10 champions in 10 seasons?

[scoop 3,418]

When the Toronto Legion won the finals last season, it marked the ninth unique champion in nine seasons. This is the longest stretch of unique champions in VHL history, and I would love to see it continue to extend (or be snapped by Malmo winning year after year). Of course, the longer it goes on, the more unlikely it is to last. Season 92 has just begun, but considering what we know about the teams right now, what do the chance look like for it to reach a 10th unique champion?

 

First, let's take a look at the North American Conference. Which teams have won a championship during this streak? Seattle, D.C.,Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. We don't want any of them to win this season. Luckily, both Seattle and Vancouver are almost assuredly non-playoff teams. The other three will likely make it in along with Los Angeles and New York, though Chicago has started the season winning a lot of games against these expected playoff teams. Perhaps Chicago could keep one of D.C. or Toronto out of the playoffs to increase our odds. For now, though, I expect we will be relying on Los Angeles and New York, which doesn't sound that bad. Los Angeles has been the best team in the VHL thus far, and New York is look.

 

Over in Europe, there are four teams we won't want to see succeed: Warsaw, London, Davos, and Prague. Again, two of these teams (Warsaw and Davos) are likely to miss the playoffs. London and Prague are both probably playoff teams, though the Phantoms missed out on the playoffs after having high expectations last season. For now, though, let's assume they will make it. So too will Malmo, Helsinki, and Moscow, if the predictions hold true. Any of those three teams winning the championship would keep the streak alive, and those are the top three in the conference standings at the moment.

 

As things stand, the expected playoffs will have five teams who have won within the last nine seasons, and five who have not. I do think overall, the teams without recent championships are better, with London being the prime candidate to upset the streak. Honestly, I give it about a 50/50 chance of the streak continuing. For those who want to see it extend further and further, Los Angeles winning would probably be the best possible outcome, because unlike some of the other teams, this is probably their last chance at a Cup for a while.

Edited January 15 by scoop

[dlamb 1,326]

40 minutes ago, scoop said:

Los Angeles winning would probably be the best possible outcome

It would also give every VHL team (active or not, I believe?) at least 1 Continental Cup victory, which would be nice.