Pier 21: Full Steam Ahead

[LucyXpher 1,549]

Halifax, Nova Scotia

With a record of 24-4-0 in their last 26 games, the Halifax 21st are cruising.  Last week, the 21st clinched a playoff berth for the first time since Season 90 and are chasing the Ottawa Lynx for 1st overall, trailing by only 3 points.  While Halifax has more wins than Ottawa with 42 in 56 games, the Lynx have managed to pick up points in 6 overtime or shootout losses and and have only lost 9 times in regulation.  The margin between the league's top two teams has been quite slim this season.  Halifax leads the league with 188 goals for, while Ottawa has been the top defensive team, only allowing 107 goals against.  In terms of goal differential, the Lynx are top in the league with a +57 while the 21st have a +56.  Down the stretch, these two teams will meet 3 more times, with their last matchup coming in the final game of the regular season, potentially setting up a big game to clinch 1st in the league.  

 

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The Halifax 21st find themselves in their favorable position due to the outstanding play of their whole team.  Top to bottom, they've received big contributions from every player and the statistical leaderboards reflect that.

 

As the team's leading scorer, Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple is currently tied for 3rd overall in league scoring with 72 points in 56 games.  He's been a threat every time he touches the ice for the 21st and has consistently produced since the first games of the season. Of players who have taken more than 30 faceoffs this season, Pierre Marc Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito leads the league with a dominant 58.76% in the circle over 1484 faceoffs.  Bouchard has also picked up his scoring pace recently and is 3rd on the team with 22 goals and 55 points.  

 

The team currently has 9 players with over 40 points on the season, including all 4 of their defensemen, 3 of whom are top 10 in scoring by defensemen this season.  Alexandr Novotny @Patrik Tallinder leads the way at 3rd overall with 58 points, Dustin Moore @Maxx sits in 7th among defenders with 49 points, and team captain, Andrew Skilton @ace_five_, is 9th with 46 points.  The team's 4th defender, John Season @dylanjj37, is only 3 points behind with 43 and ranks 15th in scoring among the league's defenders.  The 21st have benefitted all season from a dominant blueline that has found ways to contribute offensively in addition to shutting down the opposition.  

 

In terms of forward depth, Tommy Shelby @Will has been an excellent 2nd line centerman for Halifax this season, pitching in 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points to go along with a 51.47% rate in the faceoff circle.  He's picked up his pace as well since the season began and seems to be on track to push closer to a point per game by the season's conclusion.  Connor Simard @Alex99 has also been a versatile and effective player for the 21st, at times playing on the 1st or 2nd line.  Recently, he's shown good chemistry on the top line with Pierre Marc Bouchard and is up to 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points so far this season.  2nd line sniper and Halifax veteran, Aanarsi Reingaard @Laine, is 2nd on the team with 24 goals and ranks 4th on the team with 53 points.  He hasn't replicated his 46 goal, 91 point pace from last season, but he's also hasn't needed to be the centerpiece of the team's offense and his point shares likely take a hit because of the talent around him.  With that said, his point per game pace puts him on track to have his second highest total in 4 VHLM seasons and he remains a constant goal threat with his elite scoring ability.

 

Dorji Khan @Oddpurplefly and Tyler Duke @TheDuke are players who have broken out recently for Halifax, with Khan earning his way into a top line LW spot and is up to 16 points on the season.  Ty Duke has locked down the 3rd line center position and has 14 points and a 51.39% in the faceoff circle.  Robin Sierra @ethanjaeda and Captain Nugget Jr. @Captain nugget have continued to make strides in their own right.  Sierra continues to flash his offensive upside, but has been a bit snakebitten with a 4.94% shooting.  Nugget Jr. has 19 points on the season and has played on all of the team's 4 lines at some point in the season, meshing well with a variety of linemates.  

 

The leaguewide plus/minus leaderboard is a who's-who of Halifax players with Dogwood, Season, and Reingaard ranking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall.  Skilton comes in at 8th, Shelby at 12th, and Bouchard in 20th, demonstrating the efficiency of the team in even strength situations.  While it's not a be-all-end-all stat, it is indicative of a team that succeeds in scoring more than they allow, which is kind of the point of hockey. 

 

In goal, with Samuel Wazinski @samthemancub out for the season on the IA reserve list, Jon Webber III @Webberj has taken control of the Halifax net and ranks 3rd among all goalies with 32 wins in only 44 games.  While his save percentage may not be where he'd like it to be at .898%, his GAA is a solid 2.30, good for 4th overall with 2 shutouts rounding out his portfolio.  Webber came into the season with something to prove and has quickly become a quality netminder on a team with championship aspirations.  Down the stretch, he could be a big contributor to this team's chances of claiming 1st overall and he will inevitably be an important part of Halifax's playoff run.  

 

We're down to the last week of the regular season and playoff games could begin as early as Tuesday or Wednesday next week.  Players will certainly be working overtime to prepare for the postseason and taking advantage of the limited runway left to improve.  In just over a week's time, the regular season will be history, for the Halifax 21st it's full steam ahead!  

 

 

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1,015 words

1st claim for 04/21/24

2nd claim for 04/28/24

Edited April 22 by LucyXpher

[Patrik Tallinder 1,087]

BOAT GANG

[Oddpurplefly 149]

Reviewing

 

This article was very well written by @LucyXpher and it greatly sums up exactly how the Halifax 21st season has been going up to now. I agree on every statement made and might add that the team is a force to be reckoned with. The nail was hit on the head with every player who's been mention and @LucyXpher should give herself credit for building such a great team who will fight for all the glory in the next few weeks

 

Give it a a+ all the way

 

88 words

Edited April 16 by Oddpurplefly

[LucyXpher 1,549]

Claiming for 04/28/24

[UghSike 221]

Review

You never cease to amaze with these things. And, thank you for taking my partial blindness (I'm just farsighted, not actually blind) into consideration by using a larger font.

So, into my review, which I'm sure you already know is going to be a 10/10. I generally grade these using a rubric similar to what I contend with when writing a discussion for my college classes.

Grammar 10/10

Punctuation 10/10

Content 10/10

Clarity 10/10

Accurate Statistics 10/10

Credit/Acknowledgement/Links 10/10

 

89 Words