Erik Summers

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.
 
 

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.
 
 

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.