VSN Presents: VHLM Power Rankings: Weeks 5 & 6 (Pre-Playoff Edition)

[McLovin 467]

Credit: @Zetterberg

 

VSN Presents: VHLM Power Rankings for Weeks 5 & 6 (Pre-Playoff Edition)

 

Hello, and welcome to this final edition of the VHLM Power Rankings for Weeks 5 & 6 (Pre-Playoff Edition!) We got a few more changes in the standings before the start of the playoffs, so let’s cover each team and how they’re projected to perform come the postseason!

 

1st: San Diego Marlins =

56-10-2, 114 Points | 1st in Western Conference, 1st in League Standings

 

No surprise here, we start our power rankings with the San Diego Marlins! The cup favorite, they are expected to do very well in the playoffs, and anything short than a finals appearance will be a failure in the eyes of the team. Carried by 100 point seasons by both Tyrece the beast @beanhead420 & Eric White Jr @Mysterious_Fish offensively, and a historic goaltending performance by Benoit Devereux Trophy favorite Olober Syko @Spartan , they have massive expectations for themselves. Whether they thrive or buckle from the pressure is yet to be seen, but as they’ve only lost 12 games out of 68 thus far, they are by far the team to beat.

 

 

2nd. Mississauga Hounds =

51-16-2, 104 Points | 1st in Eastern Conference, 2nd in League Standings

 

Up next, we have the team that arguably has the best chance to take down San Diego, we have the Mississauga Hounds. They bolster one of the best offenses in the league, being led by the likes of lead leader in points Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard with a whopping 118 points in 69 games, and Med @Med with a commendable 86 points in the same time frame. Having offensive pieces like this to get them on the board is very important, but arguably even more important is the shutdown goaltending they’ve had this season in Red Panda @Lemorse7 who’s making a run for the Benoit Devereux himself. With all these pieces in mind, plus the rest of the elite roster they bolster, they more or less have the Eastern Conference on lock, with only the Marlins being the most substantial roadblock in their path to a Founders Cup.

 

 

3rd: Saskatoon Wild =

46-16-7, 99 Points | 2nd in Western Conference, 3rd in League Standings

 

Moving along, up next we have the Saskatoon Wild. Having not moved from their previous rankings, which at this point in the season is definitely a good thing, they look to hold their status as the second best team in the West after a very strong latter half of the season. Being led by their high scoring defensemen and strong presence in net, they look to withhold offenses from the likes of Mississauga and San Diego by shutting down scorers and taking advantage of mistakes made by other teams to convert them into scoring opportunities. Players like Jorji Costova @Hybrid1486, Joseph Reed @BrutalBoost, and Henry Ford @JCN lead the team in their respective positions, and look to be leaned upon heavily come the playoffs, in which they’ll most likely face the Aces.

 

 

4th: Las Vegas Aces +1

45-19-6, 96 Points | 3rd in Western Conference, 4th in League Standings

 

Onto our third Western Conference team in four rankings, we have the Las Vegas Aces. Up one from their previous ranking, they’ve gone on a quite remarkable end season tear as they’ve won their last 9 games in quite convincing fashion. Looking at their team on paper, it’s not hard to see why they’re doing so well either. Both Stinky @taylorherd and Didier Verhault @FTK are having incredible 80+ point seasons, with players like Quinndillus Whopper @Max77 and Bric Sheithaus @Oldhead91not too far behind. Offensive production of this caliber will definitely help, and I was honestly debating putting them at the #3 spot just for their recent success. Only thing that’s stopped me from doing just that, however, is their consistency. While it appears they found their stride, whether this translates to postseason success is yet to be seen, and as they’ve struggled the last few seasons with deep playoff pushes, we’ll see if they can make something magical happen and be an underdog Cinderella story for this season.

 

 

5th: Miami Marauders -1

39-23-6, 84 Points, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 5th in League Standings

 

At the halfway mark, we have the Miami Marauders. Down one from their previous ranking, they were neck and neck with Las Vegas for 4th place in the league for the longest time, but have not been able to keep up with the recent tear Las Vegas went on. Despite this, Miami still bolsters a very impressive roster. Sebastian Thunder @Matt thunder just eclipsed 100 points on the season, with Oden Bell @WhiskyJack & Lionel Collberg @Masu Chan both projected to have well over 90 points by season's end. Their top end production is great, but it definitely drops off after that, by about 20 points in production from their 3rd ranked point producer to their fourth. This high level of reliance on their top end talent isn’t usually the worst strategy, and can definitely steal you some games. Whether or not this strategy pays off in the playoffs, however, is a completely different story. They certainly have their work cut out for them, but have the potential to definitely be another underdog story in the making.

 

6th: Philadelphia Reapers +1

28-33-7, 63 Points | 3rd in Eastern Conference, 6th in League Standings

 

Onto the latter half of the rankings, we got the Philadelphia Reapers! Similar to Miami, they bolster incredible top end talent, but sorely lack depth to round out the team. Caring Bear @thecaringbear is at the edge of reaching that 100 point marker on the season, with Behrens Minion @UnknownMinion not too far behind and kodie Curran @Battlepopcorn leading the way for the defensemen. A quick look at their roster definitely points to explanations as to their record, as they lack 4 defensemen to round out their core, and are also missing a forward to fill in gaps in the depth. As they’re projected to face Miami in the playoffs, they’ll certainly have their work cut out for them, and every game is going to be hard fought for, so definitely watch out for that series should it be announced!

 

7th: Mexico City Kings +1

26-38-5, 57 Points | 4th in Western Conference, 7th in League Standings

 

Back to the West, we have the Mexico City Kings! I sound like a broken record saying the same things over again, but little has changed for Mexico City minus their strong defensive core leading the way offensively. The team is still led production wise by Mina @Baozi and Free Gorlab @eaglesfan036, but they and the rest of the team have definitely struggled to stop the puck going in their own net as well, and they’ve suffered in the standings and these VSN rankings for it. jose avocado @Bobo has done all he can, but when there’s holes in the roster and a sore lack of star power to match other teams, you will certainly and understandably struggle to maintain high levels of production. As they’re projected to face San Diego in the playoffs, they will quite literally need a miracle to win the series. They’ll give them a good series though, but I cannot in good faith say they have a good shot at winning the series. Who knows though? It’s playoff hockey, anything can happen!

8th: Halifax 21st -2

24-37-8, 56 Points | 4th in Eastern Conference, 8th in League Standings

 

Moving right along, we come to the Halifax 21st next in our rankings! A drop of 2 down from the previous rankings, they definitely cooled off from their hot streak midway through the season and have entered a point of just lethal offensive production. Jeid Rohnson @TopTiddee2 & Theo Allard @InstantRockstar are having remarkable historic seasons, both likely to pass well over the 100 point threshold by seasons end, with the likes of Bubba Tree @Bubba, liam oinas @ojje, Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage @Grape, and Olumide Anderson @Theory putting up incredible seasons offensively too. The achilles heel of this team however, is their lack of defensemen to compliment the lethal offense. As they only had one defenseman for a majority of the season before the signing of Guntis Gavilrovs @Girts, they will struggle to defend against the explosive offense of Mississauga come playoff time, and the series will almost certainly turn into a high scoring slugfest. I believe this series will be much more competitive than the previously mentioned one, but I think the lack of defense will bite Halifax hard though, and burn them for the season when it matters most.

 

9th: Ottawa Lynx =

15-46-8, 38 Points | 5th in Eastern Conference, 9th in League Standings

 

Nearing the end of our rankings, and the first of the playoff contention eliminated teams, we have the Ottawa Lynx. While we aren’t able to predict their playoff success in this article, we are able to assess the season they had and what they can do for the future. They dedicated hard to the rebuild this season, and from what I can gather, they did it tremendously well! Almost their entire roster is signed with them through the rest of their M careers, and they already have strong skill sets that’ll only get better. Ottawa looks to be a very strong and dangerous team for next season, and as they have a top 2 pick in this upcoming draft, they’ll only expand upon this strength and be a remarkably impressive team come the S91 regular season! Expect to see them very high in next season's rankings!

 

 

10th: Houston Bulls =

14-49-6, 34 Points | 5th in Western Conference, 10th in League Standings

 

Lastly, we have the Houston Bulls. Similarly to Ottawa, they have an incredibly bright future ahead of them in their rebuild. All but two players are signed with them for the duration of their VHLM careers, and unless they royally screw up and decide to win a couple games to put themselves over Ottawa in the standings, they’ll have the number one overall pick in this season's draft. With how strong this draft class is, I imagine they’re already sending scouts and interviews out to field the best pick possible for them so they can truly begin their rebuild as a contender. Between them and Ottawa, despite them not making the playoffs this year, they will be remarkable teams to watch next season, and I cannot wait to see what they pull off

 

This concludes the VSN Week 5 & 6 Power Rankings for the VHLM Regular season! There is a lot to be excited about for these upcoming playoffs, and I cannot wait to see what happens. For VSN, this has been Marcus Svedberg, signing off for the S90 Regular Season! Thank you for reading!

[Grape 683]

Obuz mentioned = 10/10 article

[McLovin 467]

Claiming week 2/2