Malmo is cooking

[scoop 3,447]

This would have been better written a few days ago, but the Malmo Nighthawks have climbed up to 6th in the European Conference Standings. In our last 18 games, we have a 12-4-2 record. This stretch of our schedule has not been especially easy, either, as it includes a 5-1-2 combined record against the top four overall teams in the standings. One key to Malmo's recent success as compared to their record prior is that we played very poorly with our backup goalie. As a team who doesn't have a second goalie on the payroll, we were stuck with B-MAL G2 starting eight games. We do have those games all out of the way now, in which we had a 1-6-1 record. Unfortunately for us, the teams ahead of us in the standings who we may have a shot at catching for a playoff spot are also pretty much finished with their required backup games (Prague needs to start their backup one more time).

 

At seven points behind fifth-place London with 1/3 of the season left to go, it certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility that we make the playoffs. We have definitely proven to be better than the VSN pre-season ranking of worst team in Europe, but we might go beyond even being better than just Helsinki and Warsaw. One thing that the VSN got right was the listing of Ivan Retoslav and Ash Sparks as key additions. Sparks has been one of the best goalies in the league, and Retoslav has been crucial in our recent strong play. Retoslav had gotten off to a worse-than-expected start, but in our last 18 games, he has 12 goals and 16 assists. Compare that to his 8 goals and 16 assists in the first 29 games and you can see why the team has had a bit of a turnaround. In terms of skill, Retoslav is the best player on the team, so when he was struggling early on, we found it hard to consistently win. I think if he can continue to score at the pace he has in the last 18 games, then we will make the playoffs. Admittedly, I don't think he will maintain that pace, and it is a better rate that I was expecting coming into the season, but it's not impossible.