Unsung Heroes - The Depth in the Wild

[David O'Quinn 115]

The Saskatoon Wild as a team is very good. Great? Entirely dominant and no other team should try good, according to some. This isn't far from the truth. This is often said to be fueled by the top: DeYeeto, Encarnacion, O'Quinn, Ohrdaka, Lafontaine, Nyman, Folien, Havolva, Stava and Lahtinen. The people who say this are not exactly wrong. If you removed half - or all - of these stars, Saskatoon would be much more down to earth, the absolute dominance apart. Some of these top players have put up insane numbers though - Danny DeYeeto, as of typing this, has 50 goals, 95 pts and 145 pts. But believe it or not, all of Saskatoons depth players below the aforementioned have collectively put up a significant amount of more points than DeYeeto himself.

 

This super player - who I have lovingly named bob - has inhabited 11 roster spots over the season (some of the players have since left) - has registered 174 points, and 64 goals at the time of research and writing. . Bob has effectively been the most productive player on Saskatoon, though with a ridiculous amount of icetime to boot. Along with these raw offensive statistics, Bob has also successfully blocked 84 shots, registered a huge 437 hits, and an 231 penalty minutes. Maybe Bob is carrying the rest of the team, and not the other way around?

 

Now don't get me wrong, I am not trying to discredit - or overcredit - anyone here. Many of the components of this super player are gone from the team only 4 of the 11 have played full seasons this year. But the others, now gone, contributed to wins: For without them, Saskatoon would "only" have 336 goals (rather, they would lose 64 goals directly, aswell as an unattainable, though likely large number through lost playmaking and assists), making Saskatoon great - but nowhere near as great as they curently are. 67 wins may have been relegated to 60 - and then you are only a measly 10 pts ahead of the next team. Where would Saskatoon be without our dear Superbob? (No relation to the odd, low budget 2015 comedy)

 

Bob, if he were one player, would also have downsides. You would be playing him, and just him, no one else, every time one of the aforementioned players was off the ice. So take this as a metaphor - the depth players in Saskatoon, be they still here, or long gone, have been absolutely and unquestionably crucial to the success of the team. So let's give some credit to the 'lower' players, both here in Saskatoon, the most domineering team in the league, and in teams across the league with functional 'Superbobs' of their own, whose success would be different, lesser, and possibly missing completely without the advent of these beloved bobs. Credit to the locker room jokers, the guys who just can't seem to keep consistent with the player growth, the newbies who leave after a few weeks. Those who may never be VHLM stars - or VHL depth players. They might not keep the league moving and some may even consider them irrelevant, but without the Superbobs the landscapes of the VHL and VHLM would be entirely different to what we know today.

 

This has been Roger Pennies, reporting for theme week.

 

 

 

 

544 Words, claiming 8 tpe for themeweek aswell.