VHLM Early Season Review

[tcookie 902]

As S90 has kicked off in the VHLM, we have seen the Mississauga Hounds and San Diego Marlins shoot to the top of their respective divisions, with the Miami Marauders and Las Vegas Aces hot on their respective heels establishing themselves as the league's top four teams. It's a long season, though, and things can change in a hurry in the M. Let's take a look at how things have gone for each team so far:

 MISSISSAUGA HOUNDS (9-1-0) 

The Hounds look like the best team in the VHLM on paper and they have done little to dispel that notion early on, with Grimgor Ironhide being an early front-runner for MVP on league-leading totals of 13 goals and 26 points through 10 games. Obviously, that pace is goging to be tough for anyone to maintain but Ironhide is a high-end prospect for the S91 draft and he is certainly showing why. The Hounds have three capped-out forwards, two very good defensemen and promising S91 prospect Red Panda between the pipes playing to a 2.28 GAA and 0.911 SV% so far.

 MIAMI MARAUDERS (7-3-1)

The Marauders don't have as much high-end talent as the Hounds do, but you'll definitely get to know the names of Oden Bell, Sebastian Thunder, and Lionel Collberg as the year goes on. While a little less heralded, centre Joakim Norden is off to a hot start with 9 goals and 17 points in the season's first 11 games, just ahead of the aforementioned three prospects. Putting together a lineup that surpasses that of the powerhouse Hounds, though, might be a tall ask if they don't see some of the lesser known members of their roster start to improve at a faster pace. Nevertheless, the Marauders should be there at season's end and you never know what could happen in a playoff series.

 PHILADELPHIA REAPERS (5-6-0)

Philadelphia's lineup is headlined by Behrens Minion, a player tracking to be a first-round pick in a deep S91 draft, along with Eno Velvson and Caring Bear. Velvson is currently second in VHLM scoring to Ironhide with 6 goals and 21 points and he's logging big minutes to go along with it. Amir Redzic has proven more than capable between the pipes sporting an 0.917 SV%. The Reapers biggest problem will be a lack of depth, especially on defense. Outside of Kodie Curran, there is nobody in the Reapers' blueline and they are very much a one-line team offensively. If they can not address those problems as the year goes on, they will not be able to challenge the top two teams in the East.

 OTTAWA LYNX (4-6-1)

The Lynx' two best players are members of the VHL's S88 draft class who haven't shown many signs of ever getting out of the M, so it's a bit of a skeleton crew here. They didn't make a pick until #24 in the S90 VHLM draft, so perhaps this is to be expected. Although Lucky Mitts does have 16 points through 11 games, the Lynx are generally lacking in both top-end skill and depth and are very much a team looking to the future. Down the road, Scrungle Bungle, Ivan Ivanov, and Dan Jr. may develop into quality VHLM players and give them a chance to contend.

 HALIFAX 21st (1-8-2)

When you're 1-8-2, things are clearly not going according to plan. The 21st really shouldn't be THIS bad on paper - they have a much, much stronger roster than Ottawa that will probably feature four capped-out players by the time the season ends. Defenseman Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage was a first-round pick in last year's VHL draft and has started the year with 12 points in 11 games. Jeid Rohnson was another S90 VHL draftee with big league upside and he currently leads the 21st with 17 points in 11 games. Theo Allard is a possible S91 first-rounder and has 16 points of his own. So why the 1-8-2 record to start? Their starting netminder has posted an 0.868 SV% and they're far-and-away worst in the VHLM with 54 goals against. They've recently picked up S91 draft prospect Shaunca to take over duties between the pipes, so maybe that will lead to a turn in fortune.

 SAN DIEGO MARLINS (9-0-1)

The Marlins are currently sitting first overall in the VHLM and while they don't look quite as good on paper as Mississauga right now, it's the depth that sets them apart. They have strong returnees in Eric White Jr., Tyrece the beast, Vladimir Kozolov and Factor Lee joined by a host of S91 draftees that give them the chance to have the deepest roster in the league when you project ahead to season's end. For scouts looking to get some tape ahead of the S91 draft, San Diego is the place to be, with two headliner prospects in Leif Reingaard and Olober Syko and several potential second or third-rounders with VHL upside, among whom Aanarsi Reingaard and Phillip Rave have posted the strongest early-season numbers with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

 LAS VEGAS ACES (8-2-1)

The Aces have established themselves as the second-best team in the West so far, a talented group plenty capable of keeping up with the Marlins. When you look at this squad, it's probably not Bric Sheithaus you'd have predicted would be leading the team in scoring so far, but there he is with 17 points. Didier Verhault is a stud on the back end, Quinndillus Whopper is probably a career VHLMer but a pretty good one, but the one potential weakness projecting this team ahead to season's end is that only one player is projected to take a big step forward, netminder Dalkr Vidarsson.

 SASKATOON WILD (4-4-3)

You have to figure the Wild didn't expect to be sitting here with 4 wins through the season's first 11 games. Sporting the VHLM's biggest roster and more than enough high-end talent to be a contender on paper, things simply haven't panned out how they'd hoped. Only three players have more than 8 points and their offense has been very much middle-of-the-pack. Their defense is very strong and they have limited the workload for netminder Joseph Reed, but Reed has struggled to an 0.890 SV%. As you go down the roster, it seems that almost every single player has underperformed offensively. Even worse, their schedule has been devoid of matches against the other VHLM contenders: they have not played Miami and have played just one game against San Diego, Las Vegas, and Mississauga. The Wild should turn things around in the end and maybe contend for the conference, but this start is certainly a big concern.

 HOUSTON BULLS (4-6-1)

The good news for the Houston Bulls is that they have Joshua Schwarzer and Toby Kadachi, two players that will hear their names called relatively early in the S91 VHL draft, and both have played lights-out hockey so far this season. Schwarzer has 20 points and Kadachi has 9 goals, both right up there with the VHLM pace-setters. The bad news is... pretty much everything after that. The Bulls have some S91 VHL prospects that will probably spend another year or two in the VHLM and those players could provide a foundation then, but right now, this is a two-man squad and I'd expect the lack of depth to see them fall to the bottom of the West by the end of the year.

 MEXICO CITY KINGS (3-6-2)

The Kings have a very interesting roster, and one that features a lot of S91 draft talent - perhaps second only to San Diego as a destination for scouts looking to watch the draft class. The Kings have struggled hard out of the gate. Defense pairing Arne Holmquist and Free Gorlab have actually managed to keep their heads above water with a combined 25 points, both sporting a -1 rating on a struggling team. The rest of the lineup hasn't lived up to expectations. The best S91 prospect here is Mina, who has struggled to a -14 ratings but does have 8 points. This doesn't look like a last-place roster, and as they improve as the year goes on, they could be a sleeper when the real season begins.

 

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1360 words ish so will claim for a 2nd week next week.

[Mysterious_Fish 386]

Nice media spot, I am upset with my player Eric White Jr rn as he is not living up to his potential. But valid reason is there is so much other talent that it will be very hard to get a ton of points

[Grape 680]

Bric Sheithaus scoring as much as they are is absolutely insane and really shows how random STHS can be

[tcookie 902]

claiming week 2 of 2