Claimed: Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild

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Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 

After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.

 

That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.

 

Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.

 

All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

[eaglesfan036 4,605]

Can't wait to have you up in the VHL next season!