Around the VHL: April 5th, 2021

[tcookie 672]

Around the VHL: April 5th, 2021 (Season 77, Edition 1)

 

Welcome back everyone to another edition of Around the VHL! We’re well underway in the 77th season of VHL hockey as the standings start to take shape. Off-season shifts in power are starting to play out as teams like the Los Angeles Stars, Riga Reign, London United, and Toronto Legion try to transition into contenders while familiar powerhouses like Moscow, Vancouver, and Malmo drop off.

 

The defending champion Chicago Phoenix are near the top of tables again, with a 19-10-1 record through 30 games. Most of the key players are back, and with 7 point-per-game players, they are a deep, talented squad that will contend once again. Robin Winter leads the team with 14 goals and 38 points while Christian Mingle is following up his breakout season with a team-high 16 goals, though his production has dropped off slightly from last year’s pace. Matty Socks has 34 points in 30 games, once again ranking among the top defensemen in VHL scoring after a 92-point campaign.

 

The next two teams in the North American Conference are less familiar sights at the top of the standings. The Los Angeles Stars and Toronto Legion were both non-playoff teams last season, finishing 15th and tied for 11th in the league respectively. Over the off-season, the Stars added Roque Davis - coming off a 100+ point season and several VHL awards - to their lineup, a massive addition that has turned the tide for their team. They’re now up to 18-11-0 through 29 games, second in the NA, and Davis has 9 goals and 31 points. Pistil Stamen, Jeffrey Pines, and John Merrick are a formidable trio up front that has combined for 110 points so far this season.

 

The Legion, meanwhile, got off to a hot start and then complimented it with a blockbuster trade that brought in star forward SS Hornet and star defenseman Micah Adrienne from the Vancouver Wolves. The Wolves struggled out of the gate despite strong performances from Andrew Su and Onde Sandstrom, each of whom have eclipsed the 40-point mark. As players like Kristof Welch, Scotty Kaberle, and Nicholas Sunderbruch mature as players the Legion are hoping to capitalize on a window to contend, and the acquisitions of Hornet and Adrienne will surely help in their pursuit.

 

The next three spots in the North American Conference are somewhat up for grabs. While none of the teams have looked on the level of Chicago, LA, or Toronto early on, there are two more playoff spots open and they seem the most poised to challenge for them. For the Seattle Bears, currently sitting fourth, it’s been secondary scoring behind the line of Jim Bob, Timothy Brown, and Isabella Campbell that has been the main source of their problems. Rara Rasputin is providing solid goaltending and the defense as a whole has surrendered the fifth-fewest total in the VHL, but behind that top unit, there’s only one other forward and two other players on the team over 20 points.

 

Scoring hasn’t really been the issue for the New York Americans, especially not from the forwards, with a dynamic group of young offensive talent like Gary Rush, Rhynex Entertainment, and Red Lite. The Americans’ defense core is very weak, though, and Thadius Sales isn’t quite as established as the other top netminders in the league. Sales has tons of potential, and he’s actually played very well this season with a .919 SV%, but the Americans just aren’t doing him any favours (he’s faced more than 42 shots per game on average). The end result is that the Americans boast the second-worst defensive unit in the league so far, having allowed 111 goals. That will likely have to improve for them to fend off the Wolves, who sit sixth.

 

The Calgary Wranglers have entered a bit of a rebuilding phase, and they possess a lot of young talent too, especially on the defensive side of the puck with Tom Eagles, Rolf Fizzlebeef Jr., and Cowboy Prout. There’s some offensive talent here too, but that’s an area they’ll have to build up as their rebuilding process goes on. This is a team with better days ahead, but they’re unlikely to pose a big threat in the NA this season. The eighth-place DC Dragons are perhaps in a bit better position for the short term, though they’re a talented enough squad that sitting eighth right now has to be a huge disappointment - especially with the strong seasons of Groovy Dood (leading the VHL with 28 goals and 51 points) and Alex Letang (leading VHL d-men and tied for second in the league overall with 45 points). The Dragons have shown signs of life with a 7-1-2 record in their past 10, so it’s possible they just had a cold start - keep an eye on them as the season goes on. They were a fast finishing team when they went to the finals recently, too.

 

 

On the European side of things, the #1 seed is who you’d expect as well. The Warsaw Predators were 51-13-8 last season and they should be the class of the EU again this year… at 19-7-3, they are indeed terrifying for anyone to line up against. Uhtred is one point shy of giving the team FOUR 40-point players in a league that only has 10 so far among all 16 teams combined. Dakota Lamb is tied for second in the VHL with 45 points. He’s a big-time scoring threat that has continued to deliver; a PPG player every season of his career so far. Aloe Dear and Lexi Glass are also over the 40-point mark for Warsaw’s league-leading offense.

 

The Prague Phantoms sit in second, and for them it’s not so much a case of off-season additions helping them turn the corner as it is just a team finally living up to their potential. The defense core has young stud Battre Sandstrom, but overall is fairly weak, however, a deep offensive unit that has seven 20-point forwards and a spectacular start for veteran netminder Grekkark Gyrfalcon (20-9-0, 0.926 SV%) has them in position to finally make some noise. Thomas Landry II and Dominic Gobeil are the main offensive forces.

 

At 19-8-2, the Helsinki Titans find themselves in a familiar place among the European Conference contenders. Venus Thightrap came over in Free Agency, joining an already strong lineup and adding offensive skill; she leads the team with 42 points so far this year. Valtteri Vaakanainen and Patrik Laine have 41 and 37 points respectively while Vick Fairchild, Dan Dan, and Ola Vikingstad are a formidable trio, too. With 32 points in 29 games, Emi Rune is on pace for a career year and gives the Titans the top-end defenseman they really need.

 

The London United hoped for bigger things when they added Chad Magnum and Erik Killinger, and they hadn’t really worked out. James Rose ended up being dealt to Riga, but the United did add Mikko Lahtinen, a future Hall of Famer and perennial MVP candidate. Lahtinen’s paid dividends with 13 goals and 35 points, and they have really benefited from Kasper Kankkunen’s breakout season - he’s posted a terrific 40 points in 28 games so far, second among VHL defensemen and already almost eclipsing his own career high. The United are 15-10-3 for 33 points, and they are a ways back of the top three teams in the EU so far, but they have put themselves in a good position through the season’s first 28 games.

 

The Malmo Nighthawks went for a rebuild at last season’s trade deadline yet find themselves in the fifth playoff spot so far. Chris Hylands is his usual self, leading the team with 13 goals and 39 points. Outside of their first line, however, the Nighthawks don’t have a single forward with more than 10 points. They recently shipped off Marshall James Frostbeard, and seem committed to the rebuild. This fifth playoff spot might be up for grabs if any of Davos, Riga, or Moscow turn their seasons around.

 

Sitting just outside the playoffs, the perennially snakebit HC Davos Dynamo are again rebuilding, with Tyler Walker being their primary source of star power. Taro Tsujimoto is getting there - with 33 points in 29 games he’s becoming a #1 centre - and Reylynn Reinhart is poised to be a superstar on the back end at some point. Netminder Kunibuni UnGuri has a save percentage of 0.922 so far, too. There is promising talent on this team but, like with Malmo, they are a squad that doesn’t really have the depth right now to sustain as a contender.

 

That brings us to the Riga Reign, who are probably this season’s biggest disappointment. Picked by some as a possible Cup contender - at the very least expected to be a surefire playoff team - the Reign are 11-15-3 and seventh in the EU. This comes after off-season moves to strengthen the defense, adding James Rose and General Zod. A slew of great young players unearthed in the stacked S75 draft has given Riga a great squad on paper. They should be a better team than they are, but they haven’t yet put it together, perhaps due to a lack of experience overall.

 

Finally, we have the Moscow Menace, who shipped out their top talent over the off-season to also enter a true rebuild. Under new management. The future for this team lies in the super-talented duo of Duncan Idaho (10 goals, 21 points) and Paul Atreides (11 goals, 21 points) who were both selected with top-3 picks in last season’s Entry Draft. Ryan Schwarz (12 goals, 23 points) from the S74 draft is a talented player likely to be young enough to remain with the team through to when they’re able to contend again. Idaho and Atreides, along with teammate and S76 pick Philip Stein, are all tied for second in the VHL in rookie scoring. With Idaho and Atreides on the roster, both of whom seem destined to be VHL superstars, their time will come… but this is a rebuilding squad for sure, not a team built for the present.

 

The first half of the season has been an exciting one with some change coming to the VHL landscape that promises to make for a really interesting season. Expect there to be more of the same in the second half, and for some exciting playoff races on both sides of the draw as the mid-tier teams fight for an invitation to the dance at season’s end.

 

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Sorry guys, I didn't have time to come up with a Feature Story or put together good stats for a Fantasy Corner this time around. I did write a little more than usual in the Around the VHL part. Hope you enjoyed.

 

Players mentioned: @Sonnet @Quik @fishy  @Josh @DMaximus @Steve @rory @McWolf @Poptart @Juice @fromtheinside @NickSunderbruch  @jRuutu @a_Ferk @Victor @Banackock @G_Rush @Rhynex Entertainment @Tate @thadthrasher @Greg_Di @TacticalHammer  @Prout @bigAL @Spartan @dlamb @Renomitsu  @AW13 @leafsman @Acydburn  @Domg5 @Doomsday @Sharkstrong @BladeMaiden @PatrikLaine @Jubo07 @Emi @GreenGato @Dil @MMFLEX @Beketov @Peace @MattyIce @16z @Hylands @FrostBeard @Matt_O @OrbitingDeath  @Mr_Hatter @IHateBobNutting
 

Edited April 5, 2021 by tcookie

[Mr_Hatter 1,603]

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW

[Spartan 3,997]

Stein gonna be a star too, no counting my man out! 

[Laine 1,361]

@tcookie great article! Keep it up!

[mattyIceman 1,037]

What an awesome read!

[a_Ferk 760]

da bears