San Diego's Three Headed Monster

[Fradin99 96]

 

The San Diego Marlins are actively in a vicious three way fight for the top seed in the VHLM and the Prime Minister's Cup alongside the Mississauga Hounds and the Mexico City Kings. We will let other qualified writers speak on the other two teams' star players and their playoff chances. Today we will be highlighting the three players who are above and beyond the rest on a very strong Marlins roster who will give their team the edge over the rest for the Prime Minister's and Founder's cups.

@Mint - Sjin is the first line Center and the most complete player on the team. A Bentz trophy Candidate, Sjin leads the league in goals with 41 on the year so far and is two points shy of leading the league in points. With a +46 for the year so far and spearheading the top penalty kill in the league, it would be hard to argue any player in the M is more built for the playoffs than the Marlins' Captain. Not to mention this will be the fourth consecutive VHLM playoff appearance for the S86 champion. This is a player who has a shot at the Ethan Osborne, Alexander Chershenko, and Matt Bentz trophies respectively. This outstanding performance could very well earn him the Mitch Higgins MVP trophy should he win even two of the three previously mentioned. 

 

@McGriddy10 - Brad Marchand will be entering his second consecutive playoff appearance in his second year within the show. Marchand greatly improved is offensive production since the previous year. (S87 11G 17A 28P) Now sits at 39G 37A for 76P in 66 games on the season. Reducing his time in the box from 36 PIM to 22, Marchand has become an offensive cornerstone for the team's second line at only two goals shy of the league lead, which again so happens to be another Marlins' player. Averaging two hits per game, Marchand has come into his own. And if he keeps to his namesake, we'll certainly have some borderline antics in at least one of the coming playoff series.

@fonziGG - Olivier Gauthier has blossomed this year into a full fledged Benoit Devereux caliber goaltender. With 45 wins in 66 games holding a .926 save percentage, teams can fully expect to be robbed of surefire goals by an absolute wall in-between the pipes. Gauthier has set the Marlins' record for both wins and shutouts during this run and could still pass the 50 win mark on the season. With a now rounded out blue line in front of him his numbers should greatly improve from last year's .897 save percentage in the S87 playoffs. 

These three specifically were highlighted due to their experience and regular season play. It should come to no surprise to anyone who has watched the Marlins' games this year, and it is expected their success and contribution should continue in the post season. Should the Marlins win S88 you will absolutely see these three in contention for the Skylar Rift trophy amongst the other hardware this team is expected to collect. Regardless of where these players end their career seasons, Marlins GM @Arce should be nothing but proud for his hand in developing this team.

 

534 words for 5/14/2023

[JCarson 731]

Article review:  A a SDM alumni I love to catch up on what is going on.  It is even better when the news is positive.  Looking forward to seeing how these 3 progress through their career and see what they can do in the VHL.  Keep up the good work SDM.  Well written article, would love to see a small series talking about how the players do in the playoffs.

 

I give this article an 8/10