VSN Presents: S88 VHL Playoff Race

[Alex 2,876]

Hey everyone, with the Season 88 regular season coming to a close this week, and the playoff pictures starting to take place there is some key races that deserve a closer look. Today we will take a deep dive into the standings in each conference with special attention to the wildcard seeds. We will also be taking a look into the strength of each teams remaining schedule, by using the average number of points of the teams they play to close out the season.

 

North American Conference:

Most of the standings in the North American Conference have been stationary for some time now we could see some movement in the coming days. Below are our predictions for how the North American conference could finish the season, along with a potential MVP pick from each team.

 

Team	Projected Finish	Record	Strength of Schedule	MVP	Rank on Paper (based off of TPE)
Seattle Bears	1st	40-16-7	69.3 – 10th	Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica	2nd (5th)
Chicago Phoenix	2nd	38-18-6	71.7 – 3rd	Ryan Vidot @Enorama	4th (9th)
Calgary Wranglers	3rd	34-23-6	69.8 – 9th	Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877	1st (3rd)
Vancouver Wolves	4th	30-25-8	71.1 – 6th	Henry Eagles @Greg_Di	5th (12th)
Los Angeles Stars	5th	33-26-4	75.1 – 1st	Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems @FrostBeard	3rd (8th)
New York Americans	6th	27-29-7	64.1 – 13th	Augustus Kennedy @InstantRockstar	6th (13th)
Toronto Legion	7th	18-36-8	71.4 – 5th	Mac Atlas @v.2	7th (15th)
D.C. Dragons	8th	16-40-6	64.7 – 12th	Bubbles Utonium @fishy	8th (16th)

 

The Race for 1^st in the North American Conference is pretty tight right now with only 5 points separating Seattle and Chicago, however Chicago has a much more difficult schedule down the stretch and have 6 backup starts remaining. With that being said Seattle and Chicago do play each other twice down the stretch and if Chicago can take those 4 points it would greatly improve their chances. Additionally, we can essentially lock Calgary into the third seed as they are currently 4 points up on Los Angeles and 6 points up on Vancouver with an easier schedule and having completed all their backup starts.

The wildcard race is where things get really interesting in the North American Conference as Los Angeles not only has the toughest schedule in the entire league, Los Angeles also has 5 backup starts left which should really hurt not only their chances at 3^rd, but potentially their playoff chances if New York can go on a run. Although Vancouver currently sits in 5^th, they should be reasonably safe and could potentially challenge for 3^rd, but scheduling could present a slight issue there. Just on the outside looking in is New York, who are currently 7 points behind Vancouver and 9 behind Los Angeles with only 9 games remaining a piece. With that being said New York does have a slightly favourable schedule with 3 games against D.C. who is dealing with some pressure from Toronto for the number 1 lottery odds. There is a slight chance we could see New York end their playoff draught with a bit of luck.

 

Key Games:

Games 548, & 557 – Seattle vs. Chicago

Games 529, 544, & 556 – Calgary vs. Vancouver

Game 535 – Los Angeles vs. Vancouver

 

European Conference

The European wildcard race is just as exciting as it was last season, with all of Moscow, Helsinki, Riga, and Warsaw currently in a heated battle that should only get closer as the season comes to an end.

 

Team	Projected Finish	Record	Strength of Schedule	MVP	Rank on Paper (based off of TPE)
Prague Phantoms	1st	43-15-3	70.9 (7th)	Nico Pearce @Spartan	3rd (4th)
HC Davos Dynamo	2nd	35-21-6	60.6 (15th)	Jake Thunder @Thunder	2nd (2nd)
London United	3rd	32-21-8	67.6 (11th)	Igor Molotov @Dom	4th (6th)
Moscow Menace	4th	33-25-4	71.5 (4th)	Ronan Lavelle @Arce	1st (1st)
Riga Reign	5th	31-27-5	60.8 (14th)	The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath	6th (10th)
Warsaw Predators	6th	29-26-6	69.8 (8th)	Brendan Marner @MetalToday	5th (7th)
Helsinki Titans	7th	32-27-4	74.8 (2nd)	Nils Godlander @Moon	7th (11th)
Malmo Nighthawks	8th	27-29-6	57.4 (16th)	Boris Tsezar @comrade cat	8th(14th)

 

In direct contrast to the North American Conference, the European Conference is a one horse race at the top as Prague currently has a 13 point lead over Davos with 1 game in hand. There is a slight chance that Davos could catch Prague with the two teams playing each other twice in the next couple of games, and Davos could potentially catch them thanks to schedule differences. But that would be extremely unlikely as 13 points is likely too much to overcome.

Moscow’s challenge for 3^rd is one that we could see develop in the coming days as Moscow currently trails London by only 2 points and although London does have a game in hand and a favourable schedule when compared directly to Moscow, Moscow is the top team in the VHL on paper and has been trending upwards quickly. Both Moscow and London should make the playoffs, it’s just a question of who will finish 3^rd. If Helsinki can bounce back to their early season form we could see them pressure for 4^th and/or 3^rd as well.

The final wildcard spot in the European Conference should be very tightly contested and features the biggest collapse and biggest comeback story of the season as both Helsinki and Riga have had vastly different seasons respectively as Helsinki appeared to be the top team in the EU early on, and Riga was last in the EU at the trade deadline. Currently the two teams are separated by only 1 point with 63 games played a piece. With that being said the two teams aren’t alone as Warsaw is right there 4 points back with 2 games in hand. The final wildcard spot in the conference is 100% up for grabs, and it should be a very exciting finish.

Key Games:

Games 501, & 506 – Prague vs. Davos

Games 502, & 547 – Helsinki vs. Moscow

Games 507, 513, 531, & 543 – Riga vs. Warsaw

 

It should be an exciting end to the season, best of luck everyone!

Edited May 7, 2023 by Alex