Erik Summers

Phil for Dustin Funk looks pretty good though

Welcome to the third edition of VSN’s S71 Weekly recap (Games 133-216). 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. Also, make sure to check out the wide variety of content here at VSN. There are in-depth weekly updates and an award tracker for the VHL, a great podcast, and daily WJC coverage when it starts up, among other informative articles. Check out our latest installments here: | VSN Radio | Under 250 | VHL Award Tracker | Deep Rewind | Recap It has been a week of big trades around the league and one already seems to be paying off. After acquiring goalie Greg Eagles, the Riga Reign have shot up through the standings and now sit atop the European conference. This looked like a good move for the future, but it is paying off greatly already. On the other side, Vancouver also seems to have improved after receiving Finn Davison in return. It is not often that you see two teams who have a real chance of facing each other for the cup make a trade of this calibre. In the North American Conference, Seattle has jumped up out of the pack to take the lead, but only by a point. In fact, the top four spots are each separated by just one point each. Calgary leads the league in goals for and Vancouver leads the conference in goals against, so it is impossible to make an airtight case for any of these top four teams as the best in the group. Regardless, one thing we know for sure is that it is going to be a gauntlet to get out of the North American Conference this season. In the European Conference, that span of three points separates the top three teams, but they have started to pull away from the bottom half. The Riga Reign now leads the conference, but Moscow and Prague are close behind them. Riga also has the second-fewest goals allowed in the league, beat only by the Helsinki Titans who are narrowly hanging on to the fourth playoff spot at the moment. The biggest shock of the season might be the struggles of Malmo. It will be interesting to watch and see if they can turn it around and reclaim a playoff spot. 3-Stars First Star Cinnamon Block (PRG) - 4 G, 15 A, 24 SB Second Star Ambrose Stark (SEA) - 11 G, 11 A Third Star Jacques Lafontaine (CGY) - .921 SV%, 2/57 GAA Power Rankings European Conference Moscow Menace - They are clinging onto first in my power rankings, but just barely. Riga Reign - (+3) A huge surge in the standings this week. They look significantly better after their big trade. Prague Phantoms - (-1) They have been pretty consistent all season. They can still compete for first. Helsinki Titans - (-1) Currently holding forth by a tight margin. Will we see any moves to sure things up before the deadline? Malmo Nighthawks - (-1) Still a lot of potential, but their offence fell apart this week. HC Davos Dynamo - They’ve slowed the bleeding some, but it looks like too little too late. North American Conference Calgary Wranglers - Ranking the top teams in this conference is near impossible, but they have been good throughout the season so far. Vancouver Wolves - (+1) A little post-trade bump. I still think they are a serious contender. Seattle Bears - (+1) Another surging team. After a slow start, it took a lot for them to get here. D.C. Dragons - (-2) This was a disappointing week, but they are still within striking distance of the lead. Toronto Legion - (+1) They actually went on a good run this week, but it is going to be very hard to find room in the playoff picture. New York Americans - (-1) They were tied for last in the league at one point. They sold early, time to tank for the future. User-Voted Rankings European Conference Moscow Menace - I’m interested to see if this drops at all this week Prague Phantoms/HC Davos Dynamo - (+2) Okay, I know they tied in votes, but one of these things is not like the other. Helsinki Titans - Holding on, just like in the standings. Malmo Nighthawks - (-2) Public favour turned against them before the standings did. You called it. Riga Reign - Really? This is just cruel. North American Conference Calgary Wranglers - (+1) They continue to make the case for cup favourites. D.C. Dragons - (+1) Trading away Frostbeard? Really? Seattle Bears - (+2) Could they make it to first this week? New York Americans - (+1) After the recent trade, this is now the greatest team in the league. Vancouver Wolves / Toronto Legion - (-4/-1) I’m not sure what Vancouver is doing here. Notable Games Game 140 - D.C. Dragons vs. Vancouver Wolves Finn Davison has gotten off to a great start with his new team, but this was actually one of his lesser games this week. Instead, the wolves turned to their consistent safety valve, Julius Freeman, who scored two goals and an assist on the night. The Dragons managed to tie the game up late, with two goals in the third period, but they got swept out of the shootout after just two rounds. Mikko Aaltonen also had a three-point game with a goal and two assists. This included an assist on the tying goal with less than two minutes to go by John Frostbeard, in one of his last games with D.C. Game 157 - Seattle Bears vs. Calgary Wranglers We didn’t know it at the time, but this game would end up deciding who leads the conference at the end of the week. It will be a very exciting series if we get this matchup in the playoffs because these teams have very different compositions. Seattle’s star-studded roster is very similar to the one that won those back to back cups just a couple seasons ago. Meanwhile, Calgary has some of the most exciting young talents in the league without having a clear superstar. Seattle edged them out in this one, but I am eagerly looking forward to the rematch. Game 193 - Riga Reign vs. D.C. Dragons These two teams were on opposite trajectories this week. As Riga rocketed up the standings, D.C. slowly got passed by teams in their conference until they were holding onto the last playoff spot. Riga started the week outside of playoff qualification, but after a rather surprising trade for possibly the hottest goalie in the league, they began to dominate teams left and right. Domination isn’t what happened in this game, but Eagles definitely played a large role in keeping them in it, making thirty saves on the night. It wasn't until the second half of the third period that Riga would score a power-play goal to put them back in the lead, a lead they would manage to hold to the end. Events of the Week Fights Game 137 - Stark draws with Gritty This fight was impactful in a different kind of way. Going into the final minutes of the third period tied 2-2, Ambrose Stark looked to spark something in his team and propel them to victory by dropping gloves with Gritty. However, that didn’t work out so well as Stark was ejected for instigation and the Bears went on to lose in overtime, where they certainly could have used their top scorer. Game 148 - Telker draws with Frobe It was a quiet first period with just a single goal scored by the Phantoms. However, after a fight between a couple of bottom-sixers, the game exploded. Nate Telker got called for instigation and drew an ejection as he went after Gert B Frobe. This was in retaliation for a pretty dirty trip committed by Frobe a few minutes earlier. But once their fight was over, the scoring was blown wide open with six goals in the next sixteen minutes. Game 164 - BRAWL! In the final minute of a scoreless second period that would drag on into a scoreless third, we got a flash of excitement. John Madden and Lewis Dawson fought to a draw and Lewis Dawson was ejected for instigating this whole mess. Milos Slavik took the opportunity to beat up Nate Wright and several players game in a sword fighting match with their sticks. Walter Clements, Pierre Persson, Aleksander Rodriguez, Jerry Garcia, and Fernando Jokinen each got either slashing or high-sticking calls for the reckless swinging. Game 196 - Nygren draws with Nolan How do you know there is a beef between two players? One way to tell is when they get into a fight just nine seconds into a game. Despite never playing in the same conference, let alone for rivals, something has been brewing between Lucas Nygren and Owen Nolan that just couldn’t wait. Although the fight had no clear winner, Nolan clearly won the night, scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout. Hat-Tricks Game 139 - Thomas Landry II This is several levels of impressive and might go down as one of the top highlights of the season. First, a hat-trick is always a major feat, even more so from a rookie. It takes it to a whole other level when you consider the scoring drought we saw from rookies last year. Then, to cap it all off, Thomas Landry II went a step above and made it a four-goal game as well. He could have stopped at just his second and still won the game, but he was hungry this game and there was nothing the Titans could do to deny him. Game 153 - Zeno Miniti Coming into this season, Zeno Miniti’s career had been on an unfortunate trajectory. After an impressive showing as a rookie, Zeno’s scoring has declined every season since. However, he seems to have entered some sort of renaissance and this hat-trick is the icing on the cake. For the first three-quarters of the game Zeno was the only thing keeping Toronto in it, matching Davos’ three goals with three of his own. Finally, after he had finished his hat-trick, the rest of the legion stepped up to seal the victory. Game 155 - Brian Strong Brian Strong had some huge shoes to fill this season, and so far he has done an excellent job. After several key retirements on Helsinki’s roster, it is now Strong’s turn to lead the team in scoring. Getting one goal in each period, it was the same small cast of actors terrorizing the Nighthawks all game. Guillaume Fontenette had assists on each of Strong’s goals and Cody Smith contributed to two of them. This is the type of scoring Helsinki needs right now. Game 182 - Jet Jaguar Maybe we are finally out of the league-wide scoring drought with our fourth hat-trick of the week. Jet Jaguar showed that he still has the ability to put his team on his back and carry them to victory, scoring all three of Moscow’s goals against Helsinki. Rookie, Kyle Anderson, tried to get the Titans back in it with two goals of his own, his first of the season, in the third period, but it was too little too late. Game 189 - Joel Ylonen This was a rough one for the Phantoms, despite being their second hat-trick of the week. Joel Ylonen scored his entire hat-trick in the first period and Prague left the period down 5-3. They would end up down 7-3, less than three minutes into the third, causing them to swap goalies. Despite a valiant effort, they were only able to draw within one, leaving the comeback incomplete. Game 200 - Kris Rice Leading the amazing run the Calgary Wranglers have been on is their unbelievable young talent. Kris Rice is second in scoring on the Wrangler’s roster and just behind a point per game pace. That might be the most interesting thing about Calgary, the way they spread the scoring around. However, in this one, it was all Rice. Scoring four of their five goals to lead them to a win over their rival Americans, Rice completes his first hat-trick of the season. Game 215 - Ryan Busser Riga has been seeing the top-level play from unexpected places all week, and this game it came in the form of Ryan Busser. I don’t want to disparage Busser’s earlier play in any way, but he has taken a huge step forward this season and it is good to see him get rewarded with this hat-trick. Shutouts Game 143 - Calgary vs. H.C. Davos The offence isn’t Davos’s thing this season, but this was a new low. Facing the Wrangler’s sophomore goalkeeper, Jacques Lafontaine, the Dynamo only managed six shots all game. At the very least, they managed to avoid getting held to zero shots in any period, but that is a very very small victory. This was just ugly. Game 155 - Malmo vs. Helsinki Two of the hottest goalies in the league going into this week, Virgil Ligriv got the better of this matchup. Getting some assistance from the strong offensive play of Brian Strong and company, Helsinki dominated possession and only allowed fifteen shots from Malmo. With that, Ligriv records his third shutout of the season. Game 191 - Malmo vs. Seattle While the majority of the league seems to have figured out at least some of their scoring issues, Malmo continues to struggle offensively. Rayz Funk has faced a lot of shots this season, so I am sure he was thankful for this seventeen shot reprieve and his first shutout of the season. Game 197 - Davos vs. Prague The Dynamo had a better performance in this one, forcing Solomon Crawford to make nineteen saves, but that wasn’t enough to get one past him. By the end, the Phantoms were in absolute control, holding Davos to just a single shot in the third period. It has been a hard week for the lower half of the European conference. Game 198 - Seattle vs. Vancouver Seattle continued their rise up through the standing this week, but someone forgot to tell Finn Davison and the Vancouver Wolves. Davison seems to be adjusting well to his new team with an amazing twenty-nine saves to capture his third shutout of the season. It will be hard to compete with Riga’s post-trade success, but Finn is certainly keeping the conversation going about who won this trade. Game 201 - Malmo vs. H.C. Davos It has been a rough week for both of these teams, but one of them had to win this game. They actually both managed reasonable offences, despite struggling in that regard all week. Samuel Ross stopped twenty shots in this 3-0 game to earn his second shutout of the season. Game 204 - Vancouver vs. Moscow Moscow had plenty of opportunities in this game, but Finn Davison was outstanding. Davison is meshing very well with his new team and shutting out the reigning champs should prove to everyone that Vancouver got exactly what they wanted from this trade. Game 206 - New York vs. Helsinki Another matchup between two teams that struggled this week, New York looked stronger defensively than they have all season. After two quick powerplay goals in the second, this game was in the bag and A Red Guy had his first shutout of the season. Rookie Spotlight Kyl Oferson Probably the most explosive rookie to enter the league this season, Kyl Oferson started his career with the Mississauga Hounds. However, it was after being drafted by the San Diego Marlins that his explosive playstyle took off. Scoring one-hundred and fifty-three points and carrying an absurd +126, it was no surprise that he went first overall to the Riga Reign. It has taken some time for Oferson to adjust to the speed of the VHL, but he seems to have gotten it all figured out at the right time. Riga was dominant all week, and Kyl played an important part in that. He is currently third in goals scored on the Reign roster and I wouldn’t be surprised if he climbed even higher. There was some question as to whether Riga would be heading into a rebuild in the next couple seasons, but with top-notch talent like this, it seems like they have pushed that further into the future. It has to be fun to play for a real contender as a rookie, but it is likely even better when you are playing a significant role in getting them to that point.

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

Welcome to the second edition of VSN’s S71 Weekly recap (Games 49-132). 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. Recap Offences around the league have struggled so far this season as we’ve seen goalies excel. Interestingly, a wide variety of teams have found success in this defence-heavy climate. Both star-studded rosters and teams with an array of solid position-players have started to rise to the top. We have also seen a fairly dramatic decline in fights and physicality in general around the league and this lack of man-advantage opportunities may be a contributing factor to the goal shortage. In the European conference, Moscow continues to lead, but they find themselves neck and neck with Prague who appears to be a real threat. The Titans started the week by being shutout repeatedly and ended it by shutting out their opponents four times in six games. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks followed the opposite trajectory and desperately need to find an offensive spark to keep them competitive in games with more than three goals. In fact, if I said, this team is excelling defensively and their goalie is performing well above expectation, but their offence is inconsistent, there is no way you could tell which European team I was talking about. They all fit that bill at the moment, except for Moscow. In the North American conference, star power is keeping a struggling Vancouver roster afloat while the youth in Calgary has led them to the top of the league. The Bears got off to yet another slow start to the season, but they seem to be finding their stride and could be making a push for the lead in the conference. For the Dragons, despite their success, there seems to be something missing at times as they drop game to seemingly worse opponents. This conference is a Thunderdome at the moment and I am completely unable to predict who will come out on top of it at this time next week. 3-Stars First Star Hunter Hearst Helmsley (VAN) - 7 G, 12 A Second Star Helsinki Goalie Tandem - Virgil Ligriv and Owen May - 0.937 SV%, 1.79 GAA Third Star Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen (MOS) - 19 A, 20 SB Power Rankings European Conference Moscow Menace - It is hard not to have the reigning champs at number one when they haven’t lost a step. Prague Phantoms - This team just doesn’t have the proven roster yet, but they are barely behind first, if at all. Helsinki Titans - (+1) One of the best goal performances we’ve seen this season. From two different goalies. Malmo Nighthawks - (-1) The lack of offence is really holding them back. Other teams have corrected for this, maybe they can as well. Riga Reign - Staying in contention, but this week was a big opportunity to climb the ranks and they missed it. HC Davos Dynamo - Their defence looks really good, but just about everything else is holding them back. North American Conference Calgary Wranglers - They have struggled some against tough competition, but they don’t give away points when they shouldn’t. D.C. Dragons - They won some good games this week to earn this spot, but the distance between second and forth is very small. Vancouver Wolves - Still one of the scariest teams in the conference, they will make it hard every time. Seattle Bears - (+2) Starting to show some life, but is there enough to keep it going? New York Americans - (-1) They actually have the same goal differential as Vancouver. Perhaps I am underrating them, but they will have to prove me wrong to move up. Toronto Legion - (-1) They briefly looked like they could finish above the bottom of the conference. That hope isn't gone, but it is fading. User-Voted Rankings European Conference Moscow Menace - Winning a cup will get you ranked number one a lot, and for good reason. Malmo Nighthawks - There is a lot of hype around this team and we’ve seen glimpses of greatness. Helsinki Titans - This is higher than most pre-season rankings of the Titans. Prague Phantoms/HC Davos Dynamo - Okay, I know they tied in votes, but one of these things is not like the other. Riga Reign - Really? This is just cruel. North American Conference Vancouver Wolves - Their record doesn’t show it, but they seem like they should be the best team. Calgary Wranglers - They’ve upset Vancouver before. They likely won’t mind being the underdogs. D.C. Dragons - They have the points, but their goal differential leaves much to be desired. Toronto Legion - It looked like they could surprise us, didn’t it? Seattle Bears/New York Americans - I think Seattle will break this tie this week. Notable Games Game 50 - Moscow vs. Prague In the battle for dominance of the European Conference, there wasn’t a bigger match this week than between Moscow and Prague and it was a nail bitter. Dagmar Havlova opened the scoring for the Phantoms with his second goal of the season, but Nate Telker answered a period later to tie it up with his second as well. From there, the teams continued to battle each holding a one-goal lead at some point in the third. This included another goal each for Telker and Havlova. After good performances from both goalies, overtime wasn’t enough to end it. Finally, in the fourth round of the shootout, it was Alex Pearson with his second of the night to seal it for the Phantoms. Game 84 - D.C vs. Seattle Over in the North American Conference, D.C. and Seattle have been neck and neck all week, but it was their game early in the week which would end up being the difference-maker. D.C. took an early lead, ending the first period up 2-0, but the Bears tied things up just four minutes into the second. This time, the Dragons would respond with a three-goal lead that looked secure until late in the third. With less than two minutes to play, Seattle scored two more to bring it within one, but ultimately it was too little too late and they ran out of time to force overtime. Of the nine goals scored in this game, each was scored by a different player. Seattle goalie, Rayz Funk, couldn’t have been pleased with his teammates as he stopped forty-eight shots and still didn’t get the win. Game 109 - Malmo vs. Vancouver While the European Conference currently holds four of the top six places in terms of points, a case can be made that there is simply stiffer competition in North America. This game would be one of the key points in that case. Vancouver, despite currently sitting in fourth in their conference, has had two of the most exciting players in the league in Julius Freeman and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who each had a multi-point night. They proved to be too much for the smothering Nighthawks defence and Malmo simply couldn’t manage enough offence to keep up. Despite entering the second period tied 1-1, this game quickly got out of hand from there with Vancouver scoring the game-winner just forty-one seconds into the period. Events of the Week Fights Game 86 - Matthews beats up Dawson Sometimes, you don’t have to win a fight to get your team fired up. That was the case when Lewis Dawson got his face bashed in by Anthony Matthews. Just fourteen seconds after the fight, Malmo opened up the scoring and then they did what Malmo has been doing this season. They dominated the rest of the game convincingly and notched yet another shutout. Game 97 - Greene beats up Bigshotty When you talk about fights influencing the momentum of a game, it is hard to get a clearer example than this. Seattle was getting outshot by Prague by a wide margin before this fight. However, after Scott Greene beat the snotty out of Scotty BigShotty, the Bears began to take control, finally managing to get out of their own end. This resulted in the first two goals of the game coming just minutes later and a lead that they would maintain throughout the rest of the match. Game 126 - Frobe beats up Madden I was cheering so hard to the Gordie Howe hat-trick in this one. Gert B Frobe convincingly won his fight against John Madden and then went on to record his first point of the season. With the net empty in the final minutes, it looked like everyone was trying to get the puck to Frobe to finish it off. It will be interesting to watch and see if this fight is a turning point in Gert’s rocky VHL start. Hat-Tricks Game 59 - Julius Freeman It was Julius Freeman’s third point of the night on an assist to Jeff Downey that forced the Reign to pull their back-up goalie, Joe Nixon. But Freeman wasn’t done yet. The cherry on top came in the sixteenth minute of the third period as he found a hole of the Riga defense to finish the hat trick. Julius led his team with seven shots on the night, with nearly half of them ending up in the back of the net. Game 85 - Kevin Foreskin Kevin Foreskin has been having a break-out season, eclipsing a point per game pace and well on his way to shattering his personal goals record. Kevin got started early in the second period of this game, but he didn’t really turn in on until the third, scoring his second and third goals just three minutes apart. Currently, Foreskin is leading his team by a wide margin in both points and goals. Shutouts Game 52 - HC Davos vs. Helsinki Helsinki has performed above what was expected of them early this season, but they have still struggled to find consistency in scoring. They have been shutout more than any other team and this one has to sting. However, I don’t want to take anything away from the excellent job done by the Davos defence and Pekka Pouta. Pekka has only gotten more than one shutout in a season once before, and with one this early, he looks ready to break that mark for a second time. Game 53 - Malmo vs. Riga After three entirely scoreless periods, it would take only twenty-four seconds of overtime to end this match. In the previous sixty minutes, Finn Davison faced twenty-eight shots, stopping them all. This may be one of the greatest defensive battles we’ve seen all season, and as they are conference rivals, I’m excited to get to see this matchup again later in the season. Game 54 - New York vs. D.C. This week started strong for goalies as we got yet another 1-0 shutout. This time it was JB Rift getting his second of the season. However, I have to mention the fact that his opponent, A Red Guy, allowed only one goal after facing fifty shots, losing with a save percentage of .980. Guy has to be at least a little frustrated with his offence who could only force Rift to make 17 saves to earn the shutout. Game 66 - Helsinki vs. Prague Helsinki has struggled all season to put up the offense and has been shutout more than any other team to this point, but this one had to be especially painful. Virgil Ligriv stopped thirty-six shots. But it was Brick Wahl who walked away with the shutout in yet another 1-0 game this week. Game 68 - Vancouver vs. Toronto Did someone say dead-puck era? Yeah, we’ve got another 1-0 game. This time it was Greg Eagles and Jaxx Hextall who battled it out. Getting revenge in the rematch, Eagles bested the young goalie and secured his first shutout of the season. Game 86 - HC Davos vs. Malmo I’ve said before that getting a shutout and getting FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from the three stars is a travesty. However, when you only face nine shots in an entire game, I guess I get it. Michael Johnson will probably lead the league this season in shutouts, but this will surely his easiest. Game 90 - Seattle vs. Helsinki Well, perhaps the Titans are finally going to get some payback for being shutout so many times this season. Virgil Ligriv made twenty-six shots in his first shutout of the season. Ligriv has some big shoes to fill in Helsinki, but he is off to a fantastic start. If he can keep this up, they just might be able to compensate for their offensive woes. Game 98 - New York vs. Moscow At the beginning of the season, I believed that Raymond Bernard would lead the league in shutouts this season. He isn’t quite keeping up with the competition in that regard, but, when the goalie of the reigning cup-champions is on pace to have an even better season than his last, it is scary nonetheless. This game was non-stop action and Bernard had to make an amazing thirty-six saves to get the shutout. Game 99 - Helsinki vs. Toronto In his first game back in Toronto after being traded, Owen May shocked the fans. While the Titans finally started capitalizing on the power-play, May casually stopped twenty-eight shots for his first shutout of the season. It is always a good day when your backup goalie records a shutout, but most of the time you can credit your defence with a large part of the success. However, that wasn’t the case, as Owen just put the team on his back and carrier them to victory. Game 112 - Helsinki vs. H.C. Davos What a performance from the Titan’s backup goalie. Back to back shutouts for the veteran, Owen May. May got some help from his defence on this one, as they only gave up twelve shots and kept Davos from building any kind of momentum, even on their five powerplays. Helsinki came into the seasons with questions in net after losing Alexander Peppers to retirement, but it looks like the only question now is which of their two goalies is more elite. Game 118 - Malmo vs. Helsinki To round out their revenge tour for their offensive shortcomings early in the week, Helsinki gave Malmo a taste of their own medicine. This time it was back to Virgil Ligriv, and he showed us why he is the starter. This game was incredibly close through two periods, but early in the third, Helsinki scored twice in a span of nineteen seconds to put it away. Game 126 - H.C. Davos vs. Prague To close out this week of recaps we have yet another European Conference shutout. With ten of the twelve shutouts this week, European goalies are having the time of their lives at the moment. This game was incredibly evenly matched with each team having twenty-two shots and being perfect on the penalty kill. However, it was Brick Wahl who was flawless in this victory as he collects his second shutout of the season. Rookie Spotlight Thomas Landry II After just twenty games in his first season in Halifax, it wasn’t clear what Thomas Landry II was going to become. But after spending a year in San Diego, he became one of the most exciting prospects of the S71 draft. Scoring one hundred and forty-five points to surpass two points per game, Landry was an offensive phenom and special teams expert. Several teams had their eyes on the rising star, but it was the Prague Phantoms who snagged him fifth overall and even there he was a steal. He has continued to develop at an incredible pace, taking every opportunity to emulate veterans on the Phantoms roster such as Joel Ylonen and Roll Fizzlebeaf. Currently, in the top five in points among rookies, Landry has been as high as first at times this season. His consideration for rookie of the year may rest largely on Prague’s success this season, but, at the moment, I see him as the front-runner.

Malmo 3-1

109 Malmo Nighthawks @ Vancouver Wolves 110 Toronto Legion @ Prague Phantoms 112 Helsinki Titans @ HC Davos Dynamo 113 Riga Reign @ Moscow Menace

Hm.. I'm going to blame that on bouncing between two computers while writing this, but I'm not sure how I missed that.

I wondered how many times I could make that joke before someone pointed it out.

Welcome to the first edition of VSN’s S71 Weekly Review (Games 1-48). 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. Changes There will be a couple of changes coming to the Weekly Report this season. The first is that it will now be called Weekly Review. Second, I will no longer be recapping every single fight, it was just too repetitive to be worth the amount of work it took. Instead, I will cover fights that I find especially notable, line brawls, momentum shifts, repeat offenders, and stuff like that. Finally, I will be adding a poll each week where the readers will pick their power rankings each week and I will compare those to my own. Hopefully, these changes will keep Weekly Report fresh and exciting this season. Recap We’re back and better than ever! S71 has begun and we are starting to get a feel for each team around the league. The Helsinki Titans and Toronto Legion are both punching well above where they were expected to be this season. Granted, it is still early, but this could throw a huge wrench in some pre-season predictions. On the flip side, D.C. and Malmo seem to be the contenders they have been hyped up to be. We saw a number of notable performances this week, but to highlight a few of the best, here is my shortlist. First, we have Michael Johnson who has recorded three shutouts in eight games. Surely, this pace can’t continue, but this has been a fantastic start. Next, I want to mention the break-out season Oskar Lagesson seems to be having. Somehow, he is second in points among defensemen while also leading the league in penalty minutes. Finally, there is the entire New York Americans penalty kill. Fredrik Elmebeck, Owen Nolan, and David OQuinn each have a short-handed goal already. So far, the European Conference leads the North American Conference, winning seven of the ten cross-conference games. The biggest stat out of these games is the +16 goal differential the European teams currently hold. It will be interesting to see if these stats hold as the season progresses. 3-Stars First Star Michael Johnson (MAL) - 0.953 SSV%, 1.36 GAA, 3 SO Second Star Hulk Hogan (SEA) - 10 A, 17 SB Third Star Julius Freeman (VAN) - 7 G, 3 A Power Rankings European Conference Moscow Menace - The champs are back and it doesn’t look like they’ve regressed at all. Prague Phantoms - Two wins over Malmo and a win over Moscow. This is a team to fear. Malmo Nighthawks - Honestly, I want to rank them higher than this, but I want to see them beat some tougher competition first. Helsinki Titans - They are certainly a team in a retool, but it looks like they may have avoided a total rebuild. Riga Reign - I would have thought they had at least one more season before their window closed, but perhaps I was wrong. HC Davos Dynamo - They have three first-round picks next season and they will likely all be in the top five or six picks. Focus on that Dynamo fans. North American Conference Calgary Wranglers - Calgary was a bit of an underdog to represent the conference in last seasons cup. That won't be the case if they make it back in S71. D.C. Dragons - D.C. is continuing to build on the success of last season. They turned some heads this week. Vancouver Wolves - They could have gotten a better start, but they still look like a tough team to beat when they are clicking. New York Americans - New York is only here because they should be better than Toronto and we only had eight games this week. They should improve as the season progresses. Toronto Legion - This team has a lot of talented players, but they are still young and need improvement. Seattle Bears - Maybe it is just a slow start like last season, but this week was rough. Notable Games Game 10 - D.C. Dragons vs. Vancouver Wolves The three notable games this week were easy to pick. First, we had an exciting shootout finish in a game between two of the top three teams in the North American Conference. The Wolves dominated the shot total in the first period, but each team went into the intermission with a single goal. After that, they each had a period where the momentum seemed to be in their favour but JB Rift and Jimmy Spyro were magnificent through the stretch, keeping the game even throughout three periods and overtime. Finally, in the fourth round of the shootout, Benny Graves blasted one past Spyro and a final stop from Rift secured the game for the Dragons. Game 27 - Helsinki Titans vs. Prague Phantoms I promise I don’t just like shootouts, but this battle between second and third in the European Conference was too good to pass up. Erik Summers and Alex Pearson each scored on the powerplay in the first period to send it to intermission tied 1-1. It looked as though we would enter the third with the same score, but in the closing seconds of the second period, Brian Strong put it in the back of the net to give the Titans the lead. Both teams took their time in the final period, looking for the right time to strike, but it was the Phantoms who were finally able to sustain pressure and get the tying goal. After an exciting overtime was unable to give a winner, it took to the fourth round of the shootout for Ben Hafkey to beat the keeper with a five-hole shot. After one more save by Virgil Ligriv, it was over. Game 30 - Calgary Wranglers vs.Moscow Menace Finally, we have a rematch of the S70 Continental Cup finals, and boy did we get a good one. This game is already on the shortlist for the best games of the season. Raymond Bernard and Jacques Lafontaine each had an SSV% over .950, stopping a combined seventy shots. You had to wonder going into this match whether or not Bernard was in the head of the Wranglers a bit after the cup finals, but Calgary put those thoughts to rest with a quick goal less than four minutes into the game. Unfortunately for them, that would be their last as Moscow dominated possession for the rest of the game. The Menace roster combined for forty-six shots and did not afford the Wranglers another solid opportunity until late in the third. However, the reigning champions managed to hold on through the desperate push in the final minutes to secure the win. Events of the Week Fights Game 6 - Pat Svoboda beats up Ben McGirr A lot of times when we talk about fights that changed the momentum of games, we will be taking about fights that are closely followed by a goal or put an end to a team’s streak of scoring. However, this fight didn’t stem the unending tide of shots from the Phantoms. Instead, it changed the momentum for one player only, Pat Svoboda. After returning to the ice from his five for fighting Ben McGirr, Pat was a force of nature and the only one able to break open the scoring in this 0-0 match. His goal would end as the only one of the night. Game 18 - BRAWL! It didn’t take long this season for the Titan’s newest player, Blake Laughton, to show us exactly what we expected, starting a line brawl. His timing, however, could have been better. At the time of the fight, Moscow had just tied the game at 3-3, a game that they would go on to win 4-3. But you’re not here for the logic of fighting, you want the results. All ten skaters were involved in the brawl and they were paired as such, Laughton beat up Mat Tocco, Jet Jaguar beat up Jim Bob, and Ben Hafkey and Nate Telker fought to a draw. Cody Smith, Tony Bolonee, Oskar Lagesson, and Vladimir Pavlov were also involved in the scuffle without dropping gloves. Game 29 - BRAWL! I don’t know what the coaches said during the first intermission, but it got these players angry. Just thirty-six seconds into the period a line brawl broke out resulting in ten penalties to nine players. After an Elasmobranch Fish hooking penalty drew a crowd, Luciano Valentino jumped in and started swinging. Eventually, he paired off with Derek Eriksson, my child, and took him to the ice with some big blows. George Washington and John Madden fought to a draw as well as Mikko Aaltonen and Milos Slavik. John Frostbeard and Pierre Persson also drew penalties for their involvement in the kerfuffle. Game 30 - Oskar Lagesson beats up a ref? Now, I grant that I am still fairly new to this league, but I didn’t know this was actually something that could happen. Oskar Lagesson was ejected from a game against the Calgary Wranglers for Abuse of an Official. I know we don’t do suspensions, but perhaps we should consider it. Hat-Tricks Game 11 - Acyd Burn Somehow, at the time of writing this, Malmo is in fourth in the European Conference. However, that seems unlikely to remain the case as they have seen excellent performances already from all of their stars. Acyd Burn, their big off-season acquisition, showed us all just what he is capable of as he notches the first hat-trick of the season. Scored entirely in the span of nine minutes in the second period, the game was already firmly in the Nighthawks’ grasp, but this turned it into a rout. It is also worth mentioning that Burn had two assists as well to make it a five-point game. Game 46 - Erik Draven The Helsinki Titans exploded into this game with the first goal, but it looked like Vancouver may have recovered the momentum with the quick response. However, that is when Erik Draven cranked it to eleven and took over the game. Over the course of a little less than a period, Draven racked up all three goals for his first hatty of the season. Fellow Erik, Erik Summers, got assists on all three goals, so the Erik to Erik connection was strong this game. Shutouts Game 3 - Seattle vs. Malmo A strong start for the Nighthawks, it looked like they were the only team who came to this game prepared to play. Malmo capitalized repeatedly on the man advantage, scoring all three goals while on the power play. However, Michael Johnson really stole the show with twenty-nine saves in the first shutout of the season. Johnson even came out of this game with a point just to put the gravy on the cake. Game 6 - Prague vs. Riga This game had it all, but we have already talked about the fight and goal by Svoboda. Outside of that, this game was a goalie duel between two of the best in the league. After stopping fifteen shots in a harrowing second period, Finn Davison fully deserved the shutout in this one and finished with twenty-six saves on the night. The Reign’s defence deserves credit as well for only allowing five shots in the third, even as the Phantoms pulled their goalie to try to tie it up. Game 25 - Toronto vs. Vancouver I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Toronto has a goalie and he just shut out the Vancouver Wolves. Jaxx Hextall had a crazy game and didn’t receive a ton of help from his blue line. He stopped twenty-five shots as the rookie took down the veteran Greg Eagles in this 1-0 finish. Game 34 - Moscow vs. HC Davos The reigning champs have started out hot this season with no sign of a cup hangover insight. With possibly the best defensive pairing in the league and a goaltender who entered the season as a favourite for the Aiden Shaw, expect to see more of the Menace on the shutout list. However, the first is always special and Raymond Bernard recorded his first shutout of the season in style with a comfortable seventeen saves. Game 38 - New York vs. D.C. D.C. got off to a brilliant start with three goals in the first period. But it was JB Rift who stole the show and demoralized the competition. Despite sustained pressure in the second period, the Americans were unable to solve him. The Dragons’ defence got things back under control in the third to help Rift finished the shutout. Game 42 - Helsinki vs. Malmo Oh, how the Titans wish they could have the first minute of this game back. A minute was all it took for Phil Marleau to score the only goal of the game. From there, Michael Johnson and Virgil Ligriv shut down both offences in the second-best goalie duel we saw this week (Just wait.. You’ll see why this one is second). They each stopped twenty-seven shots, but Johnson walked away with his second shutout of the week. Game 44 - Prague vs HC Davos This is the best Davos has looked so far this season and this was Prague’s worst performance by far. Spending twice as much time on the man advantage helped the Dynamo greatly, as they scored the only goal of the game on the power play. Samuel Ross only faced fifteen shots, but it doesn’t matter how hard it was, a shutout is always a big accomplishment. Game 48 - Riga vs Malmo Michael Johnson had a near-identical performance to his game against Helsinki with twenty-six saves in his third shutout of the week, an amazing accomplishment. However, Malmo didn’t score in the first minute of this game the way they had in the last. Instead, we had the craziest finish to a game I have ever seen. Finn Davison played an equally amazing game, stopping thirty shots in fifty-nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds. But, with one second left on the clock, the unthinkable happened. A last-second effort by Aleksander Rodriguez just managed to squeak by Davison to end a game that looked destined for overtime. Rookie Spotlight Kristopher McDagg After four seasons in the VHLM, Kristopher McDagg has finally arrived and he is off to a great start. Originally signing with the Houston Bulls, McDagg was eventually drafted by the Saskatoon Wild and stayed there for their impressive cup victory in S69. It looked like he would finally get his major league start in S70 when he was called up by HC Davos, but after being traded to Toronto he was sent back to the VHLM. There, he once again found himself playing for the Bulls. Last season in Houston he finally had his breakout year with over a hundred points and a +55. He also improved physically as well, jumping up to a personal best two-hundred and sixty-five hits while only increasing his penalty minutes slightly. This season, he has rejoined the Toronto Legion roster and has put up good numbers for a rookie. In his first eight games, he has already scored seven points, which is an excellent pace for a rookie, but I would like to see his defensive stats improve over the course of the season. If McDagg can balance out his game reasonably, I think he is a real contender for rookie of the year.

Keep doubting us, I dare you.

D - Erik Summers @fonziGG

Helsinki is Underrated I wasn't expecting this to be a hot take, but in a recent VHL poll, users voted the Helsinki Titans as the most likely to miss the playoffs in the European Conference (assuming HC Davos would be the other team to do so). If all you did was look at the TPA of the top 5-6 players of each team, then I get it, Helsinki doesn't have a single player over 800 TPA. But, aside from Brick Wahl who has historically under-performed, neither does Prague. After Wahl, Ylonen is their highest TPA player and the league showed exactly what they thought of him this off-season, toss him around as a deal-sweetener and nothing more. The Phantoms are my pick to miss the playoffs this season, but I think the came case could be made for Riga and Malmo as well. Riga has the best defensive top pairing in the league and a top five goalie. It is going to be hard to score on them. However, who is shooting the puck? Their highest TPA player score 11 goals last season. They could easily find themselves unable to keep up with teams that are score 2-3 goals a game. Finally, there is Malmo. Everyone is high on the Nighthawks right now, and I get it. They have an exciting GM and the Acyd Burn trade really solidified their offense. However, they are extremely lacking in depth. They have two lines of forward and to defensive pairs and that is it. They don't have much in the way of a backup goalie either. That means there are going to be a lot of sim-generated players getting ice time again in Malmo and that has consistently worked against them. So, with all that being said, I understand why some people are skeptical of the Titans this season, but I think there are teams with much bigger holes to fill this year if they want a shot at the post-season.

F - Boris the Forest @Alex Bridges

D - Guillaume Fontenette @CowboyinAmerica

G - Greg Eagles @Alex Bridges

F - Mikko Aaltonen @CowboyinAmerica

F - Jet Jaguar @Alex Bridges

Fixed. I don't know what I was on.

HC Davos Dynamo Receive: RW Derek Eriksson D.C. Dragons Receive: S71 VAN 2nd Analysis Things were getting a little crowded on the D.C. Dragons’ roster, so, when you have an extra forward that is talented enough to see ice time but doesn’t have a place on your squad, you shop him. The Dynamo still have the cap space to make some more moves this off-season, so adding some offensive depth while it is available on the market is a big plus. Derek Eriksson, my child, slipped just out of the first round in the S70 draft and spent his second season in Philadelphia, but he is now ready to play on a VHL roster. Davos is probably looking at one more season at least before serious contention, so that makes this a timely pickup that allows them to test the rookie out in a variety of situations. As far as D.C.’s haul, Vancouver’s second-round pick isn’t high-value, but it certainly has a chance of producing a good player. After making the playoffs for the first time as a franchise, it would be nice to see the Dragons start making moves for now, and I’m not sure if this falls into that category. Altogether, this looks like a swap of bottom-line players, but both sides seemed to think they could do better than what they currently possess. It will be exciting to follow Derek Eriksson’s progress this season, but if Davos makes the playoffs in S71 it will be hard to call anything of their moves from this off-season a loss. For D.C. look for more moves as they try to assemble a roster that can contend for the top of the North American Conference. Get-to-Know the Players Derek Eriksson After playing his rookie season with the Philadelphia Reapers, Derek Eriksson was retained by the team in the S70 draft. That is always a good sign when a team’s GM sees something in a player he’s familiar with that makes them want to reach a little bit to hold on to them. Eriksson’s first season was a productive one with fifty-five points in sixty-two games. He also set a theme for his entire VHLM career, shooting percentage. Derek has been very efficient on offence through his first two seasons, improving to forty-eight goals on three-hundred twenty-two shots and ninety-eight points. If Eriksson is looking to improve, his 200-ft game could use some help as he is sometimes a bit invisible in his own zone. It will be interesting to see if he gets any ice time in special-teams situations this season, as he consistently produced in that role for the Reapers. Xavier leFlamant The pick acquired by D.C. became Xavier leFlamant, who will be entering his second season in the VHLM. He played alongside Eriksson on the Reapers last season and will be to the Philadelphia Reapers' roster in S71. leFlamant is an exciting prospect, but he still has work to do in the minors. However, look for him to make waves in his new leadership role, maybe even turning the Reapers into a contender.

Sign me up!

Summers' Off-Season Consideration Erik Summers is going into a contract year and the pressure to perform is mounting. Helsinki made a first round exit from the playoffs in S70, and Summers' performance in the post season was less than stellar. Facing the real possibility of becoming the top defenseman on the Titan's Erik's going to have to lead in ways he never has before. His offensive capabilities improved greatly over the past season, but this upcoming year will likely mean returning to his roots. He will have a less experience goaltender in net behind him and is will be his job to protect Virgil as much as possible. Rumor has it that contract talks are already in the works to extend the second year defenseman, so perhaps his future in Helsinki is already looking up. It is the closest club, geographically to his family at this time, so that may also be incentive for him to cut a team-friendly deal.