Saskatoon misses playoffs.

[Peace 1,562]

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- The microphone was quiet for a while as the elephant in the room was forcefully brought to the limelight early. 

"Do you have an explanation on why your club missed the playoffs this season?"

Saskatoon was dominant early, getting as high as third overall in a tight league, before dropping to the seventh spot and maintaining it throughout the season despite a significant mid-season trade that saw Saskatoon trade their majority of their S67 Dispersal draft picks for an outside hope of reaching the post-season. Although unfortunate, the vision of GM Peace kept the teams S66 Dispersal draft intact, so finishing lower in the league was a result of a competitive VHLM this season and not the Wild roster; they may have missed the playoffs, but the Wild fans enjoyed a hair pulling offensive season where one of the fan favorites broke triple digit points... the first Wild to do so for quite some time. 

In fact this was one of the most competitive seasons the VHLM since it consolidated, but that was foretold when the league expanded again - everyone knew the middle of the standings would be clogged - turned out gaining points on one another meant winning games against one another rather than the top dogs of the league, and that is where the differences begun between playoff teams and non-playoff teams. The tightness in the schedule meant relying less on the out of town scoreboard and more on your rosters ability to win important games.

"There's no excuses," GM Peace stated. "I believed we should have made the playoffs, made a trade to see us there, and the truth is we simply didn't. That's the story, and that's how the book ended for us this season. Heartbreak, perhaps, but a learning experience for both myself and I hope some of the players on the roster going into the dispersal draft. I tried, there is no blame anywhere, and I take responsibility for Saskatoon finishing just a few wins outside of the post-season." 

But why didn't the Saskatoon Wild make trades when it was becoming more and more evident they'd miss the post-season?

"There was hope and desire in the locker room when the trade deadline passed, but as the stretch shortened we started to realize the truth, and despite our offensive strengths we were still conflicted against our weaknesses. We had a decent defense, but kept giving away leads. We had a great offense - on paper - but kept getting shutdown and shutout. In general, down the stretch, the team just felt compromised. Our lines weren't meshing, there was no real chemistry, and it doesn't help I kept changing lines on the fly to try and find some of that chemistry again." 

The Saskatoon Wild are looking towards the dispersal draft now, where the club holds five picks in the first sixteen selections, however it should be noted that they would have had six but the Wild traded away a S66 second round draft pick in favor of keeping their S67 second round draft pick. The vast majority of the Saskatoon Wild will be leaving, and with the league expected to expand once again, they'll have a decision to make on who they protect. Returning players (potentially) include Nazarians, Strong, Perdue and Dissanayake - but who the club protects is still unknown, should they have the ability to protect their drafted players. 

Saskatoon finished the season 34-33-5 for 73 points and will select third, sixth and eighth overall in the first round; they'll select third (eleventh) and fourth (twelfth) in the second round, following by their relative position in the standings with their third, fifth, sixth and seventh round picks. 

Until next season.