A Tale of two brothers // First games in the VHLM

[Daniel Janser 2,213]

Swiss Central Gazzette

 

Our Canadian correspondent Jean-Luc Lieuxperroux accompanied our local icehockey exports for the last week to document how Marcel and Daniel fit into their new team.

On the evening of the first day of training camp, the Hounds organized a team building dinner, where the Canadian national dish was served: Poutine.

The brothers were asked after dinner what they thought of Poutine.

Daniel replied: ‘We were taught by our Dad to not waste food. That includes but is not limited to gravy. We were smiled at often by our class mates due to our habit to mop up the gravy with bread or fries’.

‘And if you take into consideration that as Swiss we have no hesitation whatsoever to put melted cheese on almost everything, you would understand why we like Poutine’, Marcel added.

Needless to say that this statement bought bonus points for the Rotkreuz natives, especially with their Canadian team mates Bedard and Slaney.

Time in the training camp flew by and it was before long, the brothers had the first opportunity to prove to their GM, that to draft them was no mistake.

The first game went 8-5 to Halifax though. Bad as it looks, the Hounds never gave up and even closed the gap when they countered three unanswered Halifax goals in the second period with three consecutive goals of their own. However, luck was not on their side this night and Halifax’ PPG at 14:26 into the third period sealed the deal. Daniel was involved in a textbook transition when he dug out the puck along the boards in his own defensive end and quickly released the pass to Bedard who then was on a two-on-one rush together with Lospenov. Bedard delayed his delivery to the last moment until all was left to do for the Russian is to tap the puck in. Four minutes later, Daniel scored himself after a highlight reel tape-to-tape pass relay and buried the puck in the five hole of 21^st’s goalkeeper.

The three stars that night were claimed by Halifax players only. Bryn Yrwy (4g/2a), Jacob Richard (1g/4a) and Jorgen Von Strangle (1g/3a) stood deservedly in the lime light.

Mississsauge showed room for improvement on the special teams (1/6 PP and 3/4 PK), and we are confident that the Hounds number one is better than the .778 saving rate would lead you to believe.

Daniel made an appearance on the scoreboard before his younger sibling, with 1g/1a to his name. He had also a -2 rating

Marcel did not score this night but also had a -2 rating. He was shared top in minutes played (tied with his brother and Japanese defenseman Hall)

Neither brother spent any time in the sin bin.

 

In the second match, the Hounds lost to the same team again, but put up even more of a fight than in the previous game, as they only had to admit defeat after shoot out.

Marcel was on the scoreboard after 27 seconds into the game, when his shot from the blueline was deflected by his older brother in the first power play attempt. Unfortunately, 4 minutes later, they were scored against, while Halifax was on penalty kill duty.

Mississauga’s goalkeeper was very busy with 51 shots fired against him. He did better this time and outperformed his opposite number with .882 vs .806 of the shots saved

The game was tight for its entire run and neither team gave up. No goals were scored in OT and so it was for the shootout to decide this clash.

Daniel was the only Hound to score in the one-on-one, with a remarkably well executed in-between-the-leg-shot to dangle the puck top shelf.

Again, the brothers kept their noses clean and stayed away from the sin-bin.

Marcel had 0g/1a and neutral rating with 4 shots blocked (top of the team), Daniel had 1g/0a and also a ‘zero’ rating. He stayed on the ice the longest with 28:23 minutes played.

The Hounds power play was below average again (1/6, one short hander scored against them) while the penalty kill was acceptable, but with room for improvement (3/4).

The three stars of the night were Richard (2g/3a), Ywry (2g/2a) and Von Strangle (1/2) (yes, them again).

Former team mate at the Brigade Harry Hagel also was credited with 3 assists.

 

The third pairing was against the Philadelphia Reapers, which was won in OT 7-6.

It was a hard fought game which could have fallen either way, but with the better end for the Hounds this time.

Marcel scored two assists (one to his brother in PP) and served a minor for roughing (no goals were scored in the ensuing power play).

Daniel scored the aforementioned goal after a rebound. It was a so called ‘dirty’ goal, scored out of determination and persistence more than skill and finesse. Contrary to his younger sibling, he gave the sin-bin a wide berth.

Mikhail Lospenov was the top star of the night with two goals (one of which the game winning goal) and one assist. 2^nd star was Hounds’ Defender with the number 2 (1g/1a) and third star Reapers’ Connor Wilson (2g/1a).

Again, the team from Mississauga had the better netminder between the posts (.0860 saving percentage) than the Pennsylvanian team (only .767).

Marcel had a +1 rating and 4 blocked shots (top of the team) while playing 25:52 minutes (second only to Bedard’s and Daniel’s 26:45 minutes).

Daniel was also noted with a +1 rating and has still a clean sheet in PIM.

The Hounds’ powerplay was better (1/4) while the penalty kill dropped a bit (4/6).

 

In the fourth match the Hounds faced Halifax 21^st for a rematch, which they won by a landslide 6-1.

Halifax never had a glimpse of a chance to win this game, as the Hounds lead 4-0 after the first period. From there on in it was smooth sailing, at least on the score board. On the ice the team from Nova Scotia never gave up and it was hard work for the Mississaugans to keep the opposing team from scoring. This was demonstrated with Daniel taking the first penalty this season for hooking.

After 5:16 minutes the Swiss Hitmen displayed their passing skills on a tic-tac-toe play, which left Bedard with no other choice but to score on a wide open net. In the same period the brothers scored one assist each, Daniel had the 2^nd assist on his ‘frère cadet’s 4-0.

This time the Hounds were hogging the lime light with Bedard (2g/2a), Lospenov (1g/2a) and Marcel Janser (1g/2a).

Marcel went 1g/2a, +3 and 24:48 minutes plaid (shared first with Bedard and Hall)

Daniel had 0g/2a, +3 and 4 hits (tied first with 3 others) and of course the 2 minutes in the sin-bin.

In this match, the lack luster power play (1/6) remained without consequences, but the coaching staff is well advised to address this in the coming weeks. Penalty kill on the other hand was impeccable with 100% of the penalties killed (1/1).

The Hounds’ goalkeeper showed his best performance so far and was noted with a .955 save percentage.

Here below the Janser’s stats so far:

 

Daniel:  4 games, 3g, 3a, 6pts, +2, 2pim, 9 hits, 1 shot blocked, 2 ppg

Marcel  4 games, 1g, 5a, 6pts, +2, 2pim, 3 hits, 9 shots blocked, 0 ppg

 

Daniel is one of the league’s top snipers with 27.27% of his attempts finding the back of the net.

 

Please find related articles under the below links:

 

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108027-game-review-in-the-swiss-central-gazette-brigade-royals/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108060-a-story-of-two-brothers-game-review-in-the-swiss-central-gazette-brigade-warriors/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108079-a-story-of-two-brothers-game-review-in-the-swiss-central-gazette-brigade-royals/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108142-a-story-of-two-brothers-game-review-in-the-swiss-central-gazette/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108217-a-story-of-two-brothers-games-11-and-12-review-in-the-swiss-central-gazette/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108484-a-story-of-two-brothers-its-crunch-time/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/108576-a-tale-of-two-brothers-draft-day/

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Daniel Janser

[SpicyGecko 100]

I loved how you created plays that could've happened and pointed them out in the article. I enjoyed the first part that tells us a bit about their character and their life behind the scenes. The formatting is pretty choppy and hard to follow at some points. It's different then your swiss central article which at a glance looks well formatted. The best part is definitely the play-by-play. Overall not a bad article.

 

6.5/10