Rematch in Europe

[scoop 3,426]

The last three seasons in Europe have seen little change in terms of the standings. With Helsinki and London in rebuild mode occupying two of the bottom three spots in each of those seasons, four teams have found themselves consistently in the playoffs: Malmo, Warsaw, Davos, and Prague. The one shift that happened was when Moscow rose all the way from seventh in S79 to the top of the conference in S80, thus resulting in Riga missing out of the playoffs the last two seasons. In the S80 playoffs, Moscow swept their way through Europe, which included a Conference Finals victory over the reigning VHL champions in Malmo. The Menace would go on to lose in the Continental Cup Finals to the Vancouver Wolves.

 

This season, it was Malmo who finished the regular season at the top of Europe, with Moscow in second behind them. Moscow drew Prague in the conference semi-finals, while Malmo faced off against Warsaw. The Nighthawks swept the Predators as the Menace dropped the Phantoms in five games, setting up a rematch from a season ago.

 

If the season series between the two is any indication, we are in for a tight series. Malmo won the last three matchups between the two after Moscow won the first two, with three of the games in total being one-goal games. They haven't actually met since the trade deadline, and although neither team made any moves, it will be interesting to see if the games stay close or maybe one team has elevated in that period of time. The Menace did lead the conference standings at that time, but they faltered down the stretch going 9-4-6, giving the Nighthawks the chance to catch them. Malmo capitalized, going 18-1-1 since the deadline, which earned them that first seed.

 

prediction malmo sweeps and then sweeps the finals obviously

[Beketov 9,025]

Here’s to another series like last season, IE a Moscow Sweep.

 

Seriously though the 18-1-1 since the deadline is crazy and Malmo is an amazing team so here’s to a good series no matter which way it goes