Wildcard spot possible for Legion!

[Peace 1,518]

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- The Toronto Legion currently sit seventeen points ahead of the trailing New York Americans, and while the lead is comforting for the Legions' roster players, it is a well known fact that the teams' strength of schedule is likely the toughest they've had all season. The reality of New York catching up in points over the next half a week isn't threatening, it's an easy prediction: Two games against Chicago, two games against D.C and all in the span of five VHL games. Meanwhile, for Toronto, they've got a few scheduled games against EU teams that are easily 'arguably better' than the 'arguably' overperforming Ontario hockey club. 

Warsaw, Prague, Malmo and Los Angeles are the Legions' next four games, finishing off this five game comparison with the London United, who they themselves sit fourteenth overall in the standings. If the dominoes fall in favor of New York they could go from a distant look at the wildcard position to fighting tooth and nail every game to usurp Toronto's right to a wildcard series against Calgary determined solely who lands as the NA's fifth best team. The obvious needs to be stated, however, a statement that burns hot within the heart of Toronto:

They're ready for a fight.

A team that went 12-53-7 last season has impressed with a respectably modern 28-24-9 record, and while it's certainly nothing impressive, it absolutely represents a significant improvement from their last campaign on the the backs of those who've only just arrived the previous two seasons... now we've covered this in the past on other articles, but the increased competition from the Toronto Legion has clearly been bolstered by the reinforcements they received through their prospect pools, and they're only going to get stronger as current prospects in the pipeline further reinforce the team for S82 and beyond. 

Could the infusion of young talent make Toronto be a destination other players would be interested in? Perhaps, perhaps, only time will tell!  

For now though the Legion have their eyes set firmly upon the wildcard series they've so far earned with their sixty five points; they've rolled up the sleeves, clenched their fists, taken a stance and are ready to throw down just to keep a top five position in the NA Conference.  

"It'll be challenging, but we're ready... oh yeah, we're ready." Kyle Peace had stoutly declared before the Christmas break, clearly displaying confidence and pride with his body language. He was open, smiling, ready to face the barrage of questions we had prepared for him before the Legions' media availability after their 5-2 victory over Davos. Instead of continuing the sit down their media department had cleared, we simply thanked him with a smile and moved onto the next table to speak with another Legion. Our camera caught the perplexed Peace wondering what just happened.

Now they're back at the practice facility.
 

"It was a nice Christmas break, lots of new memories." GM Rylan Peace confirmed later that day, revealing he spent this time with his children and former Peace Player Agency defensemen Erik Killinger. "Had the family over for the mornin', invited Erik and his family over for breakfast and a dinner. It was a good day, but we're ready to get back to hockey."

[Telkster 550]

Review:

 

This is a great media spot on the legion that are on the come up trail. I like the way you hashed out how New York could come back into the picture to make the playoff race interesting. I personally think Toronto will still be okay as long as they play a decent record down this stretch. Nothing too fancy picture or colour related, but it’s very nicely written! 9/10

[Shindigs 1,771]

As expected when reading your MS' it was a great piece. The only thing missing was a shoutout to the legendary TOR G. But I guess Doomsday already covered that?

 

Really enjoy your writing style, you use a lot more imagery than most which helps really engage the reader. The formatting was on point, with the only slight hiccup possibly being the paragraph about building from within. It felt a bit too much like you effective repeated the same point twice, I found myself thinking I had goofed and re-read the same line two times. Which I had not. When I read it again I don't find it as apparent, but when the article is this good you kind of have to grasp at straws to find fault. So I did.

 

13 hours ago, Peace said:

Could the infusion of young talent make Toronto be a destination other players would be interested in? Perhaps, perhaps, only time will tell!

It does. A quick rebuild from within, where young talent gets a chance to shine is very tantalizing as a 1st gen looking to make their mark sooner rather than later. Toronto is certainly one of the teams that looks like a very good place to land in the S82 draft.

 

Won't give a rating as honestly it's good enough that I'd be shuffling decimals in the 9s to give one. And at that point does it even matter? It's just really good.

[fonziGG 1,065]

Review: This article is a fantastic insight into what is going on inside the Toronto locker room. Toronto looks like they're going to be in a big battle with New York who I believe are your fiercest rivals. You articulated how this young Toronto team is responding extremely well together and are gelling in the first year. It's very important for a young rebounding team to bounce back like this and I think you voiced that very well. 10/10