Claimed:Wrangler Woes

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

The VHL season is underway and there have been some surprises early. One question of the season was riding on the team in Calgary, where no one was sure where they would be at for Season 40. 16 games in, they are 8-7-1 sitting at 3rd in the North American Conference. While they are holding onto a playoff spot currently, it is definitely too early to judge how things are going to pan out from here. The Wranglers made the playoffs for the first time in a long time last season, but were outed in the 1st Round. Making the playoffs was a great achievement for a team on the uphill climb, but as with any rebuild, it takes time.

 

The Wranglers have made many changes to the team since we have seen them last year. One of them being Thomas Landry, the star veteran coming over to Calgary who has assisted the team greatly thus far. Godavari Yumalatopinto also made his way back to the club after leaving for a little while. Another asset they have heading forward is VHLM superstar and VHL rookie Lukas Nykvist, who is aiming to win the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy himself as best rookie. Sami Kravinen and Andrew Erikson are the other newcomers, and with all these acquisitions it might take some time before the chemistry gets there.

 

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All of these new players to the Wranglers roster have been nothing but great so far, but with all of that balance it seems their star Travis Boychuk may have simmered down a notch. Boychuk has 10 points in the first 16 games of the season, and has looked vacant in many games during the stretch. Although, in those first 16 games the highest producer on the team is only 1 greater at 11 points being Giygas. Calgary's scoring has been missing at times being very inconsistent. Boychuk himself seems to have lost a bit of his touch from previous years. This might simply be explained by the lack of chemistry with all the new players coming together, or maybe with a more balanced skill set on the team Boychuk's light will not shine as it did before.

 

This all being said, exciting times are happening in Calgary and the team will surely pick things up. Chemistry takes time and patience, and Rome was not built in a day. It happens quite often that teams need to gain traction before going on their rolls and the Wranglers could be one that does. This far into the season, the lines have remained the same as they have always been and maybe with a little bit of tinkering things could take off onto another level. With the type of leadership being present on this team, they have the right squad to turn it around. The winning mentality is definitely there.

 

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Their goaltender, Martin Brookside has been stellar at times and other times he has been bad. Time and time again you can see the team is capable of great things, but they just need to put it all together. Brookside needs to make the stops that are necessary and hold the door shut when his team is playing well. On one occasion, the Wranglers out-shot their opponent by almost 30 and still lost. Brookside does have good numbers, but it all lays on consistency. Consistency is key.

 

Calgary has been a threat since last season, but if they want to be a real competitor they need to play steady. It will be interesting to say the least to see if this team can gain some ground and perform up to the standards they have set for themselves. It remains to be seen when and if the Wranglers are gonna Wrang.

[Da Trifecta 1,899]

Content: 3/3 The Wranglers seem to be the team that's not good enough to make the playoffs on talent alone. They need some more pieces. Jason seems to be a great GM.

Grammar: 2/2 One small thing (listed below)

Appearance: 1/1

 

FINAL: 6/6

 

out-shot - outshot

[Kesler 1,514]

Claimed