VSN Presents: VHLM Power Rankings S70'S part 2

[ROOKIE745 570]

Greeting readers, welcome to part two of our look at who the best M teams are of the S70's. We're out of the bottom of the barrel now and looking at teams that managed slightly better but still didn't achieve too much... For the most part, we do have our first team to win a founder's cup here. With that we can begin!

 

 

 

 

Mississauga Hounds

Record: 325-358-37

Rank: 9th with 862 points

                                                     Goals for: x3                    Conference finals: x0

                                                     Goals against: x3               Cup finals: x3

                                                    Goal differential: x2      Founders Cup: x0

                                                    Top Team: x2                    Points: 687+175

The Mississauga Hounds have quite the interesting story from this decade, as you can see three cup finals but were never able to bring it home, there’s more to it though and we'll talk about it when we get to it. The Hounds had three stand out seasons during the decade, the rest of them for the most part were pretty forgettable, for instance they started off the decade 16-52-4 and they liked that record so much they would repeat it the following season, I'm not kidding this happened a few times and each occasion it had me doing a double take. Season 72 did see them rise in the standings with a record of 45-23-4 but no progress in the postseason. Next season was another one of rebuilding, 17-47-8 but thankfully they would turn it around faster this time, the following season they reached new heights with a record of 53-18-1, finishing top three in goals for and against and in the playoffs they went on a run. They took out the Wild in an easy five game series, took out the Rush in six before the Marauders swept them aside in a pretty big upset. You might want to remember this for down the road. While losing to a team with 21 less wins then you is no doubt frustrating, Hounds focused on the future and went right into rebuild mode

 

Season 75 came with a record of 19-46-7, the following season was mostly one of them building up as they only improved slightly, going 26-42-4. Season 77 was the big one for them, earning the second best overall record of the decade, the team went 62-10-0, they were top three in all goal categories, the top team of course and went to the finals for a second time. This time the Hounds would take out the Bulls in five in the first round, Halifax 21st in the second round and in the finals, an old familiar face, the Miami Marauders would sweep them to the side yet again, not even a challenge for them. Frustrated again I'm sure all one can do is move on, entering a rebuild for the final time of the decade they had their worst record of 15-56-1. Season 79 was another one above 50 wins, 56-12-4 they were the top team yet again along with top three in all goal categories, they beat the Marlins in five, struggled past the Kings in seven only to meet, you guessed it, the Marauders in the finals yet again. Third time was not the charm sadly for the Hounds as they were beaten 4-1.... at least it wasn't a sweep? To put this in perspective, the Hounds have a record of 1-12 against the Marauders in the playoffs, ya that's not good. The Hounds were a very feast or famine team, granted part of that is just the nature of the M but three out of the four times they made it they went to the finals, it just so happened that every time they made it, so did they're arch nemesis, if wasn't for that who knows, we could be talking about how the Hounds won two or three cups during the decade, but we don't live in that timeline.

 

Las Vegas Aces

Record: 364-301-55

Rank: 8th with 863 points

                                                     Goals for: x2                    Conference finals: x4

                                                     Goals against: x1               Cup finals: x0

                                                    Goal differential: x1      Founders Cup: x0

                                                    Top Team: x0                    Points: 783+80

Our second team of today is one that barely squeaked ahead of the Hounds via one point, while the Hounds got 95 more bonus points than the Las Vegas franchise, the Aces manage to pass them with better regular season records. Aces started the season off in a rebuild, going 19-48-5 but would see a number of successful seasons following it, in season 71 the team amassed a record of 41-27-4, finished top three in goals for and took out the Reapers in five before falling to the Rush in round two. The team did better in the regular season in S72, earning a record of 48-22-2 and finishing top three in goals against this time but they had no luck in the playoffs. Season 73 saw the team stay near the same record, going 46-21-5 but getting no bonus points. Season 74 would be the best the team got in the regular season, achieving a record of 51-14-7 and finishing top three in goals for and differential, in the postseason they beat the Kings in five but lost to the Marauders in a close seven game series.

 

Now at the halfway mark of the decade, S75 saw them stay successful, 42-25-5 and for a third time in the playoffs they got out of the first round, this time against the Saskatoon Wild, a hard fought seven game series but round two saw the Kings get revenge and push them aside in five. This was the last time Las Vegas earned a record of 40 plus wins, the following season they went 32-33-7, and followed that up with a 35-27-10 record in S77. They did manage to make the playoffs that year and got out of the first round for a fourth time, beating the Wild in five before Miami swept them. Season 78 the team bottomed out at 12-55-5, only makes sense after a number of seasons above 30 and 40 wins. For their final season of the decade they had a nice enough bounce back, winning more than half their games with a record of 38-29-5 though nothing came of it in the postseason. I don't have to say that the Aces were a good, respectful team but never quite became a threat as a true contender, you had to respect them in the first round but they could never get past the second.

 

Ottawa Lynx

Record: 356-320-44

Rank: 7th with 906 points

                                                     Goals for: x2                    Conference finals: x0

                                                     Goals against: x2               Cup finals: x1

                                                    Goal differential: x2      Founders Cup: x1

                                                    Top Team: x1                    Points: 756+150

Our last team for part two is the Ottawa Lynx, our first Founders Cup winners on the list. There's a level of deja vu for me here, the Lynx started off the decade very strong and kind of melted away into obscurity from there. Season 70 the team had a record of 56-11-5, were top three in goals for and differential and made it all the way to the finals, sweeping the Kings in the first round, beating the Marlins in six before losing to the Minnesota Storm in six. Clearly the Lynx were mad because the next season they only got better, going 59-12-1 for the sixth best record of the decade, finishing as the top team that season as well as top three in all goal categories. In the postseason the Lynx wasted no time, sweeping the 21st, beating the Marlins in six again and sweeping the Rush in the finals. It seems like once Ottawa got its cup for the decade they kinda just gave up? Next season was a big drop although they still won half their games, 36-30-6 was their record and they were top three in goals against amazingly enough. The team did bounce back for next season with another 50 win season, 52-18-2, despite the good regular season they were unable to make any headway in the playoffs. Season 74 was another drop back down to winning half their games, 36-28-8.

 

 

The first half of the decade was good all things considered for the Lynx, a cup finals and winning the cup not to mention winning at least half their games every season, but the second half of the season is one they wish they could forget, they wouldn't win half their games for the rest of the S70's. A 13-57-2 record for season 75, season 76 would be their closest to getting back to relevance with a 33-34-5 record. Season 77 they earned a record of 25-42-5 and for the finals two seasons they decided to just do the same thing, a record of 23-44-5 for both season 78 and 79. This team crashed hard in the second half and is really what sunk them, they easily could have been a top four team with better regular season and another series win or two in the playoffs. I thought they would be higher myself but clearly I only remember them during the early S70's. At the very least this franchise can say they won a cup during the decade and that is more than what some other teams can say.

 

 

(word count 1548)

(Editor's note: As I was finishing up the series, I was re-checking numbers and realized I forgot to include 15 extra points for the Las Vegas Aces, while this isn't much it was enough to put them ahead of the hounds by the one point, I apologize to Aces fans everywhere, you were better than the Hounds in the S70's)

Edited January 16, 2023 by ROOKIE745

[ROOKIE745 570]

Claiming for second time Dec 04