DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 We are now approaching the end of the season and after that will be the playoffs. With many teams having their struggles this year there are still clear contenders and fringe teams. Some teams did not perform as desired but others were just as hoped. Heading into the final stretch having played 61 games, the New York Americans are once again the clear-cut favourite this season for the Cup. They are standing tall at 51-9-1 at the top of the standings, 17 points ahead of the next best team. While not everyone is expecting them to win 2 straight Cups, they were always expected to be atop the pile at year's end. Predicting the outcome of the season is not an easy guess, but the Americans did not have a ton of changes under their belt between this season and last. All that being said, they were thought to repeat a strong season once again. At the bottom of the pack lies the 6-49-7 Seattle Bears. With a mere 6 wins the team has put quite a disappointing effort forward after eliminating the Wranglers in the 1st Round in the Season 39 Playoffs. Both conferences have their big squads, but New York is easily the best so far. They have currently won 10 in a row and do not look to be falling off consistency any time soon. ------------------------------- ------------------------------- One team which is interesting to look at is the Calgary Wranglers. Eliminated in the 1st Round last season, they look to get further in these next playoffs while trying not to disappoint their fans. They have brought in many key players to the team and look more balanced than in any recent years. Currently at 33-23-5 they do not look to be losing that final playoff spot in the North American Conference. Their superstar in previous years has been Travis Boychuk, but with recent additions the team has not had to be so reliant on him for points. This is easily noticed by the squad`s point production as whole. The aforementioned Boychuk has been stellar as a Top 10 player of the VHL since he joined the league, but this season his production has dropped. This is not to be disappointed about as the Wranglers have brought in some big names to the club. This season, Boychuk is less than point-per-game sitting at 55 points in 61 games. Nobody on the Calgary roster is out-performing anyone by any means, with all of the top players being close to each other point-wise. Boychuk is tied for the team lead in goals at 29 with Johan Hallstrom, although Hallstrom potted 16 of those before coming over to the team. Still, for Travis Boychuk only having 2 full seasons of VHL action under his belt he definitely has much more time to get even better. ----------------------------------- ----------------------------------- The star veteran Thomas Landry has been all that the organization had hoped for when bringing him over to Calgary. In 61 games, he has 60 points. With 25 goals to be credited for, he has become one of the Wranglers` most relied upon shooters. Landry has scored timely goals in dire situations all season and the hope for the organization is that he will continue to do so and bring that style into the playoffs. Thomas Landry knows how to score clutch goals and has for a long time. When others on the roster are not producing, he seems to shine on many occasions. If the Wranglers hope to get far in the post-season he will have to keep up that pace and try to carry the team where team`s need veterans most. Another area that looks to have gotten better this season is goaltending. The Calgary goalie Martin Brookside has noticeably improved on his game during the off-season and has proven to be a little more consistent throughout the first 60 games. Sure, one can make the argument that some losses may be blamed on him, but he has had multiple occasions where he has shown he can bounce back. At this point, he is holding a save percentage of 90.9% and a goals against average of 2.21. That GAA especially is a great improvement on years prior and it is obvious that much of that glory can be shared with the defense core. ------------------------ ------------------------ This season has certainly been an interesting one for the Calgary Wranglers. With a small amount of games remaining on the season, it will be an exciting time to see which teams can put together some chemistry and string together wins heading into the playoffs. Ending the season on a strong note is always a good thing for any club, and the Wranglers would greatly benefit from that. We look forward to the remainder of the season and the beginning of the post. Higgins and James 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Bump so it doesn`t get lost in the graded threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molholt 2,185 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molholt 2,185 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Content: 3/3 - Calgary has a nice piece with Boychuk, and it is good to see you writing about the team! Maybe they will shock some people in the playoffs this year.Grammar: 2/2 - A couple of weird phrases below. Some teams did not perform as desired but others were just as hoped. -- others performed just as they had hoped. look to be falling off consistency any time soon. -- falling off consistency is a weird phrase, maybe something like "falling out of their consistent ways" would read better. This is not to be disappointed about -- Perhaps "This should not be disappointing," would read better. Appearance: 1/1 - I appreciate the type styling combined with pictures (even appropriately colored pictures!), although I would suggest maybe picking your spots on the bold a little more intentionally. Pull out bold phrases that really emphasize things, rather than just team names, player names, and stats. For instance: With a mere 6 wins the team has put quite a disappointing effort forward after eliminating the Wranglers in the 1st Round in the Season 39 Playoffs. -- I might change this to: With a mere 6 wins the team has put quite a disappointing effort forward after eliminating the Wranglers in the 1st Round of the Season 39 Playoffs. Overall: 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks for the criticism. I haven`t had that in awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kesler 1,514 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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