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Toronto Legion: End of Season Report


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:tor: Toronto Legion: End of Season Report :tor: 

Finished: 5th in Standings (WC Spot)

Points: 76

Wins: 363

Losses: 32

OTL: 4

 

Season 63 has finally come to an end, and as such so to does my first season as GM with the Toronto Legion. It was an interesting season, one that saw a forced pivot as the team attempted to leverage star player Sebastian Ironside, who with the help of a position switch had a heck of a season for the Legion. I'm happy we made the Wildcard spot, it was clearly what I was gunning for both with the pivot and with Toronto having the Helsinki first round pick in Season 63. With the solidification of that Wildcard spot, it becomes a lotto. 

 

I would be lying if I didn't say there was some nervousness throughout the season. I knew Toronto would be competitive, but the question was always, how competitive? We needed to secure some tough wins against teams that were clearly better than us, even if we may have had depth or other small advantages. We thankfully did pick up some wins against all top 3 teams. Helsinki however proved to be very resilient as well much of the season, and it wasn't until late in the season in a head to head match up against them that we finally sealed the deal. 

 

Team Stats

Goals For: 216 (4th)

Goals Against: 230 (6th)

Shots For: 2357 (5th)

Shots Against: 2440 (5th)

Shots Blocked: 706 (4th)

Hits: 1528 (1st)

Power Play: 20.68% (3rd)

Penalty Kill: 75.78% (7th)

 

Looking at the team stats, in general the Legion were a middle of the pack team this season. I think it is notable that they scored more goals than Quebec, who relied on their league leading least shots against and strong goaltending/defensive play to carry them, as they scored less goals than even Toronto. I imagine league leading goalscorer Sebastian Ironside has a lot to do with that. Two other notable team stats for Toronto are the 4th in the league in shots blocked, and 1st in the league in hits. The shots blocked stat isn't that surprising, Toronto employs four very talented defenders with Warlock, Tzuyu, Ko Kane and Lew Bronstein rounding out it's core. The hits stat is a little surprising considering some of Toronto's players aren't overly physical. Notably Tzuyu. But Sebastian Ironside was 3rd in the league in hits, and otherwise both Ko Kane and Adam Warlock were 12th and 13th in hits respectively. Ay Ay Ron was also 18th in hits, giving the Legion 4 players in the top 20 in hits. With players like Bronstein and Lavar Ball also chipping in, we were a surprisingly physical team this season. 

 

The only other stat that would stand out in any other capacity is the special teams. The Legion were abysmal this season on the penalty kill, and area we absolutely need to shore up. We made up for it with an effective power play, which was not only above the league average but wound up being clutch for Toronto for most of the season. 

 

Notable Players and Players to Watch

 

Sebastian Ironside (633 TPA):  Lead League in Goals with 56 in Season 63

Tzuyu (390 TPA): Rookie Season in Season 63, Lead team in +/- with +43 in Season 63

Adam Warlock (395 TPA): Best numbers of career including Top 5 in D Scoring and one of only 6 D to finish over a point per game with 75 points and 23 goals in Season 63

Ko Kane (545 TPA) : Lead team in shots blocked with 166, 2nd in hits on team with 246 in Season 63

Lew Bronstein (264 TPA): Despite only 6 goals, lead team with a crazy 18.18% for shooting in Season 63

Chace Trepanier (220 TPE): Prospect, who had 85 points with Saskatoon, including 44 goals putting him 5th for all players in Season 63

 

Toronto had several notable players from Season 63. Obviously the surefire standout is Sebastian Ironside, the former GM player who will be allowed to join any team who isn't Toronto post Season 64 as a mandatory free agent burst out in the final part of the season to steal the top goals award. But Tzuyu, who despite being in a rookie season had a stunning plus minus for the club this season. While he was certainly out for a lot of minutes, he almost doubles up on his next closest competition in regards to plus minus on the club. Warlock and Kane were Davos acquisitions that both did very well with Toronto this season. Warlock with a career season, while both Kane and Warlock were crucial in regards to Toronto's 3rd in the league power play. Bronstein had a down year, with a little more in terms of limited minutes. While still an effective shot blocker who is physical, his point totals did dip. 

 

Prospect wise it's hard to look past Chace Trepanier in terms of the future of Toronto. The 19th overall selection in the VHL draft has already passed the VHLM TPE limit and will be joining the Legion in Season 64. Chace remains one of the Legion's only non goalie prospects to likely see the team in the next few seasons. Chace has the capacity to be an underrated depth piece for the Legion in 64 and 65, with his steady earning showing a consistency that generally builds VHL capable players. 

 

Going Forward

 

Going forward Toronto still has a lot of question marks. After a pivot to try and get the most value out of the situation they were in, the real question will come down to draft pick management for the future. With very little draft picks in their coffers, Toronto will have to wait to draft with their own 1st again till at least Season 66 provided they aren't further trades. With Ironside only around till Season 64, it's going to take getting the most out of the very solid D core and leveraging younger players like Chace Trepanier to keep trending in an upward direction. As always, trades can and likely will change the face of Toronto and the league as we enter future seasons. Toronto gears up now to face the Quebec City Muete in the wildcard round of the playoffs, a team they did play pretty well against this season, including some stolen games. It'll be interesting to see if Toronto's D heavy group can power through, and try to make a run out of this wildcard finish. 

 

 

1,088 Words, Using for Rift for the PT weeks of Nov 26-Dec 2nd and Dec 3rd to Dec 9th
 

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