Half way review (just about)

by **mc_homer** Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:07 pm

So the Beefs have passed the half way point of the season and it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride so far. After a shocking start to the season the Beefs have dragged themselves into contention and even have a gap of 9 points over the chasing pack for the last playoff spot. On top of that they sit just 4 points out of the number one seed with 3 games in hand on the Victory so it is all to play for.

After losing 7 in a row to start the season the Beefs find themselves on a run of games where they have lost just once in regulation in the last 21 games going 16-1-4 in that stretch. Much of the turn around has come from finally keeping the puck out of the net. The Beefs have clawed themselves up to 5th in the league for goals against. They still need to improve the special teams as the combined PP+PK sit at just 95.59% only better than 3 teams. But with a balanced attack where 6 forwards are all around or above a point per game the Beefs are finding ways to get it done. Loui Eriksson is leading the way in both goals and assists and currently sits 6th in the league for goals and 10th for assists. Also Howie Hole has found his stride and is putting up some good numbers. Another shining point for the Beefs has been the play of young rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was sent down to the farm during the teams losing streak and found his way back up. The nuge currently leads all rookies in scoring despite playing around 10 fewer games than many of his competitors. He is the only rookie on a point per game pace.

Down in the farm the Baby Beefs continue to roll but are finding themselves in a dog fight with the Portsmouth Pirates (what is it with that organisation!) and like their pro counterparts, sit 4 points back of the conference lead (and league lead) with 3 games in hand.

It isn't hard to see what is leading the teams success as the only team to have fewer than 100 goals against with just 81 along with 180 goals scored which is good for 2nd in the league on goals per game. Marcel Noebels has come in and instantly become the teams best player as he sits a full 10 points clear of Jeff Skinner for the team lead. Kent Simpson, signed as a free agent, has been a rock in goal with a 21-5-0 record to give the Beefs some hope for the future with Deslauriers, Kiprusoff and Climie all getting on a bit now.

Along with Noebels and Simpson, the team has seen some solid contributions from other new draft picks with Oleksiak putting up 35 points in 42 games on defence and Juuso Ikonen adding 34 points of his own in his debut season. The future for the Beefs looks fantastic as the Baby Beefs do not miss a beat despite some big names earning promotions in recent years.

Of course, coming up we will likely see the curse of the praise as the Beefs and Baby Beefs go on losing streaks.

by **BuffonIdol** Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:17 pm

Our organisations seem destined to do battle once again. Just for once I would like to come out on top!

by **mc_homer** Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:49 pm

It will be entertaining to see how it pans out because right now there is almost nothing between our pro and farm teams.

Pro point percentages
Victory .656
Beefs .655

Farm point percentages
Pirates .811
Baby Beefs .821

Going to be an interesting 2nd half! Of course we have the Rex hanging about as well to spice things up even more. Also the Cherrypickers would be 2nd in 2 of the other divisions. Prego division is the only one with all 4 teams playing on or above .500.

by **BuffonIdol** Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:15 pm

What amazes is me is that we have both sucked a lot of talent out of our farm teams in the past two seasons and yet they are still performing!
In fact at the moment whoever wins the division title (and likely the conference title with it) will have the harder first round match up lol.

In the pros we certainly have been unfortunate that we always seem to end up in the strongest division but then I wouldn't have it any other way! Hopefully Connolly will pick up the pace now he is riding shot-gun with Staal as he did very little in his last 10 games before his injury. I want him to challenge RNH so that is another little rivalry!

by **mc_homer** Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:13 am

You leave RNH alone! It is his rookie title so hands off!

by **BuffonIdol** Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:16 am

NO IT IS MINE! Connolly was my first ever draft pick and is like my son. He was PPG until this RNH dude turned up. I'm going to get Jack Johnson to do to him what he did to Jamie Benn Smile