The Dragons Flail and Flounder

[Renomitsu 930]

Washington, D.C. - The top three teams in the North American Conference - Vancouver, Chicago, and Calgary - have cleanly separated themselves from the field, leaving the early upstart D.C. Dragons in the dust. A full 9 points separates the Dragons from the worst of the three, and although they've a game in hand over Vancouver and Calgary, their goal differential since the start of the season has shrunk considerably; despite a 20-16-3 record, the Dragons have been blown out enough that they have a negative goal differential. Individual players are excelling, but it's clear some kind of balancing act is required.

 

The question then becomes, what's dragging D.C. down? Has there been a shift in other teams' lines without a response from the Dragons' GM? Are the Dragons, in their relatively advanced age, just not improving (i.e. banking) while other teams' players are building up? It's not immediately clear why the Dragons have sunk down a couple of spots in the last week's worth of sims, but a change is needed in short order to ensure they don't suffer a flip-flop with the New York Americans in the standings, too.