Watch The World Burn - Falling In Reverse

[Spartan 4,399]

One of the more interesting storylines coming into this season, at least for me, surrounded the narrative of elite defensemen in the VHL. In the past, defensemen like Hard Markinson, Aurelien Moreau, and Tui Sova carried those mantles. Going into the past couple seasons after that trio's retirement though has caused questions for all. Who is the real superstar defenseman in the VHL?

 

In S86, Bo Johansson stepped up to the plate as the sole capable defenseman on Chicago, feeding their few star forwards. Bruiser defenseman AirRig GoodBrandSun seemed like the heir apparent for Markinson, coming in 2nd in defensemen scoring as well. Davos defenseman Jake Thunder also had a standout season. Now in S87, Johansson isn't even in the top 10 for defensemen scoring, and Thunder and GoodBrandSun are barely holding on to their spots on the leaderboard as they're tied for 9th place.

 

Enter one Hammar Voss @BOOM. After a strong rookie season with Helsinki, he saw his time there quickly end after the team collapsed and pieces were sent across the league. Voss ended up in Malmo despite stating an intention to head to free agency, but agreed to a deal during the early FA discussion period to sign with Moscow after his rights were traded to the Russian team. Despite some struggles since his rookie season in Helsinki, Voss has continued to improve each and every season, and now leads all defensemen with 69 points in 49 games. Voss has already surpassed his career high in goals and points, and will set a new assist high with 1 more. Just 3 more points are  needed for his first point-per-game season, and he'll surely be eyeing a 100+ point season and some hardware for his personal award case at the end of the season. Most of all though, he'll be looking to be a critical leader and player for Moscow to help the franchise raise the elusive Continental Cup.