Luke Perrett ’24
Contributor
Sitting high in their division, the St. Paul’s B team has been taking the league by storm. Their rank has skyrocketed due to the outstanding goaltending of Ron Cailo, with league-leading records of 5-0-1 and a 1.81 GAA.
As of December 5, 2021, the Crusaders are eleven games into the season. Along the way, the team has had some significant events.
For the first time, advanced stats are being recorded and provided to players as well as staff. As the use of analytics has increased in the National Hockey League (NHL), I decided to propose the idea of keeping track of some numbers.
The “calculated score” formula was born. The formula uses statistics including points, shots, plus minus, and penalties. Each statistic is assigned its own point value. By combining their “scores” from each game, it creates their season total. Team play is the primary focus of this instead of statistics like goals and assists. Using an original formula, the top three “scorers” are Nathan Lazarenko, Jonah Crossland, and Zev Stern.
On October 29, 2021, the Crusaders won an exhilarating game in the shootout against St. John’s Ravenscourt (SJR). After an intense three periods and overtime, the Crusaders entered their first shootout of the season. The first skater, captain Zev Stern, ended up scoring the game winner. Max Olsen stood tall in net, stopping all three SJR shooters.
On November 2, 2021, the Crusaders set a team record of the most goals scored in a game with ten.
Since the addition of the B team in 2011, no past Crusader team had scored ten or more goals in one single game (according to whshl.com).
This came against Gabrielle Roy at the Bell MTS Iceplex and featured a hattrick from Alex Stibbard. Additionally, Evan Guercio and Nathan Lazarenko had two goal games, and Tyson Penner, Porter Holland, and Eamon Wallace each had a goal.
After careful consideration and input from players and staff, on November 10, 2021, Coach Puchniak selected Zev Stern as captain, and Jacob Phillips, Carson Shewfelt and Alex Stibbard as assistant captains.
Here is what Zev had to say after the announcement: “It’s an unbelievable honour to be voted and chosen as captain for this team. Being named captain won’t change the way I play, and I’ll try and be as best a leader as I can be for this hockey team.”
On November 16, 2021, Noah Friesen secured a win for the Crusaders in an unusual way. After a delayed call for head contact, the Dakota Lancers pulled their goalie, giving them a six on five. With a mishandled pass, Dakota cleared the puck to their own zone, straight into their own net. Since Friesen was the last to touch the puck, he was credited with the goal, one he will not forget.
What is next for the Crusaders? Make sure to visit whshl.com to see the schedule and come watch!
Photo Credit: Luke Perrett
The Crusader News 