pxzero 65 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 (edited) VHLM Overview, Week 1 Edition: It's back! Hockey I mean, not the logo. I keep thinking this is Pacman's special cousin. Foreword: There are always a lot of off-season changes to the VHLM as players move up to make good on their VHL draft contracts, new players come to fill the void, and the VHLM gets juggled in the dispersal draft. This year also saw bigger changes as a host of VHLM GMs and Assistant GMs moved or got the first chance to earn their stripes. As a result, many teams went immediately into rebuild-mode and traded away key players for future draft picks, making the dividing line between cup contender and everyone else a little more clear. As a result, here’s my completely unbiased opinion of all the teams so far. Tier 1: Top Contenders (Rush, Wild and the Brats) No, this isn’t a 70s band or a children’s movie, these are the top 3 contenders for the Founder’s Cup this year. While it is probably foolish to write off any teams entirely, it is safe to say that three teams have made the biggest moves toward the Cup this year. Bratislava Watchmen (The Brats) They won the cup last year with a superstar roster, including “Roidberg” who picked up the Sakic, Esposito and Dionne trophies; Harumpf, winner of the Oates Trophy; Shock and De Rossi, who both played in the Top Prospects game in s40 as well as going 3rd and 8th overall in the s41 Draft; and a slew of other great and soon-to-be great players. While they lost Harumpf, Zoidberg and Shock to the VHL, Bratislava still has an excellent, albeit different star studded team. Veteran De Rossi has stayed down a year and will champion the forward position alongside Kyle Kingma, but the true strength of the Watchmen this year seems to be its defensive depth. They have two stars in defenders Karnage and Schneider and, if it passes them, two strong goalies in Barnstormer and his backup Douffet. In a league where goalies are scarce, the two goalied team is king(ma). Saskatoon Wild The Wild have made a ton of off-season moves to become the Rush’s biggest North American rivals this season. Does that matter? Frankly, no, because Yukon 2 gud, but they’re trying hard. That being said, what the Wild has is a fantastic, well rounded team of strong players. While they don’t have the same sort of super-star cast that Bratislava had, they have an excellent core. Karlsson, Samuelsson and Salvador are competing hard to be the team’s top defender and the race is neck-and-neck. Their offensive powers come all across the board – Willcox, Joesph Roy III, Kurri and others, all backed by Gunnar Skovsgard in net. Also, with the new regulations in place this season, it will be harder for single players to carry teams, so the Wild will be a team to watch out for, especially as their players develop. Yukon Rush Yukon 2 gud. Need I say more? I shouldn’t, but I’m going to do it anyway. The Rush really put a lot of focus on their offensive core this year. Like, incredible focus. They’ve got Koeing, McJustice, Cattrall, Patton, Firkley, DeLarge, Muller, and just picked up RW Vogon Jeltz. Wow. The real problem with the Rush is their defensive depth. They have a strong goalie in Orkanitz and defensive star Brandon Holmes, who is quickly mentoring his line-mate Patrick Demko. After that, it gets a little shaky, but really… with all that offensive, they should be able to generate enough points to compensate for any defensive lacking. Also, need I say it again? Yukon 2 gud. Tier 2: Dark Horses These are teams that don’t have as much immediately developed talent, but still have potential to come from behind, especially as players improve over the season. Turku Outlaws The Outlaws are in a good position to dark horse this year. At their forefront, they have Bobby Ricky, who came out of the Ottawa Lynx last year with an excellent showing on a losing team; however, he has also had a history of substance abuse that may come to rear its ugly head later in the season. They also have a deep roster with other players like Savage, Grosberg, Strauss and a lot of undeveloped talent. They also have Klajums in net, who has shown a lot of good in his short stint in narrow, VHLM lime-light. Not a team to be written off just yet. Minot Gladiators They have a number of VHLM regulars, which bodes well for a solid set of second stringers, but they seem to be lacking in the star category going into the season. They do have a lot of potential though: Goalie David Blind made a number of headlines last season, and newcomer/backup goalie Blake Campbell is said to have almost limitless potential himself. They also have other fledgling players like Cap’n Crunch, Zeptenbergs and Ready, who could grow to be stars. Brampton Blades The Blades started out with an incredible 5-0 win streak, which shocked many teams and puts them as a dark horse contender. A closer analysis of the team shows they have some potential: Harkness, Zug and Sinclair have all put up reasonable numbers, but the Blades will have a tough time keeping up the pace and cracking the final 4. Tier 3: Even Darker Horses (A.k.a rebuilding teams) Every team in this list has been gutted, looking to rebuild in the coming seasons. Moscow Red Wolves They’ve got the Lynx’s underperforming goalie from last year, Coca Cola in net, and a VHLM lifer Bokan as their star defender. They have a bit of spark in the inconsistent Ziedins and newcomer Tuzis, but it will be a long shot for them to compete with powerhouses like Bratislava. Oslo Storm Not much to go on. Their whole hope seems to be resting on Baumann, but that’s is really a lot of hope. Bern Royals This team may be the biggest rebuild of them all. They have new blood in first years Steven Bradbury and Atticus Finch, and a slight help in Jordan Cousins but after that, there is literally nothing. Ottawa Lynx They didn’t put up much of a show last year, and this year seems to be yet another rebuild. They have veterans Sledgehammer, and Raseri, a few newcomers in Moriarty and Malinowski, but they are a long shade off their s39 championship team. Hopefully, the newcomers will learn a lot before the s41 draft, but there is little hope of a Founder’s Cup for Ottawa this year. TL;DR All together, it'll be an interesting year. 3 top contenders, 3 dark horses, and four teams in the midst of big rebuilds. Also, did I say this enough? YUKON 2 GUD Edited December 14, 2014 by pxzero BOOM, boubabi, eaglesfan036 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pxzero 65 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Sorry in advance to the graders. Yes, it's a lot of text. I tried to make it short, but there are 10 teams. Even in bullet points it starts to repeat and get long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack 496 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 yukon 2 gud eaglesfan036 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedgehog337 3,480 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 ''They also have other fledgling players like Cap’n Crunch, Zeptenbergs and Ready, who could grow to be stars.'' Emm...and Bjorkstrand? 27 points in 9 games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,550 Posted December 15, 2014 Admin Share Posted December 15, 2014 ''They also have other fledgling players like Cap’n Crunch, Zeptenbergs and Ready, who could grow to be stars.'' Emm...and Bjorkstrand? 27 points in 9 games? Not any more! He was illegally in the sim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jala 922 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Not any more! He was illegally in the sim. cy@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twillcox94 21 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 (edited) Content: 3/3 Fantastic overview of the VHLM so far this season. Really interesting read. Yukon is 2 bad. Grammar: 2/2 Nothing really at all. with all that offensive --> Offence to be a dark horse Appearance: 1/1 Really slick design. Total: 6/6 Overall: 6/6 Edited December 16, 2014 by twillcox94 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank 4,780 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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