The C.G.Y. Janser Story, Part XXXII: fighting for the playoffs

[Daniel Janser 2,167]

(graphic courtesy of Leandrofg)

 

The Americans struggled this season with consistency and show a 36-22-7 record, good enough for fourth in the conference. They are competing with Vancouver, Calgary and Chicago for a space in the post-season. Our New York correspondent Dick Hammer got in touch with Alternate Captain Callum Gary Yannick Janser, to find out where the hiccough is.

 

DH: 'Callum, your team has seven games left in the season and is not a lock yet for the playoffs. Do you have any explanation for this underperformance, as the Empire State team was seen as one of the better teams in the league in a lot of pre-season analysis?'

CGY: 'Hi Dick. Well, if it was that easy we would have changed it, you can be assured of that. We have the best Powerplay and the second best defence in the league when playing on home ice. Our boxplay is pretty much middle of the pack. All these are indicators for an intact core and should lead to success. However, somehow it is not or not to the extent we would prefer it to be. Maybe the lack of forward depth until TDL did hurt us, but I refuse to believe that this is the sole reason for our struggles.'

DH: 'Do the Americans take to many penalties?'

CGY: 'I mean one could always argue that taking penalties is a bad thing and I do not necessarily disagree. But icehockey is a very physical sport and people on our level do whatever it takes to compete. And sometimes you overstep boundaries. And sometimes taking a penalty is less damaging than the alternative. If you an opponent is on a 1-1 get away against your netminder, you stop them with all means necessary. I rate a 1-1 as a fifty percent chance to score. Preventing that chance and take a penalty reduces that chance to about 17-18%, if we look at our current penalty killing stats. This is a win in my book. Would I prefer it would not even come to that? Of course. But sometimes you get into these kind of situation and you have to take a split second decision what you are going to do.'

DH: 'We also noticed that the Americans fight more often. Does this hurt your team, is it a sign of lack of discipline?'

CGY: 'I would disagree with both stipulations. Tord and I are amongst the top ten in the league to have dropped the glove, it is true. I am confident in saying that every fight we got into was a matter of policing, where a line has been crossed and we had to make a statement or protect our more gifted players like Analfist and Davis. I also wish to point out that most of the time, the teams continued to play 5 a side as both combatants were sent to the sin bin to cool off, i.e. the opposition did not get a numerical advantage in the aftermath. In the combined fifteen fights Yvel and I participated, we only lost one. Meaning that we were for sure able to lift the spirits of our team mates and demoralise the opposition to a certain extent.'

DH: 'Looking at your personal stats, you seem to have taken another step forward at least with the offensive production, setting a new personal record and getting to a point per game for the first time in your career.'

CGY: 'That is true and I am surely not sad about that. But let's face it, my job is to prevent goals and I am better playing against the puck as with it. I would swap any amount of scoring against the team winning the cup to be honest. The only reason I do not dismiss the offensive stats as entirely irrelevant for me, is that it shows that I help my team winning games. I will never be the next Sterling Labatte, but I will do my level best to be the next Brian Payne.'

DH: 'Okay, thanks for your take on it and good luck in making the playoffs.'

CGY: 'Thanks, take care, Dick.'

 

CGY's stats for the season so far:

65gp, 12g, 66a, 78pts, +8, 176 PIM, 210 Hits, 122sb, 7 ppg, 1gwg, 4 First Star distinctions, 3-0-3 fighting record

 

Stay tuned for further updates.

 

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

https://vhlforum.com/topic/147418-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxvii-its-a-long-way-to-the-top/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/148053-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxviii-interseason-pastime-tradition/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/148449-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxix-a-pre-season-interview/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/148617-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxx-a-new-season/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/148844-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxxi-trudging-on/

 

Spoiler

@Scurvy @STZ @Josh @Trazan

 

[Scurvy 1,486]

6 hours ago, Daniel Janser said:

I will do my level best to be the next Brian Payne.'

You will be way better!!   Best of luck with playoff push.