Claimed:Royally Average [Final 6/6]

[Merica 69]

It’s been an up and down season for the Bern Royals, who are currently sitting comfortably alone in the third seed, with the Outlaws a distant 19 points behind them, perhaps leading to some complacency on the Royals end, knowing their guaranteed a playoff spot. The Oslo Storm are 11 points ahead of the Red Wolves and 14 ahead of the Royals, so it’s doubtful there will be any change there, but the Royals have an opportunity to finish strong and overtake the Red Wolves for second, but in order to do so, they’ll need a few things to happen.

Improved Powerplay + Penalty Kill
- The Royals currently sit at sixth for both powerplay and penalty kill, well beneath the league leader. If the Royals have visions of going far into the playoffs or securing the #2 seed, they will need to pick up the slack on the special teams, which has been average at best. Championship teams are able to capitalize on a man advantage and are able to shut down the opposition when a man down, those are key traits of great, all-around hockey teams.

Win More Face Offs
- Once again, the Royals are in the middle of the pack here, doing nothing great, but nothing bad either. Maybe it’s the atmosphere in Bern that isn’t producing the level of play or pride that one would expect, but they could use a boost in the faceoff circle and increase their possession time. The Royals have plenty of skill and talent on their side of the ice, so with an increased focus on winning more pucks and controlling the flow of the game, they should reap the benefits.

Something, Anything from Josh Merica
- Hailed as the next dominant player, whether by himself or others, because many people bought into the hype surrounding him, Merica has been stagnant and utterly unimpressive in his first season with the Royals. With a paltry 19 points in 32 games, despite averaging nearly 27 minutes a game and seeing a lot of time on the first line and special teams, Merica has failed to give the Royals the kind of boost they were expecting. The only positive so far has been his two-way game, leading to a solid +15 rating. Bern needs Mr. Merica to get his head out of his ass.

Continued Dominance from “Big Three”
- Bern has been carried this season by Ken Anderson (59 pts), Severn von Karma (57 pts) and Earl Parker (52 pts). If they have any hope of winning in the playoffs, these three will have to continue their stellar play and probably need to pick it up a notch as well. If not for these three, the Royals would be in dire straits offensively and struggling to beat teams like Yukon.

Bern has some good pieces and moving forward they have one of the better core groups to build around for a strong run at the championship next season. With a season under their belt, one has to imagine that Josh Merica, Chuck Goody (who has shown signs of stardom and really come into his own) and Atticus Finch among others, the future is bright in Bern. But for the present, these young guns will need to amp up their game if they have hopes of being champions this season and upsetting the league’s top teams. Bern has been royally average, it's time they woke up.

[Laflamme 376]

Content: 2/2- 575 words, and a great read. 

 

Grammar: 2/2 few mistakes. 

 

Powerplay----> power play 

Faceoffs------> face-offs 

 

Appearance: 1/1- looks great!

 

Final: 6/6

[Kendrick 4,741]

Claimed