hedgehog337

Player Information
Username: hedgehog337
Player Name: Donnis Orange Krupis
Recruited From: Other (ig dis recreate)
Age: 49
Position: RW
Height: 73 in.
Weight: 242 lbs.
Birthplace: Latvia

Player Page
@VHLM GM

Player Information
Username: hedgehog337
Player Name: Donnis Orange Krupis
Recruited From: Other (ig dis recreate)
Age: 49
Position: RW
Height: 73 in.
Weight: 242 lbs.
Birthplace: Latvia

Player Page
@VHLM GM

This week has been very rich with so many different things for the VHL league. Big YT recruitment, a controversy about captaincy, the VHLM GM punishment for AI articles. And on top of that, the most recent problem - early Warsaw's struggles. The start of the season hasn't been kind to them at all - only 3 wins in 10 games which only puts them above Davos in EU...matter of fact, in the whole league. Now, we all learned that horrible start doesn't mean much as it's always possible to catch up later on and do some big damage in late season. We don't even need to look up to the far past. Last season Toronto was very middling for the first half of the season. I think everyone knows who is our defending champion now. However, can Warsaw follow Toronto's footsteps and have their own happy ending? 
 
My opinion is - no. And it's not really because I wanna bully Nohbody here, I just like to speak in your face language. Even before this seasons started, I already had doubts about this team going far. There is a possibility of them grabbing the 5th spot and trying to have a fight in the wildcard and I wouldn't be very surprised if that happens. But also won't shocked if things go other way around. Even by looking at this roster I just can't imagine this squad doing a lot. Let's look at their players though. We'll start with their supposed to be leading part:  
 
Dogwood Maple. Always been solid scoring option in Vancouver and Davos. However, he never played the most major role in either teams so it's tough to imagine a triple regressed player can pull out a huge season out of nowhere. Though he has been the most active attacking player so far and for sure could end his career with a over PPG season. 
Alfred Champagne. Became a solid deal in his last two seasons with Davos. Again, never been THE guy for them. You know where I'm going with this one. He scored 7 goals so far though so maybe he's onto something...gotta shoot more!
Clueless Wallob. Other than weak S87, always been pretty solid netminder. Never fell off below .925 mark. So far he hasn't been the real problem for Warsaw either and I imagine he can keep this form till the end of the season. Whether they will make the playoffs or not. 
 
Now we will dig deeper into this squad and figure it out the biggest issue with them...
 
I'm sorry, but this defense ain't it. Fun fact, neither of 4 defs has a defense as the main attribute. I'm not sure how are they supposed to defend and by looking at the team stats...looks like they don't even try. The leading D is supposed to be Gregor - had a good last season in Seattle. In a very mediocre Seattle, mind you. He is already regressed and I don't think he can top out his last season at all. It's hard to do a lot without at least one def leading the way. The other three are not exactly better and two of them are also older too. 
 
They also have young forwards plus Creeg. The young fraction might have bright days ahead of them, but I don't see them stepping up big time this season which puts their chances even in a bigger danger. 
 
So what we have at the end of the day? A somewhat competent but not flashy forward lineup, a weird defensive lineup and a fine goaltending. In overall, this roster could produce things, but we are talking about the EU conference. Since forever this place has been nothing but a non stop WAR. This season, only Davos is onto the rebuild. The other 7 teams are having chances to some degree. So just having a kinda fine team might not work in this environment. You have to stand out to survive this bloodbath. Can Warsaw do this? Honestly, I have to doubt here. But if they will manage to break through, kudos to them. 
 
 
Now, with all of these trades that were deemed dubious (by me as well) I just can't name them the biggest problem. After all, perhaps N0h was just tired of constant rebuilding. Not fun at all, I know. Or Anisimov/Kisslinger were feeling the same way. Who knows. So let's talk about another deal. Just imagine how different things would've been without this horrific trade. Nohbody already did explain his thought process behind this deal, but I just still can't justify this blunder. Warsaw management really did underestimate how shallow drafts have become for the past 3-4 seasons. But even in the case if a deeper draft, going from 2 to 13 and some 2nds is a huge reach in my books. This only might've worked in S66 or S75 drafts. I get that getting more players and possibly steals was an idea here. It's just in these type of drafts the better choice was just drafting another franchise caliber player instead of going for more depth. And I think Warsaw certainly needed that.
 
And now imagine the life without this deal. N0h actually drafts his own player. The S92 pick that in reality was used to trade for his own player is staying intact. Now there would be a chance to draft another real good youngin. Whether if it's someone like Richmond or going for a future star D, like Gavrilovs or Lamb. Now they would've ended up with the same roster PLUS another good future player on their hands. Not a perfect situation, but it's definitely something better. But hey, coulda shoulda woulda things never works in real life so they have to live with what they have. And the reality is they will face the retirements of Wallob and Maple and Champagne is heading towards his last season. And all they will have is S95 picks and a hope for the good free agency. And also Dubois and Popa coming up. I guess that's something. Now that Warsaw boss already told everyone he will not give up on this team, he is gonna have some task to make a way out of this situation. It will be somewhat impressive if he manages to keep Warsaw afloat and also having a good future at the same time. But until that, all I have are doubts. 
 
By the way, some interesting fact. There have been some talks about Bana always making it so he wins trades. And he even managed to push a rental goalie plus a mid level D to Warsaw for the 1st and a 2nd rounders. However, in the case of that infamous trade and the follow up had Moscow in it. Can't really stress about it though. After all, GM's are trying to do better for their own team. So I'll just shrug it off here. 
 
Another interesting fact. In most of times the team actually plays a lot better right after I'm criticizing them about something. So...Warsaw W streak incoming? 
 
That's it and I'm out. 

New season, even more fresh faces in not so snowy anymore Riga. That also reflected on the captains choice as 3 out of 4 players listed here are rookies. Another one is a sophomore. I guess you all know where it goes. The transition period is going real nice and now it's time to meet people who are gonna lead us at this timeline: 
 
 
C - Eric White Jr. @Mysterious_Fish
A - Red Panda @Lemorse7
A - Reginald the Dodo @Esso2264
 
HC - Martin Kemp @leafsman
 
you already know what the deal...don't forget to congratulate our captains! 

New season, even more fresh faces in not so snowy anymore Riga. That also reflected on the captains choice as 3 out of 4 players listed here are rookies. Another one is a sophomore. I guess you all know where it goes. The transition period is going real nice and now it's time to meet people who are gonna lead us at this timeline: 
 
 
C - Eric White Jr. @Mysterious_Fish
A - Red Panda @Lemorse7
A - Reginald the Dodo @Esso2264
 
HC - Martin Kemp @leafsman
 
you already know what the deal...don't forget to congratulate our captains! 

New season, even more fresh faces in not so snowy anymore Riga. That also reflected on the captains choice as 3 out of 4 players listed here are rookies. Another one is a sophomore. I guess you all know where it goes. The transition period is going real nice and now it's time to meet people who are gonna lead us at this timeline: 
 
 
C - Eric White Jr. @Mysterious_Fish
A - Red Panda @Lemorse7
A - Reginald the Dodo @Esso2264
 
HC - Martin Kemp @leafsman
 
you already know what the deal...don't forget to congratulate our captains! 

A quick simple media about VHL teams for doubles week. The creativity is up to the moon, I know. 
 
 
  NA Conference  
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - The only NA team in this tier with 4 defs on the roster. Not sure if this is gonna help the cause. However, Skor will definitely up this team's chances. Calgary is gonna hope he will teach their forwards how to skor considering how much pain this thing has brought to them last season. 
 
- one last push! Though, I do feel they already blew their best chances in last two seasons. Now most of the team is regressed the hell out already which may be a factor. They will hope Simon thinks otherwise and their forward core is still gonna be on top of things. 
 
 - You would think the champ team is gonna have no problems in extending all of the pending FA players. The AI media(?) scandal definitely has put a halt on the younger players' development and Burns hasn't even signed yet. Soogard is also gone cause retirement. They will hope their remaining top core is still gonna carry. 
 
 - gonna be interesting to see how are they gonna compete with lesser D power as Sakamoto retired. The rest is pretty much the same plus they upgraded the goaltending with Tucker Jr. They will hope the last season was just a bump on the road and this season is totally different. 
 
 
Likely a playoff team:
 
 - their history of the past 30 plus seasons has teached us not taking them really seriously. Though this season might provide us a different story. The top forward lineup should be the real deal. The rest is take it or leave it tier, but still with the promise. They will hope sim is actually gonna let them taste a deep playoff run for once. 
 
 
No Cinderella story this time:
 
 - Sundin is gone and he took the luck with him. At least I think this is the case. Trunov is cool, but not on Scotty's level at all. Now this is the time to actually grab a lotto pick. Also, they do have a bit lots of S87-88 players there and none of them are earning more than 10 TPE per week. Doesn't look very promising. 
 
 
Rebuild!
 
 - unlike last off season, Bana managed to have a good firesale this time. Thanks to Warsaw. Now they can calmly cruise through the season and grab that lotto pick. 
 
 - I mean, they still have Slater. And that's really it for now. The focus is mostly on young players and just like Seattle, they can afford to wait. 
 
 
 
 Europe
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - probably gonna take the first spot in EU. Their D lineup isn't ideal, but the top crew is still there. They will hope the depth is gonna hang on enough for London to make a deep playoff run. Also that Simon won't screw Teno in post season. 
 
 - losing Skor sucks, but I think they will hang on nicely. Not exactly sure if this is the clear cut championship tier team though. Will be enough for the conference and then they will hope this roster is good enough to climb to the top. By the way, I'm expecting Stone to be the real deal this season. 
 
 
Little doubts:
 
 - not being able to directly replace Wolanin hurts badly. Hard to tell which player could have a great chemistry with Dixon. They will hope Lazaro is that person. Otherwise, I'm not liking their chances a lot. 
 
 - seeing Riga and Davos flying out of contention is good news for this team. The problem is they pretty much have the same roster as the last season which didn't even make the post season dance. They will hope things gonna turn 180 for them. 
 
 
Is it though?
 
 - rushed out contention for keeping their younger core happy. I guess that makes things entertaining, but I can't see a deep playoff run with this roster. If they will make it to begin with. Probably yes, but....ehhh. They will hope the miracles are actually happening this sim.
 
 
Might fight
 
 - this team is on the right trajectory. I'm not gonna be surprised if they can squeak into the wildcard, but perhaps their roster is still too raw for big things. But it's not far away anymore. 
 
 - we went younger this time, hence no direct replacements for retiring defs and also selling Tucker Jr. for Panda to shine. Can we somehow still make it? Yes, but it's a reach in my opinon. This is yet another season when any outcome is gonna be fine for us: either playoffs or a lotto pick. 
 
 
A EU team is rebuilding???
 
 - good for Alex who was trying this for a while. Finally he did send his team to rebuild. I guess Summers could steal some games, but the new era Davos coming in soon. 
 
 
Enough for today. That's it and I'm out. 
 

A quick simple media about VHL teams for doubles week. The creativity is up to the moon, I know. 
 
 
  NA Conference  
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - The only NA team in this tier with 4 defs on the roster. Not sure if this is gonna help the cause. However, Skor will definitely up this team's chances. Calgary is gonna hope he will teach their forwards how to skor considering how much pain this thing has brought to them last season. 
 
- one last push! Though, I do feel they already blew their best chances in last two seasons. Now most of the team is regressed the hell out already which may be a factor. They will hope Simon thinks otherwise and their forward core is still gonna be on top of things. 
 
 - You would think the champ team is gonna have no problems in extending all of the pending FA players. The AI media(?) scandal definitely has put a halt on the younger players' development and Burns hasn't even signed yet. Soogard is also gone cause retirement. They will hope their remaining top core is still gonna carry. 
 
 - gonna be interesting to see how are they gonna compete with lesser D power as Sakamoto retired. The rest is pretty much the same plus they upgraded the goaltending with Tucker Jr. They will hope the last season was just a bump on the road and this season is totally different. 
 
 
Likely a playoff team:
 
 - their history of the past 30 plus seasons has teached us not taking them really seriously. Though this season might provide us a different story. The top forward lineup should be the real deal. The rest is take it or leave it tier, but still with the promise. They will hope sim is actually gonna let them taste a deep playoff run for once. 
 
 
No Cinderella story this time:
 
 - Sundin is gone and he took the luck with him. At least I think this is the case. Trunov is cool, but not on Scotty's level at all. Now this is the time to actually grab a lotto pick. Also, they do have a bit lots of S87-88 players there and none of them are earning more than 10 TPE per week. Doesn't look very promising. 
 
 
Rebuild!
 
 - unlike last off season, Bana managed to have a good firesale this time. Thanks to Warsaw. Now they can calmly cruise through the season and grab that lotto pick. 
 
 - I mean, they still have Slater. And that's really it for now. The focus is mostly on young players and just like Seattle, they can afford to wait. 
 
 
 
 Europe
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - probably gonna take the first spot in EU. Their D lineup isn't ideal, but the top crew is still there. They will hope the depth is gonna hang on enough for London to make a deep playoff run. Also that Simon won't screw Teno in post season. 
 
 - losing Skor sucks, but I think they will hang on nicely. Not exactly sure if this is the clear cut championship tier team though. Will be enough for the conference and then they will hope this roster is good enough to climb to the top. By the way, I'm expecting Stone to be the real deal this season. 
 
 
Little doubts:
 
 - not being able to directly replace Wolanin hurts badly. Hard to tell which player could have a great chemistry with Dixon. They will hope Lazaro is that person. Otherwise, I'm not liking their chances a lot. 
 
 - seeing Riga and Davos flying out of contention is good news for this team. The problem is they pretty much have the same roster as the last season which didn't even make the post season dance. They will hope things gonna turn 180 for them. 
 
 
Is it though?
 
 - rushed out contention for keeping their younger core happy. I guess that makes things entertaining, but I can't see a deep playoff run with this roster. If they will make it to begin with. Probably yes, but....ehhh. They will hope the miracles are actually happening this sim.
 
 
Might fight
 
 - this team is on the right trajectory. I'm not gonna be surprised if they can squeak into the wildcard, but perhaps their roster is still too raw for big things. But it's not far away anymore. 
 
 - we went younger this time, hence no direct replacements for retiring defs and also selling Tucker Jr. for Panda to shine. Can we somehow still make it? Yes, but it's a reach in my opinon. This is yet another season when any outcome is gonna be fine for us: either playoffs or a lotto pick. 
 
 
A EU team is rebuilding???
 
 - good for Alex who was trying this for a while. Finally he did send his team to rebuild. I guess Summers could steal some games, but the new era Davos coming in soon. 
 
 
Enough for today. That's it and I'm out. 
 

A quick simple media about VHL teams for doubles week. The creativity is up to the moon, I know. 
 
 
  NA Conference  
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - The only NA team in this tier with 4 defs on the roster. Not sure if this is gonna help the cause. However, Skor will definitely up this team's chances. Calgary is gonna hope he will teach their forwards how to skor considering how much pain this thing has brought to them last season. 
 
- one last push! Though, I do feel they already blew their best chances in last two seasons. Now most of the team is regressed the hell out already which may be a factor. They will hope Simon thinks otherwise and their forward core is still gonna be on top of things. 
 
 - You would think the champ team is gonna have no problems in extending all of the pending FA players. The AI media(?) scandal definitely has put a halt on the younger players' development and Burns hasn't even signed yet. Soogard is also gone cause retirement. They will hope their remaining top core is still gonna carry. 
 
 - gonna be interesting to see how are they gonna compete with lesser D power as Sakamoto retired. The rest is pretty much the same plus they upgraded the goaltending with Tucker Jr. They will hope the last season was just a bump on the road and this season is totally different. 
 
 
Likely a playoff team:
 
 - their history of the past 30 plus seasons has teached us not taking them really seriously. Though this season might provide us a different story. The top forward lineup should be the real deal. The rest is take it or leave it tier, but still with the promise. They will hope sim is actually gonna let them taste a deep playoff run for once. 
 
 
No Cinderella story this time:
 
 - Sundin is gone and he took the luck with him. At least I think this is the case. Trunov is cool, but not on Scotty's level at all. Now this is the time to actually grab a lotto pick. Also, they do have a bit lots of S87-88 players there and none of them are earning more than 10 TPE per week. Doesn't look very promising. 
 
 
Rebuild!
 
 - unlike last off season, Bana managed to have a good firesale this time. Thanks to Warsaw. Now they can calmly cruise through the season and grab that lotto pick. 
 
 - I mean, they still have Slater. And that's really it for now. The focus is mostly on young players and just like Seattle, they can afford to wait. 
 
 
 
 Europe
 
Sure contenders: 
 
 - probably gonna take the first spot in EU. Their D lineup isn't ideal, but the top crew is still there. They will hope the depth is gonna hang on enough for London to make a deep playoff run. Also that Simon won't screw Teno in post season. 
 
 - losing Skor sucks, but I think they will hang on nicely. Not exactly sure if this is the clear cut championship tier team though. Will be enough for the conference and then they will hope this roster is good enough to climb to the top. By the way, I'm expecting Stone to be the real deal this season. 
 
 
Little doubts:
 
 - not being able to directly replace Wolanin hurts badly. Hard to tell which player could have a great chemistry with Dixon. They will hope Lazaro is that person. Otherwise, I'm not liking their chances a lot. 
 
 - seeing Riga and Davos flying out of contention is good news for this team. The problem is they pretty much have the same roster as the last season which didn't even make the post season dance. They will hope things gonna turn 180 for them. 
 
 
Is it though?
 
 - rushed out contention for keeping their younger core happy. I guess that makes things entertaining, but I can't see a deep playoff run with this roster. If they will make it to begin with. Probably yes, but....ehhh. They will hope the miracles are actually happening this sim.
 
 
Might fight
 
 - this team is on the right trajectory. I'm not gonna be surprised if they can squeak into the wildcard, but perhaps their roster is still too raw for big things. But it's not far away anymore. 
 
 - we went younger this time, hence no direct replacements for retiring defs and also selling Tucker Jr. for Panda to shine. Can we somehow still make it? Yes, but it's a reach in my opinon. This is yet another season when any outcome is gonna be fine for us: either playoffs or a lotto pick. 
 
 
A EU team is rebuilding???
 
 - good for Alex who was trying this for a while. Finally he did send his team to rebuild. I guess Summers could steal some games, but the new era Davos coming in soon. 
 
 
Enough for today. That's it and I'm out. 
 

Hello there. After a week of a welfare hiatus I'm back with some more VHL related stuff. This time I will do a bit different. I'm gonna rank all 16 teams in terms of disappointment/pleasant surprise. Basically, a 16th place = the biggest disappointment. The 1st = most pleasant surprise. So...nothing much more to say. Let's get it! 
 
 
16.  Prague Phantoms
 
It would've been weird to put the 8th best VHL regular season team at the last place here. But for me, the defending champs not even making the playoffs to defend their title = automatic biggest disappointment. Sure, EU conference and all of that. And even worse, they would've been 3rd in the NA conference (so not even a wildcard at all). But then, champs are supposed to survive any situation they're being in. Even in the bloodbath which the EU conference always has been. They just never very good, especially at the scoring department. Their secondary unit never clicked properly and no one outside couple of their main guys stepped up at all. In overall, they were far from the worst team, but the circumstances makes them the biggest disappointment in my list. 
 
15.  Calgary Wranglers
 
Personally, I was expecting way more from them when I sold Catia and Sadie to them. And when Oreo and Wheeler redid their build to more traditional scoring one, the expectations from me grew even further. Sure, there would be no guarantee they are gonna be good enough for the top of the crop considering that they just crawled from the rebuild process. But I was for sure not expecting that they will end up as the 2nd worst scoring team in the league. Yes, even all the rebuilding teams outside of Warsaw outscored them. When your best scorer and player as a whole was Maellard, you know something is fishy out there. And that's not even a knock on this particular player, I was just expecting more from other top TPE players. In overall, very mid regular season. But hey, they are 1 game away from eliminating the team listed below from the playoffs. 
 
14.  DC Dragons
 
I'm very sure there were bigger expectations for the capital team than just scoring 80 points and having to play a wildcard round. The only bright period happened at the ending when their leaders finally chose violence and started to actually put up some work. The rest of the season was rather forgettable and also frustrating. They just never could find the right chemistry and players looked really lost at times. But it's their defensive play that was giving me iffy vibes. You would think the team with so many high TPE players would be solid in all area of the ice. Nope. They were just trying to grind instead of using their full potential. I guess that's what happens when you're overachieving the season prior. By the way, it reminds me some other European team's luck after huge overperforming in S87. Also, they have Frenchman on the team...did he just took all the Riga unluck and brought it to DC? 
 
13.  Seattle Bears
 
Is this exactly a disappointment team? Not sure. Prior to this season I thought they would claim the 5th place with the mid record. Well, they posted a mid record. The only difference is they never made the playoffs at all. They had some interesting players that in theory could've done just enough for Seattle to grab a wildcard spot. But it was never meant to happen. Gregor had a nice season and couple of other mid level TPE players had a decent statline. But nothing more than that. In overall, a non factor season for them. I guess, looking forward to their full blown rebuild process. 
 
12.  Helsinki Titans
 
Landon Wolanin posted 101 points while being one of the best goal scorers in the league. Their leading players did what we expected from them. Rask did improve from his other mid tier seasons. All of that for just being able to sneak past Prague by 1 point and that's because of heroics by Chicago (and by Artyomov in particular). I think their fans had any rights to expect more than yet another wildcard round placement. But their consistency was a very big issue throughout whole season. One game they would dismantle any opposition that came against them while scoring 6-7 goals. The next night they would struggle to put anything worthwhile. You guessed it, against any opposition that came against them. They ended up as the 2nd best offense in the league, just behind LA. But like I said before, their consistency was a HELl of an issue. Sucks to have that in such a conference, but luckily they are still in the hunt. 
 
11.  Malmo Nighthawks
 
The additions of Skor and Boga really elevated this team to the legit contender status. So I'd say the end result is a bit of a bummer. The ending of the season wasn't so kind for this team and they will have a grueling task to get past Helsinki in game 5. The team obviously did good. 95 points, TOP 5 in the league. It's just their final placement in the conference that makes it a bit sour for them. And also the cap space issue that is coming following this season. They really have to make it count though this is not gonna be an end for Malmo regardless of the result in the playoffs. 
 
 
10.  Warsaw Predators
 
Now we're entering the rebuilding teams zone. The teams that we did expect to suck for the draft picks and they did just that. Warsaw is gonna be place lower than other tanking teams by default as they finished last. Also the fact neither Kisslinger or Anisimov are gonna have a shot at the rookie of the year award is making this a very meh season for them. 
 
9.  Vancouver Wolves
 
Another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw which is enough to be place above them in this list. Which means nothing for them. 5 first round draft picks however...now we're talking! 2 of them are lotto picks too and 2 others may potentially be inside the TOP 8. Frank would love to see that for sure. In other words, nothing much to say about this team. Just another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw. 
 
8.  Moscow Menace
 
I think despite ending up lower than Vancouver in standings I feel like they shown more promise for the future. Left Alone was a good leading piece for their rookies. In fact, Gunner has a good shot at the rookie award. In overall, they were playing decently and I feel like they actually had a potential for more wins than they got in reality. But I think this was a somewhat positive season for the Russian team. Could they get into the competing following this season? You know, EU conference needs more contenders as we don't have enough of them yet. 
 
7.  New York Americans
 
I'll be honest - I was expecting less from them. They didn't have any goaltending before bringing in Fuhr which cost them some games for sure. But after making a trade for a Vancouver goaltending legend plus a body at defence they suddenly started to play a decent brand of hockey. Having both Davis and Mancini doing a wonderful 1-2 punch also helped the cause. At the end of the day they fell of short from the playoffs, but I think there is some positives to look forward. The first thing they need to do though is locking Davis in. Otherwise, they are back to a never ending and agonizing rebuilding purgatory they never left.  
 
6.  London United
 
Now we're back to the big guns who did as good or even better than I expected. Like London United. The only nitpicking I have about this team is perhaps their secondary could've participated more at attacking. Sure, they did well at defence. But Teno has already proven the world class status so maybe it was the time to show more courage. But I guess they are sticking to their system which is working as they would want to. Their leading lineup did the most of work for this team so I'd say the trade for Wann Kerr worked very nicely for the UK hopeful. I just feel like there was a potential to do even more that they already did. Other than that, good showing and avoiding the wildcard is a nice bonus too. 
 
5.  Toronto Legion
 
The reg season's first half Toronto - the upper placement at the disappointment tier. They totally forgot what the luck looks and were struggling to get over .500 for a long time. That's before Castle decided to take matters to his hands. From that point on, it was very tough for other teams to break their spirit and they finished just below LA in the conference. The only question here is they didn't do enough at offense to fully be recognized. But they will have a time to address this issue against Chicago in the playoffs. I actually did have them below LA and DC in standing so that's why they are above London in my list. Good season in overall. 
 
4.  Los Angeles Stars
 
Kinda funny to see the black letters on black font. But hey, most of their logo is black colored so here's shrug from me. Anyways, I had them winning the Victory Cup. That's not exactly what happened, but they still topped the NA conference and placed at the TOP 3 league wide. Their roster is screaming that this season is the ultimate chance to bring the glory to the glorious city...to some people it's glorious I guess. Joyo was a pleasant surprise and Abass Jr is likely about to snatch a Boulet trophy. They for sure gonna be one of the favorites in the playoffs. But they gotta hope Vandelay steps his game up. .928 is not the elit'est stat, can't lie. Might not work at the playoffs. 
 
3.  Davos Dynamo
 
Their GM is just out there trying to prolong Davos' contention window. All of that for winning the Victory Cup. It's not like that was a hell of a surprise anyways. But I was never sure how is this gonna work out with some more newcomers getting brought in. You know, chemistry and all of that stuff. It ended up really wonderful for them and Leandro took them to the next level. And knowing their improved playoff luck during Alex tenure, you might see another deep playoff run from them. In overall, the Victory Cup could've been enough to warant the first place in this list. However, there were two teams that jumped out out of nowhere and made things in standings more complicated. 
 
2.  Chicago Phoenix
 
Prior to this season they only had one player above 700 TPA. At the end of the season they're still having only one player above 700 TPA. 
 
They made the playoffs while avoiding the wildcard altogether. Above DC and Calgary. This season in a nutshell. I mean, Sundin was always being a good scoring threat. But this season was something else. He chose to bring a chaos to NA conference before retiring from the hockey altogether. He will receive at least one award for being the best point scorer but perhaps the MVP is also in the books. Shout out to Legacy Gaming for being good at keeping up as well. But even with Sundin, nobody would expect them to have such a Cinderella story like they actually did. I thought they would be good enough for the 7th place in NA...not the 3rd lol. But it's their ability to hold on in regulation time so they could get some valuable points from OT or SO was really clutch for them. They just lost 23 games in regulation which is crazy for this roster. I don't give them much chances against Toronto in the playoffs, but they already exceeded any expectations everyone had for them. But also...no lotto picks might hurt them in the long run. Might be interesting to see them 5 seasons after this one and see if this performance affected their future. 
 
1.  Riga Reign
 
I was not being upset when VSN put us at the 6th place in their EU conference predictions. Bringing in Monkey and Shrimp was good enough for us to try make other 5 contenders' life harder. And if we were lucky, squeaking into the wildcard spot...that's what I thought before the season. 72 games after, we ended up 1 point away from the Victory Cup. Somehow, this was the roster that would really be one of the favorites for Simon. AK decided to stop being mid. Shrimp hitting new career high as well and Monkey. Same for Tucker Jr. The second line was doing fine and Anand is one of the best rookies for the season. Everything we did was working...well except for the games 50-65 or something when we started to lose the ground and it eventually cost us the regular season trophy. But then, I don't think anybody was expecting us being one of the best teams in the league in the first place. So that ended up way better than I could've expected. The only question remains is - can we continue our big run in the playoffs. Stay tuned starting Monday. 
 
 
So yeah, this was my opinion on the season and VHL teams. also 4 weeks yay.
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Hello there. After a week of a welfare hiatus I'm back with some more VHL related stuff. This time I will do a bit different. I'm gonna rank all 16 teams in terms of disappointment/pleasant surprise. Basically, a 16th place = the biggest disappointment. The 1st = most pleasant surprise. So...nothing much more to say. Let's get it! 
 
 
16.  Prague Phantoms
 
It would've been weird to put the 8th best VHL regular season team at the last place here. But for me, the defending champs not even making the playoffs to defend their title = automatic biggest disappointment. Sure, EU conference and all of that. And even worse, they would've been 3rd in the NA conference (so not even a wildcard at all). But then, champs are supposed to survive any situation they're being in. Even in the bloodbath which the EU conference always has been. They just never very good, especially at the scoring department. Their secondary unit never clicked properly and no one outside couple of their main guys stepped up at all. In overall, they were far from the worst team, but the circumstances makes them the biggest disappointment in my list. 
 
15.  Calgary Wranglers
 
Personally, I was expecting way more from them when I sold Catia and Sadie to them. And when Oreo and Wheeler redid their build to more traditional scoring one, the expectations from me grew even further. Sure, there would be no guarantee they are gonna be good enough for the top of the crop considering that they just crawled from the rebuild process. But I was for sure not expecting that they will end up as the 2nd worst scoring team in the league. Yes, even all the rebuilding teams outside of Warsaw outscored them. When your best scorer and player as a whole was Maellard, you know something is fishy out there. And that's not even a knock on this particular player, I was just expecting more from other top TPE players. In overall, very mid regular season. But hey, they are 1 game away from eliminating the team listed below from the playoffs. 
 
14.  DC Dragons
 
I'm very sure there were bigger expectations for the capital team than just scoring 80 points and having to play a wildcard round. The only bright period happened at the ending when their leaders finally chose violence and started to actually put up some work. The rest of the season was rather forgettable and also frustrating. They just never could find the right chemistry and players looked really lost at times. But it's their defensive play that was giving me iffy vibes. You would think the team with so many high TPE players would be solid in all area of the ice. Nope. They were just trying to grind instead of using their full potential. I guess that's what happens when you're overachieving the season prior. By the way, it reminds me some other European team's luck after huge overperforming in S87. Also, they have Frenchman on the team...did he just took all the Riga unluck and brought it to DC? 
 
13.  Seattle Bears
 
Is this exactly a disappointment team? Not sure. Prior to this season I thought they would claim the 5th place with the mid record. Well, they posted a mid record. The only difference is they never made the playoffs at all. They had some interesting players that in theory could've done just enough for Seattle to grab a wildcard spot. But it was never meant to happen. Gregor had a nice season and couple of other mid level TPE players had a decent statline. But nothing more than that. In overall, a non factor season for them. I guess, looking forward to their full blown rebuild process. 
 
12.  Helsinki Titans
 
Landon Wolanin posted 101 points while being one of the best goal scorers in the league. Their leading players did what we expected from them. Rask did improve from his other mid tier seasons. All of that for just being able to sneak past Prague by 1 point and that's because of heroics by Chicago (and by Artyomov in particular). I think their fans had any rights to expect more than yet another wildcard round placement. But their consistency was a very big issue throughout whole season. One game they would dismantle any opposition that came against them while scoring 6-7 goals. The next night they would struggle to put anything worthwhile. You guessed it, against any opposition that came against them. They ended up as the 2nd best offense in the league, just behind LA. But like I said before, their consistency was a HELl of an issue. Sucks to have that in such a conference, but luckily they are still in the hunt. 
 
11.  Malmo Nighthawks
 
The additions of Skor and Boga really elevated this team to the legit contender status. So I'd say the end result is a bit of a bummer. The ending of the season wasn't so kind for this team and they will have a grueling task to get past Helsinki in game 5. The team obviously did good. 95 points, TOP 5 in the league. It's just their final placement in the conference that makes it a bit sour for them. And also the cap space issue that is coming following this season. They really have to make it count though this is not gonna be an end for Malmo regardless of the result in the playoffs. 
 
 
10.  Warsaw Predators
 
Now we're entering the rebuilding teams zone. The teams that we did expect to suck for the draft picks and they did just that. Warsaw is gonna be place lower than other tanking teams by default as they finished last. Also the fact neither Kisslinger or Anisimov are gonna have a shot at the rookie of the year award is making this a very meh season for them. 
 
9.  Vancouver Wolves
 
Another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw which is enough to be place above them in this list. Which means nothing for them. 5 first round draft picks however...now we're talking! 2 of them are lotto picks too and 2 others may potentially be inside the TOP 8. Frank would love to see that for sure. In other words, nothing much to say about this team. Just another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw. 
 
8.  Moscow Menace
 
I think despite ending up lower than Vancouver in standings I feel like they shown more promise for the future. Left Alone was a good leading piece for their rookies. In fact, Gunner has a good shot at the rookie award. In overall, they were playing decently and I feel like they actually had a potential for more wins than they got in reality. But I think this was a somewhat positive season for the Russian team. Could they get into the competing following this season? You know, EU conference needs more contenders as we don't have enough of them yet. 
 
7.  New York Americans
 
I'll be honest - I was expecting less from them. They didn't have any goaltending before bringing in Fuhr which cost them some games for sure. But after making a trade for a Vancouver goaltending legend plus a body at defence they suddenly started to play a decent brand of hockey. Having both Davis and Mancini doing a wonderful 1-2 punch also helped the cause. At the end of the day they fell of short from the playoffs, but I think there is some positives to look forward. The first thing they need to do though is locking Davis in. Otherwise, they are back to a never ending and agonizing rebuilding purgatory they never left.  
 
6.  London United
 
Now we're back to the big guns who did as good or even better than I expected. Like London United. The only nitpicking I have about this team is perhaps their secondary could've participated more at attacking. Sure, they did well at defence. But Teno has already proven the world class status so maybe it was the time to show more courage. But I guess they are sticking to their system which is working as they would want to. Their leading lineup did the most of work for this team so I'd say the trade for Wann Kerr worked very nicely for the UK hopeful. I just feel like there was a potential to do even more that they already did. Other than that, good showing and avoiding the wildcard is a nice bonus too. 
 
5.  Toronto Legion
 
The reg season's first half Toronto - the upper placement at the disappointment tier. They totally forgot what the luck looks and were struggling to get over .500 for a long time. That's before Castle decided to take matters to his hands. From that point on, it was very tough for other teams to break their spirit and they finished just below LA in the conference. The only question here is they didn't do enough at offense to fully be recognized. But they will have a time to address this issue against Chicago in the playoffs. I actually did have them below LA and DC in standing so that's why they are above London in my list. Good season in overall. 
 
4.  Los Angeles Stars
 
Kinda funny to see the black letters on black font. But hey, most of their logo is black colored so here's shrug from me. Anyways, I had them winning the Victory Cup. That's not exactly what happened, but they still topped the NA conference and placed at the TOP 3 league wide. Their roster is screaming that this season is the ultimate chance to bring the glory to the glorious city...to some people it's glorious I guess. Joyo was a pleasant surprise and Abass Jr is likely about to snatch a Boulet trophy. They for sure gonna be one of the favorites in the playoffs. But they gotta hope Vandelay steps his game up. .928 is not the elit'est stat, can't lie. Might not work at the playoffs. 
 
3.  Davos Dynamo
 
Their GM is just out there trying to prolong Davos' contention window. All of that for winning the Victory Cup. It's not like that was a hell of a surprise anyways. But I was never sure how is this gonna work out with some more newcomers getting brought in. You know, chemistry and all of that stuff. It ended up really wonderful for them and Leandro took them to the next level. And knowing their improved playoff luck during Alex tenure, you might see another deep playoff run from them. In overall, the Victory Cup could've been enough to warant the first place in this list. However, there were two teams that jumped out out of nowhere and made things in standings more complicated. 
 
2.  Chicago Phoenix
 
Prior to this season they only had one player above 700 TPA. At the end of the season they're still having only one player above 700 TPA. 
 
They made the playoffs while avoiding the wildcard altogether. Above DC and Calgary. This season in a nutshell. I mean, Sundin was always being a good scoring threat. But this season was something else. He chose to bring a chaos to NA conference before retiring from the hockey altogether. He will receive at least one award for being the best point scorer but perhaps the MVP is also in the books. Shout out to Legacy Gaming for being good at keeping up as well. But even with Sundin, nobody would expect them to have such a Cinderella story like they actually did. I thought they would be good enough for the 7th place in NA...not the 3rd lol. But it's their ability to hold on in regulation time so they could get some valuable points from OT or SO was really clutch for them. They just lost 23 games in regulation which is crazy for this roster. I don't give them much chances against Toronto in the playoffs, but they already exceeded any expectations everyone had for them. But also...no lotto picks might hurt them in the long run. Might be interesting to see them 5 seasons after this one and see if this performance affected their future. 
 
1.  Riga Reign
 
I was not being upset when VSN put us at the 6th place in their EU conference predictions. Bringing in Monkey and Shrimp was good enough for us to try make other 5 contenders' life harder. And if we were lucky, squeaking into the wildcard spot...that's what I thought before the season. 72 games after, we ended up 1 point away from the Victory Cup. Somehow, this was the roster that would really be one of the favorites for Simon. AK decided to stop being mid. Shrimp hitting new career high as well and Monkey. Same for Tucker Jr. The second line was doing fine and Anand is one of the best rookies for the season. Everything we did was working...well except for the games 50-65 or something when we started to lose the ground and it eventually cost us the regular season trophy. But then, I don't think anybody was expecting us being one of the best teams in the league in the first place. So that ended up way better than I could've expected. The only question remains is - can we continue our big run in the playoffs. Stay tuned starting Monday. 
 
 
So yeah, this was my opinion on the season and VHL teams. also 4 weeks yay.
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Hello there. After a week of a welfare hiatus I'm back with some more VHL related stuff. This time I will do a bit different. I'm gonna rank all 16 teams in terms of disappointment/pleasant surprise. Basically, a 16th place = the biggest disappointment. The 1st = most pleasant surprise. So...nothing much more to say. Let's get it! 
 
 
16.  Prague Phantoms
 
It would've been weird to put the 8th best VHL regular season team at the last place here. But for me, the defending champs not even making the playoffs to defend their title = automatic biggest disappointment. Sure, EU conference and all of that. And even worse, they would've been 3rd in the NA conference (so not even a wildcard at all). But then, champs are supposed to survive any situation they're being in. Even in the bloodbath which the EU conference always has been. They just never very good, especially at the scoring department. Their secondary unit never clicked properly and no one outside couple of their main guys stepped up at all. In overall, they were far from the worst team, but the circumstances makes them the biggest disappointment in my list. 
 
15.  Calgary Wranglers
 
Personally, I was expecting way more from them when I sold Catia and Sadie to them. And when Oreo and Wheeler redid their build to more traditional scoring one, the expectations from me grew even further. Sure, there would be no guarantee they are gonna be good enough for the top of the crop considering that they just crawled from the rebuild process. But I was for sure not expecting that they will end up as the 2nd worst scoring team in the league. Yes, even all the rebuilding teams outside of Warsaw outscored them. When your best scorer and player as a whole was Maellard, you know something is fishy out there. And that's not even a knock on this particular player, I was just expecting more from other top TPE players. In overall, very mid regular season. But hey, they are 1 game away from eliminating the team listed below from the playoffs. 
 
14.  DC Dragons
 
I'm very sure there were bigger expectations for the capital team than just scoring 80 points and having to play a wildcard round. The only bright period happened at the ending when their leaders finally chose violence and started to actually put up some work. The rest of the season was rather forgettable and also frustrating. They just never could find the right chemistry and players looked really lost at times. But it's their defensive play that was giving me iffy vibes. You would think the team with so many high TPE players would be solid in all area of the ice. Nope. They were just trying to grind instead of using their full potential. I guess that's what happens when you're overachieving the season prior. By the way, it reminds me some other European team's luck after huge overperforming in S87. Also, they have Frenchman on the team...did he just took all the Riga unluck and brought it to DC? 
 
13.  Seattle Bears
 
Is this exactly a disappointment team? Not sure. Prior to this season I thought they would claim the 5th place with the mid record. Well, they posted a mid record. The only difference is they never made the playoffs at all. They had some interesting players that in theory could've done just enough for Seattle to grab a wildcard spot. But it was never meant to happen. Gregor had a nice season and couple of other mid level TPE players had a decent statline. But nothing more than that. In overall, a non factor season for them. I guess, looking forward to their full blown rebuild process. 
 
12.  Helsinki Titans
 
Landon Wolanin posted 101 points while being one of the best goal scorers in the league. Their leading players did what we expected from them. Rask did improve from his other mid tier seasons. All of that for just being able to sneak past Prague by 1 point and that's because of heroics by Chicago (and by Artyomov in particular). I think their fans had any rights to expect more than yet another wildcard round placement. But their consistency was a very big issue throughout whole season. One game they would dismantle any opposition that came against them while scoring 6-7 goals. The next night they would struggle to put anything worthwhile. You guessed it, against any opposition that came against them. They ended up as the 2nd best offense in the league, just behind LA. But like I said before, their consistency was a HELl of an issue. Sucks to have that in such a conference, but luckily they are still in the hunt. 
 
11.  Malmo Nighthawks
 
The additions of Skor and Boga really elevated this team to the legit contender status. So I'd say the end result is a bit of a bummer. The ending of the season wasn't so kind for this team and they will have a grueling task to get past Helsinki in game 5. The team obviously did good. 95 points, TOP 5 in the league. It's just their final placement in the conference that makes it a bit sour for them. And also the cap space issue that is coming following this season. They really have to make it count though this is not gonna be an end for Malmo regardless of the result in the playoffs. 
 
 
10.  Warsaw Predators
 
Now we're entering the rebuilding teams zone. The teams that we did expect to suck for the draft picks and they did just that. Warsaw is gonna be place lower than other tanking teams by default as they finished last. Also the fact neither Kisslinger or Anisimov are gonna have a shot at the rookie of the year award is making this a very meh season for them. 
 
9.  Vancouver Wolves
 
Another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw which is enough to be place above them in this list. Which means nothing for them. 5 first round draft picks however...now we're talking! 2 of them are lotto picks too and 2 others may potentially be inside the TOP 8. Frank would love to see that for sure. In other words, nothing much to say about this team. Just another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw. 
 
8.  Moscow Menace
 
I think despite ending up lower than Vancouver in standings I feel like they shown more promise for the future. Left Alone was a good leading piece for their rookies. In fact, Gunner has a good shot at the rookie award. In overall, they were playing decently and I feel like they actually had a potential for more wins than they got in reality. But I think this was a somewhat positive season for the Russian team. Could they get into the competing following this season? You know, EU conference needs more contenders as we don't have enough of them yet. 
 
7.  New York Americans
 
I'll be honest - I was expecting less from them. They didn't have any goaltending before bringing in Fuhr which cost them some games for sure. But after making a trade for a Vancouver goaltending legend plus a body at defence they suddenly started to play a decent brand of hockey. Having both Davis and Mancini doing a wonderful 1-2 punch also helped the cause. At the end of the day they fell of short from the playoffs, but I think there is some positives to look forward. The first thing they need to do though is locking Davis in. Otherwise, they are back to a never ending and agonizing rebuilding purgatory they never left.  
 
6.  London United
 
Now we're back to the big guns who did as good or even better than I expected. Like London United. The only nitpicking I have about this team is perhaps their secondary could've participated more at attacking. Sure, they did well at defence. But Teno has already proven the world class status so maybe it was the time to show more courage. But I guess they are sticking to their system which is working as they would want to. Their leading lineup did the most of work for this team so I'd say the trade for Wann Kerr worked very nicely for the UK hopeful. I just feel like there was a potential to do even more that they already did. Other than that, good showing and avoiding the wildcard is a nice bonus too. 
 
5.  Toronto Legion
 
The reg season's first half Toronto - the upper placement at the disappointment tier. They totally forgot what the luck looks and were struggling to get over .500 for a long time. That's before Castle decided to take matters to his hands. From that point on, it was very tough for other teams to break their spirit and they finished just below LA in the conference. The only question here is they didn't do enough at offense to fully be recognized. But they will have a time to address this issue against Chicago in the playoffs. I actually did have them below LA and DC in standing so that's why they are above London in my list. Good season in overall. 
 
4.  Los Angeles Stars
 
Kinda funny to see the black letters on black font. But hey, most of their logo is black colored so here's shrug from me. Anyways, I had them winning the Victory Cup. That's not exactly what happened, but they still topped the NA conference and placed at the TOP 3 league wide. Their roster is screaming that this season is the ultimate chance to bring the glory to the glorious city...to some people it's glorious I guess. Joyo was a pleasant surprise and Abass Jr is likely about to snatch a Boulet trophy. They for sure gonna be one of the favorites in the playoffs. But they gotta hope Vandelay steps his game up. .928 is not the elit'est stat, can't lie. Might not work at the playoffs. 
 
3.  Davos Dynamo
 
Their GM is just out there trying to prolong Davos' contention window. All of that for winning the Victory Cup. It's not like that was a hell of a surprise anyways. But I was never sure how is this gonna work out with some more newcomers getting brought in. You know, chemistry and all of that stuff. It ended up really wonderful for them and Leandro took them to the next level. And knowing their improved playoff luck during Alex tenure, you might see another deep playoff run from them. In overall, the Victory Cup could've been enough to warant the first place in this list. However, there were two teams that jumped out out of nowhere and made things in standings more complicated. 
 
2.  Chicago Phoenix
 
Prior to this season they only had one player above 700 TPA. At the end of the season they're still having only one player above 700 TPA. 
 
They made the playoffs while avoiding the wildcard altogether. Above DC and Calgary. This season in a nutshell. I mean, Sundin was always being a good scoring threat. But this season was something else. He chose to bring a chaos to NA conference before retiring from the hockey altogether. He will receive at least one award for being the best point scorer but perhaps the MVP is also in the books. Shout out to Legacy Gaming for being good at keeping up as well. But even with Sundin, nobody would expect them to have such a Cinderella story like they actually did. I thought they would be good enough for the 7th place in NA...not the 3rd lol. But it's their ability to hold on in regulation time so they could get some valuable points from OT or SO was really clutch for them. They just lost 23 games in regulation which is crazy for this roster. I don't give them much chances against Toronto in the playoffs, but they already exceeded any expectations everyone had for them. But also...no lotto picks might hurt them in the long run. Might be interesting to see them 5 seasons after this one and see if this performance affected their future. 
 
1.  Riga Reign
 
I was not being upset when VSN put us at the 6th place in their EU conference predictions. Bringing in Monkey and Shrimp was good enough for us to try make other 5 contenders' life harder. And if we were lucky, squeaking into the wildcard spot...that's what I thought before the season. 72 games after, we ended up 1 point away from the Victory Cup. Somehow, this was the roster that would really be one of the favorites for Simon. AK decided to stop being mid. Shrimp hitting new career high as well and Monkey. Same for Tucker Jr. The second line was doing fine and Anand is one of the best rookies for the season. Everything we did was working...well except for the games 50-65 or something when we started to lose the ground and it eventually cost us the regular season trophy. But then, I don't think anybody was expecting us being one of the best teams in the league in the first place. So that ended up way better than I could've expected. The only question remains is - can we continue our big run in the playoffs. Stay tuned starting Monday. 
 
 
So yeah, this was my opinion on the season and VHL teams. also 4 weeks yay.
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Hello there. After a week of a welfare hiatus I'm back with some more VHL related stuff. This time I will do a bit different. I'm gonna rank all 16 teams in terms of disappointment/pleasant surprise. Basically, a 16th place = the biggest disappointment. The 1st = most pleasant surprise. So...nothing much more to say. Let's get it! 
 
 
16.  Prague Phantoms
 
It would've been weird to put the 8th best VHL regular season team at the last place here. But for me, the defending champs not even making the playoffs to defend their title = automatic biggest disappointment. Sure, EU conference and all of that. And even worse, they would've been 3rd in the NA conference (so not even a wildcard at all). But then, champs are supposed to survive any situation they're being in. Even in the bloodbath which the EU conference always has been. They just never very good, especially at the scoring department. Their secondary unit never clicked properly and no one outside couple of their main guys stepped up at all. In overall, they were far from the worst team, but the circumstances makes them the biggest disappointment in my list. 
 
15.  Calgary Wranglers
 
Personally, I was expecting way more from them when I sold Catia and Sadie to them. And when Oreo and Wheeler redid their build to more traditional scoring one, the expectations from me grew even further. Sure, there would be no guarantee they are gonna be good enough for the top of the crop considering that they just crawled from the rebuild process. But I was for sure not expecting that they will end up as the 2nd worst scoring team in the league. Yes, even all the rebuilding teams outside of Warsaw outscored them. When your best scorer and player as a whole was Maellard, you know something is fishy out there. And that's not even a knock on this particular player, I was just expecting more from other top TPE players. In overall, very mid regular season. But hey, they are 1 game away from eliminating the team listed below from the playoffs. 
 
14.  DC Dragons
 
I'm very sure there were bigger expectations for the capital team than just scoring 80 points and having to play a wildcard round. The only bright period happened at the ending when their leaders finally chose violence and started to actually put up some work. The rest of the season was rather forgettable and also frustrating. They just never could find the right chemistry and players looked really lost at times. But it's their defensive play that was giving me iffy vibes. You would think the team with so many high TPE players would be solid in all area of the ice. Nope. They were just trying to grind instead of using their full potential. I guess that's what happens when you're overachieving the season prior. By the way, it reminds me some other European team's luck after huge overperforming in S87. Also, they have Frenchman on the team...did he just took all the Riga unluck and brought it to DC? 
 
13.  Seattle Bears
 
Is this exactly a disappointment team? Not sure. Prior to this season I thought they would claim the 5th place with the mid record. Well, they posted a mid record. The only difference is they never made the playoffs at all. They had some interesting players that in theory could've done just enough for Seattle to grab a wildcard spot. But it was never meant to happen. Gregor had a nice season and couple of other mid level TPE players had a decent statline. But nothing more than that. In overall, a non factor season for them. I guess, looking forward to their full blown rebuild process. 
 
12.  Helsinki Titans
 
Landon Wolanin posted 101 points while being one of the best goal scorers in the league. Their leading players did what we expected from them. Rask did improve from his other mid tier seasons. All of that for just being able to sneak past Prague by 1 point and that's because of heroics by Chicago (and by Artyomov in particular). I think their fans had any rights to expect more than yet another wildcard round placement. But their consistency was a very big issue throughout whole season. One game they would dismantle any opposition that came against them while scoring 6-7 goals. The next night they would struggle to put anything worthwhile. You guessed it, against any opposition that came against them. They ended up as the 2nd best offense in the league, just behind LA. But like I said before, their consistency was a HELl of an issue. Sucks to have that in such a conference, but luckily they are still in the hunt. 
 
11.  Malmo Nighthawks
 
The additions of Skor and Boga really elevated this team to the legit contender status. So I'd say the end result is a bit of a bummer. The ending of the season wasn't so kind for this team and they will have a grueling task to get past Helsinki in game 5. The team obviously did good. 95 points, TOP 5 in the league. It's just their final placement in the conference that makes it a bit sour for them. And also the cap space issue that is coming following this season. They really have to make it count though this is not gonna be an end for Malmo regardless of the result in the playoffs. 
 
 
10.  Warsaw Predators
 
Now we're entering the rebuilding teams zone. The teams that we did expect to suck for the draft picks and they did just that. Warsaw is gonna be place lower than other tanking teams by default as they finished last. Also the fact neither Kisslinger or Anisimov are gonna have a shot at the rookie of the year award is making this a very meh season for them. 
 
9.  Vancouver Wolves
 
Another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw which is enough to be place above them in this list. Which means nothing for them. 5 first round draft picks however...now we're talking! 2 of them are lotto picks too and 2 others may potentially be inside the TOP 8. Frank would love to see that for sure. In other words, nothing much to say about this team. Just another tanking team that just did better than Warsaw. 
 
8.  Moscow Menace
 
I think despite ending up lower than Vancouver in standings I feel like they shown more promise for the future. Left Alone was a good leading piece for their rookies. In fact, Gunner has a good shot at the rookie award. In overall, they were playing decently and I feel like they actually had a potential for more wins than they got in reality. But I think this was a somewhat positive season for the Russian team. Could they get into the competing following this season? You know, EU conference needs more contenders as we don't have enough of them yet. 
 
7.  New York Americans
 
I'll be honest - I was expecting less from them. They didn't have any goaltending before bringing in Fuhr which cost them some games for sure. But after making a trade for a Vancouver goaltending legend plus a body at defence they suddenly started to play a decent brand of hockey. Having both Davis and Mancini doing a wonderful 1-2 punch also helped the cause. At the end of the day they fell of short from the playoffs, but I think there is some positives to look forward. The first thing they need to do though is locking Davis in. Otherwise, they are back to a never ending and agonizing rebuilding purgatory they never left.  
 
6.  London United
 
Now we're back to the big guns who did as good or even better than I expected. Like London United. The only nitpicking I have about this team is perhaps their secondary could've participated more at attacking. Sure, they did well at defence. But Teno has already proven the world class status so maybe it was the time to show more courage. But I guess they are sticking to their system which is working as they would want to. Their leading lineup did the most of work for this team so I'd say the trade for Wann Kerr worked very nicely for the UK hopeful. I just feel like there was a potential to do even more that they already did. Other than that, good showing and avoiding the wildcard is a nice bonus too. 
 
5.  Toronto Legion
 
The reg season's first half Toronto - the upper placement at the disappointment tier. They totally forgot what the luck looks and were struggling to get over .500 for a long time. That's before Castle decided to take matters to his hands. From that point on, it was very tough for other teams to break their spirit and they finished just below LA in the conference. The only question here is they didn't do enough at offense to fully be recognized. But they will have a time to address this issue against Chicago in the playoffs. I actually did have them below LA and DC in standing so that's why they are above London in my list. Good season in overall. 
 
4.  Los Angeles Stars
 
Kinda funny to see the black letters on black font. But hey, most of their logo is black colored so here's shrug from me. Anyways, I had them winning the Victory Cup. That's not exactly what happened, but they still topped the NA conference and placed at the TOP 3 league wide. Their roster is screaming that this season is the ultimate chance to bring the glory to the glorious city...to some people it's glorious I guess. Joyo was a pleasant surprise and Abass Jr is likely about to snatch a Boulet trophy. They for sure gonna be one of the favorites in the playoffs. But they gotta hope Vandelay steps his game up. .928 is not the elit'est stat, can't lie. Might not work at the playoffs. 
 
3.  Davos Dynamo
 
Their GM is just out there trying to prolong Davos' contention window. All of that for winning the Victory Cup. It's not like that was a hell of a surprise anyways. But I was never sure how is this gonna work out with some more newcomers getting brought in. You know, chemistry and all of that stuff. It ended up really wonderful for them and Leandro took them to the next level. And knowing their improved playoff luck during Alex tenure, you might see another deep playoff run from them. In overall, the Victory Cup could've been enough to warant the first place in this list. However, there were two teams that jumped out out of nowhere and made things in standings more complicated. 
 
2.  Chicago Phoenix
 
Prior to this season they only had one player above 700 TPA. At the end of the season they're still having only one player above 700 TPA. 
 
They made the playoffs while avoiding the wildcard altogether. Above DC and Calgary. This season in a nutshell. I mean, Sundin was always being a good scoring threat. But this season was something else. He chose to bring a chaos to NA conference before retiring from the hockey altogether. He will receive at least one award for being the best point scorer but perhaps the MVP is also in the books. Shout out to Legacy Gaming for being good at keeping up as well. But even with Sundin, nobody would expect them to have such a Cinderella story like they actually did. I thought they would be good enough for the 7th place in NA...not the 3rd lol. But it's their ability to hold on in regulation time so they could get some valuable points from OT or SO was really clutch for them. They just lost 23 games in regulation which is crazy for this roster. I don't give them much chances against Toronto in the playoffs, but they already exceeded any expectations everyone had for them. But also...no lotto picks might hurt them in the long run. Might be interesting to see them 5 seasons after this one and see if this performance affected their future. 
 
1.  Riga Reign
 
I was not being upset when VSN put us at the 6th place in their EU conference predictions. Bringing in Monkey and Shrimp was good enough for us to try make other 5 contenders' life harder. And if we were lucky, squeaking into the wildcard spot...that's what I thought before the season. 72 games after, we ended up 1 point away from the Victory Cup. Somehow, this was the roster that would really be one of the favorites for Simon. AK decided to stop being mid. Shrimp hitting new career high as well and Monkey. Same for Tucker Jr. The second line was doing fine and Anand is one of the best rookies for the season. Everything we did was working...well except for the games 50-65 or something when we started to lose the ground and it eventually cost us the regular season trophy. But then, I don't think anybody was expecting us being one of the best teams in the league in the first place. So that ended up way better than I could've expected. The only question remains is - can we continue our big run in the playoffs. Stay tuned starting Monday. 
 
 
So yeah, this was my opinion on the season and VHL teams. also 4 weeks yay.
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Queefson otb when

Queefson otb when

Last time I lied...I will make another article about the same stuff as last article. I think we could make a conclusion or two about the season so far as we're about to enter the second half of the season. 
 
 
That's still impressive:
 

 
*me right now*
 
Aside of joking, I'm pretty impressed by our season so far. The idea of giving a fight to other 5 EU contenders turned into 28 wins in 37 games. Looks like AK stopped being mid and it immediately gave the team a boost plus Shrimp is enjoying a career season so far too. Not really sure if this form is sustainable as couple of other EU teams are piling up W streaks on their own. But that should be enough to mess up things in this tight conference. 
 
 
Still on point:    
 
LA is now enjoying this season as Chicago is starting to fall down and other NA teams are plagued by inconsistency or other issues. Even by this point it's hard to imagine this team choking a chance to take a #1 spot in the conference. The Europe trio is the ones who didn't let Riga away too far and are in the fight of taking the top spot and maybe win the Victory Cup while we're at it. Or just not fall into the wildcard zone. By looks of it these three likely not gonna have much trouble of securing the playoff spot. The only question is a position they will take. 
 
 
Can't buy a luck:
 
Honestly, I feel like their record is underwhelming at this moment. I believe they could do better, but something about not having enough luck is not letting them catch Chicago right now. I think they are still the prime candidate for the #2 spot in NA, but they really have to step up and win games they need to. Also, can Sogaard get more points for my fantasy? Kind of a bummer to see his current point totals tbh. 
 
 
The end of Cinderella story?:
 
Well, it was expected. And even with that they still managed to hold a respectable .500 form for some time. Sundin is still trying his best to give Chicago a chance that Cole probably doesn't even wants it. The crazier thing is despite of their L streak they are still way above other NA teams not named LA since they can't figure it out how to do chemistry. Or buying a luck just like a team above. As long as they are gonna struggle the Sundin machine always will have a chance for one last playoff push. 
 
 
Could do better/too inconsistent:  
 
Prague has shown signs of life as of late. Some players are starting to realize you can't just make the post season dance on one player alone. Now they are only one point away from the team I paired with. And as long as their leaders can stay woke they will always have a chance. As for Helsinki, I wasn't far from putting them into the tier 2 with other EU contenders. But something about their consistency is really off. They seem very reliant on their top guys and sometimes it leads to some disappointment. To the credit of these leaders, they really came to play and doing as good as it was advertised prior to this season. But can they make it far without a consistent performance from their depth? Not so sure. 
 
 
Nope:  
 
I'm not gonna chastise Calgary too much here. I guess they are ok with mimicking London so let it be. It might be enough for the playoffs anyways cause the conference is a one whole big mess. DC, however is by far the biggest disappointment of the first half. All of that offensive potential for not being able to deliver anything exciting. That resulted in them sporting a MID record. Yeah, I'm still remembering DC MID meme which was a thing before they finally grabbed a cup. But what's even more shocking it's their defensive play being one of the most atrocious in the whole league. Including the rebuilding teams. Some stat lovers may say that they didn't actually let a lots of shots? Well, now look at their blocked shot stats and figure it out why their defensive chemistry is non existent so far. Something needs to be changed. Either roster or strategy. Or just do nothing and wait when the forwards are finally starting to fire up and carry this team to the playoffs. Which is pretty much possible. A good possibility knowing how the rest of NA not named LA is having zero consistency whatsoever. 
 
 
Rebuilding...??  
 
At least that's what I thought about these two. As of now they are just 3 points away from the 5th place team. I do expect Vancouver to step back sooner than later as they traded Fuhr not so long ago. To NYA. Thad decided that it's the time to make things in NA even more confusing. As it wasn't messy enough before that. But just for a third round pick? Eh, why not. Since that trade NYA managed to stabilize their performance and post a respectable record which gives them an outside chance of making it. Can they though? With this conference, you never know. 
 
 
Rebuilding!  
 
Well, these two having no rush and continue performing according to their rebuilding plan. I'm still waiting for some W streak for Moscow, but for now it's hard to win with just Left Alone doing the most of work here. Also, wouldn't it make more sense just to trade him? 
 
 
Non factor:
 
The most grey area team is still being on their ''not particularly bad, neither good'' thing. They are capable to steal a game or two, but for now they are just floating around. I only realized now that they don't even have their own first so perhaps they could actually try to make their way into contenders if the price is cheap. That's if there would be any possibilities on the trade block to begin with. 
 
 
Ok, now that I hit 1000 words I'm not gonna shit on teams next week. See you maybe in 2 weeks or 2 months. As always it depends on my desire. 
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Last time I lied...I will make another article about the same stuff as last article. I think we could make a conclusion or two about the season so far as we're about to enter the second half of the season. 
 
 
That's still impressive:
 

 
*me right now*
 
Aside of joking, I'm pretty impressed by our season so far. The idea of giving a fight to other 5 EU contenders turned into 28 wins in 37 games. Looks like AK stopped being mid and it immediately gave the team a boost plus Shrimp is enjoying a career season so far too. Not really sure if this form is sustainable as couple of other EU teams are piling up W streaks on their own. But that should be enough to mess up things in this tight conference. 
 
 
Still on point:    
 
LA is now enjoying this season as Chicago is starting to fall down and other NA teams are plagued by inconsistency or other issues. Even by this point it's hard to imagine this team choking a chance to take a #1 spot in the conference. The Europe trio is the ones who didn't let Riga away too far and are in the fight of taking the top spot and maybe win the Victory Cup while we're at it. Or just not fall into the wildcard zone. By looks of it these three likely not gonna have much trouble of securing the playoff spot. The only question is a position they will take. 
 
 
Can't buy a luck:
 
Honestly, I feel like their record is underwhelming at this moment. I believe they could do better, but something about not having enough luck is not letting them catch Chicago right now. I think they are still the prime candidate for the #2 spot in NA, but they really have to step up and win games they need to. Also, can Sogaard get more points for my fantasy? Kind of a bummer to see his current point totals tbh. 
 
 
The end of Cinderella story?:
 
Well, it was expected. And even with that they still managed to hold a respectable .500 form for some time. Sundin is still trying his best to give Chicago a chance that Cole probably doesn't even wants it. The crazier thing is despite of their L streak they are still way above other NA teams not named LA since they can't figure it out how to do chemistry. Or buying a luck just like a team above. As long as they are gonna struggle the Sundin machine always will have a chance for one last playoff push. 
 
 
Could do better/too inconsistent:  
 
Prague has shown signs of life as of late. Some players are starting to realize you can't just make the post season dance on one player alone. Now they are only one point away from the team I paired with. And as long as their leaders can stay woke they will always have a chance. As for Helsinki, I wasn't far from putting them into the tier 2 with other EU contenders. But something about their consistency is really off. They seem very reliant on their top guys and sometimes it leads to some disappointment. To the credit of these leaders, they really came to play and doing as good as it was advertised prior to this season. But can they make it far without a consistent performance from their depth? Not so sure. 
 
 
Nope:  
 
I'm not gonna chastise Calgary too much here. I guess they are ok with mimicking London so let it be. It might be enough for the playoffs anyways cause the conference is a one whole big mess. DC, however is by far the biggest disappointment of the first half. All of that offensive potential for not being able to deliver anything exciting. That resulted in them sporting a MID record. Yeah, I'm still remembering DC MID meme which was a thing before they finally grabbed a cup. But what's even more shocking it's their defensive play being one of the most atrocious in the whole league. Including the rebuilding teams. Some stat lovers may say that they didn't actually let a lots of shots? Well, now look at their blocked shot stats and figure it out why their defensive chemistry is non existent so far. Something needs to be changed. Either roster or strategy. Or just do nothing and wait when the forwards are finally starting to fire up and carry this team to the playoffs. Which is pretty much possible. A good possibility knowing how the rest of NA not named LA is having zero consistency whatsoever. 
 
 
Rebuilding...??  
 
At least that's what I thought about these two. As of now they are just 3 points away from the 5th place team. I do expect Vancouver to step back sooner than later as they traded Fuhr not so long ago. To NYA. Thad decided that it's the time to make things in NA even more confusing. As it wasn't messy enough before that. But just for a third round pick? Eh, why not. Since that trade NYA managed to stabilize their performance and post a respectable record which gives them an outside chance of making it. Can they though? With this conference, you never know. 
 
 
Rebuilding!  
 
Well, these two having no rush and continue performing according to their rebuilding plan. I'm still waiting for some W streak for Moscow, but for now it's hard to win with just Left Alone doing the most of work here. Also, wouldn't it make more sense just to trade him? 
 
 
Non factor:
 
The most grey area team is still being on their ''not particularly bad, neither good'' thing. They are capable to steal a game or two, but for now they are just floating around. I only realized now that they don't even have their own first so perhaps they could actually try to make their way into contenders if the price is cheap. That's if there would be any possibilities on the trade block to begin with. 
 
 
Ok, now that I hit 1000 words I'm not gonna shit on teams next week. See you maybe in 2 weeks or 2 months. As always it depends on my desire. 
 
That's it and I'm out. 

Last time I lied...I will make another article about the same stuff as last article. I think we could make a conclusion or two about the season so far as we're about to enter the second half of the season. 
 
 
That's still impressive:
 

 
*me right now*
 
Aside of joking, I'm pretty impressed by our season so far. The idea of giving a fight to other 5 EU contenders turned into 28 wins in 37 games. Looks like AK stopped being mid and it immediately gave the team a boost plus Shrimp is enjoying a career season so far too. Not really sure if this form is sustainable as couple of other EU teams are piling up W streaks on their own. But that should be enough to mess up things in this tight conference. 
 
 
Still on point:    
 
LA is now enjoying this season as Chicago is starting to fall down and other NA teams are plagued by inconsistency or other issues. Even by this point it's hard to imagine this team choking a chance to take a #1 spot in the conference. The Europe trio is the ones who didn't let Riga away too far and are in the fight of taking the top spot and maybe win the Victory Cup while we're at it. Or just not fall into the wildcard zone. By looks of it these three likely not gonna have much trouble of securing the playoff spot. The only question is a position they will take. 
 
 
Can't buy a luck:
 
Honestly, I feel like their record is underwhelming at this moment. I believe they could do better, but something about not having enough luck is not letting them catch Chicago right now. I think they are still the prime candidate for the #2 spot in NA, but they really have to step up and win games they need to. Also, can Sogaard get more points for my fantasy? Kind of a bummer to see his current point totals tbh. 
 
 
The end of Cinderella story?:
 
Well, it was expected. And even with that they still managed to hold a respectable .500 form for some time. Sundin is still trying his best to give Chicago a chance that Cole probably doesn't even wants it. The crazier thing is despite of their L streak they are still way above other NA teams not named LA since they can't figure it out how to do chemistry. Or buying a luck just like a team above. As long as they are gonna struggle the Sundin machine always will have a chance for one last playoff push. 
 
 
Could do better/too inconsistent:  
 
Prague has shown signs of life as of late. Some players are starting to realize you can't just make the post season dance on one player alone. Now they are only one point away from the team I paired with. And as long as their leaders can stay woke they will always have a chance. As for Helsinki, I wasn't far from putting them into the tier 2 with other EU contenders. But something about their consistency is really off. They seem very reliant on their top guys and sometimes it leads to some disappointment. To the credit of these leaders, they really came to play and doing as good as it was advertised prior to this season. But can they make it far without a consistent performance from their depth? Not so sure. 
 
 
Nope:  
 
I'm not gonna chastise Calgary too much here. I guess they are ok with mimicking London so let it be. It might be enough for the playoffs anyways cause the conference is a one whole big mess. DC, however is by far the biggest disappointment of the first half. All of that offensive potential for not being able to deliver anything exciting. That resulted in them sporting a MID record. Yeah, I'm still remembering DC MID meme which was a thing before they finally grabbed a cup. But what's even more shocking it's their defensive play being one of the most atrocious in the whole league. Including the rebuilding teams. Some stat lovers may say that they didn't actually let a lots of shots? Well, now look at their blocked shot stats and figure it out why their defensive chemistry is non existent so far. Something needs to be changed. Either roster or strategy. Or just do nothing and wait when the forwards are finally starting to fire up and carry this team to the playoffs. Which is pretty much possible. A good possibility knowing how the rest of NA not named LA is having zero consistency whatsoever. 
 
 
Rebuilding...??  
 
At least that's what I thought about these two. As of now they are just 3 points away from the 5th place team. I do expect Vancouver to step back sooner than later as they traded Fuhr not so long ago. To NYA. Thad decided that it's the time to make things in NA even more confusing. As it wasn't messy enough before that. But just for a third round pick? Eh, why not. Since that trade NYA managed to stabilize their performance and post a respectable record which gives them an outside chance of making it. Can they though? With this conference, you never know. 
 
 
Rebuilding!  
 
Well, these two having no rush and continue performing according to their rebuilding plan. I'm still waiting for some W streak for Moscow, but for now it's hard to win with just Left Alone doing the most of work here. Also, wouldn't it make more sense just to trade him? 
 
 
Non factor:
 
The most grey area team is still being on their ''not particularly bad, neither good'' thing. They are capable to steal a game or two, but for now they are just floating around. I only realized now that they don't even have their own first so perhaps they could actually try to make their way into contenders if the price is cheap. That's if there would be any possibilities on the trade block to begin with. 
 
 
Ok, now that I hit 1000 words I'm not gonna shit on teams next week. See you maybe in 2 weeks or 2 months. As always it depends on my desire. 
 
That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out. 

I feel I could write something for this week. Probably one and done stuff, after that another 6 months of welfare. Anyways, my quick look at the standings and my thoughts about teams here. 
 
 
Overachievers/doing better than expected:  
 
I don't know what steroids Sundin is using, but looks like this works just fine for his team to still be at the top after 22 games. This so called ''rebuilding team'' managed to not lose in regulation for the first 17 games in a row. Enough said. Expect them to lose a bunch sooner than later, but the grand start could be enough to have a chance at the wildcard spot. The position Cole does not want to be in. 
As for Riga, not as overachieving as just having a better start than I could expect. I was not sure where is the retooling process gonna go this season, but adding Monkey and Shrimp through FA is definitely helping so far. AK is also trying which is fine. Looks like we have a knack of making the other EU contenders life harder from the underdog position. S87 says hello. 
 
Doing good as expected:    
 
Maybe LA isn't the top team as of now, but I have a feeling they shouldn't have lots of problems to claim that later on. And as my predictions was suggesting they are likely to take the Victory cup as well. The other 4 European teams are likely to make the playoffs if they will continue to show this current form. London continues to rely a lot on their defensive system with few standouts. Which is working for them since Jacob stepped in. I was not sure about Malmo before the season, but adding Alex and Boga definitely upped them in the ranks. Helsinki is depending on their top guys a lot and looks like it's doing it's good work. Also, finally Rask is having a good season after 45 seasons of mediocrity. And Davos is trying to prolong their contention window by buying old heads...but good old heads. Interesting strategy by Alex. 
 
 
Could do better:  
 
Toronto had a case of being unlucky early season. STHS you know. They did upgrade their record to neutral 11-11, but I feel like they still could improve their performance. The question is - by how much and also, can rookies step up enough for Toronto to make a legit playoff push. 
Well, there was a good hype about DC after trouncing NY in the opening 2 games of the season. And then whole lotta meh. I'm not sure if Bezos really can carry this team so forwards have to step up big time if they wanna do something this season. They have a talent for sure, it's just when it will happen. 
 
 
Not convinced:  
 
So much hype about Calgary just for them being a discount London. Looks like having too much passers is hurting this team's potential. They did have a win streak not so long ago, but I still don't have a lot of faith in this team this season. Good news is their rookies are still developing so there is a time to make a change of fortune. However, is this gonna be in this season? iono... 
It's probably a strange idea to put the defending champs in this tier. And with a positive record as well? But are they actually that good? It's not even the cup hangover that's bothering me about this team. They are really trying to ride Jameson's coattails and hope for the best. I don't think this is the best strategy in a very tight EU conference. Unless others are stepping up their game the cup defending may end even before the playoffs week. 
 
 
Rebuilding as expected:    
 
I mean, the NA tanker's record isn't even horrible. They've been able to steal games rather often and are not that far from the playoff zone as of now. Some standouts in both teams as well. Can't complain about them. 
The EU ones are really out there with the tanking mission. Well then, good job! Though I feel like Moscow is actually underachieving a bit and I expect them to pick up the steam later on. Their real record might be somewhere under .500 at the end of the day. Not playoffs, not horrible either. 
 
 
Grey area:
 
They are not doing bad so far, but their actual performance is anything but convincing. After ''losing'' the rebuilding race to Vancouver they had to set with the roster that's adequate enough for the playoff appearance, but it's hard to call them the real contender.  Expecting them to go through motions and likely losing in the wildcard round. 
 
 
Enough for me. That's it and I'm out.