MD9

Definitely. He's a top 20 goaltender a solid 20 games each season.

Good read! Glad to be considered for the first round.

Then the finals it is!

I want you guys to be overconfident to set up a playoff shocker.

Hard work, skill, and more hard work. Also getting set up by a certain highly skilled center.

... well then. That was exciting.

Las Vegas Aces 2-1.

Ottawa Lynx Saskatoon Wild Yukon Rush

Nice to see us get the win!

Scheel Talks Draft VHL.com // J.S. Augusta With his recent arrival to the VHLM leading to some surprising hype, young two-way center Jake Scheel sat down with VHL.com’s J.S. Augusta to discuss the upcoming draft. Recently, Scheel was ranked #6 among available players, emerging as a late contender to be a possible first round draft pick. Scouted by the league only late due to his solid, but not remarkable two-way play throughout his high school years, he has burst onto the scene on the Saskatoon Wild, with 37 points in 33 games. More impressive, he currently sits at second in the league with 1.24 points per 20 minutes, behind only Rusty Trombone with 1.26. Playing alongside players that are up to his speed appears to have worked wonders for Scheel, as he now appears likely to be able to make the eventual jump to the VHL, after years of doubt that he would even be able to crack the VHLM. Scheel was asked about his position. The full transcript of what was said can be read below: “I’ve been trying to avoid the news, for the most part. I did hear about it, but I don’t know how much weight you can put into a draft ranking this early in the year. There are a lot of guys -- a lot of hard working guys in this draft. Daring Do was listed at #14, but there’s no way she goes that low. She’s putting in just as much, if not more work than anyone else in practice, blowing most of us out of the water with scoring -- she’ll be a first round pick for sure. Hamilton, too… maybe he’s not progressing as fast as Do, but he’s playing like thirty-five minutes a game. There’s no way he doesn’t make the VHL. He’s a monster at cardio.” When asked which team he hoped to go to, Scheel had this to say: “It doesn’t matter to me. As far as I’m concerned, any team that puts faith in me deserves that same trust right back. I’ll play hard for whoever drafts me.”

Wild Reverse Fortunes Yukon's goal-tending help up even against a wealth of chances by Bo Boeser. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan It was a hard fought battle in Saskatoon tonight. After losing three straight games for the first time since their mid-season acquisitions of Daring Do, Jake Scheel, Les Clarke and Ryan Hamilton helped solidify the team’s depth, the Saskatoon Wild overcame the Yukon Rush in a tightly contested, shoot-out victory. It was a solid team effort on the part of the Wild that helped to overcome an exceptional performance by some of Yukon’s top players: namely, Julien Gallant, Apollo Aho and Marty McDouglas. With seven different Saskatoon players registering a point, and none registering more than two, no individual player stands out as having carried the team to victory. Rather, the club continues to show its newfound ability to reply on hard work throughout the ranks. In many ways, it was the kind of game that’s becoming familiar for fans of the Wild this year. Bo Boeser was a constant threat, registering eleven shots on net in the game, with one goal, while Daring Do continued his eleven game point streak by registering his own goal. Carlo Capitulo, another of the Wild’s more dangerous scorers, also lit the lamp once. The trio make up the team’s most frequent scorers, with Boeser having an extremely impressive tally at 44, Capitulo following at 30, and Do having 16 despite only having played 33 games (compared to Capitulo and Boeser’s 50). As always, Ryan Hamilton and Trazan Apansson recorded massive ice-time, clocking in well over 30 minutes to provide the team with a solid anchor from which to lead. Appropriately, it was Les Clarke, one of Saskatoon’s late additions, that scored the shootout winner to give the team the win, after both goaltenders proved tough to beat one on one. After the goal was scored, you could almost see the relief from the Saskatoon bench, as the win helped them stop a potential free-fall in the standings. Although Las Vegas has created a lead that is almost certainly insurmountable at this point, the Wild are fighting hard to claim the number two spot in the league -- and a string of losses, however hard fought they were, could put some serious strain on those efforts. Jake Scheel was questioned about the win after the game. “It was a hard fought victory,” he told reporters. “We haven’t been capitalizing on our chances the way we usually do, so it was good to get a big two points like this to get our stride back. Obviously, this team has a lot of guys who can put the puck in the net. It hasn’t been coming, but with a win like this, I think it gives us some confidence back. We’re going to take what we’ve learned from our recent losses and move forward. Learn from it, you know?” Although the team may have earned the win, that isn’t to say there aren’t still things that will be highlighted in practice. The Wild struggled noticeably on the powerplay, throwing away all four attempts despite the firepower their offence boasts. A lack of discipline may also find its way into the next morning practice, with a few reckless penalties taken in the third period when the game was still extremely close. Scheel with a hooking minor, Hamilton with unsportsmanlike conduct, and Do with another hooking minor with four minutes left in the game. In any event, the positives outweigh the negatives for the young team.

Another tough one.

Tough one.

I'm biased because I'm an Avs fan, but yeah. It's really weird.

Wow, high scoring game!

Colorado got seriously screwed there. Why is a team that sucked so much worse than everyone else able to drop not just out of number 1, but out of the top 3 entirely? So salty.

This shouldn't even be a problem. Unhappy players should be traded for the health of the league, and a decent return should be offered even if it's the form of picks or other future assets. It doesn't make sense to hinder the enjoyment of the league for an active even if it sucks to have to do it.

Vikings 2 Bears 1

What's the story here?

191 Express vs HC Dynamo 192 Legion vs Reign 193 Titans vs Americans 194 Meute vs Wranglers

Midseason Acquisitions Find Their Step VHL.com // Saskatoon, Saskatchewan In an effort to patch holes on their team, the Saskatoon Wild brought in a handful of new players: Daring Do, Jake Scheel, Les Clarke and Ryan Hamilton. Do immediately stepped into the line-up as one of the team’s most devastating wingers, while Scheel has provided steady play down the middle. Les Clarke has also chipped in well, managing seven goals in his seventeen games, making him the deadliest goal-scorer of their new acquisitions. Ryan Hamilton has become an anchor defensively, with a team-high 30 average minutes per game. With Do contributing well over a point per game, Scheel and Clarke following at nearly a point per game each, and Hamilton running a plus despite playing such tremendous minutes, it appears that these new acquisitions have not taken long to find their step. With all four players looking to make a splash as the draft draws near, it should be expected that they will continue to put in solid efforts each game. While it may not be easy to contribute consistently, particularly with pressure of the draft looming near, they will be given ample opportunities to do so as the Wild rely on them to a degree that a deeper team might not for such rookies. That the Wild alone have four draft-eligible players performing so well on such short notice only goes to show just how deep this year’s selection draft may really be. So, what’s next for Saskatoon’s mid-season acquisitions? Well, the rest of the season of course. But even after that, with scouts swarming to watch VHLM games during such a tight race, post-season hockey. Daring Do has already proven he can dazzle and make plays. Les Clarke has already proven his sniping prowess. Scheel has already shown he can take face-offs and make a few plays, and Hamilton has proven himself as number one defenceman. They’ve found their collective step: but will they be able to keep that up when the game gets tougher?

Only 11 shots. Great defense Vegas.

Amazing performance for us!

Character in Saskatoon Saskatoon, Saskatchewan With today’s win over the Las Vegas Aces, the Saskatoon Wild have moved back into second place in the VHLM. Handing the Aces their third loss in thirty games, the team showed tremendous character matching up to perhaps the strongest team up and down the line-up that the VHLM has ever seen. The win was narrow, with the Wild hanging on to a one goal lead after a pair of early goals put them ahead early into the third. Although outshot by the Aces, they went nearly hit for hit with the team in what turned out to be a surprisingly rough game, with numerous calls for cross-checking, interference, roughing, slashing, and even a fight in the second. Although one win is hardly a blemish on the spectacular season Las Vegas has had, the importance of this win for the Saskatoon locker room should not understated: with this win, they have proven themselves as a team that can play with heart and a bit of grit, and grind out a win against even the behemoth of the league. Credit for the win has to go up and down the line-up, with only one player on the team recording a minus on the game, but some familiar names come to mind as stars in the Wild victory: Emiya Shirou, Bo Boeser, Daring Do, and Carlo Capitulo key among them, along with goaltender Chet Manley. Recreate God can also be given some credit, as it may have been his fight that helped spark the team to play harder after being heavily outshot in the first and second periods - before carrying play come the third. With both teams relying heavily upon their top players, with forwards clocking in well over 20 to 25 minutes, the ability of those same players to come to life after already being played to exhaustion is a good sign for Saskatoon. A good sign for post-season hockey, to be specific. The Wild will never be viewed as the strongest team in the league while the Aces are running wild. However, if they can continue to display tenacity and go blow for blow with a team like the Aces, which in many ways has the cards stacked in its favour at this point, they may be a dark horse for success. It’s always been said that regular season hockey and post season hockey are two different things. Granted, nobody expects a team to win ten games for every one loss, so the Aces may well be the exception to that rule -- but if the adage holds true, and anything can happen in the postseason, it may be the Wild finding their footing and going all the way. It’s a lofty prediction, to be sure -- but they’re a team with no expectations and nothing to lose. Stranger things have happened in hockey, and on the back of a solid core, a few key midseason acquisitions, and character up and down the line-up, a startling upset could be in the works. It just takes a few good bounces, good coaching, and maybe another few fights from Recreate God.