Storm's D Leading The Way

[HearnNation67 132]

The Minnesota Storm have been firing on all cylinders lately. After being shutout by the Ottawa Lynx in game 50, they rallied and are currently on a 5 game winning streak which has brought them within 2 points of 1st place in the VHLM. Over the course of the streak, they've outscored their opponents 32 – 12, including a 12- 0 thrashing of the Houston Bulls. That game saw all but 4 Storm skaters see the scoresheet and the defense, led by Danny DeYeeto @Cran and Liam Flaten @flatl99 (each with 6 points), hold the Bulls to a measly 9 shots. DeYeeto and Flaten have been studs on the back end during the streak, with a +/- of +15 and +11, respectively, over those 5 games. The 2 dmen aren't too shabby in the offensive zone either, as mentioned above. During the current win streak, DeYeeto has racked up 2 goals and 12 assists for 14 points, while Flaten has managed 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points. Overall, DeYeeto sits 2^nd in team scoring with 25 points, while Flaten is 4^th with 21. DeYeeto, a career minor leaguer, seems to have found his form from 2 seasons ago when he returned to the Storm after a brief stint with the Saskatoon Wild and had 114 points in 72 games, a 1.58 ppg average. His 25 points is 14 games is 1.78 ppg. Flaten, who is in only his 1^st full season in the league, was picked 13^th overall by the Storm in the S72 draft after putting up 31 points in 61 games with the Philadelphia Reapers. His 1.5 ppg makes GM @Rayzor_7 look like a genius. The sky is the limit for the young defenseman.

 

The rest of the Storm defensemen haven't been too shabby this season either. Hunter Harrison @I'll change this later is a reliable young defenseman, who is on his 3^rd team in 3 years since being drafted by the Yukon Rush in S70. He has put up 3 goals and 3 assists and is +18 on the season, and is on pace to mathc his career high of 31 points he set last season with Philly. The d core is rounded out by 3 rookies, Han Jae Kuk @Dtayl (33^rd overall), Mikael Keef @RStar (38^th overall), and Jikim Connolly @Jikim (76^th overall). HJK has had the most success so far in this young season, with 6 assists and a +1 rating in 14 games. Keef (2A, -3) and Connolly (1A, +1) both played partial seasons last year with the Mississauga Hounds. Keef put up 19 points (4 goals and 15 assists) and was +7 in 20 games, while Connolly had 3 goals and 3 assists and was -5 in 8 games. Should these young defensemen get the opportunity to get more ice time, its no doubt they will be able to reproduce these numbers, but with DeYeeto and Flaten leading the way, who knows when that will happen. The Storm also had defenseman Grant Thiel, another former Reaper, but he was released after just 2 games.

 

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[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

We are the best *AROUND* nothing's gonna ever break us down