Rushing The Competition: The JST Heats Up

[OblivionWalker 246]

After the latest round of games played, the Yukon Rush seem to be solidifying their position as the team to beat in the Junior Showcase Tournament. An impressive eight and one in nine games played, the Rush show no signs of slowing down and their players remain consistent in their pursuit of victory in the tournament.

 

Brandon Petan Jr. continues to dazzle and amaze both fans of the Rush and other teams alike. The center boasts eighteen points in the nine games he has played thus far, averaging two points per game and he remains the only player to have a hat trick. He leads the tournament in both goals and assists, has the highest plus/minus stat and also has the best point percentage per 20 minutes. Truly, a powerhouse either shooting or passing to his teammates.

 

Lest anyone be under the assumption that Petan Jr. is carrying the team on his own, Xhekajs Middletoe leads all right wingers in the tournament with ten points and his teammate David VanHousen isn't far behind with nine points of his own.

 

Their goaltender, Bartholomew Lorequavius, boasts the tournament's lowest goals against average and also is the only net minder to register a shutout. He also leads the tournament with eight wins and will naturally be looking to expand that total, which, with how he and his teammates in front of him have been playing, should be almost certain.

 

The self-proclaimed "two headed monster" of River Harrington and Slava Kovalenko have not been quiet during this tournament either. Both defensemen are in the top ten of defensemen for the entire tournament. Harrington is the power play goals leader with five and also leads the tournament in shooting percentage. Kovalenko had his first multi-point game during this last stretch of matches and surely both will be adding to their overall totals in the games to come.

 

As a team, the Rush have an 88.5 percent penalty kill and on the power play, they are a tournament best 32.14. Based on this new sample size, clearly the Rush have firmly established themselves as the team that others will be trying to catch and surpass if they are able.

 

"We're surprised but obviously we're also really excited that we've been able to get off to such a good start." said Kovalenko. "We would've liked to be nine and zero but at the end of the day we're human and there's going to be games that we'd like to have back. But in the locker room, there's a buzz in the air. We all want to keep pushing, to keep going and really stake our claim to being the tournament winners."

 

For Kovalenko, who was a waiver wire pick up, this tournament is a much better representation of what he can do and the six foot eight defenseman intends to make the most of it, as does everyone else on the Rush.

 

Of course, only time will tell if the Rush can go all the way but they're definitely the team to watch.

 

(word count: 507)

Edited July 22 by OblivionWalker
a couple of words had the wrong tense