LaFleur brothers are locking it down for LA

[DarkSpyro 1,002]

Yes it’s true- both Bubbles @AJW and Ricky @DarkSpyro have both been called up to the big leagues this season and continue to show they are key players for any team. Both have exceeded expectations for their rookie seasons so far in these first 20 games of the season with impressive showings thus far- albeit for different reasons. 

 

Bubbles LaFleur has exploded right out the gate and leads the LA Stars in points as a rookie defensemen, with an astounding 23 points (1st on LA) coming from 7 goals (tied for 3rd on LA) and 16 assists (1st on LA) in these first 20 games played. He’s definitely stepping up as the team’s Star player and as he is currently 2nd among all rookies in the VHL for points. Bubbles has truly injected hope into his LA Stars teammates with his play on the ice and with his leadership off it, making him an invaluable asset to this team right from game 1 of the season.

 

Ricky is a different story as he was determined to be the obvious backup goaltender to all-star goaltender, Roger Eagles @Greg_Di, so the expectations on Ricky were very low entering his rookie season. This all changed nearing the end of the off-season when star goaltender Roger Eagles faced a very scary injury, in which he took the reminder of the off-season to recover. The management for the LA Stars was not comfortable in testing their rookie backup yet, nor did Roger want Ricky to be fed to the wolves, so Eagles toughed out his injury and started the season- despite not being fully healed yet. 

 

Game 5 of the season: Roger Eagles gets run over by a NY Americans forward nearing the half way mark of the 2nd period, and if forced to leave the game with an undisclosed injury.
This also meant Ricky was about to be dragged into his first appearance for the LA Stars, and he played his heart out. 20/20 saves in 32 minutes of play, Ricky stood on his head to finish that game- not allowing a single goal by him (even if that game ended up a 5-1 loss). Fortunately for the Stars, Roger Eagles was able to come back very strong the following games, so we wouldn’t see Ricky come back until 3 games later when Eagles desperately needed to rest his injured body. 

 

Eagles currently sits with a 0.905 save % and a 3.49 GAA in his first 10 games played, while dawning a 4-6-0 record which is extremely out of character for this elite level goaltender. These numbers only hammer home the point that Eagles has been battling injuries all season long. After Ricky’s performance, the Stars decided it was best to start with him and give Roger some much needed time to recover. 

 

Ricky has since started in the past 10 games and has been playing phenomenally until the team’s star goaltender returns, resulting in the crease becoming split 50/50 in the first 20 games so far. He currently has an impressive 0.924 save % and 2.17 GAA over the last 10 games and has been holding down the fort fairly well with a 5-5-0 record. This is very fortunately as it allows Roger Eagles time to recover and return to his healthy self with less urgency, but with this much time off already we should see his return to the line-up very soon.

 

It’s more than fair to say that both of the LaFleur brothers have been exceeding expectations, and have both been stepping up for the team in their own ways. This could be the start to a very bright and hopeful chapter for the LA Stars.

 

616 words (forgot I claimed welfare this week oh well lol)

Edited Saturday at 05:20 PM by DarkSpyro

[AJW 2,340]