Griff Manzer Improves in First Full Season

[Garsh 1,197]

 

We are 29 games into the VHML season, which is how many games Griff Manzer (D-Phi) played last season.  This is the perfect time to see how Griff has progressed. First let's look at his stats for each season.

 

Season	GP	G	A	P	+/-	SHT	PIM	HIT	SB	GW	PPG	SHG
69 (PHI)	29	2	20	22	10	26	10	36	32	1	1	0
68 (PHI)	29	1	0	1	2	4	28	35	15	0	0	0
Totals	58	3	20	23	12	30	38	71	47	1	1	0

 

To give some context to the numbers, he is the youngest member of his draft class and he played on a Reapers team that had some depth to it.  He only played 3rd line defense with no special teams action. He averaged just a smidge over 13 minutes a game. Even with these considerations, it's fair to say that season 68 was a disappointment.  His lone point was an ultimately meaningless goal in a game the Reapers lost. Fast forward to this year and things are looking up for the young defensemen. He clearly worked hard in the off-season and is bearing the fruits of his labor.  The coaching staff must have noticed improvements during training camp because he was promoted to the first line with plenty of special team action for the first game of the season and is now averaging close to 25 minutes per game.

 

Clearly the first line is suiting him.  His 22 points put him at 4th on the Reapers.   He’s putting up .76 points per game. That’s a bit shy of the much talked about 1.00 (or greater) point per game that players like Danny DeYeeto and Alyksander Hunter are putting up,  but it is a vast improvement. Surprisingly penalty minutes are down despite playing almost double the minutes. The team is also benefiting from his success, sitting 4th in the standings after just missing the playoffs last season.

 

We sent out Cob Bostas to talk to the young Fin after a Reapers’ practice session.

 

CB: “Griff, big off-season you were in both drafts, how was that process for you?”

GM: “It was very exciting, first I was picked up by Vancouver in the second round.  I was a borderline 2nd or 3rd round pick so making the cut in the 2nd felt amazing. Philadelphia also took me 10th in the VHLM draft.  I was happy to be coming back here for another year.”

CB: “We’ve seen a lot of improvements this year, what did you do in the off-season?”

GM: “Thanks, yeah it’s a bit of a night and day difference.  I went back home to Finland during the downtime. In addition to normal practice I did a lot of rowing on the many lakes we have there.”

CB: “You say ‘normal practice’ but I heard you worked with some pros, can you talk about that?”
GM: “Yeah that’s true.  I worked with some of the Titan’s players.  I learned a lot in the short time working with them.  They are on another level compared to what I’m used to.  Fantastic learning experience.”

CB: “I’ve got your stats here in front of me, everything seems to be going up but looking at hits, it’s higher but not by much, any thoughts?”

GM: “Yeah I think I’m lacking a bit in the physicality of my game.  That’s something that I still something that I need to work on. I’m not an overly offensive minded player so I need to be more physical.”

CB: “Well at least you’ve kept the penalties to a minimum.”

GM: “Yeah that’s a positive!”

CB: “Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.”

GM: “Thank you.”

(~567 word count, not including the stats that i copy pasted)