VSN: S80 Under 200 Playoff Preview

[AJW 2,194]

 

Hello and welcome back to another addition of VSN through the VHLM. Today we will look at this season's playoffs and more specifically at the matchups that will take place. Sorry for the delay as the first sim has already been completed - even after the first sim my thoughts and predictions have not changed.

 

 

ROUND 1

 

 

 (1) Yukon Rush vs.  (8) Miami Marauders

 

The S78 Founder's Cup Champions (Yukon) faceoff against the most recent S79 Founder's Cup champions (Miami). The rush have dominated the VHLM this entire season and Miami was a good part of this. The Rush and the Marauders battled five times in S80 with all five games going to Yukon. Yukon is a very deep and talented team with star players in Kyosti Karjalainen @UnkemptCL4PTP (2nd in the league in points), Hulk Hogan 2 @Hogan (most points in the league by defenceman), Thomas Price @Thunderidge (most wins for a goalie in the league), and many other studs that contribute to success every night. The odds are truly stacked against Miami in this series as compared to the Rush, they look like a very underdeveloped team. Miami will need to rely on their sharp shooting winger Yun Chiang @FireballSalad and their S79 veteran centerman Jeremy D @lioneatingsnail in order to have any chance.

 

Yukon win this series 4-0

 

 (2) Ottawa Lynx vs.  (7) Las Vegas Aces

 

The Ottawa Lynx are another team like the Yukon Rush to run through their opponents this season. Ottawa has had a rough couple past seasons missing playoffs, but they are now starting to look like their old S71 Founder's Cup team again. Ottawa and Las Vegas played each other five times this season and Ottawa came out victorious in all five matches. The Lynx squad is habitat to four extremely dangerous players in Finn Davis @M1nT (most assists in the league), Juice Box @Siddhus (most goals scored by defenceman), Austin Towbaker @Domino (3rd most goals in the league), and their standout brick wall of a goaltender, The Red Menace @NickSunderbruch - arguably the best goalie in the league this season. On the other side of the series, the Las Vegas Aces need to put on their boots and go to work. The Aces are a very small group with only one forward, one defenceman, and one goaltender. Las Vegas experienced great success in the early stages of the season, but as others teams developed, they did not. The Aces still held onto a playoff spot and will need a miracle to beat the depth that Ottawa has built.

 

Ottawa wins this series 4-0. 

 

 (3) Minnesota Storm vs.  (6) Philadelphia Reapers

 

The Minnesota Storm and the Philadelphia Reapers have seen each other a lot this season, eight times to be exact. Minnesota slightly took the eight game series five games to three against Philadelphia. These two teams have made the most progress this season in my opinion. Starting off with Minnesota who has been a top 3 team all season: During the trade deadline alone, they acquired star players in Jyuunya Pureya Oneri Desu @Guriinwoodo, Nils Godlander @Moon_50, James Glove Dropper @Jamomayo, and Las Vegas' top goaltender, Pekka Grubauer @Tendy. These adds will definitely help take some spotlight off of key contributors on the Storm like Barry Bonds Jr @Jim Kovtrash, Nico Pearce @Spartan, and Nezuko @tfong. Minnesota has a very strong squad with high scoring forwards and a solid goaltender between the pipes. Although on the other side in Philadelphia, I really would not count them out of this series. Philadelphia struggled through the first part of S80 but have bounced back since and look like a very competitive team. Philadelphia does not have the amount of star players as Minnesota with their only top tier guy at the moment being Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser, but the depth on this team is insanely good and a lot of their players are getting closer to being maxed out TPE wise. The Reapers have had some great waiver pickups too with big named members that I like to call "The Big Four". Vasile Lamb @dlamb,  Perry Laperriere @KaleebtheMighty, Nagy Al @bigAL, and Miervaldis Arpa @16z will all be huge contributors for Philadelphia in these playoffs. This first round series is the only series I think where there could be an upset.

 

Minnesota wins this series 4-2.

 

 (4) Houston Bulls vs.  (5) Halifax 21st

 

Last but not least, the Houston Bulls will face off against the Halifax 21st. These two teams saw each other six times this season with Houston winning four games to two. Looking at Houston and Halifax, I would say both teams are pretty similar. You could argue that Halifax has a better offence, Houston has a better defence, and goaltenders are pretty well the same skill level. Houston did finish higher in the standings by two wins and keys to their success would be team leading defenceman Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk (third most points in the league by defenceman), Cameron Elsby @Spence King, and Connor Wilson @LeBron Jamezz. These two high scoring defencemen and powerful winger will need to bring their best game to help the Bulls advance to the next round. Halifax also has some key players who you could say are the best line in the VHLM this season. Star player and veteran Bryn Yrwy @dylanjj37 (league leader in points and goals) returned to Halifax once again and owned his opponents in the stat categories. His partners in crime, Jorgen Von Strangle @Timmy Turner, and Jacob Richard @Jacob Richard also put in work on the score sheet this past season with Strangle sitting in the top 10 for points, goals, and assists, and Richard making the top 10 for points and assists. Halifax will be counting on this line to produce throughout this series and if the Bulls want a chance at winning, they will need to figure out a way to stop them.

 

Halifax wins this series 4-3.

 

 

ROUND 2

 

 (1) Yukon Rush vs.  (5) Halifax 21st

 

The first matchup of the second round belongs to the Yukon Rush and the Halifax 21st. These teams saw each other five times this season with Yukon winning four out of five games. I believe this will be the same story through this series, Yukon finding success against Halifax. Yukon has far more depth throughout their team than Halifax does and if the Rush can find a way to stop the 21st's top scoring line, this series could be over before you know it. To give credit to Halifax though, they did figure out a way to beat Yukon once this season, and I am not saying Halifax is a bad team by any means. Yukon is a wrecking ball to the VHLM through S80 so in order to beat them you will need more than one top scoring line.

 

Yukon wins this series 4-1. 

 

 

 (2) Ottawa Lynx vs.  (3) Minnesota Storm

 

The Ottawa Lynx will face the Minnesota Storm in the second matchup of the second round. This series, if it happens, will be a wild and exciting one. Ottawa and Minnesota played 8 games against each other during the regular season with Ottawa coming out five games to three. Something interesting to note is that during the first half of the season, Ottawa and Minnesota played four times with Ottawa winning all four games. BUT, in the second half of the season they played another four games, Minnesota won three out of four of those games. I believe Ottawa has more depth while Minnesota has more star players, and both teams have a maxed TPE goaltender (easily the two best goalies in the league), so this series will be interesting to watch if it happens. With that being said, I could not come up with a final answer to this series' finish and had to ask other VSN members.

 

Minnesota wins this series 4-3.

 

 

CUP FINALS

 

 (1) Yukon Rush vs.  (3) Minnesota Storm

 

The finals will be held by the Yukon Rush who look to repeat their cup run from two seasons ago, against the Minnesota Storm who have been unsuccessful since their cup run in S73. Both of these teams include great depth, strong star players, and both are ran by two experienced GMs in the VHLM. When looking at both teams I see Yukon and Minnesota with massive strength in the forward category, Minnesota lacks more with defence, and Yukon lacks with goaltending. These teams played five times this season with Yukon winning three of five, but Minnesota won the two most recent games they played. Like the Minnesota and Ottawa series, this one has a lot of talent and will be exciting to see. At the end of the day, it is hard to shut an eye at Yukon's rampage of success this entire season. But, Minnesota's recent success and transactions through trading and waivers makes me believe they could bring home some hardware.

 

Minnesota wins this series 4-3

 

Finally, for fun I asked some of the GMs of the competing teams a couple of questions to see what they think about these playoffs.

 

Which team has the best of winning the Founder's Cup?

Yukon (5), Ottawa (1)

 

Which team(s) will pull a sweep in the first round?

Yukon (6), Ottawa (3), Minnesota (1)

 

Which team has the biggest chance of pulling an upset?

Halifax (5), Philadelphia (1)

 

Which team is the biggest underdog?

Minnesota (3), Philadelphia (2), Houston (1)

 

If you have different outcomes for these playoffs let me know by replying down below! I would also like to hear which team everyone will be cheering for.

Edited October 30, 2021 by ajwllmsn

[samx 1,175]

Finally Halifax is predicted to win a series WOOOO #BOATGANG

Edited October 30, 2021 by Brewins15

[comrade cat 303]

maybe halifax can win this series! #BOATGANG

[Moon 597]

2 hours ago, Brewins15 said:

Finally Halifax is predicted to win a series WOOOO #BOATGANG

Not happening though

[comrade cat 303]

7 hours ago, Moon_50 said:

Not happening though

ya never know man

[AJW 2,194]

Claiming 2/2

[a_Ferk 766]

houston FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

 

[a_Ferk 766]

that is matthew tkachuk for houston, very disappointed

 

nurse FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY