PowerPlay 杂志

Season 2 is now in full swing with three weeks of competition having been completed.  Each week we will be bringing you a wrap up of the American i1 League, including results, highlight matchups, reviews of teams and other interesting pieces of information.  So be sure to stay tuned...

Week 3 saw the Wasphawks move up into outright second after a tremendous week going 3-0-0.  The Psychos matched them win for win to also move up the standings and move into 8th spot.  The Americans and the Red Wings both had two wins to move them back in the right direction and sees them both just a couple of points outside the Top 8.  Those teams just inside the Top 8 had better watch their heels as both these teams are fancied to be in the final 8 by seasons end. After a fantastic week last week by Quitungo Ice SS they have put the breaks on, dropping all three games to end the week well down the leader board.

The highlight matchup of the week was won by the Swamp Foxes 3:1 over the N.©.New York Hellraisers whose offensive game was completely nullified by the Swamp Foxes tight defence.  The Swamp Foxes outshot the Hellraisers 28:18 and even though the Hellraisers had 4 unanswered powerplay chances they were not able to capitalise on them.

This coming week’s highlight matchup is the current No.11 Red Wings up against the current No.3 STL Saints on Wednesday.  This game should give a good indication as to whether the Red Wings season is really back on track or whether the last week was just an anomaly in a rather disappointing start.   

This week we are taking a peek at the Wasphawks who currently sit in second position.  The Wasphawks are built around solid goaltending and a great top line.  They take great pride in their defensive abilities letting in the second least amount of goals so far this season playing great counterattacking or active forechecking games.  However, the reliance on their top line for scoring could potentially get them into trouble with their second and third lines being somewhat mediocre.  However, playing these three lines seems to be working as the average OR of the Wasphawks is not as high as other teams and yet they have been able to win while playing approximately half the games on low importance.  The Wasphawks should definitely finish the regular season in the Top 8 and a Top 4 finish is not out of the question.  

Quite a few teams saw small drops in team strength during this week as injuries forced changes to the line-ups. However overall it was a pretty quiet week in terms of team strength changes and all eyes now turn to possible call ups from the junior teams this Wednesday.

Good luck to all this week and may your sporting directors find some talent.