Moscow playing too well, players bored?

[jRuutu 2,467]

 

Moscow Menace finished the regular season 96 with 56 wins from 72 games. Moscow also scored 306 goals and allowed 169 goals against. These totals are the best around the league. Rumors coming in from the Moscow Menace camp suggest many of the Menace players are having a hard time accepting the success. When the wins are coming right and left it is hard to find motivation for most games when you know before the puck drops there is an extremely good chance you are going to win. When individual success is so frequent that scoring a goal or getting an assist has turned into something as mundane as taking the trash out, it is hard to celebrate when you score or hear your name being announced after a goal. Many of the Menace players have reportedly consulted their agents about the possibility of testing free agency during the upcoming off-season in the hopes of getting into a situation where hockey is fun again.

 

According to sources near the team, one of the more vocal players lately has been Moscow Menace center Jarmo Ruutu. The Finnish center had the most assists in the league last year, but this year Ruutu was one of the best goalscorers, only five more goals and Ruutu would have been the best goalscorer in the league. This type of performance was not something many expected before the season started, but is it a surprise? The change in style of play has been obvious to anyone watching Moscow, Ruutu simply does not pass as much as he did in the past. In the past, Ruutu would almost always go for a pass if there was even a small play to be made, but now the situation is almost completely opposite with Ruutu going for the shot even when there is an open man in a far better position. This type of change suggests Ruutu is like many of the players in Moscow - chained to a mould, forced to perform to amuse the suits leading the team. Ruutu has turned from an elegant and majestic pony with a golden mane to a trusted plough horse who grinds steadily game after game. It is almost scary to think what Ruutu would be if allowed to perform freely on the ice.

 

 

Ruutu himself has not said much about his plans for the future.When taking into consideration how many talented players Moscow has and how many of the players are in a similar situation with Ruutu it is almost guaranteed off-season in Moscow is going to be a busy one. Perhaps Moscow not being able to hold on to this team will be good for VHL? For far too long Moscow Menace GM Euron Leonidas has been allowed to mock VHL by outsmarting other GMs. Perhaps the real winners will still be those Moscow Menace players who will skate up and down the ice with smiles on their faces, not having to deal with the machine that is Moscow Menace.