Bern Royals Early Season Struggles

[gorlab 4,321]

After their first round exit in the S38 playoffs, the Bern Royals switched focus to improving their squad during the off-season. That retooling started in the form of the S39 VHLM Dispersal draft where Bern drafted Devin Sundberg, Sam Keeler, and Jody 3 Moons in the first three rounds, respectively. Bern also acquired rookie goaltender Vladimir Bodnar and left-winger Mario Corvio via trade without losing any roster players.

 

Based on the strength of their off-season acquisitions, Bern came into S39 expecting to be one of the contending teams in the European conference but have had a horrid start to the season and are now looking quite desperate to turn things around. Through the first 10 games, the Royals found themselves in the basement of the VHLM with only 1 win. The Swiss club needed to find changes and needed to do it fast.

 

That change was felt through the team's rookie leader, 1st round selection Devin Sundberg. Since their 1-9 start, Sundberg has elevated his play and carried Bern to victories in 3 of their last 4 games to leapfrog over Bratislava at the bottom of the European conference. He leads the team in goals (17), assists (23), points (40), and plus/minus (+15). His line has really been the only bright spot for Bern this season, as Sundberg's strong play has also helped getting his linemates Sam Keeler and Earl Parker going.

 

If Bern is to continue their mid-season charge, they will need more production out of their 2nd and 3rd line players, specifically Jody 3 Moons who has been the exact opposite of Sundberg in his first full VHLM season. 3 Moons has had terrible luck in front of the net, only registering 3 goals and 12 assists through 14 games with an ugly -7 rating.

 

Hope is not lost in the Bern lockerroom, but times are bleak for the Swiss club and they will need to hope that Sundberg can continue his dominant play while 3 Moons and starting goaltender Ondrej Cajanek can improve to help Bern reach their next gear.