Toronto starts 8-5-2, some thoughts and blah blah.

[Peace 1,518]

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- The Legions' season has officially begun; the seemingly decade long off season has finally concluded. An 8-5-2 record off the season start seems decent on paper, but the reality behind Toronto's early record has the GM of the club scratching his head trying to figure out what has gone wrong. While the season may be early there is a lot to like about how the team is playing. Here are some examples; Toronto's blue line is hyper active at the moment, producing more points than any other defensive core in the league; the Legions' offense is moderately comfortable at second best in the VHL, and just one goal behind league leaders Chicago; and frankly Toronto features one of the more restrictive defensive pairs in the league, landing forth in shots against... however there are early signs of struggle by the Toronto Legion. 

Wait... did you say Toronto has the most productive blue line? Yes, actually, we do... The Legion have received a massive contribution from their four defenders and GM Peace is both extremely thankful for it and completely surprised about it. Jolly Green Giant, Scotty Kaberle, Kristof Welch and Kate Upton have acquired a combined 65 points from the blue paint this season (so far). It's one thing to claim this, and quite another to show you, so here are the defensive points from other teams:

London's defensive core has produced 45 points, 
Helsinki's blue line has produced 43 points,

Vancouver's four defenders have contributed 52 points,

Riga's developing defensemen have chipped in 41 points,

Seattle's veteran defensive core has earned 42 points,

Warsaw's dangerous blue line has 52 points,

Chicago's group comes close with 64 points,

Malmo's lighter crop of defenders have 34 points,

Prague's group have produced 39 points,

Los Angeles' skilled quartet has 56 points,

Moscow's consistent efforts have earned them 50 points,

Calgary's younger group has 47 points,

New York's rebuilding blue line has 34 points,

Davos' has five defenders contributing to 38 points,

and finally DC has earned themselves 57 points. 

So... yes, Toronto has the highest producing blue line in the VHL at the time this article was written. Chicago comes in just one point less than Toronto, but beyond the reining champions no one else comes within being 'practically close' over a small stretch of games. The impressive activity from the Legions' four defenders is... well... impressive, and they've certainly helped their team skate away with a somewhat disappointing 8-5-2 record at the end of the first week of VHL hockey. 

Full disclosure here: I am the one who thinks the record is somewhat disappointing... not members of Toronto, they're actually quite happy being where we are early in the season considering we failed to make the playoffs last season at all. I don't mean to be negative, but I see some signs that concern me. Noted above I said Toronto has allowed the fourth least amount of shots on goal, yet we've allowed the second most goals in the VHL and that's indicative of an issue somewhere. It doesn't matter if we're playing 5 DEF, 4 DEF, 0 DEF... I can't seem to stop the bleeding, and that's gotten in my head a little since discovering it. I guess the only thing I can say about why I think it's a somewhat disappointing start is because I truly believe this team is capable of more, we're better than the results of some of the games we've had. So yeah... safe to say it got in my head a bit. 

Anyway, I guess it would be kinda awkward switching back to the original perspective, so from this point on it'll be my thoughts essentially. I do want to cover some of the positive stuff, I'm not a pit of darkness and I've found some enjoyment out of my teams 8-5-2 record. I'm happy that Toronto is improving from where we left off last season and thankful that the drama in the LR has melted away, so I'm enjoying the current crop of users that make up the roster. They're a pleasure to have and I loath the day I have to part with any of them... damn that 40m cap. 

 

On another front we've been pretty active in trade discussions early but they've all dried up. Some of them were negotiations, some of them were just discussions, while others were GMs telling me they were waiting for this or that day/scenario to happen. Each one of them is understandable, we've only just begun the season so anything can happen and I understand not wanting to shake up the roster too much. Teams that are on the outside like Riga with rosters that shouldn't be on the outside may rebound into a playoff position by game forty or so, but I've realized something. 

We need expansion... that's just my opinion anyway, but hey the numbers have been ran, right? I don't think we'd need a salary cap adjustment if the rosters were limited to six forward, four defenders and a duo of goalers. 

Teams are simply stuffed to the brim and active members on the third line... well they're not enjoying it. I know I wouldn't if I was only getting 9-13 minutes a game! 

I and many others have the opinion that the VHL should be a 6F/4D/1-2G league.

 

Moving away from this topic, there's not much more I can add. Something further related to Toronto's start is the we have in goal, which is Rookie's Hextall and Hedge's Klamasteris for those of you who didn't know. Hextall just recorded his 400th career VHL game -- all for Toronto -- with a record of 181-167-43. He's got a career save percentage of .917 and a career goals against average of 2.97, he's been a solid goaltender for us and I've covered it a few times already. I just wanted to show my appreciation again my acknowledging the sacrifices Rookie made to stay with Toronto when he could have gone to any other team or requested a trade away from the club to somewhere more competitive. 

I'm thrilled he's decided to stay with Toronto for his career, and we'll try to get him those 200 career wins he deserves. This season's theme is #WinForRookie for a reason and I'm determined to get him at least one more playoff appearance before Rookie is forced to hang Hextall's skates. Eight seasons just isn't enough sometimes, it just doesn't feel like natural regression when the end product is a forced retirement when the player still has more than serviceable TPA with the potential to continue to bank. 

Save the record books! 

I guess that's it for this. 

If you read all of this... I'm sorry. 

Maybe I'll be more cohesive next time. 
 

[Rhynex Entertainment 448]

Good read! Great source of information on defense corps' productions across the league. I didn't even know NYA's defense production was so low considered Chicken Wing is having such a fantastic offensive season. Good spacing, could use more sentence structuring for easier read. 9/10

[Peace 1,518]

Final claim