Tessier Struggles in S79

[KC15 340]

Success in Juniors

 

To say Luc Tessier is struggling in his sophomore year in the VHL would be a very big understatement. The young defenseman tore through the VHLM where it seemed no defenseman could keep up with him. A hit would be coming and Luc would dart by. A defenseman would try to take away his puck and Luc would flip his stick, deftly lift the puck over the defenseman’s outstretched blade, pick it up again without missing a glide of his skates and wrist it into the net for yet another goal. But not this year.

 

Goal Scoring Dries Up

 

Tessier’s stats as a rookie VHL centerman were respectable. 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points on a young and rebuilding team – not bad. And Tessier expected that early “success” to continue. He didn’t expect to be a 40 goal scorer and top the leaderboards, but he is only on pace to notch 17 goals this season – one less than in his rookie campaign. This is partly due to his recent draught. In the last eight games, Tessier has managed to net only 1 goal. One goal in EIGHT games! Tessier is beyond discouraged. 17 goals on the season would have to be considered an unmitigated disaster – especially since it would be taking a step backward from his rookie campaign and in spite of working harder on scoring than anything else (other than defense).

 

More Helpers, but …

 

Coaches, in an attempt to lift Tessier up and boost his confidence, have tried to focus Tessier’s attention on improvements in the rest of his game. For instance, last season Luc managed a total of 19 assists. This season he is on pace for 32 helpers which is getting close to doubling his output from just one season ago. Coaches correctly point out that this is concrete evidence of improvement in his game. Tessier grumbles and counters that it isn’t that he is seeing the ice any better or making any more accurate passes, but that his teammates have just gotten better and hitting the net – unlike himself.

 

And it is true that players from last year have all gotten better while Davos’ GM @GustavMattias has brought in some excellent new talent that have the Dynamos from Switzerland firmly in second place in the European Conference only 3 points behind the conference leaders, Malmo.

 

Shot Efficiency Lagging

 

Tessier’s teammates may be getting better at hitting the net, but he knows that he is not. A decrease in scoring can sometimes be explained by a different role on the team. A guy could be cast in the role of playmaker and that would seem to be the case with Luc’s skyrocketing assist total – until you look at his shooting stats. He may be earning more assists, but he is also shooting more than last season. A lot more. In S78, Tessier put 193 shots on goal. Thus far into S79, he has already put 97 pucks on net which puts him on pace for 240 shots for the season. That’s an approximate increase by 25% and yet his goal production is down. Why? Because Tessier is wildly inaccurate. 29 games in Tessier’s shooting percentage is an abysmal 7.2%. To put that in perspective as if 7.2% isn’t obviously sub-VHL performance, this rate puts him only above one Davos defenseman for worst on the team and a full 2 points behind his rookie numbers.

 

Tessier Responds

 

So, with such a dismal performance thus far, what is Tessier to do. His one comment for this article was in response to that question,

“My performance is down. No doubt about it. No excuses. But what am I to do? There is only one answer. Keep working. Always keep working. Watch the film. Listen to coaches and veteran players. Do the reps. Rinse and repeat until I am performing to the level I know I am capable of. And then keep working.”

 

658 words

 

[osens 297]

Nice article, I like how you made it in seperate stories. It made interesting to read couple of short stories that tied each of them together. I would recommend you to add some pictures, it would make it seem more profesional! But great job with this great media spot!

 

9.5/10