VHLE - Teams starting to separate in the standings

[hockeyis66 143]

With the VHLE nearly the halfway point of its season with 30 games in the books, the past week has seen some separation among the top tier of teams with one clear leader in Vasteras with Rome a handful of points behind them in second.  Then there is a group of 3 teams within 2 points of each other and then Oslo in 6^th place. 

 

#1 Vasteras – 44 points.  The Iron Eagles have really flown away from the rest of the league in the past week behind the #1 offense in the “E” and the #1 defense as well for a massive goal difference of 32 (103 GF and 71 GA).  No other team in the league has a goal difference in double digits.  Panarella is having a massive offensive season with 22 goals and 45 points to lead the league.  In goal, Gauthier is 16-4-1 with a league leading 2.12 GAA.

 

#2 Rome  – 38 points.  Not too long ago, Rome was below .500 on the season and sitting in 5^th place in the league with a 5-6-1 record.  Since then, Rome has gone 12-3-4 to vault into second place and have a 5 point lead on the 3^rd place team.  Their goalie, Clark, has played in every game and leads the league in wins with 17 and shutouts with 5 (there have only been 9 shutouts so far this season in the “E”).  Francis leads the league with 28 assists and the team with 34 points.

 

#3 Stockholm – 33 points.  The Vikings have been a streaky team this season.  Win a few, lose a few but it all nets out to being 3 games above .500 and the leader of the pack of 3 teams from 3^rd to 5^th place that are separated by just 2 points.  The team is led by 3 players who have 30 points each in Machado, Anisimov and MacWAllace III and they are the only players who have scored 10 or more goals as well. 

 

#4 Bratislava  – 32 points.  The Watchmen’s offense sits last in the league with only 69 goals , 10 goals below the 5^th best, but their defense is the 3^rd best in the league which is keeping them currently in 4^th place.  Elgar and “W” have split the games in goal and each of them have won 8 games with Elgar having a slightly better save percentage and GAA.  Boudreaux Jr and Callahan have accounted for almost half of the team’s goal total.

 

#5 Cologne – 31 points.  The Express have the second best offense in the league scoring over 90 goals but the defense is tied for next to last in the league which is holding them down in the 5^th spot at the moment.  They have 4 players with 12 or more goals on the season and Sjin leads the team with 18 goals, 19 assists and 37 points.  Their 2 goalies have split time in net and while both Clark and Giguere are close in wins, Clark has put up the better GAA and save percentage so far this season. 

 

#6 Oslo – 17 points.  The Storm haven’t had much trouble scoring goals this season, but the problem has been stopping pucks from going into their own net and in bunches which leaves them currently 14 points out of the final playoff spot in the league.  It will be tough making that up even with 40+ games left to play as the team’s ahead of them keep winning while Oslo has given up 24 more goals than the next best team.  Right wing Goncalves is currently second in the league with 41 points on 15 goals and 26 assists.

 

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