Summer Cup - Who's Hot and Who's Not (Week 1) - Summer Cup

NHLGamer Summer Cup Weekly: Who’s hot and Who’s not

Fellow NHLGamers, starting today and continuing on every Sunday – we at NHLGamer.com are introducing a new weekly column for as long as the Summer Cup is in action. This column will feature a list of which Forward, Defenseman and Goalie have performed well enough on the ice to have earned the honor of being named to this weeks ”Hot”-list. In the interest of fairness, it will also feature one representative of each position who hasn’t performed as well, resulting in a spot on the ”Not”-list.

Moving on, the list will work like a Power Ranking and not like a ”3 Stars of the Week” (like on the NHL website). A power ranking means that it’s not exclusively what a specific player has done in just the past week that matters, but instead what that player has delivered in total throughout the tournament when the list is published, that does.

Say for example if Kenu scores 20 points in 2 games in Week 1, landing him on the ”Hot”-list for that week, he can still be on the ”Hot”-list for Week 2 even if he only scores 10 points in 4 games that week – because his total will still be 30 points in 6 games which, presumably, will still be at the top of the rankings. Do you catch my drift? Good! Then let’s get started.

(Before you continue to rip me to shreds for being dead wrong on all my selections, I’ll remind everyone that this is a column of opinion and a playful, tounge-in-cheek way to celebrate what a success this Summer Cup has been. However, a comment of ”You’re an idiot Alpha, that’s just wrong” is always better than no comment so remember – share your opinions!)

WHO’S HOT (Week 1):

Forward:
#44, Reijo Renkewitz ( @plee999 ), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 10G 8A = 18P, +12, 16 PIM, 25 Hits

PleeMaker came into the tournament like shot out of a cannon – determined to live up to his early draft pick status – and immediatey started racking up the goals and points. Playing on a line with players like BAAHTIS (Patzlaf), indi696 and the NHLGamer staff’s very own KenuFHR has surely helped but, having put up the most points in the tournament to this point, PleeMaker has to be considered the frontrunner for best forward thus far.

Defender:
#17, Junior Jaihicovic ( @JaikenK ), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 0G 9A = 9P, +12, 2 PIM, 15 Hits

Got to go with another Kannunkulma player here as they have been not only one of the highest scoring teams thus far, but also one of the teams who have played the most with 6 games played. Jaikenkk of Sjukstugan is the defenseman with the most total points thus far and when you combine that with a solid 15 hits and just 2 PIMs and you’ve got your defenseman of the week.

Goalie:
#30, Mr Juizki ( @Juizki), Team Juizki, 4GP 3W 1L 0TL, 88.0%, 1.50 GAA, 1 shutout

Given that Captain Juizki has lead his team to 3 wins in 4 games all the while putting up the most saves and the highest save percentage – this one was a no-brainer. Having been a relative newcomer to ECL (only joining in ECL Season 2 with Checkmate) Juizki is seeing his star rise quickly with performances like this. A well earned spot on the Hot-list.

WHO’S NOT (Week 1):

Forward:
#34, Olli Palola ( @Tapparafan), Ullas Pojkar, 2GP 1G 1A = 2P, -2, 2 PIM, 5 Hits

This first round pick has had a tough start to the Summer Cup as the only two games he has participated in so far ended up in just 1+1 in scoring, with the team losing both games and getting 0 points out of it. Ullas Pojkar has had somewhat of a rough start in general, collecting 6 points total in their first 6 games, and to snap out of it they need their #1 pick to lead by example.

Defender:
#68, Jaromir Jagr ( @vilperi90) & #7, Blob Beaverson ( @Akasido-95), Los Dominos, 2GP 0G 0A = 0P, -1, 0 PIM, 0 Hits

With identical statlines, it was impossible to single out any one of these Los Dominos defenders to put on the list – so the solution was to have them share it. Both experienced ECL players known to be able to play any positon (Defense or Forward), these gentlemen will most likely pick their game up as Los Dominos gets rolling but, after a start where their team gained 1 out of 6 possible points with no production from either one of them, they start out here on this list.

Goalie:
#59, Peter Savemaker ( @FinKonna), Club Kannunkulma, 6GP 4W 1L 1TL, 62.79%, 2.66 GAA, 0 shutout

The third member of Club Kannunkulma to feature in this article, FinKonna probably won’t be as happy to be on the list. Known to be a top goalie in the community, FinKonna has been a part of his teams 4-1-1 start while at the same time not delivering stellar numbers. Goaltending in EASHL is a tough business and I have no doubt FinKonna will bounce back but for now, he is on the Not-list.