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Rome and Marners Success


MetalToday

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Intro

 

With the VHLE season finished, we can look for the end of year stats and standings. With Brendan Marner having a breakout year, it is clear that he has a lot more to give. As his team, Rome Gladiators just made it to the playoffs, finishing 4th in the league, only one point from missing the postseason, it was a close year. Marner finished the season with 22 goals and 50 assists in 72 games, that is a point a game finish for Marner. Although it was not as crazy as some of the other players, it was one hell of a finish for a player who has never gotten more than 11 points in a season. With such an improvement of a year the next question is, will he be able to continue that to the VHL when Warsaw more than likely lifts him up to the big league. I think with the confidence he has received from this years performance it makes sense for the player to continue, although he will be a rookie, so it is unlikely that he will become a point a game in the VHL, but weirder things have happened with less talented players.

 

Performance

 

Marner is very thrilled about his performance, he even rewarded himself after the last game of the season by taking the highest quality coke he could buy. He also mentioned to us, “With a season like that, the points will be amazing for me with years to come, and this upcoming playoff? Yeah, don’t doubt I will double my points per game.” Marner celebrated with a couple of teammates at the bar as well, buying beer and shots for everyone.

 

Close Year

 

Rome was quite average this season, only just squeaking into the playoffs with 92 points. The Watchmen, Marners former team, were just behind them, missing the playoffs by one point, totaling to 91 points. The top 5 teams were quite a powerhouse within 8 points of each other, and the bottom 3 teams, well they were 37-54 points out of a playoff spot. The top teams were obviously quite equal, but the bottom teams were clearly not trying to the playoffs, rather they were looking for a 1st overall pick.

 

A Season After the Trade

 

Brendan Marner had something to say about the success in Rome over Bratislava, “I already said that the Gladiators stole me, I will be that charm to get you the extra point to make it to the playoffs and I guess the Watchmen didn’t see that. Well, its their loss… literally!”, Marner said, “This was a trade that honestly helped me, I am happy to be in Rome they have helped me improve, and obviously I have become a better producer, and its only going to get better from here.” It is important to note that Nils Godlander, the player the Watchmen received in the Marner trade, had 49 goals and 42 assists for a total of 91 points in 72 games, Marner only have 72 points in the 72 games.

 

Round One

 

The first round of the playoffs has completed, and the Gladiators have moved on to the championship. With their first series going to game 7, it is no surprise that it was quite a hectic series that kept everyone on their toes. The series went so far as needing to go to overtime for the last game of the series, those are always a nail biter. Oh wait… did I say that it went to overtime? I meant it went to double overtime.

 

Game 7

 

Although I have not talked about any of the games that have been played, this game 7 was one of the more interesting games to have been played. With the score ending in 6-5 in double overtime, there are some interesting facts to take from it. The total shots were 85-44 in favour of Rome but that meant nothing for this high scoring game. The scoring started with the Wolves getting a quick one on the board in 29 seconds of the start of the period, Ryan Li being the scorer. Only about a minute and a half later, Drakon Zabastovka scores to make it 2-0 Wolves, and halfway through the first, Hulk Hogan gets one to make it 3-0 Wolve. Things were not looking good for Rome early in the game, but that didn’t deter Rome as they snapped back with 2 goals at the end of the first period both by Flynn Remy making it 3-2 Wolves. In the second period the Gladiators didn’t like being down, so they got one more goal early, scored by Noah Mashford to make it 3-3. The Wolves, however, said no, they liked the lead, so they got a quick one back scored by kman, to make it 4-3 Wolves. Halfway through the second Biggie Cheese brought a tying goal to the scoresheet to make it 4-4, but a few minutes later, Hulk Hogan came with his second of the game to make it 5-4 Wolves. In the 2nd intermission the Gladiator coach asked the team if they wanted to play more games this season, and if they realize that the cup may not be in their hands after all the hard work. That speech worked as Gabby Dugan got inspired and score to tie the game 5-5 early in the third. This was the only goal scored in the 3rd period, so things went to overtime, but overtime solved nothing, so it went to double overtime. The second overtime saw Robert Wilks pass the puck to Brendan Marner to pass it to Flynn Remy as a beautiful 1, 2 connections, for Flynn Remy to score and finish the hattrick he started in the third period and move his team onto the next round. The game was crazy, and unexpected, but was one hell of a game to watch. With a total of 62 penalty minutes and 2 fights, it was quite a physical game as well. Oh yeah, and the 2 fights happened together, it was a double fight you don’t see all too often.

 

Post Game Interview

 

After the series win Brendan Marner was ecstatic, “We are going to the finals, I told you! I told all of you!” Marner has never passed the first round in any of the VHL leagues, “We are going to win I feel it, we are playing our hearts out! I love this team!” He states. The team was all ecstatic, but they calmed very quickly as the veterans on the team told us that they partied after winning round one last year, and it bit them in their asses the next round. So, the team is mentally preparing themselves for the next series, and hope to one up their opponent this year.

 

Preparing

 

With the team they are playing next is rested and ready to go, it will be a hard match for Rome, but if they continue the streak they are on, it is more than likely that they can win it all. With such high scoring games from this past series, it will be interesting if the Viking goalie can keep the Rome goal scorers out of the net, like they did to the Express. With a final of the Vikings and the Gladiators, they are both of the bottom pairing teams to have made it to the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see the outcome, as this would have been an unexpected final by many.

 

Marners Playoffs

 

Brendan Marner had a great first round, as he stated he would try to get a 2 points per game average, it has not quite worked out that way, but it is not very far off. With Marners 7 games played, he has 4 goals and 7 assists for a total of 11 points. That is about 1.57 points per game if you do the calculation. That is not far off, but he still has a bit of a way to go. Will he make it? Its hard to say, but with a minimum of 4 more games to play, it is not an unrealistic expectation at all, especially how many goals Rome has been scoring recently.

 

Conclusion

 

In the end, Brendan Marner is having one hell of a year and to one up that, an even better post season. He is clearly showing how much he wants this cup, he wants to redeem himself from last years flop, and he is happy to say he did not get swept the first round again. He wants to be the sweeper for once, so he is talking with teammates and management, focusing, and practicing to up his game play. Although Marner is still seen going into controversies here and there, it seems like Rome is ok with that, as long as he is producing and helping the team make it to bring home the cup fans will turn the other way. The Watchmen are likely kicking themselves after witnessing the past years success for Marner, as he was not used correctly in the post season with them, but now we watch as Rome fights for that cup again as they missed out in game 7 in last years finals. With that experience, there is a lot of hope and speculation in Rome that this team will do it this time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Review:

 

My god. This is a hell of an article. The actual content written is written very cleanly and almost as if I was at each stage of this past season with you. I think the best advice I can give in order to make this a lot more manageable and enjoyable would be formatting. If you centred the article and added a photo, I genuinely think this would be a piece of art. I can't wait to see what you're going to write next!

 

9/10

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Review 9.5/10😉

Great job, seriously. The layout is done super well, I love the titles they make it so much easier to read. spelling and grammar look good. I like that you talked about multiple topics in detail and kept it interesting. My criticism is maybe add a photo? this could have been of Rome, your player, a rink, etc. I am sorry your season in Rome did not end so well. Hopefully, you and I can win won for Warsaw this season!

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