Artair McCloud S75 Season Review

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As the buzzer at the end of game 5 between the Mexico City Kings and the Las Vegas Aces, it signalled the end of Artair McCloud season and the end of junior career. The Scotsman is part of a large number of Vegas Prospects moving on to the VHL to join pro team, the Riga Reign. So, we will do what we done last season and take a look at how McCloud got on this season. Did he improve on his poor performance last season or did he start to show his true potential?

 

McCloud definitely showed a lot of improvement during S75. He put up 28G and 20A for a total of 48P in 72GP, which is a big improvement on his performance last season. He did receive a big increase in ice-time this season as for a large part of the season, he was on the 1^st line alongside teammate Its Gucci. However, GM Spartan was tweaking his lines all season which saw McCloud spend a good chunk of time on the 2^nd line. His 5 v 5 time was not helped by the big acquisitions made by the GM which saw the likes of Sheldon Juniper, Dan Dan and Jordan Tate join the Aces towards the end of the season (Although with Tate being a center, he didn’t impact his ice time at all). Never the less, He was a staple on the Vegas powerplay all season long, contributing 13G and 12A for a total of 25P on the powerplay. Now you look at those stats at face value and McCloud looks kinda like a bust but, up until the trades to acquire the players mentioned above, McCloud stats were 1^st line worthy. His points per game was up at 0.8 and continuing to rise after being promoted back to the first line. However, after the trade McCloud would not return to the first line and he would not be able to re-create the synergy he had with his new line mates, as he struggled to put points on the board towards the back end of the season.

 

Despite McCloud stumble in production, the Aces banded together and secured a spot in this season playoffs which started with the Saskatoon wild. The Aces got off to a hot start and raced to a 3-1 series lead and were poised to blow the Wild away in game 5 but the Wild battled back to take games 5 and 6 to force a tie deciding game 7. The game was tightly fought and it took overtime to be decided but it would be the Aces who would prevail and they would advance to the 2^nd round to face the Mexico City Kings. However, they would not fare so well against Mexico as the kings stormed past the Aces without much resistance (with the exception of game 3, in which McCloud himself had a great game). There is no shame in the Aces losing to the Kings as they are a red-hot team and the 1^st seeds and favourites to lift the founder’s cup. So that’s the brief summation of the Aces S75 playoff run, so how did Artair McCloud himself get on? He put up a respectable 4G and 6A for a total of 10P in 12GP during this playoff run. Once again, he was a staple on the powerplay as he put up more points than anyone else on the Vegas roster with 7PPP. McCloud was playing on reduced playing time for the duration of the playoffs, logging just under 15 minutes which only makes his production more impressive.

 

So that concludes our round of Artair McCloud season, before we hear from him, since McCloud will be moving onto the VHL next season, let’s take a look at what his team and ice time situations could look like next season as he joins the Riga Reign. Artair will be joining a very prospect heaving Riga roster next season. The Reign had a lot picks during the S75 VHL draft, in which they pick McCloud as well as a lot of other wingers from that draft class. Since most of these prospects will be graduating to the VHL at the same time it is going to be a real battle for roster spots especially for McCloud as he ranks 8^th for most TPE on the Riga roster and with some more established players on the team, some with less TPE than McCloud, it could be an interesting and eventful off season for the Scotsman.

 

So that about does it for the recap of McClouds season and future, now its time to hear from the man himself:

 

Reporter – “Artair thank you for taking the time out to chat with us, it’s great to hear from you again. It’s been a few days since your season ended. How are you doing?”

 

McCloud – “Yeah it’s great to chat to you as well. I’ve been alright, just starting to plan out my off-season training and also trying to enjoy the time off before the start of the new season.”

 

Reporter – “Unfortunately the Aces were eliminated from the playoffs, in the second round, by the Mexico City Kings. How are you feeling about being out of the playoffs, considering you made the finals last year, and your performance in that series against the kings?”

 

McCloud – “It’s obviously not a great feeling to be eliminated from the playoffs, especially when we, the team, have high standards in how we should be playing. We were up against an amazing team in the Kings and we knew from the start that it would be a real challenge to beat them. We struggled to really get going in the series and unfortunately, we were beaten by the better team. I didn’t feel like I had a great series myself, I struggled to get going. I had one game, think it was game 3 where I played to the level, I want to be playing at but for the majority of the series Mexico did a good job shutting me down.”

 

Reporter – “You are heading up to the VHL next season to join the Riga Reign, how are you feeling about playing for Riga in the VHL next season?”

 

McCloud – “I’m really excited to head up to the VHL next season. This Riga team is a roster that could go on to be a real force in the VHL and it’s something I definitely want to be a part of. There are also a lot of the Vegas guys joining the team next season as well so that always a plus, when you’ve got people that you know and have good chemistry with on the team with you.”

 

Reporter – “Just one last question for you Artair, I know you’re a busy guy, what parts of your game are you looking to improve on during the off season?”

 

McCloud – “I’m planning on just improving the basic aspects of my game. The likes of my skating, puck handling, shooting and defence. I feel like if I can make these improvements to my game then I should be able to make a real impact in the VHL next season”

 

Reporter – “That’s the end of our interview, thank you for talking to us and I wish you all the best during for next season”

 

McCloud – “Thanks guys, happy to talk anytime”

 

That concludes our season review for Artair McCloud. It’ll be interesting to see how McCloud will perform in the VHL and how he will fit in the Riga roster. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next time.

 

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