Gustav Looks Through the Index - S82

[Gustav 6,417]

I spent a good half hour wondering what I should write my article on, between last night and this morning, and then I realized...the season is about to end, so why not put out my usual--and favorite--thing around this time? That's right, it's time for me to look over the index--complete this season with a shocking revelation on my part!

 

That shocking revelation is this: I had no idea London was actually good this season. As someone who is no longer a GM, and someone who's having a fairly busy semester, I suppose I'm under less of an obligation to keep track of what's happening--but I spent all season just kind of assuming that they were an average-below average team, in much the same way as the last however many seasons. I only learned that they were on top of the EU conference (though, to be fair, that likely has something to do with the engine going haywire under all the meta stuff) when I got to my first bullet point on this list, that being...

 

-The top 4 players in +/- (and 5 out of the top 6) all played for London. This despite the fact that London was 3rd in the league in goal differential, and Vancouver's was over double theirs. I didn't bother checking, but I feel like this means one of London's lines is really clicking, while the other isn't nearly as much.

 

Let's get on with the other stuff!

 

-The goal leader among defensemen shouldn't even have a chance at winning the Valiq. Leading all defenders in both shots and goals was DC's Ryan Vidot, who scored 30 goals on 439 shots. Completely disqualifying him from consideration (I should add--IN MY OPINION), however, is his relatively low point total (66) and atrocious +/- (-70). Further, his shooting percentage was a below-average 6.83%. Goals don't tell the whole story!

-Weirdly enough, one of the leaders among defensemen in shooting percentage finished with similar offensive stats. Recently banned Cabe McJake finished second at his position in shooting percentage among those who took at least 100 shots, with a 10.57%, putting up 28 goals and 61 points. The difference from Vidot? Had McJake continued his pace and put up 30, he would have done so on 155 fewer shots.

-Home-ice advantage is a real thing in Riga. The Reign recorded 22 of their 38 regulation wins (about 58%) at home, along with 3 of their 4 shootout wins. This was the most extreme difference I could find for any team, home or away. 

 

Finally, something that blew my mind...

 

-Bad team number inflation for defensive stats (hits and SB, but especially SB) is always present, but the league has literally NEVER seen a case like this...Chicago's creed (yes, that's lowercase), a 283-TPA inactive player with 78 DF, absolutely blew away the all-time league record for SB in a single season. Since S37, the record has been set at 325 by Tyler Owens, but creed managed to put up...

Spoiler

460.

 

460. That's not a typo. The single-season SB record has just risen by over 41%, and it's been set by a player who's not even good enough to legally make a VHL roster.

 

I think this is also a consequence of the sim engine going insane (along with general roster thinning caused by the VHLE). It's not like creed is a good player--28 points and a whopping +/- of -156 will do that to a person--but for whatever reason, STHS has chosen to run away with that one specific stat. Thank goodness the meta change happened this season, because I don't need another one like this.

 

[McWolf 3,115]

-156 is also an all time record, I think. Creed is now a legend

[frescoelmo 1,276]

2 hours ago, McWolf said:

-156 is also an all time record, I think. Creed is now a legend

 

creed c'mon man respect the name lol

[McWolf 3,115]

3 hours ago, frescoelmo said:

 

creed c'mon man respect the name lol

sorry creed, I won't do it again