Rocky and not so rocky

[jRuutu 2,426]

 

Close to 15 games have been played in the S71 regular season, some teams and players have managed to start new season well and some not so well. One example of a team that has started well is D.C Dragons, they are currently leading the league with 20 points and 9 wins from 14 games, in the other end Seattle has ´only´ four wins, but as you maybe see the differences between teams are small, could this even be the tightest regular season we have seen in a while? Playoff race will be intense if it continues like this.

 

If we look at players who have started well, Ambrose Stark for Seattle was the first one to reach 20 points. Excellent year for Stark so far, could even be a career year for Stark, last year's 67 points are the career-high so far.  Example of a player who has the opposite start is Shawnomir Jagr in Vancouver, 80 points and 7th best point total in the league last year has turned into 7 points in 14 games this year. Clearly less than many perhaps hoped, but in all fairness, Vancouver as a team is fifth in the league, so I doubt Jagr minds that much.

 

 

Let's move on from league related commentary and look at my own rookie season so far. The season started well, I scored a goal in my first game, had I think another goal in the next sim, but no goals since. In total, I have 2+2 in 14 games. That is not exactly setting the league on fire and I´m starting to think the 30 point target I set for myself might have been too ambitious, but there is still time and it´s not like I´m not shooting or anything like that, with a bit more determination I more than likely could have at least few more goals.

 

A positive twist to it all has been my ability to hit and play physically in this league, 44 hits in 14 games is solid. I think I have excellent odds in reaching my 200 hit target this year. I know it´s not maybe a shock to many to hear that a physical player who talked about hoping to hit 200 times goes and actually does it, but VHL is a tough league you know. No way to say for sure what the season is going to be like until the puck drops and we see how it goes. Overall, the start of my journey in VHL has been a good one. I feel like I can play in this league and maybe someday be among the star players.

 

A big part of me feeling like home on the ice has been the style of hockey Helsinki plays, simple and hard-working hockey is right in my alley. Not maybe getting the headlines, but we have played some great games already, including a win from Moscow, but we also have multiple one-goal games in there, which just shows what our goal is when heading into games. We have the patience to wait and work hard, that is going to pay off eventually and we get a chance or two to score and take the lead. Then we trap the living something out of the other team and wait counter-attack opportunities. Keep it simple and work hard, no secrets.