Post by brob89 (NSH) on Mar 12, 2018 12:27:34 GMT -5
The Playoffs Come to Seattle in their Sophomore Season
- June 22, 2023 -
Seattle, WA. - After a predictably difficult first season for both expansion franchises, made more disheartening by the fact that both General Managers traded away their 1st round draft picks, expectations were pretty low for the Sea Lions in season 2. Gone were their established top 6 forwards, like Bo Horvat, Brendan Gallagher and Derek Stepan. In their place came a group of young and talented, but unproven forwards who seemed to offer more questions than answers. Their top line Center was a natural winger who had played zero games in the iNHL. Adam Mascherin and Nick Pastujov had both experienced exceptional first seasons in Seattle, but whether or not that was sign of things to come or a flash in the plan was up for debate. If this forward group was going to have success, it was clear that it would need to be scoring by committee. The one expected bright spot for the team was the play of Julius Honka, the team's franchise defenseman. He did not disappoint.
Honka is a world class player. He's the only one of those that we have in Seattle at the moment. There are still high hopes for Mikhail Bitsadze and Leevi Aaltonen eventually becoming top line players and elite point producers, but for now, Honka is it. And we were entertained. His game just oozes talent, and it's easy to see what separates him as player. With his first three strides he leaves most players sucking wind and looking for a quick change. The best strategy to limit his impact, is to take him out of the game. Literally. But beyond that, your best hope is to just try to close down his space. When he gets the puck on his stick in space, goals happen. It was clear from the start of the season that Seattle wasn't going to have the manpower to be amongst the elite in this league, but in large part due to the talent of their star player, they wrestled their way into a surprising playoffs appearance. He has single-handedly raised the interest level of fans in this still new team.
The effort was there all season for this team. Buoyed by the play of their star defenseman, the 2nd and 3rd lines were consistently providing positive play for this young team. Vincent Trocheck, in particular, had an excellent season ending up with 17 goals and a +20 rating flanked on either side by the solid play of Warren Foegele and the young, Leevi Aaltonen. The best forward line, however, was second line of Pastujov, Hugg, and Mascherin. With the disappointing play of the 1st line, centered by a non-center, Seattle needed some excellent play from the 2nd line in order to stay in games and that's exactly what they got. Both Pastujov and Mascherin bested their excellence from last season with 31 goals and 63 points respectively, and Hugg was something of a balancing influence with his excellent passing and solid defensive play.
As the season came to a close, Seattle's play faltered a bit as they dropped from 6th place to 8th, barely squeaking into the playoffs. Facing Winnipeg was going to be a tough task, and realistically no one was picking Seattle to get through. But the city resolved to make the most of it anyway. The building was raucous for game 3. With the series tied up at one coming home, the team's fans were ready to enjoy the franchise's first ever playoff game. The Sealions home record had been good all season, but the playoffs are a different animal so we weren't sure what to expect. Two hard fought home wins later and the city was ready to believe. One. More. Win. Getting that win back home in game 6 was just icing on the cake.
In the end, of course, the season came to a crashing halt in the 2nd round facing a streaking St. Louis team, but having already far exceeded expectations there was nonetheless a celebratory atmosphere for Seattle fans. Season two is in the books, but things are looking up for this new franchise. We're still missing a number of significant pieces before we're able to truly match up against top teams like this year's champs, the Ottawa Senators. But we're on the right track, and after a difficult first season, fans have begun to trust the plan that management has put in place. Our one request: don't make anymore stupid trades.
2023 Top Performers:
Julius Honka 14 goals 54 assists
Adam Mascherin 23 goals 40 assists
Nick Pastujov 31 goals 20 assists
Matthew Tkachuk 22 goals 30 assists
Thomas Schemitsch 12 goals 34 assists
2023 Team MVP: Julius Honka
- June 22, 2023 -
Seattle, WA. - After a predictably difficult first season for both expansion franchises, made more disheartening by the fact that both General Managers traded away their 1st round draft picks, expectations were pretty low for the Sea Lions in season 2. Gone were their established top 6 forwards, like Bo Horvat, Brendan Gallagher and Derek Stepan. In their place came a group of young and talented, but unproven forwards who seemed to offer more questions than answers. Their top line Center was a natural winger who had played zero games in the iNHL. Adam Mascherin and Nick Pastujov had both experienced exceptional first seasons in Seattle, but whether or not that was sign of things to come or a flash in the plan was up for debate. If this forward group was going to have success, it was clear that it would need to be scoring by committee. The one expected bright spot for the team was the play of Julius Honka, the team's franchise defenseman. He did not disappoint.
Honka is a world class player. He's the only one of those that we have in Seattle at the moment. There are still high hopes for Mikhail Bitsadze and Leevi Aaltonen eventually becoming top line players and elite point producers, but for now, Honka is it. And we were entertained. His game just oozes talent, and it's easy to see what separates him as player. With his first three strides he leaves most players sucking wind and looking for a quick change. The best strategy to limit his impact, is to take him out of the game. Literally. But beyond that, your best hope is to just try to close down his space. When he gets the puck on his stick in space, goals happen. It was clear from the start of the season that Seattle wasn't going to have the manpower to be amongst the elite in this league, but in large part due to the talent of their star player, they wrestled their way into a surprising playoffs appearance. He has single-handedly raised the interest level of fans in this still new team.
The effort was there all season for this team. Buoyed by the play of their star defenseman, the 2nd and 3rd lines were consistently providing positive play for this young team. Vincent Trocheck, in particular, had an excellent season ending up with 17 goals and a +20 rating flanked on either side by the solid play of Warren Foegele and the young, Leevi Aaltonen. The best forward line, however, was second line of Pastujov, Hugg, and Mascherin. With the disappointing play of the 1st line, centered by a non-center, Seattle needed some excellent play from the 2nd line in order to stay in games and that's exactly what they got. Both Pastujov and Mascherin bested their excellence from last season with 31 goals and 63 points respectively, and Hugg was something of a balancing influence with his excellent passing and solid defensive play.
As the season came to a close, Seattle's play faltered a bit as they dropped from 6th place to 8th, barely squeaking into the playoffs. Facing Winnipeg was going to be a tough task, and realistically no one was picking Seattle to get through. But the city resolved to make the most of it anyway. The building was raucous for game 3. With the series tied up at one coming home, the team's fans were ready to enjoy the franchise's first ever playoff game. The Sealions home record had been good all season, but the playoffs are a different animal so we weren't sure what to expect. Two hard fought home wins later and the city was ready to believe. One. More. Win. Getting that win back home in game 6 was just icing on the cake.
In the end, of course, the season came to a crashing halt in the 2nd round facing a streaking St. Louis team, but having already far exceeded expectations there was nonetheless a celebratory atmosphere for Seattle fans. Season two is in the books, but things are looking up for this new franchise. We're still missing a number of significant pieces before we're able to truly match up against top teams like this year's champs, the Ottawa Senators. But we're on the right track, and after a difficult first season, fans have begun to trust the plan that management has put in place. Our one request: don't make anymore stupid trades.
2023 Top Performers:
Julius Honka 14 goals 54 assists
Adam Mascherin 23 goals 40 assists
Nick Pastujov 31 goals 20 assists
Matthew Tkachuk 22 goals 30 assists
Thomas Schemitsch 12 goals 34 assists
2023 Team MVP: Julius Honka