PR - Wheat Kings

FROM CHAMPS TO CHUMPS

In a season when absolutely everything went wrong, it figures that even when they wanted to lose the Kings won. The Wheat Kings finished off what amounted to a roller-coaster of a season Monday with a win against the Resevoir Dogs - which had they lost, would have allowed the Kings a higher draft pick.

"Yeesh," Coach-GM Tyler Young said after the game. "Let's just say that we're glad to get this year behind us, we'll forget it and move on."

After a play-off campaign during which the hockey-gods smiled on the Kings, TFHL18 turned out to be a season wrought with disaster after disaster.

"Maybe it was just things balancing out, we did use up a lot of good luck in that playoff run last year," Mr. Young said with a shrug. "Looking back, we can say that we played about two thirds of this year at .550, which is what I think this team is capable of, but there where three spurts when we were lucky to get a couple points in ten to fifteen games."

"If the season had been 88 games we might have snuck in like last year, but really, we shot ourselves in the foot but throwing away about 25 games this year, especially at the beginning and just before the trade deadline. But on the bright side, last time we missed the playoffs we won the President's Trophy the next season."

Forwards (B-):

The forwards were an improvement over last season, averaging nearly a third of a goal more per game. The emergence of Mike Frolik in his rookie year, the always dependable Josh Hennessy, an all-star worthy performance from Dmitri Kazionov, and Chuck Kobesew, who was possibly the team's best player after his acquisition from the Pontiacs, where reasons for joy in Saskatoon.

Steve Bernier started the season as a serious liability, but finished it as a powerhouse. Pat Dwyer was decent in his first year, showing good two-way instincts; Peter Mueller provided goals, but was somewhat disappointing as a third line checking center. Nik Bergfors did not quite live up to the expectations he set from last years' exceptional playoff performance, but he still had a respectable sophomore campaign and demonstrated a rare durability.

Overall the group was decent and shows promise to be a unit with above average offensive skills and solid defensive awareness; and with an average age of 21.6 they still have some room for development and will be together for many years to come. Look for the Kings to perhaps add a veteran in the off-season to round-out this group.

Defence (C+):

The Kings failure this year cannot be pegged on the defence. Although they had over .5 ga/g more this season than the previous, yet they allowed fewer shots against. The course of the season saw a significant overhaul of the corp, with only three defencemen from opening day remaining at the end. The addition of Jakubs Redlihs in an early season deal with the Ignite ultimately made perannial disappoinment Mark Stuart expendible. Redlihs had an excellent season, and proved a very capable two-way defenceman.

Anton Babchuck, Boris Valabik, and Ryan Whitney were all acquired from the Misconduct over the course of the season, and all proved to be excellent additions. Several products of the Kings system all had their first full season: John Adams was adequate, T.J. Young had a good season as a 19 year old, and John de Gray showed some promise for the future. Veteran Joel Kwiatkowski - and in their brief return stints as Kings, Sergei Zubov and Sandis Ozolinsh - were major disappointments and defensive liabilities.

The trade of Stuart threw the team into disarray, but after the addition of Whitney and Valabik things settled down and the Kings finished the season with a group of six defenceman, 23 and under, all capable of full-time TFHL duty and showing great promise. The back end though definitely needs at least one more mobile defenceman capable of putting up some points, the Kings had one of the worst offensive contributions from defence in the league.

Goaltending (F):

If anywhere, the wrath of the Wheat-watcher should fall squarely here. After an outstanding rookie campagin and an incredible playoff showing, the Kings thought they had their man in Jimmy Howard. Howard returned their confidence with a dismal showing wherein his save percentage dropped by twenty percent.

Making matters worse was the failure of two bonafied back-ups - Roberto Luongo and Kevin Weekes - to better Howards' showing, meaning that the Kings had a carousal of goalies this season (at one point both the starter and back-up went down injured) and an absolute liability in every game.

Look for the Kings to try to figure something out here. They cannot add the likes of a top end goalie without giving up a significant, and Free Agency doesn't hold much promise. But something needs to be done: Howard may rebound next year, but they cannot bet on it, or can they?