A tale of two Elmebecks, S67-68

[Elmebeck 378]

Fredrik Elmebeck
D, 18 years old, Swedish

Houston Bulls 

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
S67	72	6	38	44	34	52
S67 Playoffs	4	0	0	0	0	19

Elmebeck has often spoken warmly about his first season in Houston Bulls, "That's where I cut my teeth, got to see the difference between professional hockey and the more regional hockey I played earlier".
 

Point-wise and looking at the season superficially it was a pretty mediocre, but looking at the development and the hard time on and off ice the improvement was amazing.

The playoff too was a disappointment, both for the teeam and for Elmebeck - the team however was destined to do well in S68; but by then Elmebeck would have left.

The draft went better than expected, he got picked 9th by New York Americans - a few places earlier than he was expected to go (many pundits guessed 12th).

Team Europe WJC

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
S68	8	2	7	9	8	4
S68 Playoffs	2	0	4	4	4	2

Picked by his father may have reeked of nepotism, but looking objectively at the pick he was the second best defenceman available, and he ended up leading the ream in points after a very well-played tournament by the team.

New York Americans

SEASON	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM
S68	72	5	27	32	-12	32

A mediocre season by the team, but still a huge improvement from S67. Elmebeck personally almost met his points from VHLM but was visibly frustrated a lot of the time on the ice.

"You know, you want to do better, but it's been hard. I'm especially disappointed with my plus/minus, but I will work on speed, strength and positioning for next season and hopefully I can perform a little bit better".

Future

Americans have a young active core that is set to keep growing and improving, for the S69 draft they also have a lot of good draft picks. It's probable that they will be a force in VHL to reckon with by S72 if not earlier, and Elmebeck will be a core element on the blueline by then.

With Elmebeck continuing his improvement and probably playing with Lance Flowers next season he is hoping to be more stable defensively and provide a few more points too.

Per-Mårten Elmebeck
AGM, 45 years old, Swedish

AGM Saskatoon Wild 

SEASON	GP	W	L	OTL	P	GF	GA	Pos
S68	72	21	46	5	47	226	299	10th

 

There is not that much to say about his work there, the quiet Swede has been working the locker-room, holding a few press conferences and generally pick up any slack GM Peace has needed.

"It's been a very interesting time, I have learned a lot and hope to learn more here!"

GM Team Europe WJC 

SEASON	GP	W	L	OTL	P	GF	GA	Pos
S68	8	6	0	2	19	27	16	1st
S68 Playoffs	2	2	0	0	---	8	3	Gold

 

The expectations for Team Europe winning the tournament were sky-high from the start, most metrics showed that Team Europe had a decent edge in player maturity even compared to Team Canada.

 

The tournament started well. Despite problems with a few problem spots due to paperwork filed wrong, Europe wen 4-0 in the first round. The second round has two wins and two overtime shootout losses, both those losses came against Canada in two tight games. This didn't necessarily not bode well for the playoffs, despite leading the group.

 

The first playoff game was rather close at times, but ended with a 3-1 win against Team America, and in the finasl - as expected they met Team Canada - it was a rather comfortable 5-2 win. 

Future

When interviewed for Victory Associated Press Elmebeck was asked about the future of Europe's WJC team, and whether he would lead it again.
 

"When picking the roster for this season I saw so many players that I wished I could have picked, but there were just too many good players for me to pick them," he paused, "As for running the team again I don't think so. This is in my mind a one time thing as long as there are hungry new AGMs or ambitious players worthy of a shot."
 

What about the World Cup?
 

"Sometime in the future I am sure. I have not applied for this season and will likely not do so for a few seasons, but yeas, it would be an honor to do that in few seasons perhaps."

And Saskatoon?

"Just keep slogging and doing a good work for as long as I find it enjoyable!"

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by Elmebeck