Killinger under fire, Hextall frustrated -- are the Legion tearing themselves apart?

[Peace 1,562]

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- The Toronto Legion appear to be tearing themselves apart from within, as if this was the aircraft that disintegrated during the pilot episode of LOST, but why are the frustrations so high... and why do a few certain players appear to be at each others throats? It was recently revealed that Jaxx Hextall forced Legion defender Erik Killinger into the net on a puck-heavy practice, one shot from Hextall on Killinger for each shot the team has allowed. A taste of his own medicine, if you will, or perhaps making members of the Legion walk a mile in his shoes. 

"I get it," Killinger admitted. "I know his upset, but he's not the only one beating himself up over it." 

The Toronto Legion are 12-11-3, a record that they simply didn't expect heading into this season, and one that isn't good enough for the entire team. The process of rebuilding has been long, and a lot of these players are entering the most valuable time in their career lengths, as the VHL's player agreement states that a player can only play a maximum of eight seasons after they're drafted to a VHL or VHLM team. 

"I'm not happy either," Killinger added. "[but] I'm trying my best to not let it get to me mentally. All I can say is... what does everyone honestly expect? I came into this league as a forward, swapped to D for the team, so I'm still learning the finer points on how to play the position. I would say I'm alright now, but there is certainly room for improvement and a dedicated defender is still a whole other tier above me. It's going to take time." 

Killinger has produced eight goals from the blue line, while contributing eighteen assists for twenty six points in the same amount of games. Part of the reason the Legion are so frustrated is the offense has seemingly dried up some, especially when you consider the team had one of the highest goal differentials at the start of the season and sat in second place when their record was 7-3-1 rather than 12-11-3. 

"I think it's human." GM Rylan Peace answered. "People get frustrated, they get upset, they get angry. It's how we all deal with it that determines how effective we will remain as a hockey team, and how we respond to these events. We have a roster here capable of picking it up, we've all seen the Legion at their best, so it's not a far cry to assume we can do better."

 

"Maybe it's just time to mix it up again, I think." GM Peace continued. "We've tried two different tactics in an attempt to reduce the stresses upon our players, but in truth I think there is only one tactic that'll really work at the moment. We simply don't have the defensive strength to play a more shut down game, which in turn unfortunately means that Hextall faces more shots. He's a good man, a good goalie, one of the best in the league." 

 

The league has been far more offensive this season than most prior seasons, largely due to the recent expansion of four clubs into the league, and another part due to teams being smaller in size. Top players are on the ice longer, resulting in more opportunities for them, and teams simply don't have the depth they once had. A more offensive league has produced numerous players on pace for one hundred points, a feat that became rare or even non existent throughout the mid and late sixth decade of VHL play, and early into the leagues seventh decade of hockey. 

Most goalies are facing a lot more shots than they otherwise would have, and players are taking more opportunities to take a shot on net. It's no surprise that expansion team Las Angeles features two of the leagues top forwards: Both Sigard and Tyler Barabash Jr are recipients of an expanded league, obviously, and are continuing to distance themselves from other teams' top forwards. The primary weapons of the Stars aren't the only expansion team to have a player in the running either, as both the London United and Warsaw Predators have a man in the top five scoring race. 

 

The Toronto Legion, meanwhile, don't have anyone near the top scoring players... but they've got consistent scoring across the board. Six Legion players have registered twenty or more points, and the rest -- aside from rookie Blaze -- are near the milestone. The team is hoping that these players start producing more as a switch, indicated by GM Peace above, appears to be focusing on a more offensive style of play now. It's been the Legion way since the rebuild started, so it's not really a surprise to go back to something that worked. Something that forced the best team in the regular season to seven games in the post-season. 

Jaxx Hextall in particular though has a lot to be proud about. 

He's got a .928 save percentage, a 2.58 GAA and a league leading 3 shutouts. 

He's facing a lot of shots, sure, but he's capable of doing so.

The Legion are present, too. 

11-8-2, likely higher had he played some of TOR G's five games he started. 

He has a right to be upset though. He's the third highest goalie in shots against, while being the third lowest goalie for actual ice-time. His workload has been tremendous, which could end up burning the still-young goalie out quickly, but at least it's not boring... right? He's always making that fantastic save that makes the home crowd either collectively cheer or sigh on disappointment. He's capable of tanking fifty shots and winning the game for his team in the shootout... while shutting you out. 

There's a lot of respect for Hextall in Toronto... and not so much for TOR G. 

"If he needs to dress me up as a goalie, I'll let him." Killinger ultimately revealed. "We all need stress releases, and if it works for him, then it works for us." 

1, 000+ words. 
Claiming for 2-AUG-2020 and 9-AUG-2020. 

 

@Beketov @Quik @Beaviss

OOC Note here (which is why you're tagged) -- I completed this article last night around 9 PM, but my internet went out until just now. If it's alright, I'd appreciate it if I could claim for the week that just passed and this following week so I don't miss out on capped TPE.  
 

[Peace 1,562]

[This is for portal.]

9-AUG-2020 claim as well.

[Beketov 9,140]

3 hours ago, Peace said:

OOC Note here (which is why you're tagged) -- I completed this article last night around 9 PM, but my internet went out until just now. If it's alright, I'd appreciate it if I could claim for the week that just passed and this following week so I don't miss out on capped TPE.

Obviously we prefer to know in advance but it’s not a big deal and obviously given the circumstances there was no way to predict it. Totally fine.