A Look Into the M Part 2: The Bubble and The Gap

[Birdman 59]

On our last look into the M, we went over our top three teams currently. This includes Halifax with their dominant scoring prowess, the Yukon Rush and their elite prospects, and the Minnesota Storm whose elite goal tending leads the league in save percentage for starting goalies. Now we're going to cover what I call the "bubble teams". While they aren't dominant like the above teams, they can certainly hold their own and are eager to move up in the league.

 

3. San Diego Marlins                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

The Marlins are an impressively deep squad that can roll their lines and keep steady pressure on opposing defenses. They have 7 players that are plus 10 or more so far and 11 players that have 15 or more points so far in the season. Their standout player is defenseman Damien Salducci who leads the team in assists with 23 and is second in points with 25. Another standout stat with San Diego is their physicality, they have 4 players with over 60 hits and Aldwin Craig is 4th in the league with 98 hits to his name. Another fun stat that can be attributed to the Marlins is owned by Gabby Dugan who is 8th in the league for penalty minutes with 48 in 25 games. In net, their go-to guy is Morgan Karlsson who has sported an incredible 2.55 goals against average which is leading the league for starting goalies; he is also tied for first among starters in save percentage with a .900. On a more recent note they have now surpassed the storm for 3rd place, throwing my perfect organization all out of wack.

5. Saskatoon Wild                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

This is a very strong defensive team with 2-way forwards that can smother the points and facilitate a quick break out that generates strong scoring chances. They have 4 players with over one shot block a game which helps their goalie Leroy Johnson out tremendously. This shows especially in his stat line with an impressive 0.899 save percentage and 3.18 goals against average. Their top goal scorer is their star center Griff Mackenzie who is on pace to exceed his incredible 106 point season last year with Saskatoon. He combines with Duncan Montana and Jordan Heavens on the wings to make an impressive top line scoring threat that has combined for 60 goals and 124 points in 26 games. On the defensive end, Raphael Sonier and Ricky Tylerson are their standouts. They have 143 hits and 93 blocked shots combined as well as 38 points to boot. Sonier especially is a solid two-way talent for them; he is on pace for a point a game as well as having a solid plus 11, which is a great indicator for an offensive defenseman.

 

6. Houston Bulls                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

The Bulls brings us to our halfway point in the league standings and it starts to show a turning point in the league. Houston is the last team with a positive goal differential, even so it is only by one goal. while there are plenty of point producing talented players on this roster, many still have a negative plus minus; for example, Milk Jugs is their main offensive defenseman with 35 points including 18 goals, yet they are -16 so far in the season. Their main goal scorer is winger Anze Miklavz, whose 20 goals already put him on pace to far exceed his last season total of 42. This strong growth also shows why the Riga Reign was willing to use their 15th overall pick to select him in the S78 VHL draft. Their go-to goalie is Aike van Giersbergen, a solid tender who has shown great consistency over his VHLM career with his save percentage only varying by 0.002 during his 3 seasons in the league. This makes it easy to see why the Wolves decided to take him at 6th overall in the draft last season. Breaking from the standard format a little bit, I have managed to use my connections to get you an exclusive look in on the Bulls with their assistant general manager Mistxh J.

 

1.What would you say the team's biggest strongsuit is so far?

 

"I truly believe our greatest strong suit is our resiliency, we have been consistently making the playoffs without too many losses and we are always capable of creating a great squad and locker room for everyone, new or old to the league, learn as much as they can, development is big in Houston."

 

2.Who is the team's leader in the locker room?

 

"Our team leader definitely has to be our Brick Wall goalie, Aike Van Giersbergen aka enigmatic, she has been with us for couple seasons and really leads the team from between the pipes."

 

3.What does the team struggle with the most?

 

"Our biggest struggle would probably be on the defensive side, we are lacking depth on that side but the players we do have are absolutely amazing and have been working really hard to make up for that weakness, the same can be said for our forward squad who are constantly scoring when they have to which helps disguise the fact that we even are struggling in any way."

 

4.Who do you think the team's best prospect is on the ice right now?

 

"To answer your last question our we actually have 2 top prospects, Anze Miklavz, aka McKelvie, and Milk Jugs, aka NerdyCowz. Obviosuly our Goalie Aike is up there as well but Miklavz and Jugs have just unreal for us. Anze is such a prolific scorer and is just so talented in the offensive that he truly transformed our attacking game. As for Milk Jugs, I mean he is just the best 2 way defenseman there is, he is capable of doing anything you need on both ends of the ice and has a remarkable 200 foot game."

 

7. Philadelphia Reapers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

 

The Reapers are #7 in the league currently, and if you thought that the storm had an offensive d-corps, then take a look at Philadelphia. They have 3 with over 30 points and 2 of those have double digit goals. The standout here being Vasiliy Grigorev who has 32 points and scores on astounding 24% of shots. Not to mention he has only taken 4 penalties in 20 games and this makes him one of the elite offensive defenseman of the league. Their main goal scorer is the excellent Genghis Khan, a hard hitting winger that is adept at letting the defensemen feed him goals. Currently after 27 games, Khan has 23 goals and is on pace to eclipse his 103 point previous season. Their top prospect according to rjfryman's draft power rankings is Taylor Mourning, a solid winger whose rock solid development has put him high up on many draft boards. The Reapers have two goalies that share roughly equal time. First is the more experienced Luke Spinelli, a solid goal tender with slightly lower stats but a slightly better record when compared to his partner Tobias Reinhart. Spinelli has a respectable 0.880 save percentage and a 2.95 goals against average. However, Tobias Reinhart has a slightly higher 0.902 and only a 2.62 goals against average. Only time will tell which goalie will eek their way into the full time spot or if they will both continue to split shifts through out the season.

 

8. Ottawa Lynx                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

Ottowa brings us to what I have coined "The Gap". The number 7 team, the Philadelphia Reapers, are currently 18 points away from the number 1 team, the Halifax 21st. Meanwhile, the Lynx are 17 points behind 7th place. A look at their team composition gives us some insight as to why. What I believe is the main reason is their goaltending. Before the Lynx, every team has had a goalie with near or over 200 TPE. However, this is not sustainable for the entire league as there is not a high enough turnover rate to supply a veteran goalie to every team before they are pulled up to the VHL. Given that fact, Jacob Rask has done an admirable job of holding down the pipes so far. In only his second season and with only 132 TPE, he has put up a 0.864 save percentage so far after 19 starts. As I am writing this, Ottawa has just traded the 2 top players I was planning on putting here. Both center Jlloyoid Blloyoiderson and Kirby Pandora, their leaders in goals, assists, and points have been traded to the Halifax 21st in exchange for a 4th round pick next season and a 1st and 2nd round pick in the Season 80 Draft. This move puts them on a course to rebuild for the next two seasons and make a move in season 80 with two 1st round and two second round draft picks. Before this development, I had placed Ottawa on an upward trajectory but now we will just have to wait and see how the future pans out for them.

 

This brings us to our wrap up where in three weeks time we can tune in next time and see whats changed, how my predictions have gone, and finally get to our last few teams that we still have to cover on our look into the M.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by Birdman

[Alex 2,876]

Review: Really cool article and I really like the series you have going! It is well written and clearly well researched. I am looking forward to read your next media spot as you finish out the M. Great Job! 9.5/10

[Birdman 59]

Claiming this for the week ending on the 13th as well. 

[Xflexz 158]

Always love when people take the time to do articles on teams. Especially if it's one you're on or played for! I also love how neat and ordered everything is and nothing is really clashing together. Adding the logos was a nice touch too. 10/10

[Birdman 59]

Last claim for this one on the week ending the 20th.