formatting or spacing could be slightly clearer, but other than that - I can't really think anything I would suggest for improvements!