VSN Presents: VHLM Power Rankings S70'S part 1

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Greeting readers! Welcome to what is basically a follow up from the series I did earlier, this time focusing on looking at the teams in the VHLM. The M did not see any major expansions during the S70's like the VHL did, it was pretty stable the whole way through, only one team was added and that was the Miami Marauders in season 72. For this reason there will not be a separate expansion ranking, as one team being added and only missing two seasons instead of three isn't enough of a difference to warrant a whole extra list. For this list I used the same rules and bonus points as I did for the VHL ranking. Since the M doesn't have an equivalent to the Victory Cup I simply changed it to be called "top team". With that out of the way we can start breaking it down, starting with the bottom three teams of course.

 

 

Halifax 21st

Record: 315-356-49

Rank: 12th with 734 points

                                                     Goals for: x2                    Conference finals: x1

                                                     Goals against: x1               Cup finals: x0

                                                    Goal differential: x2      Founders Cup: x0

                                                    Top Team: x1                    Points: 679+55

Man what is it with the teams being near and dear to my heart being near the bottom? Toronto Legion were close to the bottom in the VHL and now the Halifax 21st, dead last by 75 points. Halifax was the very first team I played for, all the way back in season 69 so sadly I didn't play for them in this decade, maybe that was for the best though? On a serious note though the 21st had a rough go of it, with only three seasons where they won more than half their games. The decade started off rough with the team going from a 20-50-2 record, to 19-47-6 and then 21-46-5. While you would think they missed the playoffs in all three seasons they did not, in season 71 they actually did make it to the playoffs with only 19 wins, that's what happens when you have 8 out of 11 teams make it to the playoffs. Now you would think the team was bound to bounce up with the low placements and getting better draft picks, alas you would be wrong. The season following they would put together the worst record of the entire S70's, attaining a record of 4-63-5, one of only three teams to have a season with less than ten wins. Frankly I'm speechless at such a record but what's remarkable and perfectly speaks to the up and down nature of the VHLM is that their following season they earned the best record of the S70's, that's right, the same team owns both the best and worst record of the decade.

 

Season 74 they put a record together of 64-7-1, an improvement of 60 wins!! I'm not sure where it stands in terms of the history of the M but it's only four wins behind the S69 Saskatoon Wild. However despite the regular season success, being top three in all goal categories and being the top team, they flopped in the playoffs, getting upset in seven games by the 66 point team Miami Marauders, a team that had about half the points Halifax did.After that bomb shell in the playoffs Halifax fell hard, but they didn't return to being a bottom feeder, at least not as much. S75 they went 35-33-4 and followed that in S76 by going 26-41-5, two more forgettable seasons for the 21st, S77 saw them jump up to a record of 39-26-7 and finally win their first and only playoff series of the decade, beating Minnesota in six games but then bowing out against the Hounds the same number of games. Season 78 saw them take a huge jump up, going 54-13-5 and finishing second in the M and being top three in goals for and differential. They were out in the first round however, falling to the Bulls in a close seven game series. For their final season they fell by 21 losses, going 33-30-9. And that's it for the Canadian franchise, the only notable thing about the team during this decade was that crazy good season they had, again that was the best of the decade but passed that there's nothing else to speak about.

 

 

Houston Bull

Record: 326-362-32

Rank: 11th with 809 points

                                                     Goals for: x2                    Conference finals: x3

                                                     Goals against: x2               Cup finals: x1

                                                    Goal differential: x2      Founders Cup: x0

                                                    Top Team: x1                    Points: 684+125

The Houston Bulls are a team that really experienced being in all three different positions, three seasons above 50 wins, three seasons as a middling team in the 30 win column and four seasons as a bottom feeder with 18 or less wins. The decade started off strong for them going 52-17-3, being top three in goals against and winning in the first round, sweeping the Reapers before being swept by the Minnesota Storm, yea sorry about that by the way. Next season saw them drop hard, going 18-46-6, if thought that was bad enough they were even worse next season, going 8-60-4, dead last for the season and the second worst record overall of the decade. Much like Halifax though they drafted well and saw a huge bounce back in S73, going 55-16-1, being top three in goals for and differential, in the playoffs they beat the Aces in six before again being outed by the Storm in five. As is to be expected the team saw a steep drop off afterwards, dropping 40 wins and going 15-52-5, next season saw a decent jump up to 31-39-2. However they were truly building for S76, 61-10-1, top three in all goal categories, top team and making it all the way to finals. They took care of the Reapers in five, swept the Rush in four and had a hard fought seven game series with the Kings but ultimately fell in the end.

 

This would be the peak for the Bulls of the decade, they have one of the five 60 win records of the S70's which isn't something to scuff at, it's the fourth best.

S77 was a drop as one would expect although it wasn't as bad, 36-32-4, S78 was a small improvement going 39-28-5 and winning in the first round of the playoffs, upsetting Halifax in a close seven game series before getting taken out by what seems to be their arch nemesis, the Minnesota Storm 4-0, ya sorry about that one as well. Houston would end the decade going into rebuild mode, going 11-60-1, nothing else to add to that. Minnesota for this decade just seems to be a team the Bulls have a mental block against, they lost three times to them and the one time they made it to finals they didn't have to worry about them, it's kinda like how the Capitals just couldn't beat the Penguins for the longest time, the Bulls just couldn't beat the Storm during the S70's, and my player was there for two of them.

                                              

       San Diego Marlins   

Record: 352-333-35

Rank: 10th with 844 point

                                                     Goals for: x2                    Conference finals: x5

                                                     Goals against: x2               Cup finals: x0

                                                    Goal differential: x2      Founders Cup: x0

                                                    Top Team: x0                    Points: 739+105

Finishing off part one we have the San Diego Marlins, a team much like Houston that had some high points, middling points and low points. Following Houston's lead they had a strong first season, going 58-10-4, finishing top three in goals for and differential, in the playoffs they swept the Rush before the Lynx did away with them in six. The Marlins didn't experience much of a drop in their follow up season, achieving a record of 42-28-2 and making the playoffs again, they took out the Storm in six before again getting beaten by the Lynx in six. Marlins would enter rebuild mode and go 10-60-2 which is the fourth worst record of the decade, coming out of it they went 51-19-2, going into the playoffs they got revenge on the Lynx in the first round beating them in five but in the second round they once again fell, this time to the Marauders in another painful six games. The Marlins repeated the same loop of entering a hard rebuild, this time achieving the third worst record of the decade and one of three records with less than ten wins, 9-58-5. Coming out of that team's worst record for the S70's, they copied they're record from two seasons prior, 51-19-2. Despite the exact same record this time they were top three in all goal categories, what didn't change was results in the playoffs. They would get revenge on the Marauders beating them 4-0 but lose for a fourth time in the second round, this time to the Reapers in five.

 

Once again San Diego hit the rebuild button and went 11-58-3, the fifth worst record of the decade, so yes this team owns the the third, fourth and fifth worst records of the decade, and that puts you near the bottom with those kinds of numbers. Unlike previous seasons the team didn't experience a major bounce back, they jumped up to 37-28-7 which probably isn't what they were hoping for. That 50 win season they were probably betting on came next in S78, getting a record of 50-19-3 and finishing top three in goals against. For the fifth time the Marlins won in the first round but lost in the second, the story this time being them beating the Reapers in six before falling to the Rush in the same number of games. For the final season of the decade the team didn't go into a rebuild, instead they were middle of the road with a record of 33-34-5. While the Marlins have some of the worst records of the decade they beat out Halifax and Houston thanks to four 50 win seasons and getting out of the first round five times, that's really what hurts them the most though, their inability to get out of the second and to the finals, could have had a lot of more points if they were able to.

               

(Word count 1694)

Edited November 26, 2022 by ROOKIE745

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Claiming for second time and PT doubles from store purchase (may still be in the progress of getting approved)