Helsinki and Calgary Play Spoiler

[Devise 4,475]

Helsinki and Calgary are two teams who have been rebuilding for a few seasons now. The interesting thing is that both teams had a different path to their rebuild. Helsinki jumped the gun early, sending Ethan Osbourne to Seattle and Tuomas Tukio to Quebec. Helsinki used their assets to work on replenishing their roster.

 

Calgary took the opposite approach, after losing Skylar Rift to free agency Calgary loaded up on players in their final seasons, took one last crack at competing and then entered a rebuild with little assets. Yet some sly trading, smart drafting and player evaluation has lead Calgary's rebuild into a shorter status than some expected.

 

Now both teams sit in similar spots. While it took Helsinki a season or so less to get here, both teams now have the luxury of playing spoiler as their team shows signs of being on the rise. Entering the season several fans and GM's were expecting very little from either team. These are one of the teams that you could play your back up against, one of the teams that you'd rarely lose to, if at all. Sure they may beat Cologne, or Quebec, other rebuilding teams. But it would be unlikely they could upset any of the top teams. 

 

Just over 30 games into the season those expectations have proven to be completely wrong. The Titans are currently fourth in the European conference with ten wins and have little hope of making the playoffs. However the Titans have rallied behind their spoiler wins and the stellar performance of up and coming goalie Kimmo Salo to start the season. The Titans have beaten the Seattle Bears once, Vasteras once, Riga once, and are the only other team than Vasteras to upset the New York Americans this season. Salo has kept Helsinki in games, their young players have played as good on defense as they could and capitalized on their chances to keep games close. While they may not be a playoff team this season, the fact that they can steal wins from some of the teams elite shows a promising future for the Titans. 

 

Over in Calgary, the Wranglers only sit 12 points behind the Bears for the third playoff spot. While they only have 11 wins and it is a long shot to see them in the playoffs, if they can keep up the offense and goalie Martin Brookside can steal more games they could surprise everyone and sneak in. The performances of rookie of the year candidate Travis Boychuk and potential Labatte candidate Godavari Yumalatopinto has given Wranglers fans hope for the future this season. The Wranglers hold 2 wins over the Bears, 2 over the Dynamo, and a win over Riga as their spoilers this season. Despite their defensive struggles the Wranglers have actually scored more goals this season than Seattle, Vasteras, and are only 2 goals behind Riga. All three are considered far more elite teams yet the feisty Wranglers have shown they do not give up on games.