Seattle Brew

 (AP) – With the 2021-22 CCHL Season well underway let’s take a look at how the 2020-21 Champion Seattle Reign have performed year to date and if there are any indicators of how their season may unfold.

Repeating as Champion is never easy in any sport or league and as we find ourselves in the 20^th season of the CCHL it should be noted that only twice has a team repeated Bismarck in the 3^rd and 4^th CCHL season and in seasons 12 and 13 by Copenhagen.

Seattle returns a large portion of their roster form last year’s Championship team but there were a few changes and perhaps the biggest is behind the bench as former coach Scott Stevens declined an extension and Dean Evason was brought on board.

While we only have a small sample size to assess how Evason is doing as coach, early results are both promising and worrisome and the true test will be where the Reign find themselves come the end of the year and if they make the playoffs how far they are able to advance.

Will it be considered a failed season and coaching performance if Seattle does not win it all, in the strictest sense yes, there will be 21 teams who fail each CCHL season with just one being successful.

However we tend to grade things on the curve so a playoff appearance and winning a round  or two might be looked upon favorably but until then let’s go through some early season winners and losers for the Reign.

Winners

Dean Evason – I know we said it’s too early to truly judge how good a coach he will be for Seattle but things are trending upwards. The Reign are currently riding a league best 6 game win streak and find themselves with an 8-5-1 record good for 4^th place in the Corfield Division. While they are still behind the 10-1-3 1^st place Fort Erie Falcons their record is better than the 4-8-2 start from last year and the 6 game winning streak is 1 game more than their best winning streak from last season.

Defence – The big acquisition in the free agency for Seattle was the signing of Damon Severson. The veteran blueliner was added to take some of the pressure of Matias Ekholm and strengthen the top 4 as he could absorb minutes and play in all situations. The team has surrendered 13 fewer goals than they did last season 51 compared to 64, through the 1^st 14 games so if that trend continues a decrease of around 75 goals against would be something to get excited about.

Jakob Chychrun -  Chychrun was a highly touted draft prospect who slid down the CCHL draft board back in 2016 so expectations were tempered when Seattle chose him. Just a handful of years later he appears to be exceeding those expectations. His breakout 21g-48a-69pt season from 2020-21 was a great boost to Seattle’s back end. This season he is just ahead of last season’s pace with 5g-10a-15pt in 14 games played while playing fewer minutes per game. Seattle knows they can rely on him to produce offensively and at just 23 years of age they hope his development will continue and he will be an anchor on the Reign’s blueline for the next decade plus.

Mattias Ekholm – Why? Because it’s Mattias Ekholm doing Mattias Ekholm things.

Losers

Forwards – Seattle didn’t add any big name forwards but picked up some depth for the 4^th line. 14 games in and the offensive production is nearly identical to last season 53g in 2021 compared to 51g in 2020. While that might seem fine 27 of those 53 goals have occurred during their current 6 game winning streak. They are one of only 3 CCHL teams whose top two point producers are defenceman, and the only one of those teams with a record above .500. Whether the current run of goal production can be sustained remains to be seen, but if the offence from the defence dries up or either of the top two lines slows down will there be any contribution from the bottom six to help out? The current situation indicates that it is doubtful.

Goaltending – Yes Seattle has yielded fewer goals through 14 games than last season but #1 goalie Semyon Varlamov has not been good enough to warrant confidence for Reign fans to think they could make an extended playoff run. Despite a 6-3-1 record his .890 SV% and 3.67 GAA is worse than future starter Thatcher Demko’s .902 SV% and 3.04 GAA. Varlamov has started 12 of the Reign 1^st 14 games this season and has been pulled twice in those starts compared to being pulled in 3 of his 10 starts in the Reign’s first 14 games last year however he also posted 2 shutouts in those 10 starts in 20-21 and this season has yet to post any. Seattle fans may soon be seeing more of Demko between the pipes unless Varlamov’s play improves.

Physical Play – Seattle ranked near the bottom of the league in hits with just 222 after 14 games. Now granted the team is not built to play physically trying to lean on their skating, speed and skill to move the puck quickly. However battling for loose pucks along the boards and fore-checking and defending does require a team to use physicality and win those battles. Even though Seattle was not overly physical in winning it all last year but it may benefit them to be a bit more physical especially against some of the bigger bodied teams who play that style.

The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2021-22 Sudbury Miners: Volume 1

 ANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on October 12, 2021

Miners 10 Game (Dime) Record:  7 wins, 2 losses, 1 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  7 wins, 2 losses, 1 OT Loss = 15 points total.  Currently sit in 2nd place in the Canosa Conference, 4th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 24.5% (8th); Penalty Kill – 80.0% (12th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Defenceman Seth Jones (6G – 7A = 13 pts; 4th Overall in the CCHL)

 

Despite having a bit of nice run of summer type weather, make no mistake that winter is coming and it will be a little more like true hockey weather as the calendar turns to mid-October.  And with it, the CCHL season is now in full swing.

For the Sudbury Miners, they are looking to build on last season’s playoff run and finish what they started.  With the number of off-season acquisitions, management has given this team their another shot to potentially go on another deep playoff run and give the hard-working fans in the Nickel City something to cheer about.  

“We are a confident group right now”, stated Coach Derek Sutton.  “It seems like we have found the right combinations and the guys are hit the ground running to start the year.  I believe our guys realize their window to win is wide open but can quickly shut tight.   It’s up to them to grasp the opportunity and run with it.” 

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Sebastian Aho

A fan favourite since his arrival, Aho is a driver of offence for the Miners.  He is known for his outstanding playmaking skills and has plenty of offensive acumen and good skating ability. He plays with energy and a lot of flair, which the Miner fans love, but he is also productive and responsible defensively. He is a true, versatile top-6 forward who the Miners will rely heavily on to deliver.

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Nils Lundkvist

There is no doubt Nils Lundkvist should be a player in the CCHL sooner rather than later. The Miners prospect won the Salming Trophy for the SHL Defenceman of the Year at only age 20, after an impressive season with Lulea HF.  He is a smooth-skating offensive contributor who likes to move the puck and make plays.  Lundkvist has scored at least 30 points in the SHL for two seasons in a row.  The knock on Lundkvist is that he is not very big and his defensive play needs work, which could be said for all young defenceman.  Make no mistake though, he has the potential to be an elite, offensive defenceman one day.  Projected CCHL arrival:  2023-24.

Amos Blog

 After a long summer, we had a lot of hype about this season. New coach, a lot of new players and a new captain. Besides all that, the 6 victories in 10 games weren’t good enough for the GM.

 

As we’ve just past the 10 games mark in Amos, it marks the end of an era. After a rough season debut, Vasilevskiy been traded to Capeside in return of Jack Campbell and Jake Oettinger. While Campbell manage to get his first W as a Comet, Vasilevskiy might make is Loons debute on October 13th. He was part of the awesome run we had last year while we loss to Siberia in 7 games.

 

Besides Jack & Jake’s trade, new faces are coming to Amos. As we’ve traded to bring back Phil Danault who should help to balance our top 6. Erik Cernak is also part of the trade that sent Ryan Strome & Justin Holl back to Fort Erie. Cernak is the PK unit we needed, a tough guy to play against and a young veteran.

 

After the 10 first games of the season, with no surprise Dougie Hamilton is #1 in points with (3+10) in 10 games. The surprise is Christian Dvorak, 7 goals(7+5) in 10 games. Well served by his linemates Nick Suzuki(2+10) & Logan Couture(7+4). On the other side, that 3rd line Hayes(1+1), Bailey(1+3) & Atkinson(2+3) might need a shake up to bring a balance in the offensive production.

 

Let’s hope the 10 next will be better for us!

 

State of the Soviet Blog

 In its first report to the Supreme State Soviet for Sport and Physical Education, the Director of the Soviet Wings of Moscow hockey club reports as follows:

1) Team performance has so far exceeded expectations. The club is effectively designed to build through the draft and peak in the future, but our socialist collective of downtrodden veterans and eager youth has banded together to achieve surprising excellence early in the 2021-22 hockey season;

2) Chief reason for success is top-of-league powerplay, whereby we have been able to apply socialist principles to reach unprecedented achievement in the field of excellence;

3) Otherwise, our underlying stats suggest a middling to below average record, so I wish to emphasize that any future struggles would be indicative of a regression to the mean, rather than any flagging of socialist spirit;

4) The goaltending looks to be an achilles heel, as the reins are in the hands of an aging veteran and a once-starring drunkard. We will do what we can - perhaps Anton can still recall the young pioneer spirit of his youth;

5) Andrew Copp is a young communist who has led the collective in all situations. We have received numerous trade offers for him from the capitalist lackeys, but they have all been laughably inadequate so far. Unless we are overwhelmed with an offer, Comrade Copp will continue as our team leader during the transition.

FOR goalie problems continue

Despite an outstanding start to their season, all is not well for the Fort Erie Falcons.

The offence has certainly been good and with Alex Debrincat now scoring after firing blanks for his first 30 shots on goal, chemistry seems apparent throughout the lineup.

The problem for the Falcons however is in goal with Marc-Andre Fleury and Curtis McElhinney both posting save percentages in the .880 range.

“Our goaltending hasn’t been good enough. I think Marc and Curtis would tell you that as well,” said GM Matt Young. 

"This is sports, and it's a results-driven business.  I'm definitely fighting the puck a bit these days but the guys are playing great in front of me, I'm just not stopping the puck.  The new pads have been tough to break in as well, but I can't use that as an excuse, I just need to be better.  They brought me in to solidify the position and I've done anything but that so far," said Fleury of his struggles in Fort Erie.  

The biggest challenge is that last year it was Vasilevsky in this spot, although he was playing much better. The salary for Fleury is far less but the results need to be better.

It sounds like the Falcons are shopping Fleury in the marketplace. They realize that perhaps a goalie with lower ratings may do the trick on a team where goaltending doesn’t have to be great, just good.  It seems to be the formula every year as Khudobin and Blackwood suggest from the past two seasons.

Fleury would be an upgrade for many teams in the league that rely on goaltending more. If interested, the rumor is that the Falcons will certainly listen and entertain a change.