Penetrators RHL16 season in review

YDP ended their 4th campaign with a second consecutive 80-point season, a division crown and the #2 playoff seed in the Howe Conference. After disposing of the Aviators in 5 games, YDP came within 1 game of reaching the conference finals before eventually losing to their northern brothers from Baffin Island in 7 games. While Penetrator Nation still stings from losing in the quarterfinals, the future still looks bright with the majority of the team signed on for next season.

Playoffs – Rating B
The Calder crown combined with a surprise win by the Stingers matched up YDP with the #8 seeded Aviators in the round of 16. While Penetrator Nation expected a short series, no one from YDP took this series lightly. The boys from Yellowknife accomplished their two main goals, win the series and stay healthy. In the quarterfinals, YDP matched up against their northern brothers in a tail of two series. The Rovers jumped out to an early 3-0 series lead winning two games in Yellowknife. YDP countered with 3rd string goalie JS Aubin and captured the next 3 games including two in Baffin Island to force game 7, where they eventually lost to the Rovers.

Offense – Rating B
The offense led by Souray and Sakic finished 10th in the league despite having only the 18th ranked PP. YDP had 2 twenty goal scorers in Souray and Tanguay, while Sakic finished 13th in league scoring.

Defense – Rating A-
Once again the defense was by far the deepest part of the organization. While using three goalies during the season YDP still managed to have the 6th best GAA in the league and only 8 basis points from 3rd place.

Special Teams – Rating C-
Once the pillar of the organization, YDP’s special teams took a nosedive in RHL16 finishing in 18th place on both the PP (13%) and PK (84.2). Fortunately for YDP the PP and PK were a wash as both recorded 38 goals apiece.

Bottom Line – Rating C
For the second consecutive year YDP ended the season with a large financial loss ($4M). Despite this bad news YDP is still committed to fielding a strong team in RHL17 that can challenge for the division crown.

Player Reviews
Souray (A+) 21: 36 61 26 26 52 +44 – Single handedly saved YDP’s PP with a +44 rating. He earned an All-star appearance and placed 2nd in D-man of the year voting. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Sakic (A) 21:20 66 19 47 66 +26 – Normal season for the ageless wonder. All he did this year was earn another All-star appearance and finished 13th in league scoring. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Garon (A) 27 GP 14-10-3 1.99 GAA 0.918 SV% 5 SO – After playing 2nd fiddle for over 5 seasons, he finally gained the starting role midway through RHL16. His GAA was the league’s 3rd best, while his 5 shutouts was tied for 8th best. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Ragnarsson (A-) 24:57 61 4 15 19 +5 – led the team in minutes played, he was always on the ice for key defensive situations. RHL17 Status: Retired.

Tanguay (B+) 18:45 61 25 23 48 +22 – Second on the team in scoring but was very streaky throughout the season. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Boyle (B+) 21:50 66 7 18 25 +20 – Not known for his defensive play Boyle managed a +20 rating while logging almost 22 minutes a night. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Hannan (B+) 21:30 66 5 11 16 +2 – Solid as a Rock, YDP’s #1 shutdown D didn’t disappoint this season logging over 21 minutes a night and contributed offensively once in a while. RHL17 Status: Signed.

J.S. Aubin (B+) 9 GP 7-2-0 1.88 GAA 0.918 SV% 1 SO – When he arrived at the trade deadline, all that was expected of him was to give Garon a rest during warm up, but instead he went a combined 10-3 including 3-1 in the playoffs. RHL17 Status: UFA.

Damphousse (B) 16:37 66 11 29 40 +16 – Production dropped after demotion to the 2nd PP unit, but still finished with an amazing +16. RHL17 Status: Retired.

F.Kaberle (B) 17:08 45 2 18 20 +16 – While playing 3 minutes less than last year, he still led the team in blocked shots. RHL17 Status: Signed.

R.Niedermayer (B) 17:24 34 7 10 17 +11 – A midseason acquisition, he proved invaluable shutting down the oppositions top line while contributing offensively. RHL17 Status: UFA.

Lukowich (B) 12:09 65 1 4 5 –3 – Solid, that’s the best way to describe this reliable 5th defenseman, who won over 56% of his corner battles and completed 78% of his passes. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Brind’Amour (B-) 18:42 65 6 12 18 +4 – Its not easy playing against the other team’s top line night in and night out. While his offensive production dropped he still managed to end with a +4 rating and win over 64% of his draws. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Bates (B-) 15:03 66 4 10 14 +6 – While his offensive numbers has dropped over the years, he still remains one of the league’s best shutdown player.

Sykora (C+) 16:42 66 9 25 34 +12 – Was expected to shoulder the load as #1 RW after the departure of Satan, but those shoes proved hard to fill. Despite putting up 235 shots, he only managed to score 9 goals. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Holmstrom (C+) 8:31 66 11 7 18 +3 – Used mainly as a utility player, he managed to chip in once in a while and play in all situations. RHL17 Status: Signed.

Rachunek (C+) 17:27 13 0 2 2 +1 – Filled in admirably as the team’s 7th d-man. He was very reliable filling in on the 2nd PP unit. RHL 17 Status: RFA.

Fedotenko (C+) 11:11 66 11 6 17 +8 – Due to the depth on LW, he was once again asked to play on the 4th line, but still contributed with 11 goals. RHL17 Status: RFA.

Young (C) 6:17 35 2 2 4 +3 – Signed as a depth winger, he saw limited ice time. RHL 17 Status: Signed.

M.Chouinard (C-) 3:21 51 3 1 4 +3 – Spent most of the season opening and closing the gate, but could be counted on to win the important draws. RHL17 Status: RFA.

Renberg (D) 9:38 34 2 1 3 –6 – His second stint with the team was a disaster as he only managed 3 points in 34 games. RHL17 Status: Retired.
Ima Dumass (CP)

Clock Strikes Midnight

Yellowknife (CP) After flirting with coming back from a 3-0 deficit, the clock finally stuck midnight for YDP who bowed out to the mighty Rovers 5-1 in Game 7. This was a tail of two series as the Rovers dominated games 1-3, then YDP did the unthinkable and started 3rd string goalie Jean-Sebastian Aubin. Aubin stole games 4,5 and 6 giving YDP a home game 7. With the home team winning two of the first six games, home ice advantage was an oxymoron. After holding the Rovers to only 13 shots, JS Aubin crapped the bed and surrendered 5 goals ending YDP’s miracle run. While it was simple to put the goat horns on Aubin, it was the same guy that stood on his head to give YDP this remarkable series.

While no one outside of Penetrator Nation expected this series to go beyond 5 games, YDP showed a lot of poise and brought the fear of god into Baffin Isle. ‘We fought a good fight especially with our win in Game 6, but our inexperience was severely exposed by the Rovers in Game 7,’ said Wong, ‘not having Robbie (Niedermayer) and Sheldon (Souray) was a huge loss to us, but we won’t hide behind our injuries.’

Joe Thornton was the star in Game 7, its this reporter’s humble opinion that Kris Draper was the series MVP. In limited ice time Draper lead the Rovers to three of their four victories. ‘Draper is an amazing player,’ said Boyle, ‘we have Robbie (Niedermayer) but with him injured tonight we didn’t have anyone to counter punch Kris’s play.’

The loss ended YDP’s 4th campaign and by far their most successful. YDP qualified for the playoffs as the #2 seed of the Howe Conference by winning the Calder Division and finished the regular season 6th overall. While the boys weren’t successful in advancing to the conference finals, these playoffs have showed us that YDP has the individuals to win games on their own. It also showed that without proper coaching and a full line up, this team could be blown out of the water by anyone.

'It's been a great season,' said Wong, 'I'm gonna take a few weeks off and then meet with my scouting staff and go over our draft and off season strategy.'