Mexico City Kings Season in Review, Now What?

[Arce 742]

 

With the S81 season coming to a close, the Mexico City Kings were playoff bound! The Kings may have fallen short of catching the Saskatoon Wild and finished last in the conference, but they were able to slide into the playoffs as the 8th and final seed. The Kings were then swept by the #1 seed Ottawa Lynx, which many in the league anticipated. However, the Kings would not go down without a fight as they lost game 4 in a thrilling 7-6 OT loss. After a tough start to the season, the Kings were able to pick it up and get into playoff contention. For Mexico City, this season ended up being a total success being the end result. How? Well, they ended up with a roster, and locker room full of active players. In my opinion, that is what the VHLM is all about. The interest that generated from our new players was very encouraging. GM @youloser1337and AGM @Viceboth did an excellent job recruiting our new players, and engaging with everyone weekly in the locker room. It was great seeing some people who had previous players return to join Mexico City for the playoff run. To break it down, we will now give the shout outs, and much earned recognition to the players who helped make this possible.

 

Boris Tsezar - G 248 TPE ( @comrade cat )

 

There is nothing more important to a hockey team than having a backbone. That backbone is the goaltender, and you cannot succeed as a unit if it doesn't start from the net. Boris Tsezar proved to be just that, as they were busting out Mexico City all season long. Tsezar posted up an impressive .896% save percentage and had a GAA of 3.48. When you face by far the most shots in the league with 2339. The most impressive stat to me, was the 4 shutouts Tsezar was able to provide having nights on the hammock in the net. Tsezar was also a very vocal locker room presence. Not only were they not afraid to ask as many questions as needed, but they created some waves in the VHL general discord. Having to face trial for nuking multiple countries. Due to a lack of evidence, Tsezar was found not guilty but it remains open to public speculation. As long as Tsezar is able to stay away from airplanes outside of team flights, The Legion have a lot to look forward to with their prospect goaltender. They will be looking forward to seeing Tsezar's continued growth next season with the Rome Gladiators.

 

Top Line:

 

Ronan Lavelle - LW 219 TPE

 

There is no need to save the best for last when it comes to the star of the team, Ronan Lavelle. Not really, but I am incredibly pleased with Lavelle's debut season in the VHLM. Lavelle was an over a point per game player all season long. He finished 7th in the league with 42 goals, and added a balanced 41 assists to his production totaling in 83 points. Lavelle was the team's go to scorer in most situations. He played hero for the Kings a few times, netting 8 game winners. Funny enough, Lavelle could not muster a single goal for the Kings in the playoffs. He had 4 points off 4 assists. Benjamin Franklin Tang took the scoring torch in the Ottawa series. Lavelle tried to take on a leadership role in the Kings locker room, by always bringing a positive attitude and encouraging his teammates to keep up their hard work. It didn't matter if the Kings had a 2-0 day, or an 0-2 game the mindset and mission was still the same. Lavelle ended the season with "Once a King always a King." It was one hell of an experience. Lavelle will be in the S82 draft, where he is currently ranked in the top 15 prospects. It will be interesting to see where Lavelle ends up as he attempts to ramp up the offense of his future team. Lavelle should find himself in the VHLE next season as well.

 

Benjamin Franklin Chang- LW 151 TPE ( @joelunk)

 

Benjamin Franklin Change, putting a whole new twist on the Ben Franklin name finished second in scoring on the Kings with 66 points. He had 22 goals, and 44 assists which was almost enough to average a point per game. Franklin Changalso showed up in the playoffs big time for the Kings, as all 4 of his points were goals. This led the Kings, and almost helped them pull an upset on Ottawa in game 4 as he pulled off a hattrick. Despite the strong finish, Franklin Chang was not happy with the personal accomplishment. "I WANTED A RING!" Franklin Tang said in the locker room after game 4. The loss was definitely hard on the players, but Franklin Chang expressed the excitement for the future. Benjamin Franklin Chang will also be featured in the S82 draft. He will he drafted to a VHL team, and then will most likely end up in the VHLM draft to play one final season in the M, before making the jump. 

 

Luca Accardi - RW 149 TPE ( @LRJA)

 

Luca Accardi found himself in a playmaking role for the Mexico City Kings this season. the future draftee had 55 points, 37 of which came in the form of assists. He also led all Mexico City forwards with 151 hits, placing him only behind defenseman Michael Hunt on the team. Accardi is a natural right wing, but found himself centering Lavelle and Franklin Chang throughout the season and playoffs. This made for a good experience production wise for Accardi. He showed a very physical game, and when anyone tried to rough up his teammates, he was the first one to jump in the scrum for them. Accardi will be in the S82 draft class, and will be a prospect for a VHL team and also very likely entering the VHLM draft for one more season.

 

Defense:

 

Dabnad Shaw - D 187 TPE ( @Dabnad)

 

Dabnad Shaw made his gutsy, defensive presence known for the Kings this season. Shaw joined the Kings about halfway through the season, appearing in 36 games. He posted 22 points during that span, 17 of which were helpers. Shaw showed some serious grit throwing 101 hits in just half a season of work, and found his way in the box for 62 PIM. Most impressively, Shaw put his boy on the line 74 times for his goaltender. Dabnad Shaw was a very active locker room presence after joining the team. Shaw was very vocal after games, and tried to keep a positive mindset in the locker room. The future is very bright for Dabnad Shaw as they already have registered 187 TPE, which will him on VHL team's radars looking for promising defensive prospects.

 

Ricu Cracker - D 103 TPE ( @RiceCracker)

 

Ricu Cracker led all Mexico City Kings defensemen in scoring with 32 points in 72 games, 27 of which were assists. Cracker also blocked 133 shots, which had him 4th in the whole league in blocked shots. Cracker's skating ability helped led to a lot of transitional east to west plays for the Kings. Although many of these did not result on the score sheet since there are only one secondary assist, it made a big difference. Cracker has slowly worked his development, and will look to be a steal in the later rounds in the S82 draft for teams needing defense.

 

Deron Nesbitt - D 112 TPE ( @AW13 )

 

Deron Nesbitt elected to join Mexico City right before their playoff run. Nesbitt averaged almost a point per game in their stint, registering 10 points in 14 games played. Aside from sniping 5 goals, Nesbitt also blocked 30 shots. In 72 games played at this pace, Nesbitt would have blocked almost 160 shots putting them amongst the league leaders. Nesbitt was a big time locker room presence when they joined the team. Nesbitt was just as disappointed as the rest of the team when Mexico City got swept out of the playoffs. However, the future is very bright for the S83 draftee. With already 112 TPE and two drafts away, Nesbitt at this pace will be one of the top prospects in the S83 draft class. A bright future lays ahead for Deron Nesbitt, and the lucky VHL team that gets the rights.

 

All and all, it was a disappointing end to the season for the Mexico City Kings. Who likes to get eliminated in the first round, and not win a game? The Kings won in many other ways however, as they have some of the most promising prospects in the S82 and S83 draft classes. They had the privilege of having one of the best if not the best goaltenders in the VHLM this season. They had a top 10 scoring forward, and two defensemen in the leaders for shot blocks. Reasons for the S81 Mexico City Kings to hold their heads up high going in to the future.

 

Word Count: 1515

 

For Weeks Ending: 1/16, 1/23/ 1/30

[WildfireMicro 370]

REVIEW:

A damn good piece! I love how you kept a positive attitude throughout despite how the playoffs went. I wish there was some paragraph spacing tho. I do like the detail of showing the TPE tho, and the lack of paragraph spacing is really my only complaint. I wish the Kings luck going forward!

 

9/10

[thadthrasher 1,692]

This was a great article to read. Well-written, no glaring issues, and it was presented in a neat manner. I'm not one that says you need to include pictures, I think articles are just as good without them, as long as they are formatted nicely and well-written, which yours is. In my opinion this is a 10/10!

[Arce 742]

Claim for 1/23

[Rhynex Entertainment 448]

Very nice article! Very good read! Excellent usage of paragraph structuring, subtitles for each major paragraph, which makes it an easy read. Shout out recognitions are always nice, I personally think the whole team should get a koodo whenever a team finds success! Best of luck in the upcoming Dispersal draft and next season! 9/10

[Arce 742]

Claim for 1/30 - PT DOUBLES with Player Store Purchase

Edited January 26, 2022 by Arce