VSN Presents: Under 250 - the Mississauga Hounds' Revival

[Ledge 1,131]

 

What is up VHL, we are back with the first edition of Under 250 in a while. We'll be looking at all the happenings of our very own junior league. Make sure to check out some other featured VSN content.

 

Game 7 Stories S61 | BoG Update | VHLM Power Rankings #2 | Talents Behind the Trophies: Jake Wylde Trophy

 

 

Standings Overview

 

Western Conference Standings

 

As per normal, we have a very good idea of what the standings will look like come playoff time based on what they look like now. After a brief stint where they had a fight for 1st place with Houston at the beginning of the season, the Saskatoon Wild have taken over the West. It seems they have a perfectly built team based off of past champions and, well, their resounding success so far. They just came off a 5 game winning streak, and their dynamic trio of Duncan Montana, Griff Mackenzie, and David Tavau are all over the league leaderboards.. The Houston Bulls started off very strong, but their apparent lack of players in general eventually caught up with them as they trailed into second place. As is with their up and down success pattern, they are definitely suffering a ‘down’ season this epoch. The Las Vegas Aces, forever competitive, boast a decent squad that should crack the playoffs. They have a talented mix of both experienced returnees and fresh rookies. The San Diego Marlins completely rebuilt their team after a crazy S74, which saw them deal away a huge number of futures, and they are still feeling the repercussions. They also have a truckload of waiver signings. The Yukon Rush spent their picks and prospects in hopes of a championship the last few seasons, and now their pipeline runs dry. New management hopes to bring a plentiful S78 after stocking up at the recent draft. The Mexico City Kings are reeling from two consecutive Founders’ Cup finals where they sacrificed the vast majority of their future to achieve greatness. They have struggled mightily with a small pool of players, most of whom came from the minors not long ago. They also do not have a cupboard full of draft picks.

Eastern Conference Standings

 

The East, from a first glance, looks to be significantly stronger than the West in terms of points and wins. The Mississauga Hounds lead the way, with only 4 losses in the entire season and just coming off an insane 11 game winning streak. Their management, although youthful in the league, have proved to be quite adept. The Miami Marauders follow, with a picture perfect team and a new yet veteran general manager. They saved up assets for this season, and now is their time to contend. The Minnesota Storm once again exhibit a high amount of players and draft picks, setting them up for years of playoff time. Their uber-experienced management group has excelled after a few seasons of basement dwelling. The Halifax 21st possess a startling amount of players, alas mostly freshmen and not showing any capabilities of topping the rankings. The Ottawa Lynx, for what seems to have become a norm, own a measly 6 players and not a single defenceman. Finally, we have the Philadelphia Reapers, who have been weighed down by loss of assets by trading them away at past deadlines. They have, however, kept some key pieces and collected numerous draft selections so we should expect a better showing next season.

 

Feature Story

 

The Mississauga Hounds’ Revival

 

Since their inception into the VHLM in S66, the Mississauga Hounds have not won a single Founder’s Cup. Not even a Prime Minister’s Cup. However, in only brand new general manager Zetterberg’s second season at the helm of the Hounds, they are atop of the league, and a championship could be just on the horizon. In this feature story, I’ll be looking at how Zetterberg and his loyal assistant tcookie built the juggernaut that is the S77 Mississauga Hounds.

 

S76

 

The Hounds had a horrid S76, finishing last in the Eastern conference and 2nd last overall. They had spent a lot of valuable assets in pursuit of the S74 cup, and suffered from that lack of fresh blood for the next few seasons, as they floated listlessly in mediocrity. However, as we know from the cases of the Reapers and the Marauders before them, in the VHLM, success comes after mediocrity. They were able to sell off some players during the S76 season and gather loads of draft selections to set them up for this season’s run. Going into the draft, they had forwards Owen Taylor, Guy Lambert, Miks Sunish, and Miles Johnson as well as defenseman Kirby Pandora (who they traded for after losing in the S77 draft by Ottawa), Chris P Bacon, and Elvis Michael, and then goaltender Luke Spinelli. This was the main core that rode with them into the middle of the standings.

 

S77 Dispersal Draft

 

With a good portion of their core secured, Z and tcookie went to work drawing fresh blood at the draft. They made their presence known, taking Gustislav Nasherov, Hard Markinson, and Joe Madison at 3rd, 4th, and 5th overall. It was clear from the start that they had a defensive core to rival some VHL teams. In the second round, they nabbed Tynan Sylvester, JaredN Jr., and Innunguaq Kiak, and opposing squads watched as the Hounds grew stronger as every round passed. Skip to the fourth round and Jlloyoid Blloyoiderson, and then Brighton Grisby in the fifth joined the roster, which was full to the brim with talented players. They went quiet in the final two rounds, meme picking Rolf Fizzlebeef Jr. as he was already headed up to Calgary. 

 

S77

 

The season arrived. Anxious to see how their team would do, the Hounds management watched as they won eleven games straight to start the campaign. Before the draft, they had swapped Kman and a 6th rounder in exchange for Davey Jones Jr., and sent Ashton Hauff in a separate deal for Lorgo Pompronkimishkonov (whom they would later trade for Jonny Pacheco). The only deals they made at the draft were trading up for Markinson and swapping late round picks. After they recognized how much of a powerhouse they had built, Pacheco as well as Gaspar Zakrevsky from Yukon and Kirby Pandora from Ottawa were acquired. Grisby, Kiak, and picks went the other way. 

Although the leaderboards are dominated by mostly other teams, they depth-rich Hounds don’t need to play the same players 30 minutes a game, so they have a reason for being concealed. However, their scoring is spread out nicely. Guy Lambert leads the way with 74 points, and Nasherov and Michael are both defenders over a point per game. They have seven players with over 50 points, which is incredible. By contrast, Ottawa has zero and Halifax has only one. 

As the season went on, Joakim Lund, a VHLM journeyman, signed as a free agent in Halifax, and backup goalie Tobias Reinhart was added to the team as a waiver signing. 

 

The Mississauga Hounds could not be a more complete team. There is hardly anything they could possibly do to further improve at this point. All they can do is hope that the erratic engine that is Simon T will nod their way when it matters most.

 

That will be all, thank you for reading and stay tuned for more VSN coverage of everything VHL and VHLM.

 

Player mentions:

Spoiler

@124715 @HoneyBadger25 @Ahma @Zetterberg @tcookie @Owen Taylor @Spartakiller2 @Anomalijs @Midnite @PandaBearD25 @Chris P Bacon @ATST @Lspinelli @Vat @STZ @Brewins15 @diamond_ace  @jared @Grant @Cxsquared @StephenCurry5806N @TacticalHammer  @Kman @Da Trifecta @hess30 @dart @jpach @Pythonic @Bouncyelf @Spaz

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Ledge_and_Dairy

[fromtheinside 1,278]

nice work Ledge

[animal74 1,606]

I had the pleasure of being drafted in S76 by @Zetterberg, @tcookie and the Hounds fully knowing that I would only be there the one season. It was great working with their core players and it's great to see them doing so well!

[Ledge 1,131]

Claiming 2nd week