New York Americans

[Will 4,660]

Season 32 New York Americans: When Darkness Turns Into Fortune

 

 

THE SETTING

 

The New York Americans are generally looked at as a well-respected franchise in the VHL these days, but for those of you who weren't around back in the day, this is something that the team had to fight tooth and nail for. The New York Americans were a run-of-the-mill team for the early years of the league (as the Hamilton Canucks) until they were given to a member named Robbie Zimmers. Robbie, for those of you who don't know is the league's least successful troll. He proceeded to make terrible managing choices and acquired the most controversial members he could. This lead to an era people call the "Shortbus Americans" lasting from Season 6 to around Season 10 or 11. Between the recent Shortbus era and the fact that New York had never won a cup, people thought of the franchise as a joke.

 

In Season 14 they were able to combat this stigma a little bit by winning the first cup off the backs of GM Brandon Best and VHL legend Sterling. Finally the team had a cup and their hopes were looking high.  After Sam Helberg and James took the reins, the team really started to flourish acquiring players like Daniel Braxton, Connor Evans and Dom Mazzetti.  Along with their goaltender, Benjamin Glover, the team would make the finals in four consecutive seasons.  However, just when things were starting to get bright, darkness hit them again, with the Americans losing each of those four series. 

 

They made the finals though? Success isn’t measured in finals appearances and despite a run of eleven straight playoff appearances and four straight finals appearances, the run by that team was mainly considered a failure.  People can blame Benjamin Glover for choking in the finals or Daniel Braxton for not putting the team on his back, but at the end of the day, it just was not meant to be.  Season thirty-one would be the last years of Braxton and Glover in Americans navy and red, and it seemed that a Continental Cup victory was a long way away.

 

REGULAR SEASON RECAP

 

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This particular regular season went well for the Americans. They were able to tally up 102 points in what was considered a solid regular season campaign for New York.  The team would finish second in the North American Conference behind the Calgary Wranglers, and would finish fifth overall in the league for points.

The Americans rolled into the playoffs with good stats. Point difference compared to the Quebec City Meute (third team in the NA Conference to make it to the playoffs) was 57 points in total. That is a big difference in points. The Americans were confident going into their first round matchup that they would be the ones facing the Wranglers in the Conference finals.

 

A huge difference maker for the Americans was their great offence. They scored the most goals in the whole league. Scoring 273 goals during the season, they recorded just about four goals per game (3.8 to be exact). On the other hand, the Americans allowed 172 goals against (2.4 goals for per game), which is not as compared to other top teams.  This was not overly surprising given rookie Skylar Rift was in net in place of legendary goalie, Benjamin Glover.  Therefore, the Americans knew their defense was a bit of a concern despite their high-powered offense.

 

What is interesting about their high-powered offense is that their power play was terrible.  With a percentage of just seventeen percent, they only placed eighth in the league, a very concerning statistic for Americans fans who know very well about their defensive issues.  In fact, their penalty kill was actually better as it was successful eighty-four percent of the time, good enough for fifth in the league.

 

It is safe to say that the Americans were not perfect during the regular season.  They were an offensive time that knew it had to score enough goals to help out Skylar Rift and a defense group led by Radislav Mjers, and not Daniel Braxton.  With that being said, they were on to the playoffs and knew that with a pretty easy matchup, it would come down to a tough series against Ryan Sullivan, Volodomyr Rybak and the rest of the Calgary Wranglers.

 

PLAYOFF RECAP

 

 

The Americans came into the playoffs with a pretty favorable matchup with the Meute, and it would prove to be such.  They would take the series in five games and did it in pretty impressive fashion, as they outscored the Meute twenty-six to eight.  This would lead into a tough series with the Wranglers who were in most people's opinion, the favorites to win the Continental Cup.  Surprising everyone, the Calgary Wranglers would fall flat as their leaders struggled and the leaders of the Americans were at their best.  New York would eliminate the huge Canadian threat in just five games, shocking everyone in the league.

 

With a final matchup against Alexander Labatte and the Riga Reign, not many were giving New York and their rookie goaltender a chance.  Of course, as it would turn out, the Americans would shock the league with an impressive seven game series victory.  After being down three-to-one in the series, New York would win the final three games against Riga, capped off by a four-to-one victory over them in game seven.

 

Six players registered at least a point-per-game for New York, and while that was likely inflated due to their series against Quebec, there is no doubt that this was an offensive powerhouse.  With a rookie goaltender and a defense missing Daniel Braxton, many stepped up at forward to bring this important Continental Cup home and end the drought.

 

THE LINEUP THAT MADE IT HAPPEN

 

TUKKA REIKKINEN - ALEXANDER CHERSHENKO - TROY ATHERA

HENRIK LARSSON - CONNOR EVANS - LARS LESSIO

 

RADISLAV MJERS - MALCOLM SPUD

SAMU HEISKANEN

 

SKYLAR RIFT

 

 

Alexander Chershenko was known throughout his career as a Calgary Wrangler. However, at the prime of his career both the organization and the center decided it was best if both parted ways. Chershenko’s impact on the New York Americans’ season 32 run was the key to success for the team as he tallied a team high 55 goals and 133 points in 72 games while maintaining a +64 plus/minus rating. Chershenko finished the season with a team high 67.21% face off percentage. Chershenko would continue his performance into the playoffs helping cap off the incredible run with 12 goals and 26 points in 17 games. Chershenko won his second and final Continental Cup with the team. Chershenko’s elite level of play throughout his career earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame as he managed to win the Howe Trophy (1x), Brett Slobodzian Trophy (2x), Grimm Jonsson Trophy (1x), Scotty Campbell Trophy (1x), Daisuke Kanou Trophy (1x), Kevin Brooks Trophy (3x), and found himself participating in the All-Star Game every season. 

 

While one might argue that Chershenko was the team's best player, Tukka Reikkinen was definitely the leader.  As the captain of the New York Americans, Tukka not only led by being a strong vocal presence, but also with Hall of Fame esque play.  Reikkinen had a brilliant regular season campaign that saw him score fifty-two goals and add seventy-three assists.  Finishing sixth in the league in points is pretty impressive, especially considering the 240+ hits that he recorded to go along with those other incredible offensive achievements.  The playoffs were a pretty similar story for Tukka as he added a playoff leading sixteen goals to go along with eleven assists for twenty-seven points.  While this was just third on the team, one can not ignore his heroics on both ends of the ice.  In addition to leading the league in goals, Reikkinen also led the playoffs in hits with seventy-two, as he intimidated everyone on his way to a cup victory.

 

Season 32 was a memorable one for Troy Athera. He was one of the main reasons why the Americans won it all. Athera was an extremely reliable player on both ends.  His solid two way game, which eventually got him the highest +/- on the whole team, exemplified the type of talent he brought to the ice  When you combine that with scoring ability and the will to throw your body around, you have an ideal hockey player who can make a difference in all areas of the game. In 72 games during the regular season, Troy tallied forty-six goals and additionally fifty-two assists for one hell of a season. Overall, it was a very good season for Athera and the Americans.  When the playoffs started the Americans were not the number 1 contenders but they kept on playing their own game. Troy was a key piece in the playoffs with two goals and twenty-two points in just seventeen games.  Additionally, he led the team in hits and added four assists in game seven of the VHL Finals.

 

Connor Evans was a pretty under-appreciated player during his career, and a lot of it was probably due to him playing second line center for a decent part of his career.  However, no one was under-appreciating his accomplishments in season thirty-two.  His 102 points put him third on the team and his 64% faceoff percentage illustrated why he was the best second line center in the league.  When you talk about depth, this is what you talk about.  The playoffs were even more impressive though as Evans would go on to lead the team and the playoffs in points.  His thirty-one points in seventeen games and an unprecedented sixty-six percent faceoff ratio, was good enough to earn him a finalist position for the Playoff MVP.

 

Henrik Larsson started season 32 in Toronto but around the half way point he got traded to the New York Americans. Looking back, i´m sure Henrik is more then happy that happened. Larsson played 34 games for theAmericans during the regular season scoring 10 goals, 17 assists and 27 points. Larsson and Athera are both quite similar players with solid two-way games.  Larsson's role was a bit smaller but even then he was still a very valuable contributor.  One of the staples of this Americans team was their secondary scoring, and Larsson is one of the key players with that role.  Nothing was more evident of this than how he oplayed in the playoffs.  With 12 points in 17 games, Larsson combined his already solid defensive play with a pretty potent offensive skill-set, leading to great results for a second line winger. 

 

While he would play his entire career as a depth piece that could be thrown into a talented lineup that needed a cheap player, Lars Lessio found a lot of success in positions like this.  Playing as the sixth forward, Lessio recorded twenty-five points in seventy-two games in what was considered an alright season for a relatively cheap talent.  While his playoff production wasn't exactly impressive, his toughness showed through as he was a warrior in the trenches and gave guys like Evans and Larsson a lot of room.

 

Bobby Orr? Perhaps not quite.  While he was stepping into some huge shoes, Radislav Mjers managed to have quite a campaign for the New York Americans.  His eighty-six points were a career best and his 195 hits and 152 blocked shots were pretty impressive defensive totals.  In fact, it seemed that a lot of people forgot about Daniel Braxton as Mjers was putting up some pretty comparable numbers to the legend.  However, we had not seen anything yet.  In seventeen playoff games, Mjers would record thirty points, thirty-seven hits and twenty-two blocked shots on way to the Daisuke Kanou Trophy for Playoff MVP.  It was a stellar year for the defender, and it was capped off in even more impressive fashion.

 

Here is another underrated player that really never became the elite talent that he probably hoped to be.  With that being said, Malcolm Spud had a really solid season thirty-two for the New York Americans.  After being traded in a deal at mid-season, Spud was able to record twenty-six points in thirty-four games to go along with his solid defensive statistics.  Acting as a rock that solidified the defensive core, Spud would continue his success into the playoffs, where he would record seventeen points in seventeen games in a great effort that went a long way in their cup victory.

 

You need players like Samu Heiskanen to win titles. A defensive defender who can give a simple first pass. Skating ability combined with size made him annoying to play against. During 72 regular season games , Samu scored 6 goals, 32 assists for 38 points. Being loyal to his style, he collected 101 penalty minutes and 110 hits.   Players and the fans loved Heiskanen because he wasn´t afraid of taking bruises for the team, he blocked a very respectable 101 shots during the regular season as well.  During the playoffs games you really saw how valuable Samu was for the team. Blocking shots and just giving your all for the team. Somewhat surprisingly he scored 9 points in 17 playoff games, including the game-winning goal against the Wranglers in game five.

 

It is not often you see rookie goalies winning the Continental Cup.  However, the Americans and Skylar Rift were an example of this rare occurrence.  Skylar Rift had a pretty solid rookie campaign that saw him win forty games and record a 2.35 GAA and .912 save percentage.  These are good numbers for a rookie tender, although many would still argue that he was the weakest part of New York.  Listening to his doubters, Rift would prove them wrong come playoff time.  Winning twelve of seventeen games and adding a .915 save percentage and decent goals-against-average, Rift would do his job in a very important Continental Cup win for the Americans.

 

So Why Season Thirty-Two?

 

 

Some might ask: what is so important about this cup victory? This was the light that started a new label for the Americans.  This label is still present with the current team and that label is success.  New York has turned into a huge winner since this cup victory, and while perhaps a lot of it has to do with Christopher Miller coming in as General Manager the next season, one needs to look at this run as the one that defeated the so-called curse that the Americans were going through.  There were other seasons to choose from for sure, with fourteen being a pretty major one in it's own right.  However, with the way the team is performing now, it seemed to make sense to look at the turning point that is fresh in our minds.  While perhaps it doesn't have quite the negative stigma that the shortbus-era did, season thirty-two accomplished something that the previous "dynasty" couldn't, and that is...win the big one.

[Victor 10,849]

It is amazing how as recently as those S32 finals, NY was still pretty much considered the league's worst franchise (though Vasteras had successfully destroyed its S26 legacy by that point). The table in the Seattle PT pretty much proves that.

And then this whole decade happened and yeah, turning point right here.

[Phil 5,113]

Great work NYA!

 

Awesome ominous start! I still can't figure out why, if NY were able to shake off the Short-Bus stigma, why Vasteras could never shake off theirs. I guess it boiled down to some bad luck on the part of Vasteras and some very hard work on the part of NY GMs. - lol clearly still bitter about the relocation.

 

Very interesting Season to pick and I think you justified it well. Aside from a couple of grammatical mistakes (which one would expect in a piece of this length), it had a cute little sig of Reikinnen, and some very informative bios. NY has definitely established themselves as one of, if not the, most successful teams of the VHL modern Era. 

 

Nicely done