GM: Chuck Massaro
Coach: Lindy Ruff
Last season: 6th overall. In playoffs, defeated Kosice; lost to Berlin
Ins and Outs
(Season 17 to Season 18)
In: Viktor Antipin (trade), Ondrej Palat (free agent), Kristian Kuusela (free agent)
Out: Robin Grossman (trade), Victor Olofsson (trade), Travis Dermott (free agent), Jonathan Toews (retired), Morten Madsen (free agent)
Potential Lineup
Ondrej Palat/Josh Norris/Colin White
Travis Konecny/Troy Loggins/Evander Kane
Tyler Johnson/Connor Korte/Zemgus Girgensons
Rhett Gardner/Leo Carlsson/Kailer Yamamoto
Will Butcher/Viktor Antpin
Lucas Hughes/Niclas Almari
Dante Fabbro/John Fusco
Tanner Jaillet/Spencer Knight
A Question
Was Season 17 a mirage for the Eagles or the real thing? It was a very pleasant surprise for the fans and everyone involved with the Bratislava Eagles that they accumulated 100 points last season to finish 6th overall. Were they really that good? At first glance, they seemed to be a good team. For 60 minutes per game, that is. But once games went into overtime, they were bad; actually the worst. No team lost more OT and shootout games than Coach Lindy Ruff’s team did. They let the other team take that lingering extra point 12 times last season. That’s 12 points in the standings. Ruff has got to figure out a way to close out those tight games. Surely, seeing his general manager trade away shootout specialist Victor Olofsson won’t help. He scored on 4 of his 7 shootout shots and that made him the best on the team. Bratislava lost 7 shootouts. (Munich lost 8, and Gothenburg also lost 7.) The more you analyze the team stats, the more Bratislava’s 6th place finish looks like a mirage. They were between 9th and 11th in the league in goals, goals against, powerplay efficiency and penalty killing. So how did they work their way up to finish 6th … actually to end up tied in points for 5th place? Maybe it was puck possession that helped them. They were 5th in shots on goal and 7th best at limiting shots. Both of those rankings were pretty good. Still the numbers add up to Bratislava having a lucky season and with just a few changes in the lineup this season, we stand a good chance of seeing a regression in Slovakia. It is hoped newly-acquired Viktor Antipin will bolster the defense and provide more team leadership, but their real saving grace might be the ages of the players. Only three of their starters are over 31 years old, so small individual “evolution” improvements over last season could stack up in their favor.
Rose’s Focus
“Every time I watch this team I end up taking my glasses off and rubbing my eyes and the bridge of my nose. Last season, Colin White started out as the left wing on the fourth line. He was basically lucky to be getting a paycheck. White ended up tied for the team lead in scoring and now Lindy Ruff has him on the top line for the upcoming season. Last season, this is all I heard from Ruff: ‘Travis Konecny and Troy Loggins will be great together. Travis Konecny and Troy Loggins will be great together.’ Well, they weren’t; and they barely played together the last 40 games. Bratislava’s forward lines were changed almost as frequently as my underwear is and definitely more often than GM Chuck Massaro’s underwear is changed. The guy is gross. Winger Victor Olofsson was third on the team in scoring (one point behind the co-leaders) and very valuable on the powerplay and in shootouts. Genius Massaro sent him packing this off season. I just can’t make sense of these moves. Robin Grossman was the only blueliner who consistently played on the top pairing the whole season. The only one. Will Butcher often watched from the press box as a scratch. Now, Grossman has been traded and has been replaced by .. yep, Butcher. Again, how am I supposed to figure this garbage out? I’m totally lost. That’s what you get when you try to focus on Massaro’s team. And a headache. You also get that.”
