VSN Presents: The Race for First Place

[animal74 1,610]

Credit: @v.2

 

The Victory Cup has been the symbol of VHL status and prestige since the beginning when the Calgary Wranglers were the best team in the league in S1 with a record of 69-3-0. The Wranglers have since gone on to win the Victory Cup a league-leading 12 times (as of S89) with the Toronto Legion right behind them with 11 and Vancouver and Seattle with 10. Over the past 10 seasons, the Victory Cup has been won by five different teams with five different winners from S85-S89 (Warsaw, Calgary, Vancouver, Prague and Moscow) but earlier on it was dominated by some good teams in Moscow (S83-S84) and Vancouver (S80-S82). Obviously, being the best team over 72 games would enhance your chances at winning a championship but, as has shown in many leagues including the VHL time and time again, a championship is never guaranteed. Vancouver was the last franchise to win the Victory Cup and Continental Cup in the same season when they accomplished the feat a league record three consecutive times in that S80-S82 period. The Malmo Nighthawks also accomplished this in S79, the season before Vancouver’s run. But, that double pinnacle is rare. Case in point: the only other time the league’s best team also won the Continental Cup in four consecutive seasons was from S45-S48 when Helsinki won both trophies back-to-back, followed by New York and then Toronto. In fact, the past seven seasons (S83-S89) have been the longest stretch in VHL history between double Cup wins. How will this season’s Victory Cup winner fare in the playoffs? Who’s to know? But, first, let’s meet the contenders:

 

 

Los Angeles Stars: 30-8-1, 61 points, 1^st

Last Victory Cup: Never won

Remaining Schedule (1=Hard, 16=Easy): 14

 

The Stars have slowly been building into a contender over the last three seasons, developing drafted talents like centers Todd Cooke @KRZY, Sunglasses Joyo @JetsGoalie101, defenseman Callum Murray @Berocka and goaltender Art Vandelay @Gustav . A couple of deft trades in the off-season to bring onboard forwards Napoleon Dynamite @thadthrasher, Svatopluk Puk @Otaznik, and burgeoning blueliner Elias Lampi @Pifferfish and you have the makings of a top team in the league. Cooke currently leads the VHL in scoring by a large margin with Dynamite tied for fourth while they are posting the two best plus/minus marks in the league. Cooke and Lampi are 2^nd and T-5^th in assists and Puk leads the league with three hat tricks. Vandelay leads the league with 30 wins as is tied for the lead in GAA and shutouts. What has the Stars on top though is their dominance in the shoot out. They have won all nine shoot outs they’ve taken part in this season – thanks to Vandelay. He has been the busiest and the best goalie in one-on-one, stopping all but one of the 32 shots he’s faced! No Star has more than 3 shootout goals but they don’t really need more. LA has the easiest schedule remaining out of the teams mentioned here so they’ll be a safe bet to continue their winning ways and perhaps win the franchise’s first Victory Cup. 

 

 

Prague Phantoms: 28-8-4, 60 points, 2^nd

Last Victory Cup: S88

Remaining Schedule: 1

 

One of the strongest teams in Europe for a while now, Prague is the most recent of this group to have led the league in points having won the franchise’s first Victory Cup in S88. They are a veteran-laden team with time running out for Phantom lifers Jason Argos @Insypher and Perry Laperriere @KaleebtheMighty but last season’s MVP John Jameson @Frank along with Fred Hampton @TownBizness are again among the league’s top scorers. Special teams have also been a strength as Prague boasts the VHL’s best penalty kill and second-ranked power play. But the real story for the Phantoms has been the breakout play of goaltender Matt Murdock @Acydburn. Currently 1^st among starters in SV%, 3^rd in wins, and 4^th in GAA, Prague may only go as far as Murdock takes them as the experienced Phantoms push through another long season hoping their physical style aligns with their Cup aspirations. They only play the three worst teams (Warsaw, Calgary, New York) once each in their remaining games while playing the other five teams on this list 15 times so keeping this pace may prove difficult. 

 

 

Toronto Legion: 24-6-9, 57 points, 3^rd

Last Victory Cup: S67

Remaining Schedule: 9

 

Following a similar path to Los Angeles, if not steeper, the Toronto Legion banked on their collection of high draft picks from the last few seasons and pushed all the chips onto the table making a deal for superstars forwards Ronan Lavelle @Arce and Tomas Sogaard @Brandon and then signing defenseman Siyan Vasilievich @badcolethetitan. Although it took a while for the new-look Legion to gel, captain Mac Atlas @v.2  broke out and young stars Jimi Jaks @kelvi and Bobby Bob @Baby Boomer helped lead a balanced attack while the team rounded into form. With one of the best young netminding duos in Joel Castle @animal74 (who is currently tied for the best GAA lead among starters) and Evan Bihler @Eb14 and strong contributions from veterans Jimmy MacElroy @Xflexz, Dens Oden @Snussu and rookie Montgomery Burns @LastOneUp, the Legion have been right with LA all season. But where LA excels in shootouts, Toronto abhors them as the Legion hold a 1-8 record in the contests. Although having a decent schedule down the stretch, Toronto still plays Los Angeles four times and Prague three times still this season in what may determine the points race.

 

 

D.C. Dragons: 27-10-2, 56 points, 4^th

Last Victory Cup: Never won

Remaining Schedule: 8

 

On paper, the Dragons aren’t the most talented team, but they are finding ways to win and score – a lot. The highest-scoring team in the league is being led offensively by off-season acquisition forwards Jason @Jason kranz and Vincent Laroche-Gagnier @vincentlg2007 who are second and third in league scoring and first and second in goals respectively, and well-travelled defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto @der meister who surprisingly leads the league in assists and, consequently, all VHL defensemen in scoring after posting over a point-per-game for the first time in his career. D.C. is his seventh team in five seasons and was brought in to help guide the Dragons’ recent 1^st round picks on the blueline Mark Calaway @Beketov, Ben Lass @dustywilson22 (5^th in rookie scoring), and Eric Queefson @twists. With seven players at double-digits in goals, the Dragons can score in bunches and on the league’s 3^rd -best power play. But can Dragon goaltending legend Bubbles Utonium @fishy, who has been playing more like the Continental Cup winner from S85 than the declining veteran of the last couple of seasons, keep up his strong play in his final season? Four more games against the Stars and three versus Davos will test the Dragons’ mettle.

 

 

D.C. and Vancouver will be battling for a playoff spot and perhaps a Victory Cup.

 

 

HC Davos Dynamo: 24-12-2, 51 points, 5th

Last Victory Cup: S37

Remaining Schedule: 11

 

Coming off of their first Continental Cup in nearly 30 seasons, and with considerable departures, people would not have been surprised if Davos had simply taken a slight step back this season. But with the addition of a couple of solid veteran forwards, DB III @wcatsand Vasile Lamb @dlamb, Davos has been able to essentially run it back with a majority of their S89 roster. Unlike most other teams, Davos has been built from the net out with Lachlan Summers @kirbithan, S88’s Rookie of the Year, and a trio of young (one of which at heart) two-way defensemen (David Jokinen @Ahma, Jake Thunder @Thunder, and Skor McFleury @Alex) who lead the attack from the back end. McFleury and Thunder, last seasons’ playoff MVP and assist leader in S88, lead the team in scoring but have a lot of help from Davos veterans Pete Mitchell @Crstats23, James Teekirque @Mongoose87, and Alfred Champagne @Anthique. Recently the defensive powerhouse has gone 9-2-1 in their past 12 games in order to close the gap on the top teams in the league. Overall, Davos has done well despite only a +15 goal differential  that is in large part due to their inability to stay out of the penalty box, as they are currently 2nd in the league with just shy of 500 PIMs. Aided though by their Top-5 ranked special teams, it should be interesting to see if Davos can keep up their recent play and end the longest active Victory Cup drought. 

 

 

Vancouver Wolves: 24-12-2, 50 points, 6^th

Last Victory Cup: S87

Remaining Schedule: 12

 

After finishing second in the North American Conference last season, the Wolves did a little shuffling in the off-season seeing Nico Pearce @Spartan  retire, changing up the bottom defense pairing and essentially swapping Henry Eagles @Greg_Di for Girts Galvins @Girts. Other than that, S86 Cup holdovers center Dogwood Maple @dogwoodmaple, defenseman Pierre-Emile Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito and goalie Brandt Fuhr @Tate (T-1^st in shutouts with four) have gelled nicely with a young core of skilled forwards to help the Wolves rattle off a recently-snapped 9-game win streak put them back in the Cup conversation. Coming over in the Henry Eagles trade, Hockley Mann @Sen leads Vancouver forwards in points with Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ right behind him and leading the Wolves in goals. Oreo McFleury @JB123 has been clutch and sits among league leaders with five game-winning goals. On top of it all, Brian Payne @Scurvy has been his rambunctious self, leading the team in scoring and sits 1^st among defensemen in hits, 2^nd in scoring and 3^rd in goals. Sporting the second-best penalty kill in the VHL and a 5-1 record in shootouts has helped Vancouver stay in the playoff picture in a tough conference. Having almost two-thirds of their remaining games against the bottom seven teams will almost guarantee they make the playoffs and perhaps push for higher.

 

 

Written by animal74 with files from Alex.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Alex

[animal74 1,610]

Claim 2/2