WSJ on Second Season

[Cornholio 182]

All is said and done in the regular season of S69. The Prague Phantoms find themselves outside the postseason once again. There are some bright spots though. Prague was 11th out of 12 teams in their inaugural season with 55 points, finishing better than only D.C. This year, Prague still finished better than D.C., racking up 63 points... but it was only good enough to move up a spot to 10th out of 12 teams. The Phantoms surrendered less goals and posted a better goal differential, but their offense also regressed a little too. 

 

"You can't just wake up one day and expect to be instant contenders. It's a work in progress and you've got to continually strive to become better, both as an individual and as a team as well. Sure, my numbers really took a big hit this year... I had 11 fewer points this year [4 less goals and 7 less assists]. I blocked less shots, took more shots at a lower percentage. That could be enough to discourage anybody or the Prague fans of my progress as an individual. But the biggest number that I want to look at as the true value metric of my play on the ice rink is my +/- rating. Last year, I was a -35. This year, I finished with a -3 rating. That's a huge sign of progress. I hope that the fans are paying attention to this improvement. 

 

We're getting there and I could care less how well I play or if I put up pretty numbers. It's all about being a positive contributor to the team in my time on the ice. The lines I play on aren't always the same, nor the lines the other teams are throwing at us. We don't always play at even strength and our team posted a goal differential of -50 or something like that. But when I was playing, we were only a -3. That's all I can take with me heading into next year, knowing that I am sorta doing something right with my trainings so far this year. I'm not completely sure what I should focus on for next year, but I have some ideas though. You've got to trust the process and hope that your brothers are doing the same."