The Saskatoon Struggle

[Aimee 1,150]

S84 seems to be a struggle year for the Saskatoon Wild. A light roster and a 2-8-0 start during their first week probably isn’t where the team had hoped to be. Going into week two of the season, Saskatoon currently sits dead last in their conference and in the overall standings for the VHLM. Not only are they on a 5 game losing streak, but they have the greatest goal differential of any team, -16. Though thankfully goals for the Wild are 3rd to last instead of last here as well with a total of 22 goals.

 

So what can Saskatoon do to hopefully turn this season around and just maybe make it a winning one? In the immortal words of every impatient hockey fan - SHOOT THE PUCK! 

 

It would seem that Saskatoon’s weakest point is their shooting. Low numbers lead to low production and even against weak teams the Wild struggle to out-shoot anyone. In all first 10 games, Saskatoon has been out-shot every single time. Their biggest gap in shots was game 6 against the Las Vegas Aces where they were out-shot 37-12; a differential of 25 shots. Their closest attempt on the other hand was game 9 against the Ottawa Lynx where the shots were 25-23 with only a differential of 2. Over all 10 games, the most shots Saskatoon had was only 24.

 

Overall, Saskatoon was out-shot 2:1 by an average of 14.2 shots per game. Among their first 10 games, their shots only accounted for 35.91% of the total shots taken. Not great numbers and it’s really showing on the scoreboard. Asked about the stats, GM @Bulduray_1 said “We’ve looked at the numbers and we’re not thrilled. But I know our guys can come back from this and have a better season moving forward.”

 

That’s not to say, however, that the players are not trying. Astro Singh ( @8Ovechkin8 ) is tied with Morpheus Destructious x2 ( @Abaddon ) to lead the team with 4 goals in the year so far but Astro also leads the team with 7 assists. Nikolas Kauppi ( @Tetricide ) who has 3 goals and 4 assists so far leads the team in shot percentage with 18.75%. Clearly the guys are putting some effort into the season.

 

So the question has to be, with players who are capable of shooting and scoring, why does Saskatoon struggle to get the puck on net so much? It’s quite simple actually; the lack of players. With only 6 players and 1 goalie, the Wild have very little man power and those players can only make such an impact. When your team lead shooter is only 31st among shooters, it’s still a sign of a low production team. With very little backup and support, it’s easy to see why Saskatoon cannot produce.

 

Another major factor could be that aside from the goalie Jesse Teno ( @aimkin ), Saskatoon’s roster is split between their forwards and defensemen; 3 a piece. Compare that to the current number 1 team Las Vegas Aces who have 7 forwards and 3 defensemen. It really shows in production how much having so few forwards hurts Saskatoon. If they could pour some money into their forward line in trades or during the off season, then perhaps they would have a better chance of making an impact.

 

547 words for week ending July 10