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snipealldaylong

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    The Beat

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    162

     

    Championship Hangover?

     

    VHL's 35th season has begun and there have been some surprises thus far. Early into the season, the defending Continental Cup Champions, the Helsinki Titans have faced some struggles. After 13 games, the defending champs sport a record of 8 wins, 4 regulation losses, and a shootout loss. This record has Helsinki sitting in first place in the European Conference. You might think that the Titans are off to a good start, but they have already lost a third of the regulation losses that they had all of last season and a fifth of the extra time losses that they had. Helsinki has fell victim to the surprising HC Davos Dynamo on two occasions as well as falling to the Vasteras Iron Iron Eagles. These are losses that they can not afford to be giving up.

    Helsinki lost three of their first four contests in defeats to Vasteras and Davos by scores of 3-2, while dropping a 5-3 decision to Quebec City. Their lone win in that stretch came against the Cologne Express in a 2-1 win. The Titans only managed nine goals for and allowed eleven against, while out-shooting their opponents by a margin of 31 shots (138-107). They were getting their chances, but just could not capitalize on them as often as they needed to.

    The next stretch of six games was much more kind to the Titans who posted wins over Davos twice, on 3-2 and 4-0 wins, while defeating Calgary by a score of 4-3, Vasteras by a score of 4-0, and Seattle by a score of 3-1. Toronto was the only team to put a loss in the books for Helsinki during that time, defeating the Titans by a score of 4-0. 18 goals were scored by Helsinki in those six games, while their opponents could only muster ten goals. Shots favoured the Titans by a margin of 38 shots (176-138). Helsinki stepped it up and buried the chances that they earned. That was the difference in a horrible start and a respectable one.

    The last three games that the Titans played, ended with them losing to Davos once more by a 2-1 score, while defeating Cologne 3-1 and Calgary 2-1 in overtime. Helsinki outscored their opponents by a score of 6-4 and out-shot them 92-59 in this small sample size. It was a decent stretch for the team, but they need to take advantage a bit more if they have any chance of winning back to back championships. The team is still building chemistry with new guys like Young and Sullivan joining the fold, while Lindemann and Riopel departed. Anatoli Zhumbayev and Ryan Sullivan lead the team in points with 15 each and that ranks them at number 17 in the league. Ethan Osborne and Brody Hodgson are not far behind with 13 and 10 points respectively. As the season progresses, I am sure that the team will gel and grow as a group and you will see a team similar to the group that won the championship in Season 34.



    Interview with Ethan Osborne:

     

    After winning the championship last season, the Titans have gotten off to a slow start. What can you attribute to this?

    We lost a lot of our key players to retirement/trade in the off-season. Veteran guys like Riopel and Lindemann were really key to our team chemistry. We are relying heavily on new young players to step up and fill those shoes, and it wont be a quick transition. The season is still young, and we are confident that our play will pick up over time.

    What has been the biggest disappointment for Helsinki thus far in the early season?

    Obviously you'd like to get off to a better start - however I think its a bit premature to be throwing around the term "disappointed". We are still in first in the European Conference, and we've seen some really good games played by our younger players.

    Who has been the biggest surprise for the team so far?

     Odin Tordahl has been a nice surprise so far. Riopel was such a fantastic power forward last season, and it looks like Odin has the potential to one day fill that role for the Titans. He's come up huge a number of different games, and has been such a key piece for the Titans since coming over from Toronto.

    What has to be done for the Titans to get back to the success that they had last season?

     Patience. We have the talent, we have the experience, we just need to get some chemistry going. We've learned the hard way that it's what you do in playoffs that matter. We know we can replicate our success from last year.

    Can the Titans compete for the Continental Cup with the current roster?

    Our current roster is just as good, if not better than last season. We lost Riopel and Lindemann, but we also added one of the best young center prospects in Naomi Young, and arguably the best defenseman to ever play in the VHL in Ryan Sullivan. Not only that but we have younger guys like Weber, Zhumbayev, and Tordahl who are ready to take on a bigger role with the team. There is no doubt that this team can win the Continental Cup again.

    The Beat

    in Article Submissions

    Posted

    161

     

    Gearing Up

     

    Well, the off-season is here and general managers around the league have been very busy re-shaping and re-tooling their teams. The man who calls the shots in Helsinki, Mitch Higgins has been working around the clock to ensure that his club has all the pieces in place to ensure that the Titans maintain one of the most competitive rosters in the VHL. The Helsinki Titans are the defending Continental Cup Champions, and if they are to defend that title successfully, work needs to be done behind the scenes to shape that championship caliber team.

    Helsinki had to deal with losing a top-line winger (Nic Riopel), one of their top defensemen (Dmitry Baurzhan), and a depth forward (Felix Leiter) to retirement as the off-season begun. Those would be tough losses for any team, and so the search begun for the Titans to fill those holes. The VHL Entry Draft rolled around, with the Titans holding two first-round selections (second and tenth overall) in their pocket. Helsinki decided to go after a forward with their first selection, picking up Naomi Young from the Minot Gladiators, a playmaking center who should slot in nicely on the second line. With the last selection in the first round, a defenseman from the Minot Gladiators was selected in the form of Tyler Owens. Owens is defensively sound but still needs to spend another season in the VHLM to develop his game.

    Another route to improve your team is through the trade market, and Mitch Higgins is no stranger to utilizing this market to make his team better. This off-season has been no different as Higgins made a couple of deals to upgrade the blue line in Helsinki. First, Till Lindemann was dealt to Vasteras with conditional third and fourth-round selection in Season 37 in exchange for defenseman, Brandon Merritt and a Season 37 second-round selection. The Titans made a splash with the next deal, bringing in Ryan Sullivan, a multiple-time Labatte Trophy winner, and a third-round selection in Season 36 in exchange for a first-round selection in Season 36 and and a second-round selection in Season 37.

    To ice a successful team, you also need to retain your core group together. Helsinki assured themselves of this when Mitch Higgins and Brody Hodgson came to an agreement on a new contract. This will ensure that Hodgson will remain a Titan for his entire career where he has flourished. Helsinki will not be likely to pursue any big names in the free agent market, but that is another route to improve your team which can prove to be very successful. The defending champs look to be in good shape for another run with Tordahl jumping up to join Osborne and Zhumbayev on the top line, while Young comes in to join Hodgson and Wilson on the second line. The new-look defense will feature "The Terminator" and "The Destroyer" on the top pairing (Sullivan and Weber), while Brandon Merritt will complete the defenseive corps. It should be another exciting year of hockey in Helsinki!
     

    Interview with Mitch Higgins:

     

    What do you think the chances of the Titans repeating?

    I think we have the same chance as the previous three seasons to be honest with you. It seems like the European conference will be a little weaker this season so we should make the playoffs again and that is all you really need to do in order to have a legitimate shot at a Continental Cup. Once you make the playoffs anything can happen and I feel that our roster is still young enough to be updating throughout the season to be at it's peak by playoffs.

    The Titans lost one of their top defensemen as well as a top line winger, and a depth forward to retirement, how do you fill these voids?

    Losing Baurzhan, Riopel and Leiter to retirement is a tough thing to overcome and I had to make a tough decision to trade away Till Lindemann as well. We brought in Naomi Young through the draft to fill out the forward position and then Sullivan and Merritt to complete our defensive core with Weber. I think we have about the same defensive strength as last season and have upgraded our forwards and goalies.

    The draft for Helsinki looks like it was a successful one. What will Naomi Young and Tyler Owens bring to the table for the Titans?

    Naomi Young will be filling in perfecting on the second line for us as a winger to start the season and hopefully transitioning to center. With Hodgson retiring at the end of Season 35 it is a perfect time for us to add a player like Young. Young should have a good impact on our roster and won't be asked to play a first line role, which will benefit her. Tyler Owens will be in the VHLM this season and we hope he continues to develop to join our roster in S36.

    The acquisition of Ryan Sullivan should pay huge dividends. What does he bring to the Titans?

    I think the three Labatte trophies can speak for themselves. He is one of the best defensemen in the VHL and we will really help our defense core by playing with Willie Weber and teaching him. Defense is sometimes underrated, but this season I really like our depth with a proven guy like Sullivan.

    Brody Hodgson would have been a huge loss. How relieved are you to have him re-signed?

    I never really thought about him leaving because he has been a Titan since day one. I had talked to him at the start of the season and he wanted to finish his career here in Helsinki and be one of the top Titans career wise ever. We are fortunate to have had a player like Hodgson play here for so long and we definitely don't take him for granted so I'm happy he's back.

    Your Player Page

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    Posted

    Player Information

    Username: snipealldaylong
    Full Name: Willie Weber
    Position: D
    Age: 20
    Handedness: R
    Recruited By/From: fever95

    Player Attributes

    Total Points Earned: 314

    CK = Checking: 80
    FG = Fighting: 40
    DI = Discipline: 40
    SK = Skating: 80
    ST = Strength: 40
    PH = Puck Handling: 72
    FO = Face Offs: 40
    PA = Passing: 80
    SC = Scoring: 80
    DF = Defense: 90
    EX = Experience: 40
    LD = Leadership: 40

    Other
    Jersey Number: 6
    Height (inches): 77
    Weight (lbs.): 237
    Birthplace: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

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