VSN Presents: S78 VHLM Power Rankings #3

[fromtheinside 1,278]

 

For the final time in Season 78. VSN is back to bring you another edition of the VHLM Power Rankings. It's been a fun season to track to say the least. Some clubs that have been solid for a couple seasons now are taking their final swing for a Founder's Cup, while other teams like San Diego and Yukon are hitting the peak of their rebuilds and are hoping to bear the fruits of their labor. We are just days away from the start of the VHLM Playoffs so this may also serve as a nice playoff preview edition of the Power Rankings. While most of the playoff teams are set in stone, there is still some jockeying for positioning happening throughout the standings. No team is locked into a seed as of right now, so there's a ton of intrigue heading into the final few sims (if they ever happen...). Without further ado, let's dive right into it!

 

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For the first time this season, the Rush have finally made it to the top spot in the Power Rankings. Even despite losing one of their top defenders to inactivity, Yukon has been unwavering in their quest to the Cup this season. With a record of  51-8-4 record and currently riding a six game winning streak, the Rush are in a full sprint coming into the end of the regular season. @Zetterberg Tyler Reinhart continues to terrorize his opponents offensively with 57 goals and 62 assists for 119 points. While Reinhart's massive numbers are certainly impressive, it's pretty incredible to look at the Yukon roster and see the offensive depth they possess. Aside from Reinhart, the Rush have four other players with 90 or more points, two of which are defensemen! I truly believe Yukon is the deepest team in the league this season. The team added to that depth this past week with a pair of defensemen recreate signings. Both @BarzalGoat Sven Eightnine and @fonziGG Tony Adams put ink to paper and have joined the Rush for their Cup pursuit. These two veteran users are a seamless fit in Yukon and could provide some much needed defensive depth come playoff time. The Rush currently are lined up to take on the Mexico City Kings in the first round. At first glance this might seem like a lopsided matchup, but the Kings have actually handed Yukon three losses this season so there could be some real intrigue to that matchup!

 

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Slipping one spot down to 2 is the Halifax 21st. While it's true they fell from first, I would attribute that more to Yukon's strong play rather than Halifax not performing. The 21st still look deadly as ever and for now they hold down the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but Minnesota is breathing down their necks now only one point behind. Halifax has gone 4-5-1 in their past 10 contests, but it has definitely been their toughest patch of games all season, with most of their games being against San Diego or Minnesota. Despite dropping games versus the Storm, I still believe the Boat Gang has a better roster to compete for a Cup. @tylerwest Tyler "Superman" Steel has indeed been a Man of Steel for the 21st this season. Not only has he eclipsed the 100 point plateau (42 goals, 62 assists), but he has also laid out 314 hits and has 123 PIMs. He has been the team's most diverse player and has been a jack-of-all-trades. While it's true that only one point separates Minnesota and Halfiax, the 21st have had more goals for, less goals against and more wins in regulation, all with a game in hand. Should the standings hold, Halifax would match up with the Houston Bulls in the first round. This would be a favorable matchup as Halifax is winning the season series 4-1 thus far. However, that being said, there's still too many moving parts for this to be set in stone yet, so stay tuned!

 

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The Marlins find themselves back up into the 3 spot as the season winds down. As has been the case all season long, the Marlins can compete with anyone and maintain one of the deepest lineups leaguewide. San Diego continues to play their physical, shut-down prototype of hockey and they are proving it can be a winning formula. They are a tough matchup night in and night out. While their offense won't blow you away, they league the lead with fewest goals against with just 162 goals over 65 contests which is an average of 2.49 a game. Any time you can limit the other team to 3 goals or less, you give yourself a chance to win, especially in the M. @LuluSalesAway Loch Ness Monster and @Gwdjohnson Arvid Johansson have anchored a super deep blueline that has gotten the job done all season long, and subsequently have made goaltender @Erik Morgan Karlsson's life much easier. Speaking of Karlsson, he should be a serious contender to win Goalie of the Year. He's already netted four shutouts and boasts a sparkling .904 save percentage. As for the league's hottest rivalry, the Marlins and Rush have played six games up until this point and the teams each have three wins apiece. It will all come down to the final week of the season where the team's will play each other twice in back to back days. The whole league will be watching in anticipation to see which GM gets to serenade us with their vocal talents!

 

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Flip-flopping spots with the Marlins, the Storm find themselves down to fourth in this installment of the Power Rankings. While this may seem odd since the Storm have been surging up the standings as of late, there's some reasoning behind it. First and foremost, I feel like these top four teams are super close overall and you could make sound arguments for any of them to move up or down within the top 4. But aside from that, I have some concerns about the Storm roster.  They currently hold one inactive player on their roster, and are bordering on having two more to add to that to make three inactive players, all of which are forwards. Having to lose three forwards will definitely hurt their depth and real force the Storm to make big changes to their lineups. For now though, they continue to roll and are making a major push to take over first place in the Eastern Conference. The Storm have gotten a great deal of offense from their defense this season, most notably of which has been @Hank Zarek Kaczka who came over from the Las Vegas Aces in a trade during the offseason. Kaczka has 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 total points. Of those 36 goals, 7 have been game winners. Regardless of what happens, the Storm will be an interesting team to keep an eye on moving forward as they have strong players at all positions.

 

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For the second consecutive time the Reapers find themselves in the 5 spot on the VHLM Power Rankings. The Reapers have found a nice groove down the final stretch of the season. They lost one of their goalies to inactivity unfortunately, but at least now it is clear that @Spaz Tobias Reinhart is the bonafide  number one goalie in Philly. He has done fairly well for his club this season, going 22-12-2 with a 2.79 goals against average and an .886 save percentage. Meanwhile up front @Alex_J32 Alex Johnston continues to have a stand out season. Through 68 contests Johnston has 56 goals and 57 assists for a total of 113 points. He is amongst the league leaders in offense and leads his team both on and off the ice as he is also currently the team's Assistant General Manager. The Reapers have solidified themselves as a middle of the pack playoff contender and could definitely pose a threat to any of the teams in the Top 4. I could definitely see them pulling off an upset or two come playoff time.

 

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Much like the Reapers, the Saskatoon Wild are another team that find themselves right in the middle of the pack of the VHLM playoff race. Through 69 games the Wild sport a record of 42-23-4 which clinches them third place in the West. They are tied with Philly for the 5th playoff seed but can finish no worse than sixth. The should mean that they will face either San Diego or Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. The Wild sport one of the most impressive offenses in the league which feature three 50-goal scorers and four players that have reached the 100 point marker. While the big four continue to run amuck in the VHLM, players like @raphaelsonier9815 Raphael Sonier provide great grit and toughness. Sonier is no slouch on offensive himself, having scoring 64 points this season to date. But on top of that he has also made 220 hits and blocked 148 shots. Players like this are always necessary when competing for a Cup but often get overlooked. Just as I said about the Reapers, the Wild are a team you shouldn't sleep on. They could very easily win their first round matchup, and after that, who knows what could happen. Crazier things have certainly happened in the M in the past handful of seasons.

 

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With a record of 37-27-5 and only four games left to play, the Bulls are locked into the 7th seed and are likely to face off against the Halifax 21st in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls will have their hands full and will need to click on all cylinders to have a shot at pulling off an upset. The top defensive pairing of @NerdyCowz Milk Jugs and @DarkSpyro Drakon Zebastovka have done alot of the heavy lifting for Houston this season and have been effective both offensively and defensively.  Up front, @Ryan Li has been the Bull's best forward with 33 goals and 52 assists for 85 points. Aside from his impressive offensive haul, he also leads the team in hits with 154. Perhaps the biggest X factor for the Bulls though will be their goaltender @enigmatic Aike van Giersbergen. AVG has been the goto goalie in Houston for the better part of two seasons now. I imagine he will need to stand on his head to shut down the big time offense of the Halifax 21st.

 

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Coming in once again at 8 are the Mexico City Kings who continue to show signs that they are a decent team that are on the up-and-up. They have officially been locked into the 8th seed and will most likely be playing Yukon in Round One. While this seems like a major mismatch from first glance, the Kings have actually played the Rush very well this season and should by no means be thought of as an afterthought in the playoffs. After being taken 37th overall in the S78 VHLM Dispersal Draft, right-winger @GoldGear88 has found success in Mexico posting 47 goals and 54 assists to eclipse the 100 point plateau by 1. If he can translate his newfound success to the postseason, the Kings may shock the world and pull off the major upset. Regardless of what results they get in the playoffs, you have to credit the Kings for a heck of a season. For a season that was meant to be a pure rebuild, they have already put themselves back on the map to be a dangerous player in the league.

 

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The Lynx just recently have found themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the VHLM playoffs. While they made it interesting down the stretch, they unfortunately came up just short. Though it's disappointing to miss out on the postseason, @dlamb and his team should be proud of the turnaround they've shown this season. I have no doubt in my mind that the Lynx will be a top 8 team next season but for now, its off to the links for the Lynx. Ottawa should have a decent amount of returning players, along with a nice amount of draft picks on the board in the next Dispersal Draft. It may sting to finish ninth this season but this will be but a mere afterthought when the Lynx return to prominence  in the coming seasons.

 

THE REST OF THE FIELD

Normally I would take the time to break down every team from 1-12, but at this point in the season, there's really no point to rank the last few teams apart from each other. All three of Mississauga, Miami, and Las Vegas are clearly in rebuild mode and aren't fielding competitive teams. I guess if I really had to break it down, the Aces are the worst of the three since they have less future assets in terms of returning players and draft picks. Both Miami and Mississauga have done a terrific job of loading up for the Season 79 season and I imagine both of them will be contenders once again next season. As for the here and now though, these three teams are merely an afterthought in Season 78.

 

That's all for this week folks! There's still some playoff implications to be decided in the final couple of sims so be sure to keep an eye on how things shake out as far as playoff matches are concerned! I think it really is anybody's game this year in the playoffs. While Yukon and Halifax are certainly favorites going into the postseason, they are by no means a lock to win the Founder's Cup. As we have seen from time to time in the playoffs, nothing is for certain, so buckle in! It should be a wild ride in the playoffs!

[Hank 67]

Thanks for the mention!