The C.G.Y. Janser Story, Part XXVII: It's a long way to the top

[Daniel Janser 1,997]

graphic courtesy by Leandrofg

(stats for Janser, stats for Kagamine)

 

The regular season has come to an end and the Americans made it into the post-season. That is the good news, the bad news is, that they lost the third seed they held onto for most of the season. So they need to go through the purgatory of the Wild Card series, which they lead 2-0 at the moment of writing this article. We will review the last two regular season matches.

 

6-5 (OT)

The first game featured on this review was against the Swedish Uberteam, Malmö. The teams showed a very entertaining game, at least for the fans of highscoring hockey. Defense-afficionados were sorely disappointed. Lecavalier opened the score with the end of the first period already looming on the horizon. In the second frame, the Swedes tied the game on the power play, when Champagne got a minor for high sticking. This won't be the last time his stick was where it had no business being, but more on that later. New York then scored three consecutives markers. Jeannot, Davis and Mancini found the back of the net for their colours. But the Nighthawks put up a fight and with two back-to-back goals, they culled the lead to one goal. On the third period, Malmö equalized the score with only twenty-two seconds played. Midway through the period, Analfist reinstated the one goal league. At this point in time, Freddy was already taking a shower as he was expelled from the game for a spearing offence. Apparently he forgot for a moment what sport was being played here. With less than six minutes left in the game, the Swedish outfit evened the score again, and the teams had to go to overtime. Less than two minutes passed in same before Malmö secured the extra point. This was the Americans' eleventh OT loss in the season, which is the most league wide. A questionable record for sure. Jeannot (1g/2a), Stone (1g/2a) and Queefson (1g/1a) were awarded the tree stars of the night. 36W (.878) was considerably less awful than Sparks (.800) in Malmö's net. New York's power play was top notch (1/2) while their penalty killing was almost impeccable (7/8).

Janser left the ice with 0g, 1a, +0, 6 PIM (High Sticking, Interference and Cross Checking, none of which lead to a goal against), 1 hit and 3sb

Rin was credited with 0g, 0a, -1, 0 PIM, 3 hits and 1sb

 

1-7 

The last match of the season was even more of a defensive nightmare for Vince Wong than the previous one. We are sure that he was questioning what his erstwhile rock solid back row was doing out there. The Dragons came out breathing fire and scored five unanswered goals in the first period, two of which were on the man advantage. They took it down a notch in the second, where they only scored one more on the power play and in the final period they scored their seventh of the night. Alas, the Empire State franchise manage to save at least some of its dignity and managed a consolation goal by Kagamine with five minutes left for Tucker to secure his shut out. It should marvel absolutely no-one that with Grey (2g/2a), Calaway (1g/3a) and Frenchman (1g/2a) all three of the post-game honours went to DC players. In net, it was a no-contest between 36W (.706) and Tucker (.974). New York's power play (0/5) and their offence in general was atrocious, matching the box play teams' performance (2/5).

Callum was noted with 0g, 0a, -3, 2 PIM (Slashing, did not affect the score), 4 hits and 6sb

Kagamine had 1g, 0a, +0, 0 PIM, 1 hit and 2sb to her name

 

It is frustrating that the guaranteed playoff seed was given away what was arguably the worst defensive effort of a New York team, since Janser joined the roster. However, this is water under the bridge and the Americans need now to focus on the games ahead. We are certain that they prefer this collective defensive blackout to happen in the dying games of the regular season rather than the post-season.

 

Here are the final stats for our Dynamic Duo playing for the squad out of the Big Apple.

Rin: 72gp, 8g, 15a, 23pts, +10, 28 PIM, 64 hits, 111sb, 4ppg, 2gwg

CGY: 72gp, 12g, 51a, 63pts, +30, 182 PIM, 225 hits, 128sb, 6ppg, 1gwg, 1 First Star nomination

 

As a closing analysis, we can say that Janser has made progress in almost every aspect of his game. He doubled his goals, had more assists and therefore points, showed a significant improvement on the +/- rating, reduced his time riding the pine by a smidge and remained a physical player as well as a reliable shot blocker. Further and in addition, he could celebrate his 100th apple in the league. So all according to plan and there is no reason, why the management should not be happy with his development.

Sadly, Rin's progress is a different story. It looks like despite undeniable talent, the Japanese defender projects at the moment to become a depth player. In fact, whereas the Swiss Giant showed improvement in most of his stats, the opposite is true for Kagamine. She scored fewer goals as well as fewer assists than last season, despite a better team offence. The +/- rating improved, but not to the same extent as Janser's. She took more penalties on top of the aforementioned. Admittedly it is still a low two-digit number we are talking about and some of it has to do with an improved physical play. Just to be clear, Rin got a gig in a storied VHL franchise, which is more than most can claim for themselves. This is certainly something to be proud of. Alas, we cannot help but feel that with a 15th overall pick, the New York management were looking more in the direction of a franchise player than a bottom four defender. Let's see whether the 'Nagasaki Nightingale' can address the issues that cripple her development and become the star player she was always meant to be.

 

We will revert with more news in due course. In the interim, why not reading one of the below articles?  

 

 

https://vhlforum.com/topic/146308-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxii-an-inter-season-interview/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/146571-vsn-presents-s93-vhl-preview/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/146609-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxiii-a-new-season-is-upon-us/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/146757-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxiv-a-quarter-done/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/146863-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxv-contender-or-pretender/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/147258-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxvi-an-89th-interview/

GM 568: Malmo Nighthawks vs. New York Americans (vhlportal.com)

GM 575: New York Americans vs. D.C. Dragons (vhlportal.com)

 

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[Daniel Janser 1,997]

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