Portland Junior Pirates

The '94 Junior Pirates have continued their strong play in the NEHL Bantam West Division.  Following their two games this past weekend, the '94 Junior Pirates are 12-0-1 in league play. With this record, the '94 Junior Pirates have impressed the NEHL powers to be, as they will be moved up starting December 1st into the very competitive Bantam Central Division. 

The Bantam Central Division currently consists of 6 teams, which are the Valley Jr. Warrior Elites, '94 New England Jr. Falcons, '94 Vermont Glades, '94 Seacoast Spartans, as well as. the '93 Vipers and '93 New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. 

When Head Coach Tobin Trautz was asked about the move, he replied, “My coaching staff and I, as well as our players, are excited with this new challenge.  The players crave competition and I know they will embrace the challenge and look forward to a tough game night in and night out.”

As stated above the '94 Junior Pirates are unbeaten in NEHL play with a 12-0-1 record as well as a 21-3-2 overall record.  In their only 2 tournaments played in so far this season, the '94 Junior Pirates have had 2 Championship Game appearances.  The first came in the Central Mass Outlaws Labor Day Classic where the '94 Junior Pirates were defeated by a strong Bridgewater Bandit team from the EHF.  The second was in the Columbus Day Classic where they defeated fellow NEHL team the New England Jr. Falcons to take home the GOLD.  More impressively as you take a close look at this team is what they have done collectively in their games played to date.  This team is not a team of just 1 or 2 go-to players.  As you look at the statistics, at least 10 players have 20 or more points and 12 players have at least 10 or more points.  Also, 12 different players have at least one game winning goal.  Another interesting statistic is every player has at least one goal.  One may ask, “What does this all mean?”  It means that when a team plays the '94 Junior Pirates, they cannot focus on 1, 2 or even 3 players because everyone is dangerous.

Obviously a good offense can win games but the '94 Junior Pirates defense is equally impressive.  The team is boasting a goals against average of 1.85 and their goalies have a 92% save percentage through 26 games. The '94 Junior Pirates are holding their opponents to just 22 shots per game and a 95% penalty killing percentage. 

No matter how the next 3 months turn out, one thing will remain a constant and that is that every team that plays the '94 Junior. Pirates will be in for a dog fight and will need to bring their “AAA” game.