Expectations High in Moscow

[Arce 755]

Since S80, the Moscow Menace have been a force in the VHL. The Menace have been a lock to make the playoffs, and have made the final in 5 of those seasons. The crazy stat here is they have managed to win ZERO of those finals. GM Euron Leonidas has put together some of the most talented rosters you will see. They have had Hall of Famer caliber players such as Duncan Idaho, Hard Markinson, Paul Atreides, Aurelien Moreau,  and Papa Emeritus in between the pipes. Still, the Menace have endured all of the heartbreak and have still worked to field a very competitive, always championship caliber roster every season. Leonidas is very cap savy and has always been able to maneuver around the cap to get the players he needs. Once again in the S86 off-season, Moscow was able to get the free agent they needed to make yet another run at the Continental Cup. The Menace landed the former DC star free agent, Ronan Lavelle. Lavelle has scored 94+ points in his last 3 seasons, and has won a playoff MVP when DC won the cup in S85 ironically against the Moscow Menace. The Menace now have 3 elite tier forwards, 2 good forwards and a rookie on offense. Will this be able to make a difference to break the finals curse? The key however, will be on rookie goaltender Matt Murdock. He has big shoes to fill for Papa Emeritus, can the young stud goaltender accomplish what Papa couldn't? We will break down the Menace roster to see what we are looking at in S87.

 

Offense:

 

 

S86 was a down year in terms of offensive production for the Menace. Despite having two star forwards in Tomas Sogaard, and re-acquiring Nico Pearce from Vancouver. Sogaard led the way with 80 points in 72 games played. Being a PPG player is never a bad thing, however you expect more from Sogaard who posted up 91 points, and 43 goals in S85. Nico Pearce was brought in to shake things up. Sergey Preobrazhensky was traded straight up for Pearce. Both Preobrazhensky and Pearce were averaging a PPG, so both the Menace and Wolves needed a boost on offense. it worked out as Pearce and Preobrazhensky both ended up picking up the pace for their new teams. However, the former MVP Nico Pearce was not satisfied with an 84 point season and falling just short of 40 goals. Pearce has driven himself into gear training this off-season, and is determined to get back to MVP form in S87. Newly acquired forward Ronan Lavelle is coming off another 90+ point season and hit the 50 goal mark for the first time. Lavelle comes with playoff experience, and has certainly produced on the big stage. Will Lavelle, Sogaard and Pearce be put together to form a super line? Or will the forwards be split to create some balance? You figure even if they are not all on the same line at even strength, there is a good chance they see time together on the power play. The Menace also have Mr. Consistent Kyosti Karjalainen who has always managed to post up 60+ points each season. Will this be the year Karjalainen breaks 70, even 80+ points? Playing with one of the big 3 would certainly help production and Karjalainen has proven to be a great linemate to play with. Fraser Wallace made a big jump in production from S85 to S86. He went from 46 points -> 65 points and had 41 more hits. Wallace gelled right into the Moscow offense, and in a league where depth really counts. Wallace will hope to continue the trend upward once again in S87. The Mediocre One will hope to become The Elite One as he enters his rookie campaign. The rookie center had a productive season in the VHLE with the Bratislava Watchmen as he posted up 73 points in 72 games played. The Mediocre One will be playing with a lot of talented vets who will be able help him get comfortable fairly quickly as he hopes to fit in to this high powered machine that is the Moscow forward core.

 

Defense:

 

 

Moscow is hoping on board the latest trend to hit the VHL. Running a three defensemen system. This is not by choice, as Moscow's salary cap available is a big ZERO. It has forced teams to choose between a full forward core or full defensemen core depending on how many 1000+ TPA players you have/are willing to sign. Moscow's Assistant Captain Hammar Voss had high expectations in S86, and they are now even higher. Voss had 63 points (23 goals, 40 assists) in S86 accompanied by 204 hits and 138 blocked shots. Although definitely productive defenseman stats, the ceiling for Voss was much higher. With the shuffle to the team, Voss should be expected to put up high powered numbers in S87. Moscow also has another elite level defenseman in AK92 Wit da Hoodie who led all Moscow defensemen with 68 points and 154 blocked shots. Like Voss, expectations are very high for Hoodie, who will be expected to be close to the 100 point range this season. A power play with Voss and/or Hoodie on will cause havoc for opposing penalty kills. One of Voss or Hoodie will have the great honor of being paired with MOS-D1, who will be expected to be in a class of his own. Flynn Remy will look to build on his best season yet, reaching the 50 point mark. Remy cashed in on the power play in S86 scoring 8 of his 13 goals. Remy will be playing with Voss or Hoodie, which will only help his production, but people need to keep in mind that Remy is a great complimentary defenseman to be paired with. We expect high production from the Moscow blue line in S87.

 

Goaltending:

 

 

The Menace have been spoiled by Papa Emeritus the past 8 seasons, so this is very new territory for the team after Papa's retirement. His void will be filled by Matt Murdock, who has high expectations. Murdock has dominated in every league he has been in, and the expectation is the same for him in the VHL. Murdock served as Papa's backup last season and appeared in 8 games. Murdock posted up a 5-3 record with a 2.48 GAA, a .910 save percentage and a shutout. This is coming following Murdock carrying the Vasteras Iron Eagles to the VHLE Semi-finals in S85. Murdock posted a .941 save percentage and 2.18 GAA following his S84 Renaissance Cup win. The pressure is on for the rookie in a 3 defensemen system, but Moscow has faith that Murdock will take the torch from Emeritus without any issues. Goaltending will be the position of watch for the Menace this season.

 

Word Count: 1,139

Claim for: 1/29, 2/5

 

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[Arce 755]

Claiming for 2/5.