The Tarun Fizer Effect
Having your captain in the lineup makes a positive difference for just about every team in every high level sporting league on the planet. The Victoria Royals have been no exception to the rule this season and are currently enjoying having their leader Tarun Fizer back in the lineup on a consistent basis after an injury sustained in the middle of December took him away from playing for a month and a half. The Alberta native is an important piece both on and off the ice for the Royals, as he’s played his whole WHL career with the organization and has been in Victoria longer than anyone else.
Since his return, Fizer has picked up right where he left off on the scoresheet, grabbing five goals and ten assists in nine games, the most of any player on the Royals during that stretch. He was also in on all but one of the team’s eight goals during a three game stretch that saw two losses to Seattle and one against Kamloops. Overall, he’s collected 29 points in 21 games, which puts him just ahead of Bailey Peach for the most points per game for Victoria this season.
More importantly than the personal numbers, the team’s chances of winning are also much greater with Fizer in the lineup. This is not to say that he makes the only difference, but when a player like him is inserted back into the team, the changes are felt all through the lineup. On the season, the team is 10-8-3 when Fizer is playing and 5-25-2 when he isn’t. Clearly, it’s a very significant difference that he makes for the Royals.
We still have to give some other guys their props, because it definitely helps that Fizer gets to play with some other great players when he’s in the lineup. Linemate Bailey Peach has been a model of consistency this season with or without the captain playing. In fact, he’s been able to score at a slightly better rate without Fizer in the lineup, grabbing 38 points in the 30 games that Fizer has been unavailable for and 25 in the 21 they’ve played alongside each other. Brayden Schuurman has also been able to pick up the slack without Fizer playing, scoring 29 of his 43 points in games without the captain in the lineup.
Given the ability of their top players, it’s no wonder why Victoria plays better when they’re all on the ice together. It’s obviously a great sign that they can still rely on scoring from Schuurman and Peach either way, but there’s no doubt that the team as a whole is much more of a force when Fizer is putting on the jersey. The difference is seen in the wins, and at this point of the season, those are the only numbers that should really matter to Victoria as they battle with the Chiefs and Americans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the western conference.
