The C.G.Y. Janser Story, Part L: One third gone

[Daniel Janser 2,223]

(graphic courtesy of Leandrofg)

 

The New York Americans do not look like a contender at the moment, despite having had a ten win streak at one point this season. Of course their perennial bane, lack of production, does not help. And being in the NA conference where everyone but D.C. and LA can be considered playoff teams is another stepping stone to take. In Europe the lines between contenders and rebuilding/retooling franchises are drawn already and it would be a big surprise, if anything significant would change until the end of the regular season.

 

There is a silver lining, though. NYA has still cap and may be able to snatch a fourth defender at the trade dead line. At the moment the Captain is shouldering a lot of ice time, when he is not occupied riding the pine as the league's most penalized player. Then there is the schedule. Not unlike last season, the Empire State outfit, has the 'easier' schedule at the back end of the regular season, for better or worse. Chances are therefore, that their record may improve compared to the first third of the season. 

 

Rookie winger Kevin O'Connor is still adapting to the higher level of performance in the VHL. The American journeyman has only scored one goal so far, but it was a game winner. We hope he can have a couple of them in the remainder of the season and continuously improving his play by taking advantage of the mentorship provided by his seasoned team mates.

 

Callum is not there where he wants to be production wise, his physical play has taken a step forward though and opponents are not looking forward to get caught on open ice by the Swiss not-so-gentle Giant. 

 

An other point of contention is the lack luster performance of the special teams. Both powerplay as well as boxplay are par for the course at best and there is a lot of room for improvement. This is even more important in view of the fact that NYA has had the fourth-most penalty killing attempts in the league. 

 

36W is the usual solid backstop of the team and is sixth in saving rate amongst starting netminder. The defense is weaker in comparison to the league's average than it used to be in the past seasons, but still solid. 

 

157 year old veteran Gretzky is en route to a repetition of last season's production and leads his team in points and goals. 

 

It all boils down to the fact that the window for this franchise is closing and they need to make haste if they want to break the longest Continental Cup draught in recorded history. Maybe the mediocre performance so far is only an elaborate plot to deceive the rest of the league and to avoid to win the accursed Victory Cup. 

 

When all is said and done and the post-season starts, everything what happened during the regular season becomes irrelevant and all that counts is the next win in the series until the ultimate goal is achieved. But it is a long way there and it does not pay out to be complacent. The New Yorker's will have to grind and suffer and fight, to get into the playoffs and then they will have to grind and suffer and fight even more. 

 

CGY's stats for this season so far:

25gp, 3g, 19a, 22pts, -4, 110 PIM, 115 hits, 71sb, 3ppg, 1gwg, 1-1-2 fight record

 

 

https://vhlforum.com/topic/150926-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxxv-a-meet-up-with-family/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/151348-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxxvi-a-post-season-review-and-outlook/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/151493-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxxvii-cgy-the-teacher/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/152936-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xxxviii-post-season-interview-with-the-captain/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/153511-the-cgy-janser-story-part-xlix-interlude/

 

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