VHL season 91. Halfway through the season

[hedgehog337 3,483]

Last time I lied...I will make another article about the same stuff as last article. I think we could make a conclusion or two about the season so far as we're about to enter the second half of the season. 

 

 

That's still impressive:

 

 

*me right now*

 

Aside of joking, I'm pretty impressed by our season so far. The idea of giving a fight to other 5 EU contenders turned into 28 wins in 37 games. Looks like AK stopped being mid and it immediately gave the team a boost plus Shrimp is enjoying a career season so far too. Not really sure if this form is sustainable as couple of other EU teams are piling up W streaks on their own. But that should be enough to mess up things in this tight conference. 

 

 

Still on point:    

 

LA is now enjoying this season as Chicago is starting to fall down and other NA teams are plagued by inconsistency or other issues. Even by this point it's hard to imagine this team choking a chance to take a #1 spot in the conference. The Europe trio is the ones who didn't let Riga away too far and are in the fight of taking the top spot and maybe win the Victory Cup while we're at it. Or just not fall into the wildcard zone. By looks of it these three likely not gonna have much trouble of securing the playoff spot. The only question is a position they will take. 

 

 

Can't buy a luck:

 

Honestly, I feel like their record is underwhelming at this moment. I believe they could do better, but something about not having enough luck is not letting them catch Chicago right now. I think they are still the prime candidate for the #2 spot in NA, but they really have to step up and win games they need to. Also, can Sogaard get more points for my fantasy? Kind of a bummer to see his current point totals tbh. 

 

 

The end of Cinderella story?:

 

Well, it was expected. And even with that they still managed to hold a respectable .500 form for some time. Sundin is still trying his best to give Chicago a chance that Cole probably doesn't even wants it. The crazier thing is despite of their L streak they are still way above other NA teams not named LA since they can't figure it out how to do chemistry. Or buying a luck just like a team above. As long as they are gonna struggle the Sundin machine always will have a chance for one last playoff push. 

 

 

Could do better/too inconsistent:  

 

Prague has shown signs of life as of late. Some players are starting to realize you can't just make the post season dance on one player alone. Now they are only one point away from the team I paired with. And as long as their leaders can stay woke they will always have a chance. As for Helsinki, I wasn't far from putting them into the tier 2 with other EU contenders. But something about their consistency is really off. They seem very reliant on their top guys and sometimes it leads to some disappointment. To the credit of these leaders, they really came to play and doing as good as it was advertised prior to this season. But can they make it far without a consistent performance from their depth? Not so sure. 

 

 

Nope:  

 

I'm not gonna chastise Calgary too much here. I guess they are ok with mimicking London so let it be. It might be enough for the playoffs anyways cause the conference is a one whole big mess. DC, however is by far the biggest disappointment of the first half. All of that offensive potential for not being able to deliver anything exciting. That resulted in them sporting a MID record. Yeah, I'm still remembering DC MID meme which was a thing before they finally grabbed a cup. But what's even more shocking it's their defensive play being one of the most atrocious in the whole league. Including the rebuilding teams. Some stat lovers may say that they didn't actually let a lots of shots? Well, now look at their blocked shot stats and figure it out why their defensive chemistry is non existent so far. Something needs to be changed. Either roster or strategy. Or just do nothing and wait when the forwards are finally starting to fire up and carry this team to the playoffs. Which is pretty much possible. A good possibility knowing how the rest of NA not named LA is having zero consistency whatsoever. 

 

 

Rebuilding...??  

 

At least that's what I thought about these two. As of now they are just 3 points away from the 5th place team. I do expect Vancouver to step back sooner than later as they traded Fuhr not so long ago. To NYA. Thad decided that it's the time to make things in NA even more confusing. As it wasn't messy enough before that. But just for a third round pick? Eh, why not. Since that trade NYA managed to stabilize their performance and post a respectable record which gives them an outside chance of making it. Can they though? With this conference, you never know. 

 

 

Rebuilding!  

 

Well, these two having no rush and continue performing according to their rebuilding plan. I'm still waiting for some W streak for Moscow, but for now it's hard to win with just Left Alone doing the most of work here. Also, wouldn't it make more sense just to trade him? 

 

 

Non factor:

 

The most grey area team is still being on their ''not particularly bad, neither good'' thing. They are capable to steal a game or two, but for now they are just floating around. I only realized now that they don't even have their own first so perhaps they could actually try to make their way into contenders if the price is cheap. That's if there would be any possibilities on the trade block to begin with. 

 

 

Ok, now that I hit 1000 words I'm not gonna shit on teams next week. See you maybe in 2 weeks or 2 months. As always it depends on my desire. 

 

That's it and I'm out. 

[Spartan 4,531]

2 hours ago, hedgehog337 said:

Also, wouldn't it make more sense just to trade him?

He wants to stay and he's not that old all things considered. Will still be a perfectly fine player for a while and a good winger to have for young centers.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

He wants to stay and he's not that old all things considered. Will still be a perfectly fine player for a while and a good winger to have for young centers.

 

some teams right now that prolly wanted to make a shakeup by getting Alone 

 

[Spartan 4,531]

Just now, hedgehog337 said:

 

some teams right now that prolly wanted to make a shakeup by getting Alone 

 

No one's inquired tbh

[hedgehog337 3,483]

1 minute ago, Spartan said:

No one's inquired tbh

 

well then gms dont try enough! 

[hedgehog337 3,483]

w2