Around the VHL: Week of April 11th, 2021

[Bobo 470]

Around the VHL: Week of April 11th, 2021 (Season 77, Edition 2)

 

Welcome back to the next installment of Around the VHL. As the season begins to wind down, many teams are in the tightly-contested playoff race, with some teams such as the Warsaw Predators, Helsinki Titans, and the Chicago Phoenix leading the pack. On the other side, some teams such as the Los Angeles Stars, New York Americans, and the Toronto Legion try to shake off their old losing ways, and adopt a winning culture. With many trades occurring, many storylines developing, and the playoff picture becoming ever-so-clear, let’s dive straight into what happened around the Victory Hockey League (VHL) this week. 

 

VHL Standings (European and North American Conferences):

 

 

One of the top teams in the North American Conference, the Chicago Phoenix, has again proven to be a top contender in the league, with a record of 3-1-1 over this week, and an overall record of 25-14-2 over this season so far. Phoenix star defenseman Matty Socks was third in player scoring this week, with six goals and 11 points. Socks also leads all defensemen in scoring, with 19 goals and 54 points so far. Phoenix left-wing superstar Robin Winter leads the team in scoring with 19 goals and 60 points total. Winter had one goal and nine points this week, making him fourth in scoring for the Phoenix this week alone. Another top-tier team on a tear is the Warsaw Predators, and their 6-0-0 record this week. Several Predators forwards, including superstar left-winger Aloe Dear with 17 points, and superstar center Dakota Lamb and star right-winger Lexi Glass with 10 points. Each are having career seasons, especially Dear, who is on pace to break his previous record for most points in a season (currently 78 points from S76) by a whopping 48 points. Glass is on point for 107 points this season, and Lamb is projected to put up 115 points this season. Those three players are the top three scorers on the Predators roster currently. Both of the teams I mentioned are at the top of their conference, and for good reasons. But one team farther down in the standings is looking to fix their record, and turn their season around, starting this week.

 

Featured Stories of the Week:

 

That team is the Calgary Wranglers, who sit at the bottom of their conference with a 15-18-5 record. Despite their losing record, the squad still has some life left in the tank–with a 4-1-1 record this week–second best in the league. Wranglers left-wingers Nathan Perry and Jonas Stormsson both have six points this week, with fellow left-winger Luke Thorton following behind with four points. The Wranglers, along with the Riga Reign, both are bottom-dwellers in the VHL standings but still put up impressive records (the Reign putting up a 4-2-0 record). Riga’s young cast of talents are slowly rising the ranks to help the team become a Continental Cup contender again. Some of these talents include centerman Cabe McJake, defenseman Linus Zetterstrom, centerman Isau Damoose, left-wing Addison McLaren, and many more. This week, McJake had seven points, Zetterstrom had two points, and McLaren only had one point. While that doesn’t seem like much, these players are young and developing. They share a similar status to the Wranglers: rebuilding and full of young, upcoming talent. 

 

Over the course of this week, many trades have happened. Some small, some larger. One trade from this week that stands out is the deal between the New York Americans and the Calgary Wranglers on Saturday. The transaction sees the Americans trading away their S77 first and third round picks and defenseman Shawn Andrei Zyuzin, for defenseman Kosmo Kramerev and an S78 DC Dragons fourth round pick. Zyuzin, the inactive defenseman, is joining his second team as a result of the trade. While in the big apple, he scored 11 goals and had 50 points in 183 total games. The first and third round picks traded to Calgary will help them on their rebuild, which they have entered this season. Considering the Americans’ losing record, that pick will most likely result in a high-quality prospect for Calgary, and that third will help alongside the first to further build their prospect pool. Now, the Wranglers give up a top-tier veteran defenseman in Kramerev, who put up 61 goals and 249 total points with the Wranglers in 325 games. He’s been a part of their organization for four full seasons, and part of another. Calgary also gave up a fourth round pick, originally belonging to the DC Dragons–which will be used by the Americans to further build up their prospect pool. The Americans, which are gearing up for a big playoff run, needed a top-tier defenseman to play alongside Chicken Wing, which Kramerev provides. The Wranglers needed picks badly, and they got two in this deal (coming in the S77 NYA first and third rounders). They now have five picks total for this draft, four for the next. Great trade overall for both parties. 

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And that's it for this (last) week's edition of "Around the VHL". Sorry if this is a bit late, I had to crunch for my finals, and had barely any time to write. All of the players mentioned are tagged below, along with the word count. Enjoy your week!

 

Spoiler

TAGS: @fishy  @Sonnet @Renomitsu  @dlamb @AW13 @tinafrombobsburgers @Kyle @Jtv123 @RedSus @Ledge_and_Dairy @Eynhallow @tcookie @TheLastOlympian07 @Mongoose87 @chikn

WORD COUNT: 812 words, 4781 characters. 

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by Bobo

[mattyIceman 1,050]

Great article!