In their second season in the League, the Vancouver Nuckies have looked like they are beginning to realize what it takes to be a winning team in the ITHL.
After a tough inaugural Season for their Club in S9, missing the Playoffs and finishing 38th overall with a record of 11-20-1, the Nuckies have shown that they are a much improved team in Season 10.
New to the competitive 6’s scene, the Nuckies had a lot to learn when it came to facing developed Clubs who knew how to play the game. Being a team of IRL friends, they would all go through the growing pains of becoming a competitive ITHL Club together.
They would have many on and off nights throughout S9 as they beat some pretty good teams, but would also end up losing to teams by wide margins.
In S10 it seems as though they’ve figured out the ‘D Zone’ as their S9 GD of -62 is now a +2 in S10. Focusing more on the defensive zone has proven successful as they sit at a .500 record halfway through the regular season (7-7-2).
In net, their starting goalie, Miggy9188 has seen a big improvement in terms of his numbers this season compared to last as his S9 SV% of .688 has jumped up to a .744 in S10.
But arguably the main reason why the Nuckies have had some early success in S10 is because of their offensive output led by Dangleking and PMoneyMith.
Both Top 10 in the League in scoring (Dangleking #1, PMoney #6), the goal support has allowed the Nuckies to make some mistakes as they continue to strive to become a better all around Club.
It is great to see a team that represents the core values of the ITHL (a newly competitive EASHL team full of IRL friends) show improvement after spending some time in the League.
Let’s hope they can continue to learn from their mistakes and keep on improving, which will hopefully lead to a Playoff appearance this Season.