Erik Summers

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I remember falling in a well.

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Welcome to the final edition of VSN’s S72 Weekly recap (Games 371-432). We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance. Speaking of other VSN content, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more! Ringless | Under 250 | VSN Australia | Talents Behind The Trophies Recap At last, we have reached the end of another season and there was a lot of excitement this week. Scoring seems to be returning to the league as hat-tricks once again outnumber shutouts and there is no greater evidence of this than the fact that we have a hundred-point player for the first time in four seasons. Congratulations to Condor Adrienne on that accomplishment. One thing that was very clear this week was the importance of having a strong goalie, even in these high-scoring matches. Goalers like Jacques Lafontaine, Raymond Bernard, Samuel Ross, and Michael Johnson all came in clutch when their teams needed it most this week. It will be interesting to see what effect spreading the talent around the league more has on the trend toward higher scores as we expand to sixteen teams next season. With so many teams already looking to retool in the coming season, it will be interesting to see which ones are forced into a multi-season rebuild as the talent pool becomes smaller. But this is a recap, not a prediction, so let’s get back to it. There were several tight playoff races this week and several teams showed us that these playoffs could truly be anyone’s game. The Riga Reign and HC Davos Dynamo both entered the playoffs on a bit of a rough week, so their first-round matchup might be more exciting than your typical one-seed vs. four-seed competition. Meanwhile, teams like the Helsinki Titans and New York Americans entered the playoffs strong but both find themselves matched up against teams who boasted much higher goal differentials in the regular season. Even the Toronto Legion encouraged us to be on the lookout for upsets as they beat the best team in the league, the Calgary Wranglers, just to make it into the postseason; calling into question just how their first-round meeting would go. As we enter the playoffs, there is always a sense that anything can happen, but that feeling seems especially pronounced for some reason this season. Regardless, I am pumped to get to see some exciting games in the last instance of the eight-team playoff format. 3-Stars First Star Jet Jaguar (DAV) - 10 G, 10 A, 57.03 FO% Second Star Hulk Hogan (SEA) - 3 G, 12 A, 20 SB Third Star Samuel Ross (DAV) - .915 SV%, 2.64 GAA, 1 SO Power Rankings European Conference The final power rankings of the season are here and the European Conference had an epic 3 team battle to the finish. The top of the conference was wrapped up with Riga taking the top spot, a spot which they held for a good portion of the season after their somewhat slow start. Helsinki climbed back up into 2nd place, winning their division and secured the critical home-ice advantage for their playoff series with Moscow. Now here’s where things get interesting. The last 2 playoff spots had 3 teams fighting it out, right up until the last games of the season. Moscow, who are in 3rd place almost solely thanks to the remarkable season of Raymond Bernard, seem to have risen from the dead and claimed their spot in the postseason. Holding the last spot, in somewhat of a surprise, we see HC Davos who started out the season extremely hot, but stumbled their way through the meat of the games and eventually found their game again as the season ended. The blockbuster acquisitions of Jet Jaguar and Hunter Hearst Helmsley seem to have taken time to adjust to the team, but who knows what could happen if both stars heat up come playoff time. Devastatingly, the Prague Phantoms will miss out on the playoffs this year, and the gap was just too much to overcome on the final day. They hold on to 5th spot in the rankings and will be looking ahead to next season where they will hope to improve on this one. Finally in the last spot are the Malmo Nighthawks. The game plan was to tank this season, and they did just that, ending the season with the worst record in the league and earning highest odds for the upcoming Season 73 Draft Lottery. North American Conference A bit of a different story over in the North American conference, as all the playoff spots were pretty much accounted for heading into the final games of the season. Front runners all season long, the Calgary Wranglers finished hot and held an 8 point lead over Seattle as the season came to a close. They are the only team to break 100 points this year. Seattle came close to bursting through the 100 point marker, but fell just short and finished 2nd on 97 points. The race between these powerhouse teams was a joy to behold all season long, and Calgary slowly pulled away with their insane consistency. The gap between Seattle and New York is quite sizable, at 13 points, but the Americans have earned a playoff berth as well as a matchup against the Bears in what is sure to be a thrilling contest. Taking the last playoff spot, and in 4th place, we have the Toronto Legion, who really stumbled to the finish line. A 4-6-0 record in the last 10 games was barely enough to edge out the Vancouver Wolves who ended up finishing just 1 point out of the playoffs, even after trading away most of their star players. The Wolves accepted their fate as outsiders pretty early in the season, but they were nearly gifted a playoff spot in what turned out to be a somewhat weaker North American conference. The D.C. Dragons will be pretty upset with how the season went, not many people had them down as bottom feeders, but owning their own 1st round pick which is a lottery pick after this disastrous season, has to be seen as a success and they will be looking to pick up a piece to add to their core in the upcoming draft. Notable Games Game 411 - Malmo Nighthawks vs. HC Davos Dynamo This week was a lot more of a nail-biter for the Dynamo than I’m sure they would have liked. First, they were passed by the Moscow Menace, then they quickly for the Phantoms right at their heels. However, HC Davos entered this game with the ability to nearly cement their place in the postseason. They stepped up to that challenge. The Rogue Davis to Jet Jaguar connection was strong as Davis assisted Jaguar on the first three Dynamo goals. In that span, they gave up one goal to the Nighthawks but that would be the only one. They went on to score two more before the final buzzer, but the last fifteen minutes of this game were mostly just keep-away. This was a game Davos was expected to win, and they did, but it was far more important than it seemed. With a loss in the match, the Dynamo would have put their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy. Instead, they got Riga in the first round, may God have mercy on their souls. Game 425 - Riga Reign vs. Seattle Bears For the Riga Reign, their road to the playoffs, though more secure, was a bit bumpier this week. Despite entering the week looking to have secured the first seed with a nine-point lead over the Helsinki Titans, by the time it was all said and done, that lead had dwindled to just four points. Despite Guy Sasakamoose having one of his best games of the season, and certainly his best period, the Seattle Bears matched them goal for goal, even taking a lead for eight seconds in the second period. As we neared the final minute of play, it looked like Riga might have finally secured the win, but with just sixty-two seconds left Seattle tied it again. Overtime was not enough to settle this one, so it was off to the shootout to find a winner. Ambrose Stark scored immediately for the Bears but that was matched in the second round by Codrick Past. It was Scott Greene in the third who would finally give the Bears another lead, one that would end the game. Game 429 - Calgary Wranglers vs. Toronto Legion Lastly, we have the story of another team just trying to hang on. After a shockingly strong start from the Toronto Legion, they slowly crept back down the standings as the season stretched on. At the other end of that spectrum, the Vancouver Wolves started slower than expected but stayed in close competition for a playoff spot throughout the early weeks. However, in a move that made very little sense before we all knew about the coming expansion, the Wolves management decided to liquidate many of the teams best assets and seemingly forgo all hope of a playoff run. But as the season wound down, these two teams found themselves closer and closer in the standings. That led the Legion to enter one of the toughest games of their season in a must-win position. It did not look good as the Calgary Wranglers scored first with a goal early in the first, but Toronto retained their composure. In the second period, they answered with two of their own and that would be it for the scoring. The Legion had won and with that, they would finally return to the postseason. Events of the Week Fights Game 379 - Lahtinen beats up Gutzwiler I’m sure you are familiar with the saying, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Well, I can’t think of a better example of that than this smackdown. Certainly, Toronto came into this game with a plan to play a physical game and throw the Wranglers off their grove. That started just twenty-one seconds in the game and a fight broke out between Mikko Lahtinen and Gabriel Gutzwiler. However, just as Gabriel lost the fight convincingly, so too did the Legion come up short in this match. Game 388 - McDagg vs. Laughton There weren’t a lot of fights this week so I chose this opportunity to highlight a reformed man. Back when I was writing recaps of every single fight in the league, I wrote Blake Laughton’s name more than any other, and, while he certainly gets in a scrap now and again, I have noticed a drastic decline in his thuggish behaviour. Perhaps, he was a little out of practice, as Kristopher McDagg wiped the ice with him in this fight. Hat-Tricks Game 379 - Kris Rice Kris Rice opened the scoring, scored in the middle of the game, and closed the scoring to complete his hat-trick. With assists from Charlie Paddywagon, who also had a three-point game, on each of his first two, Rice quickly put the game out of the Legion’s grasp. With his final kill-shot in the first half of the third period, Kris finished his first hat-trick of the week. Game 396 - Kris Rice That’s right, I said, “of the week.” Just a couple games later, Kris Rice was back at it again. This time it was the Helsinki Titans that felt his wrath, but the Calgary Wranglers spread the points around with four separate players racking up three tallies on the point sheet. Rice and the Wranglers had an explosive first period where he scored two of their four goals. They went silent for the second before scoring again just seconds into the third. Just a short while later, Kris completed his second hat-trick with the final goal of the game. Game 400 - Jerry Garcia In the middle of what looked to be a crazy comeback story in the making, Jerry Garcia found himself on the unfortunate end of a losing hat-trick. Despite scoring the first three goals of the game, with Jet Jaguar contributing primary assists on all of them, the Phantoms clawed their way back to eventually take the day. For a brief moment, it looked like they might be able to knock the Dynamo out of that final playoff spot. Game 411 - Jet Jaguar After their loss to the Phantoms, HC Davos had to work hard to hold onto the final playoff spot in the European Conference. The veteran Jet Jaguar took that to heart. Scoring the Dynamo’s first three goals of the game, all on assists from Roque Davis, it was just his second that ended up being the game-winner. But late in the third, Jaguar made a statement, finishing his first hat-trick of the season. Game 413 - Mat Tocco The Vancouver Wolves were another team in the hunt for a playoff spot this week, and Mat Tocco brought us a little bit of that old magic for which he is known. Ending the night with four points, he netted two of his own in the second period and completed the hat-trick in the middle of the third. Although I am sure he would have liked a shot at the postseason, this has to be a satisfying way to close out the season. Shutouts Game 401 - Vancouver vs. Toronto There were just two shutouts this week and this one had a lot of significance in the final standings. Toronto finished just one point ahead of the Vancouver Wolves, so they ought to be crediting Jaxx Hextall and his amazing performance in this game with saving their season. Hextall stopped all thirty shots he faced to hold on to just a 2-0 victory and send the Legion to the postseason. Game 432 - New York vs. HC Davos In the very last game of the season, HC Davos entered knowing they had fended off the Phantoms at their heels, but that didn’t mean they had nothing to prove. All season, I have heard about how great a contender the Dynamo could be if they made a play for a goalie. Samuel Ross wants to put that thinking to bed. There is nothing better than entering the postseason with a goalie on a hot streak and a twenty-eight save shutout is a great way for Ross to start one. Rookie Spotlight Joakim Bruden A huge thanks to @Zetterberg for this great graphic. Joakim Bruden played 3 seasons in the minors, all for the Ottawa Lynx. He enjoyed a stellar career there, managing to win an amazing 121 of 152 total regular-season games. On top of that, an incredible 2.53 GAA in the minors over those 3 seasons is quite the achievement as well. He made the playoffs in each season and improved every time as well. It took them 3 tries, but they eventually won the big prize in Season 71, only losing twice throughout the entire playoffs on the back of some wonderful performances by Bruden. This season, he made the jump to the big leagues and showed to the world that he is a young goalie to keep an eye on. There were only a handful of rookie goalies this season, but Joakim stood out from the rest by leading most of the stat categories. In 15 games, he had a remarkable .914 save percentage and 2.70 goals-against average, both of which put him in first place among rookies. He picked up 5 wins, to 7 losses, which is a very respectable record for a rookie and he will be looking to build on this very successful rookie campaign. I think it’s only a matter of time before Joakim will take over as the #1 in Davos. He has shown he has the fight, passion, and most of all, skill to compete in this league. His mechanics are solid and he has a great foundation to build upon. Going forward, he will likely need to work on the more physical aspect of his game, like size and agility before he can break into that group of elite goaltenders. As long as Joakim keeps improving at this rapid pace, we have quite the prospect on our hands here and I am quite excited to see how his career develops.

Welcome to the third edition of VSN’s S72 Weekly recap (Games 203-287). We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance. Speaking of other VSN content, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more! Ringless | Under 250 | Early Standouts | Deep Rewind Recap This week was the nightmare of goalies around the league. With more than twice as many hat-tricks as we had shutouts, offences surged as defenders and net-minders alike scrambled to keep the puck out of the backs of their nets. Teams appear to be throwing a lot more pucks at the net, with the top goalies in the league still maintaining save percentages comparable to that of previous years. However, the top GAA numbers among starters are over a quarter of a goal worse than in recent seasons. On the offensive end of things, we have multiple players on pace to set the highest points totals since S68, perhaps even breaking triple digits once again. But the big news everyone is talking about is the announcement of four new expansion teams coming in S73. This bold and aggressive move has been met with a mixed reception. While it is always exciting to see new teams enter the league and give opportunities for maximum ice-time to as many as possible, this decision comes at a time where parity already seems to be on the decline from the past few seasons. However, it is impossible to tell how much of that break in parity may have come as a result of General Managers, who knew about this expansion prior to the season, trying to get their rosters ready for the expansion draft and lower cap that will undoubtedly come with the move to sixteen teams. Regardless of your feelings on the expansion, it shines a new light on several recent trades that were almost certainly made with expansion concerns in mind. 3-Stars First Star A Red Guy (NYA) - 12 GP, .920 SV%, 2 SO Second Star Micheal Gary Scott (NYA) - 4 G, 20 A, 27 SB Third Star Lewis Dawson (MAL) - 5 G, 10 A, 19 Hits Power Rankings Thanks to @Pengu for this excellent graphic. European Conference This season’s European Conference has been too close to call right from the get-go. Here we are at the end of week 3 and we still have no clear picture of who will be missing playoffs. Not much has changed as far as power rankings go but the Riga Reign seem to have solidified top spot in the conference, capitalizing on a 3 game win streak to end the week. Helsinki are hot on the tails of Riga and should they slip up, the Titans will be waiting to leapfrog them into first place. HC Davos are just 3 points behind Helsinki and made a huge trade this week by acquiring Hunter Hearst Helmsley, so their intentions are clear, they want to make a serious run for the Cup. The final playoff spot belongs to Moscow but they are tied on points with Prague and are only in based on their superior goal differential. However, they do have a game in hand and will be hoping to use that to their advantage to put some room between them and the Reign. Still at the bottom of the standings are the Malmo Nighthawks but their playoff hopes are far from squashed. They sit just 3 points behind Prague and could very well find themselves in the playoffs if just a couple results go their way. There’s still lots to play for in this European Conference and it very well could go right down to the wire. North American Conference Over in the North American conference, we still have the two top dogs going toe to toe for the coveted top spot. Calgary once again remains on top for the 3rd week running, closely followed by the Seattle Bears who are a mere one point behind the Wranglers and will be hoping to keep that pressure on as the season winds down. Having made some huge trades, and directly benefiting from those trades, the New York Americans have jumped up to 3rd place in our power rankings and the statement they made by acquiring Acyd Burn is clear for all to see; they want that cup! They are an impressive 8-1-1 over the last 10 games and have to be considered one of the most dangerous teams in the entire league as of now. Toronto might be slightly upset to fall to 4th in the power rankings, but they are just one point ahead of New York and the Americans have added some key pieces to their team that just slightly edges out the Legion. Vancouver has fully accepted that their time for contending is up, and is selling the farm. Parting ways with Hunter Hearst Helmsley this week, Vancouver is already 8 points behind New York and falling, and it’s hard to see them in a playoff spot come to the end of this season. Another 8 points behind Vancouver, we find the D.C. Dragons. Things just haven’t gone their way this season and they sit dead last in the entire league with only 34 points. If the Dragons manage to figure out just what is wrong with this team, they could make a push for that final playoff spot. There’s no denying the star power is there, but they will have to turn things around very quickly or they’ll be stuck in the basement all season long. Notable Games Game 206 - Seattle Bears vs. Calgary Wranglers Early in the week, we got a showdown between the top two teams in the league. At the end of the week, Seattle still trailed Calgary by a point, but this game went a long way toward narrowing that gap. Despite the fact that Seattle held the lead for the majority of the game and never found themselves behind, this game felt very close. Until the fifty-ninth minute, when Guy LeGrande scored on an empty net, it looked as though the Wranglers might still wrest control away and send it to overtime. But in the end, this game really came down to powerplay production. Each team had six opportunities on the powerplay, but the victorious Bears netted two goals on the man advantage compared to the Wranglers’ zero. Game 227 - Riga Reign vs. HC Davos Dynamo We also got a game between the top two teams in the European Conference, although they were first and third at the time, that resulted in another match to keep you on the edge of your seat. Lincoln Tate stole the show with five assists, one on each Riga goal, and Codrick Past was a major player as well with four points of his own. It is fitting than the two of them combined for the two assists on the final, game-winning goal. Production on the Dynamo side of the puck was much more distributed, with nine different players appearing on the score sheet, but only Robin Winter with more than one point. When HC Davos scored their third in a row to take the lead at the midway point of the third period, it looks like they might have enough momentum to win the day, but the Reign quickly answered just a minute later and denied them overtime with a game-winner in the fifty-ninth minute.. Game 264 - Helsinki Titans vs. New York Americans Finally, we saw a matchup between the third-place teams in each conference. After seeing the first two notable games this week, I didn’t believe we could get a closer one, and I almost highlighted the 8-1 win Davos had over Malmo just to buck the trend, but this game was just crazy. This game became a battle between New York’s back-up goalie and Jim Bob, the Helsinki sophomore who, in fifty games, has already hit his point total from his rookie season. New York jumped out to an early two-goal lead in the first period, but the Titans brought that within one thirty seconds into the second. But for another thirty-five minutes, the two sides were at a stalemate. Then suddenly, Jim Bob ties it up with under five to go, but the Americans quickly answer with another go-ahead goal. So once again, it has to be Jim Bob to tie it up with under a minute to go. Overtime was scoreless, so we went to the shootout. The goalie who leads the league in save percentage among starters again New York’s backup. But after four rounds, a goal by Acyd Burn won the game for the Americans. Events of the Week Fights Game 233 - BRAWL! These teams have some history, or as much history as a rivalry can have in just a few seasons in the league, and that showed as a brawl broke out just thirty-three seconds into the game. Gary Neal beat up Roll Fizzlebeef and Lewis Dawson beat up Ondrej Ohradka, who was then ejected from the game, and Condor Adrienne, Thomas Landry II, and Andrej Petrovic each received minors for their involvement. Game 275 - Gritty beats up Graves and Jungkok beats up Ritchie It was a rambunctious first period between the Wolves and Dragons and Vancouver got the upper hand through force. A minute after the first goal, Gritty and Benny Graves dropped gloves and Graves was sent to the ice quickly by the physical veteran. Three minutes after that, Jungkok found Raleigh Ritchie to much the same result. The Wolves violence didn’t end there either. In the Third period, Brock Louth was given a major and ejected for a vicious spearing. Something had the Wolves hot, but it paid off in this 5-1 victory. Hat-Tricks Game 221 - Codrick Past A slug-fest at the top of the European Conference, this game had everything, two players with seven shots apiece, fifteen penalties and our first hat-trick of the week. Codrick Past scored all three goals for the Riga Reign in this one, but Acyd Burn kept it close and sent the game to the shoutout. The Reign would end up winning after outshooting the Dynamo 49-42. Game 230 - Julius Freeman On a new roster but hasn’t missed a beat, Julius Freeman stole the show, scoring the game-winner in an action-packed first period before finishing his hat-trick on the powerplay late in the third. Micheal Gary Scott should also get a little credit with three assists on the night. Game 239 - Jerry Garcia This is the game of the year for the HC Davos Dynamo. Half of their roster had a multi-point game, with Jet Jaguar racking up six points off a goal and five assists. However, the central figure of this event is Jerry Garcia, who scored his second hat-trick of the season. Over a quarter of his goals, this season have come in games where he got a hat-trick, so teams should be scared any time he puts one in the net. Game 242 - Guy LeGrande Guy LeGrande opened the scoring, put in the game-winner, and then completed his hat-trick just after the midway point of the game. The New York Americans escaped the first period down by just a goal, but by the time LeGrande was done with them, it was a 5-1 blowout. Game 246 - Raleigh Ritchie This should be about the point where you notice we had a lot of hat-tricks this week. Don’t worry, it isn’t over yet. Raleigh Ritchie got the D.C. Dragons on the board and then scored less than two minutes later to give them the lead. They would lose and regain that lead before he scored his next one, but with just six seconds left in the game, Ritchie scored the first hat-trick of his career. Game 255 - Julius Freeman With his second of the week, and of the season, Julius Freeman started the game off with an assist on a powerplay goal by Owen Nolan. He followed that up a few minutes later with a short-handed goal. However, the Phantoms and Americans entered the third tied. Freeman was having nothing of a tie and scored twice in the span of a minute and a half to put the game away. Game 266 - Thomas Landry II This is my favourite type of hat-trick when a player gets insanely hot for a short burst of time and simply can’t be stopped. That is what happened here with Thomas Landry II, scoring three goals in just under three minutes. Bonus fun fact about this game! Wolf Stansson Jr had four points this game, but none on Landry’s hat-trick goals. It is safe to say the whole team was on fire. Shutouts Game 218 - D.C. vs. New York This game started out ugly for the Dragons and never really got any better. New York shocked their opponents with two goals in the first thirty-six second of the game. From there, they were able to sit back and control the game, scoring just one more before it was all said and done. But it was A Red Guy who stole the spotlight of the night as he earned the first shutout of the week with twenty-eight saves. Game 244 - Helsinki vs. Vancouver For a team that is fighting for first in their conference, the Helsinki Titans have a problem with getting shut out. This time it was Jimmy Spyro and the Wolves who did the honours. With twenty-two saves, Spyro earned his first shutout of the season. Despite having a bumpy ride in his first season as a starter, Spyro has always been able to dominate games and he got to show that proficiency here. Game 269 - HC Davos vs. New York In a week with an exceptionally low number of shutouts, A Red Guy managed to earn two of the only three this week. Facing twenty-two shots over the course of the game, the Americans allowed most of those in the first period. They only held a one-goal lead for the majority of the game, but A Red Guy shut the door for another great finish. Rookie Spotlight Zyrok12 Thanks to @Pengu for this excellent graphic. Zyrok12 is a 16-year-old Spanish defenseman who is enjoying quite the amazing rookie season. First joining the VHLM in Season 71, with the Ottawa Lynx, Zyrok12 was out to prove to everyone that he was a force to be reckoned with. He had a very respectable first campaign where he picked up 54 points in 71 games, as well as helped the team to the Cup Finals with 15 points in 16 games which they unfortunately lost. Next season he was drafted 2nd overall into the VHLM by the Yukon Rush where he absolutely exploded for 117 points in 72 games. He would once again help lead his team to the finals, but come up just short, this time losing to his former team the Ottawa Lynx. Drafted 12th overall by the Malmo Nighthawks he has built upon his success in the VHLM and has made the jump to the big leagues almost seamlessly. Being a strong, puck-moving, defence first d-man who skates effortlessly it’s not hard to see why he has seen so much early success. He comes in at 5th in rookie scoring, but could easily be in 3rd as he is just one point away from taking that spot. On top of all of this, Zyrok12 is an absolute workhorse. He is in the top 10 of the entire league for minutes played this season, and he earned the respect of his fellow teammates in Malmo, who voted him as Assistant Captain in his very first season. As long as Zyrok12 continues to improve at his usual pace, he will be a great addition to the Malmo Nighthawks. His low shooting percentage is somewhat suspect, but you can attribute that to bad luck. Perhaps some work is needed on the scoring front for Zyrok12, as he has scored just 2 goals so far this season, but as he gains experience his shot selection will become better and better. Since he is not the biggest guy, he will need to focus on his skating in order to be successful at the highest levels, but he is certainly someone to keep an eye on in the very near future.

Transaction ID: 2PJ3482710168702D Confirmed. -sterling

@Victor Do you mind checking to see if I wasn't tagged by mistake? You tagged "@Erik", and I'm not sure if that is supposed to be me, or if I just forgot to submit answers this week. Thank you!

Special thanks to @Pengu for being a beauty and making this! New York Americans Receive: Julius Freeman S74 TOR 4th S73 TOR 4th Toronto Legion Receive: Fredrik Elmebeck Vancouver Wolves Receive: Ryo Yamazuki II S74 NYA 2nd S74 MAL 1st Analysis Our second major trade of the week, it looks like we aren’t going to have to wait for the trade deadline this season to see the big moves. Not only that, but we also got an interesting three-team trade. As usual, I will first examine what each team got, then talk a bit about who got the best value, and finally, we will take a look at the players in the trade. The big headline of this trade is Julius Freeman going to the New York Americans. The Americans also received a couple of fourth-round picks, but those are usually inconsequential as the VHL stands today. Freeman is undoubtedly a future hall-of-famer and I would be shocked if Vancouver doesn’t retire his number. With Julius, the Americans are receiving a perennial scoring threat, power-play quarterback, and lockerroom leader. New York is currently tied in points with Vancouver, but this move makes clear which of these teams sees themselves as a contender this season. If the Americans make a deep playoff run, Freeman also provides a lot of experience in that regard, including having his name on the cup. It is somewhat shocking to see the Vancouver Wolves packing it up this early in the season, especially when you consider that, even without Freeman, they may still be able to make the playoffs. However, with any path to the finals likely going through both Seattle and Calgary, it is understandable that they are looking past this season already. So what did the Wolves receive to prepare for the future? Ryo Yamazuki II is a depth forward that could find a home on most rosters. He likely won’t ever be a top-line talent, but he is exactly the type of player you want to fill out the rest of your roster. He is also in a contract year, so, if there is always a chance he will be gone in free agency, so I think this was more of cap move for New York than anything. The real prize for Vancouver is those picks. A first and a second in S74 means that they will have to wait to see the true value of this trade. However, with Malmo entering their rebuild a season earlier than many expected, their S74 first-round pick may be less valuable than it seemed when New York acquired it. As a side note, the ways in which New York got screwed by the John Frostbeard trade are extensive and deserve their own article. All I will say about that trade here is that the retirement of Frostbeard and the early tank of Malmo both destroyed the value the Americans got from that trade and are some of the keep factors that necessitated their acquisition of another top forward in Julius Freeman. Finally, we have the Toronto element. Allowing New York to free up enough cap space to acquire Julius Freeman, the Toronto Legion receive Fredrick Elmebeck. Now, I’m going to drop the pretence of talking about this simulation league as though these are real players and real teams for a moment. For those of you who don’t know, Elmebeck passed away four months ago. He has since been memorialized with the Fredrik Elmebeck Memorial Trophy for the most exceptional members of our community. Elmebeck had a close relationship with Peace after working together in Saskatoon. The value that Peace gets out of this trade is his own and I will not sully that by talking strategy or return. Get-to-Know the Players Julius Freeman Drafted 2nd overall in S66, Julius Freeman made his presence known immediately with thirty-nine points in his rookie season. He followed that up by lifting the Continental Cup in just his second season. Two-time Kevin Brooks trophy winner, Freeman has been overlooked for other awards throughout his career, but his stats can not be ignored. He finished S71 one point shy of bringing his career average to a point per game. Leaving the Wolves for the first time, it is exciting to see what changes may come under a new system. Over the past two seasons, Freeman has already adopted a more physical play-style and is already in triple-digit hits just a third of the way into the season. With the increased physicality, he has also spent a lot more time in the penalty box this season. New York has to be hoping that can be changed because this is a player you want on the ice at every opportunity. Ryo Yamazuki II Next, we have Ryo Yamazuki II, drafted late in the third round of S68, the New York Americans got an absolute steal. After spending an extra season in the minors, Yamazuki scored thirty-nine points in his rookie season, funny enough, the same as Freeman. After a bit of a sophomore slump, he returned to form last season and is once again on pace for a solid thirty-five to forty point season. On Vancouver’s roster, he will be relegated to the third line most likely, but, if he is unsatisfied with that, he will be a free agent at the end of this season and I am sure there are a lot of teams looking for his kind of talent to fill out their second line. Fredrik Elmebeck Please visit this thread and view many of the great remembrances of a great person. That is all.

Welcome to the first edition of VSN’s S72 Weekly recap (Games 1-119). We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance. But first, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more! | The Talent Behind the Trophies | S72 Top 25 | Future Watch | Under 250 | Recap In the process of on-boarding tons of new staff at VSN, our first edition of Weekly Review is slightly delayed. We will be covering ten days of sims instead of the usual seven, but that just means we will be reviewing a quarter of the season in a single post. I would like to introduce @Hylands33, who will be joining me to write Weekly Review this season. We will be trading off which segments we write, but every issue will be a collaboration. In addition to that change, there are some minor format changes as well. Power rankings will be a little more fleshed out and will have amazing graphics from our graphics team to illustrate them. Similarly, Rookie Profile has been updated to Rookie Spotlight and will sometimes include interviews and flashing personalized graphics for each highlighted player. Anyway, there are lots to cover so let’s get to it! Offences around the league are lighting it up and many goalies are suffering the consequences. Of course, it is early to make this type of proclamation, but is it possible that the VHL may finally be seeing the end of the low-scoring “dead puck” era of the last several seasons? With six hat-tricks and only eleven shutouts this week we have seen a lot of high-paced, high-scoring, exciting hockey games. To add to that excitement, we had an extremely close field for most of the week. Calgary began to pull away and D.C. began to fall back, but the middle ten teams are all within six points. It is still very early to tell how things will shake out, but there are teams at the bottom of the table at the moment with a lot of highly talented stars. Presumably, some of those stars will be looking at hunting a cup this season, which could mean we will get an action trading block this season. 3-Stars First Star Condor Adrienne (MAL) - 17 G, 22 A, 1 Hat Trick Second Star Jacques Lafontaine (CGY) - 0.935 SV%, 1.89 GAA, 2 SOs Third Star Hunter Hearst Helmsley (VAN) - 13 G, 19 A, 32 P Power Rankings A huge shoutout to @Pengu for this amazing graphic. European Conference Week 1 of S72 has come to a close and the European Conference couldn’t be more of a toss-up. Just 6 points separate the 6th placed Malmo Nighthawks and the 1st placed Helsinki Titans. Earning our top spot in the power rankings for this week, boasting an impressive 7-3-0 record on the road, the Helsinki Titans are off to a very strong start after having the leagues 2nd worst record just a season ago. The rest of the conference is simply too close for comfort! We have 4 teams sitting within two points of each other occupying 2nd through 5th place, and as it stands right now Moscow is the unlucky team sitting outside of the playoffs. With a game in hand, HC Davos Dynamo have been given 2nd in the power rankings, and if they take advantage of that game in hand they can put a little bit of distance between them and the rest of the pack. Coming in at 3rd and 4th respectively are the Riga Reign and Prague Phantoms. Both of these clubs are neck and neck right now but will find themselves amidst a losing streak as we head into the start of week 2. Moscow has a game in hand on both Prague and Riga but ultimately are on the outside looking in as they are just one point shy of the Phantoms, and tied with the lowly Nighthawks. A slower start than what GM Victor Alfredsson would have hoped for, but their +4 goal difference, which is good enough for second-best in the conference, and riding on the back of some great goaltending by Raymond Bernard, paints a happier picture than what the standings suggest. Taking our last spot at 6th place will be the Malmo Nighthawks. Perhaps a bit of a surprise to much of the league the Nighthawks are keeping right on pace with the rest of the conference. An impressive 39 points in only 20 games by star defenseman Condor Adrienne has the rebuilding team right in the thick of the playoff race so far. Is this an early indicator of things to come this season? If so, buckle up your seatbelts, because this is going to be a wild ride to the playoffs. North American Conference Somewhat of a different picture is being painted in the North American Conference compared to the European. Rightfully earning top spot, Calgary has managed to jump out as early favourites with a 5 point lead, +24 goal difference and a stellar 9-0-1 home record. Currently, on a 7 game winning streak they have managed to propel themselves right to the top of the standings not only here in the power rankings, but, they also sport the league's best overall record. In 2nd on the power rankings, the Seattle Bears are currently hot on the trail of 1st placed Calgary. With a similar, but not quite as impressive home record of 7-3-0, the Bears find themselves sitting 5 points back and have to be looking towards making another deep playoff run after last season’s success. Coming in at 3rd, the Toronto Legion find themselves tied with Seattle on points. After an otherwise strong start to the season, things have cooled off slightly in Toronto, but that’s not to say they are on a downward spiral. Currently occupying the final playoff spot in the conference, and 4th in the power rankings we have the Vancouver Wolves. Their record is just slightly above .500 right now, having gone 10-9-1 through the opening 20 contests. Perhaps their time at the top of the league is up? Sitting by themselves in 5th place this week we have the New York Americans, who have seen a bit of a turnaround as of late after having a poor start to the season, and they now find themselves hot on the heels of Vancouver. With 20 points and 3 wins in a row, they are 4 points clear of the last-placed D.C. Dragons. 6th spot this week will go to none other than the D.C. Dragons. Not at all the start that GM Eno Rama was hoping for, but not all hope is lost yet. Looking at their roster, you cannot help but notice just how solid it is and you would think the Dragons. will be able to find their feet over the coming weeks. Things can turn around quickly in the VHL and you may find yourself on the right side of a long winning streak. With one week played, some may be jumping on the Calgary bandwagon right away, but a strong week from the defending champs has kept them within reaching distance. Notable Games Game 19 - Calgary Wranglers vs. Seattle Bears When the top two teams of the North American Conference meet, you don’t expect the type of shellacking we saw in this game. Calgary held the Bears to just fifteen shots while putting up forty of their own. Charlie Paddywagon showed why he is among the best defensemen in the league right now with involvement in each Wranglers scoring play and a three-goal game. Other Calgary stars also made an appearance on the scoreboard, such as Mikko Lahtinen and Tyler Barabash Jr. The only extremely notable Wrangler missing from the scoresheet was RJ Jubis. For Seattle, you couldn’t really ask more from Rayz Funk. He stopped thirty-seven of thirty-nine while being pummelled by double-digit shots in every period. Game 94 - Helsinki Titans vs. Toronto Legion A culmination of three games played between these teams this week, this game presents us with two of the biggest surprises this season. Toronto was counted out by most and Helsinki by many coming into the year, but they each find themselves in the top five in the standings. Out of the three games played against each other, you can’t get much closer than walking away with four points to three in the standings. The Titans outshot the Legion in every period until overtime, but Toronto was efficient and regulation ended 2-2. Once in extra time, the Legion turned it on with six shots in two and half minutes and Chad Magnum closed it out with a magnificent goal. Game 96 - Moscow Menace vs. HC Davos Dynamo Last season’s punching bag, the HC Davos Dynamo against the European Conference Champions and cup finalist Moscow Menace. The tables seem to have turned dramatically this season as Davos holds a three-point lead and second place in the conference at the end of the week. Built on an extremely young core, the youth showed up with SS Hornet, Robin Winter, Alex Bridges, and Roque Davis all making significant contributions. It is hard to mention them, however, without also mentioning the great veteran leadership they are receiving from the likes of ACL TEAR and Acyd Burn. Events of the Week Fights Game 25 - Helmsley beats up Stark Coming into the season, many expected these to be the best two players in the league, so we can’t ignore it when such talents drop gloves with each other. Just as in the stat sheet, Hunter Hearst Helmsley got the better of Ambrose Stark in the fight. However, Seattle did walk away with the win, so it wasn’t a total victory for HHH. Game 55 - BRAWL! Our first line-brawl was perhaps a bit small to call that, but we did have two sets of combatants, Nethila Dissanayake beat up Owen Nolan and Chad Magnum beat up Micheal Gary Scott, as well as three related minors to Erik Killinger, Lance Flowers and, Bjorn Scoringsonn. MGS was also given a game misconduct for instigation, but it was a dirty period all around as Leon Gutzwiler was still in the box for Unsportsmanlike Conduct when the fight broke out. Game 57 - Drumm beats up Gritty and Su Sometimes winning one fight isn’t enough for a player. After Charles Drumm beat up Gritty less than six minutes into the game, he picked another fight with Andrew Su just five minutes late. Once again handing out a beating, the refs decided they had seen enough of Drumm and ejected him from the game. Game 63 - BRAWL! This fight was a little larger than the last brawl, but the fights were far less decisive. Gritty and Blake Laughton went to the ice quickly after dropping the gloves, Gino DiGiannantonio and Kefka Palazzo fought for a while but landed few punches, and Brock Louth and Alex Pearson fought to a draw despite each landing solid blows. Andrew Su, Griff Manzer, and the rest of the skaters on the ice received minors for their involvement as well. Hat-Tricks Game 17 - Jerry Garcia This is the Davos team we saw brewing last season, just shy of being a contender but with s handful of high picks to fill the holes. Jerry Garcia had been a Malmo Lifer with consistently underwhelming numbers and brief glimpses of greatness. On this Dynamo roster, he appears to be the centre of attention and primary scoring outlet. With three assists from David OQuinn, Garcia has earned our first hat-trick of the season. Game 24 - Ben McGirr In the rematch of our first hat-trick, Ben McGirr heard that hattys were on the menu. It would have been difficult to come out of this 8-6 barn burner without at least one hat-trick, but it is always surprising when the player scoring thrice is on the losing side. McGirr scored all three during Prague’s five-goal first period before HC Davos answered with five unanswered to take back the lead. This game could only be described as a goalie’s worst nightmare. Game 49 - Killy Foilen Killy Foilen had a slow first season and a decent sophomore year, but I can not overstate how much scarier Moscow becomes if Foilen develops into a serious offensive weapon this season. With three of the Menace’s four goals this game, Killy had their opener, the game-winner, and the nail in the coffin eight minutes into the third. Game 82 Scott Greene In what was one of the least disciplined games we’ve seen in some time, with fourteen powerplay opportunities between the two teams, scoring chances abounded. Scott Greene took advantage in the first period, scoring three in a row for his hat-trick. Two of the three came on the powerplay in a crazy period that saw four powerplay goals. Game 105 - RJ Jubis RJ Jubis got off to a hot start in this one, bringing the Wranglers out of the first period with a lead after giving up a goal in the opening minutes. Then, it was Jubis again who was called on when Prague was surging to try to time the game in the third to put a nail in the coffin and finish his hat-trick and the game. Game 110 - Condor Adrienne Picking it up in the final seconds on an empty netter, Condor Adrienne already had a three-point game before finishing his hat-trick. In fact, he had a three-point period in the first, with two goals and an assist. Prague did claw back to within one, allowing Condor the shot at the empty net, but Adrienne and the Nighthawks held them off for the win. Shutouts Game 15 - Moscow vs. Helsinki Our first shutout of the season comes at the hands of Raymond Bernard and the Moscow Menace. It looks like this team is setting out early to put to rest any questions about whether they can maintain their pace from over the past two seasons. With an impressive twenty-nine save performance, Bernard is quickly silencing any detractors. Game 26 - D.C. vs. Toronto It hasn’t been a great start for the Dragons, but a shutout against a top-five team is a good way to show that you can still hang with the best of them. Stone Wolski put up twenty-nine saves in his first shutout of the season. This goal-starved game was scoreless until early in the third when D.C.’s powerplay unit came through with the game-winner. Game 27 - Helsinki vs. Riga Perhaps a little upset with being the first team of the season to be shutout, Helsinki showed us that they were capable of holding an opponent scoreless as well. I believe a shoutout is in order to Nicolas Fomba, Riga’s backup goalie, who actually saved one more shot than Michael Johnson, on a great twenty-seven save performance. However, it was Johnson who remained perfect, stopping all twenty-six for his first shutout of the season. Game 29 - Calgary vs. New York None of our shutouts so far have come easily, but goalies keep stepping up to the task. In this match, Jacques Lafontaine faced twenty-eight shots, stopping them all. He did have one advantage provided by his team, their excellent discipline. Calgary spent only four minutes on the penalty kill the entire game compared to just over eleven minutes with the man advantage. Game 42 Seattle vs. Toronto There may be nothing sweeter in the VHL than when your backup goalie earns a shutout. Thorvald Gunnarsson stopped twenty-seven shots to make Toronto the first team this season to be shut out twice. Seattle dominated the first two periods but allowed Toronto some offensive opportunities in the third. A backup goalie with a three-goal cushion would receive no grief for letting one in that scenario, but Gunnarsson stood firm. Game 65 - Riga vs. Toronto In a little bit of payback for their own scoreless games, the Toronto Legion decided to bring someone else to their level by handing Riga their second shutout. Actually being outshot by the Reign, Jaxx Hextall stopped twenty-six pucks in what looked like it would be a scoreless regulation game. However, in the seventeenth minute, Kristopher McDagg finally managed to put one past Greg Eagles to win the game. Game 66 - Moscow vs. Helsinki In a repeat of their first meeting, Raymond Bernard has shutout the Helsinki Titans for the second time this season. This time, it was an incredible performance with forty-one saves, which has a good chance of standing the test of the season as the most saves in a shutout. Moscow produced a goal in each period to complete the eerie similarity to these teams' first meeting this season. Game 107 - New York vs. Moscow Although Bernard has been excellent so far this season, A Red Guy got the better of him in this match. This was the first shutout we’ve seen this season where the goalie faced less than twenty shots. With nineteen saves, Guy came in just under that mark. He did face some challenges in the first and third periods but only saw one shot throughout the entire second. Game 108 HC Davos vs. Riga Both Greg Eagles and Samuel Ross had eighteen saves in this one, but it was Eagles who was flawless. This was certainly a slower game, but those can be challenging for goalies as well when you go long stretches without facing a shot. Greg did a great job of staying on his toes between high-danger situations and keeping the pucks out when it mattered. Game 112 Calgary vs. D.C. Becoming the second goalie to record two shutouts this season, Jacques Lafontaine joins our string of sub-twenty save shutouts in the latter part of this week. Calgary struggled to maintain any offensive pressure after the first twenty-four minutes, but by then the damage had been done and they had a four-goal lead. From there, it was just a game of keep-away to close out the game. Game 115 - Seattle vs. Toronto Riddle me this, the team that everyone doubted is now tied for second in the league and yet, somehow, they have still been shutout more than any other team. Seattle managed a crushing fifty shots, but, lest you think they kept the puck in their opponents’ zone all game, Rayz Funk still had to make thirty-four saves to earn his first shutout of the season. Rookie Spotlight SS Hornet Another huge shoutout, this time to @Motzaburger for these great graphics. Being drafted #1 overall in the VHL doesn’t always mean you’re destined for greatness. The spotlight that inevitably comes with the first selection can sometimes eat away at a young player’s career. In an exclusive interview with the hottest rookie talent in the VHL, SS Hornet opened up about the pressure that comes along with the first pick. “I know I'm expected to perform right from the start of the season, so yes, it adds a bit of pressure. It pushes me to try and do my best on the ice every shift; I want Davos to be proud of their first selection”. The robot’s algorithm has managed to synthesize a voice that can now answer any questions we have and has made a statement that it is ready to perform at the highest level. SS Hornet first started its career with the Houston Bulls in S70 and put up a respectable 20 points in 22 games as well as 3 points in 8 playoff games. S71 saw it selected 4th overall in the VHLM by the Las Vegas Aces where it managed to produce at over a point per game pace with 87 points in 72 regular games, evenly split with 41 goals and 41 assists. The playoffs were more of the same where it racked up 17 points in 12 games and helped lead its team to the Conference Final which the Aces lost to the Yukon Rush. However, it’s been a somewhat rocky start to Hornet’s career in the VHL. Its point production has been very good, it is currently leading all rookie scoring at the time of writing. Having said that, when you look further down the stat line, Hornet has amassed 29 PIMs in 19 games. When asked about its high penalty minutes, it had a rebuttal to the critics, saying “You can look at my 29 penalty minutes and think I'm a senseless goon, but really I have only put my team in a shorthanded position twice. 25 of these 29 minutes are from fights and ejections. About these though, I'm really unsure about what happened. I'm not really a fighter, these just kind of happened. It's hard to explain”. Perhaps it is not discipline that is the problem, but maybe lack of a proper enforcer on Davos that leaves Hornet having to defend itself. Its first fight in the big leagues was in its debut, drawing with Kyl Oferson, which shows it’s ready to be a physical force, but some finesse is needed to keep it on the ice and out of the sin bin considering the same fight had it ejected half-way through the game. Perhaps the algorithm is having a hard time fine-tuning the necessary aggressiveness that will give it an edge on the ice. Having said that, you simply cannot look past the pure scoring ability of this sentient android, and it would not surprise me to see it continue its amazing point production. HC Davos is currently sitting on a plethora of young talent and they find themselves right in the middle of a playoff battle. Time will tell if these young stars can build a strong core for Davos to be contenders for many seasons to come and you would have to assume that SS Hornet will be right at the forefront leading the way. “I wouldn't be too surprised if we made the Continental Cup finals out of the European Conference this season. We have a balanced crew of veterans and rookies. Every season, some veterans will leave and new rookies will take over their spot in the league. We'll be good for a while”. Hornet seems to be under the impression that the window of opportunity is open for Davos right now and they are ready to make a surprise run to the Continental Cup finals.