All my teammates are grinders

[jRuutu 2,464]

Helsinki Titans, a team sitting in the last playoff spot in the European division, but when there are only 4 points to the last spot in the division - everything is still possible when it comes down to making the playoffs. What is the key behind Titans solid season so far and how are they going to make sure the playoff spot is theirs? The answer is grit. Titans is a hard-working team, always playing on the edge, but sometimes that goes too far like we saw last night against Vancouver for example, Titans took a lot of two-minute penalties. In fact, Helsinki has taken the second-most penalty minutes in the league so far!

 

Impressive total, but is that something that forces the coaches to do changes to the style of play? If so, what kind of effect that less aggressive playing style is going to have on the players? Let's not forget that Titans have seven players with at least 70 on the checking, so they are a physical team no matter what, but if they are told to take it down a notch - can the players adjust to that? It´s not as easy as just not hitting, most of the players rely on the hitting game as their number one tool.

 

Interesting to see what happens with the playoff battle in Europe, as mentioned - it´s super tight at the moment.