A new day is coming, quickly. Are you ready?

[JCarson 700]

Season 89 is now in full swing and as many may have predicted we have the usual performers putting up significant numbers in the way of offensive production. I can say this as I have looked at your awards predictions, as usual season 89 points leaders are just that, predictable. The question that comes to mind is: Will we expect major changes for season 90 when it comes to watching the VHL scoring title unfold? I expect we will. You see at the end of this year several strong offensive players will retire. The current season 81 players will walk away. Does that really matter, I say it does. Why? Currently, 4 of the top 10 points leaders will be retired by year end. That is a substantial number of top performers. 

 

Who are these individuals and what will it mean when they are gone? 

 

Currently tied at 5th place and having 24 points in 16 games are perennial points leader contenders Sergey Preobrazhensky, Hulk Hogan 2 and Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems. Each of these players continues to put up strong offensive seasons and their presence will be missed in the league. That is a lot of offensive talent and a large whole that will open. We will see if there are players ready to step up and fill that void. 

 

Currently in first place overall on the points chart, and perpetual scoring sensation Daniel Janser is the last season 81 player who will hang up the professional skates at the end of the year. Nobody in their right mind is going to suggest that the retirement of this points titan won’t open a significant vacancy in the points standings. I’m not sure that even if someone moves up the rankings that they are filling this phenom’s shoes, they will be more like filling a spot by default as somebody must be number one.  

 

Even outside the top 10 currently we have several other top players who are stepping away, Mason Jones, Nezuko and Alexander Leduc round out the forwards that will be leaving. Outside of the forward core we will see Defensive experts, Biggie Cheese and Marcel Janser also retiring. 

 

Season 90 will look vastly different than the VHL I started in; it will be a new group on top, new talent leading the way. We will see fresh players emerge to position themselves as annual contenders for the points race, for the top seeds in VHFL selection, for prediction selections. Oh yes, there will be those who have been sitting on the fringe for the last couple of years, waiting for their opportunity to sit in the lights, bask in the fame and glory it brings. But their time is short as their retirement is soon at hand. It is the young players just emerging from the VHLE that have the most to gain, the greatest height to cross and have the biggest opportunity ahead of them. The players that will carve their name in the face of the VHL without ever having to know the name of Daniel Janser, without having to face the defensive wall that is Marcel Janser. 

 

What season 89 did to the goalie title race by eliminating talents like David Davis, Oskar Lindbergh and Xavier Booberry, season 90 will do from an offensive standpoint. We will have had a complete turnover of top talent in all areas of the VHL by the end of season 89. Season 90 is a new day, is the VHL ready?