Claimed:Lynx's Last Gasp [Final: 6/6]

[pxzero 65]

With 16 games left in the regular season and a 20 pt deficit for a playoff spot (at 34 pts), it's safe to say that the Lynx's play-off hopes are over. The same cannot be said for the competing Blades (54 pts) and Rush (50 pts), who are both the closest teams in points and virtually the only teams in danger of losing a play-off spot. And for the Lynx, this means a chance to play spoiler.  Yes, the Lynx are down, but they're not out.... yet.  

vs

Unfortunately, the Lynx only have 3 games against these two teams - two against the Rush and one with the Blades, and they all come up within the next seven games. That means the Lynx, to have a meaningful impact on the final standings, need to rally - and quickly. 

Against the two teams, the statistical differences are insignificant: 
 

--------------Overall-----------
                                                 OT      SO
Team               GP W     L    W   L   W   L  GF  GA
Blades              6    1     4     0   0    1    0  24   36
Rush                 6    2     4     0   0    0    0  23   31

Goals for are close enough to be determined by a coin flip, and the difference between a shoot out win and a win in regular time is only one point - not enough to cause panic for either team with 11 games still to come. If the Lynx want to have any meaningful impact on the standings, they need to win all three games within regulation time. The chance is slim, but it's there. 

For a quick rally, the Lynx need to pick a single issue that they can band-aid. This band-aid is available in their absolutely atrocious penalty kill. Here are a few more stats:
 

Goals Against                      Penalty Kill                                          PIM / GP
pos    team     value           pos   team    value                   pos       team          value
10      Lynx       5.8              10      Lynx    64.77%                1            Lynx           6.61
League Average 4.01       League Average 75.39%        League Average   8.38

 
In both totals Goals Against and Penalty Kill, the Lynx trail the league by a staggering amount. Obviously, the coaching staff has noticed this and kept the reigns on the players to manage the least penalties in the league, but that doesn't help the fact that each minor may as well carry a death sentence. 

 =  
 
A lot of blame has been placed on rookie goalie Coca Cola, but here's another set of statistics:
 

Save Percentage                                                            Goals Against Average
#    Goalie  Name                   GP   SAVE %                     #  Goalie Name                  GP   GAA
6     Vladimir Bodnar (BER)   56     0.881                        3 Soren Douffet (BER)       57    2.98
7     Soren Douffet (BRA)       57     0.874                        4 Vladimir Bodnar (DAV)   56    3.66
8     Valts Pumpurs (TUR)     49     0.866                        8 Valts Pumpurs (TUR)     49    5.58
9     Coca Cola (OTT)             48     0.863                        9 Coca Cola (OTT)             48    5.80

Yes, Coca Cola is trailing the league in save %, but the difference between Coca Cola and Soren Douffet or Vladimir Bodnar is not devastatingly huge. Yet, the Lynx are all but out of the playoffs where Douffet and Bodnar have clinched playoff spots for their teams, the Watchmen and the Royals respectively. It's in the goals against that lies the problem, where a serious 2-3 goal difference is visible, and that comes from a serious lack of defense:
  

Shots Against
1   Watchmen    23.43
4   Royals           31.09
9   Lynx                42.34
League Average 33.82

 
Yes, Coca Cola could do better, but when your defense is a sieve, his stats are bound to suffer - as is the team. The Lynx's problem with defense lies in depth. The GM is doing his best, but it still took 34 games to pick up Brock Weathers, who was released from Saskatoon, to fill the ever important defensive position along side defensive rising star Razzle Dazzle. Previously, the spot had been filled by a handful of misfits, better suited to an off-beat comedy or a kid's movie than a semi-professional hockey team. The problem is, outside of the starting lines, players are simply not stepping up to the challenge.  It's been 56 games, and none of the Lynx back-ups have risen to any level of proficiency. In part, that's the sad truth about the VHLM - some players will just never make it to the higher levels.
 
What does all this mean?  It means that if any starter takes a penalty, a nobody comes onto the ice. The shots against Coca Cola spike, and the puck goes in.  When the puck goes in, the Lynx lose the game, and no amount of flash by Bobby Ricky and Razzle Dazzle can fix that. If the Lynx want any chance of making an impact in the final stretch of this season, they need to do a three things:
 
- Practice Penalty Kill.    
 A lot.  It's the only thing that they can improve in a week. 
 
- Keep the starters out of the box.
The Coaches have been doing a great job (the best in the league) so far, and yes, a penalty or two is bound do happen. It's a physical game.  But for these three important games, discipline is especially important.  In fact, outside of personal stats, the other 13 really do not matter.
 
- Pray.
Lean on any god, science, or superstition you have, because the Lynx are going to need it if they want to matter.

[Will 4,660]

Content: 3/3

Nice write-up on the Lynx. It's unfortunate for you that the team has been performing so poorly and I think it would have been nice to have seen you moved to a competitive team before the trade deadline. Sadly, I think all hopes are lost for the Lynx this season.

 

Grammar: 2/2

Perfect, as expected.

 

Appearance: 1/1

Looking good.

 

Overall: 6/6

[James 77]

Claimed