Malmo 1/3 season review

[scoop 3,447]

We are one-third of the way through the regular season, and things are going about as expected for the Malmo Nighthawks. We are up there at the top of the European Conference standings, currently sitting in second place by two points, with first place Moscow having played one more game. They remain one of the highest scoring teams, and the story if very similar to last season. Malmo is getting it done with the most balanced roster in the league, and that shows in the stats.

 

Although the Nighthawks are tied for the second-highest scoring team in the VHL (in goals-per-game), our leader in goals, Phillip Rave, is just 13th in the league. Viktor Jensen does crack the top ten in points, but beyond him, Rave, Jacob Stone, and Ronald Johnson MacWallace III are just barely inside the top 30. Where you really see Malmo shine is in our depth of scoring. We have a league-leading seven players producing at a point-per-game level, with the lowest total on our team having 16 points in 24 games. We have eight players with at least eight goals through 24 games. I understand that scoring is up all around the league, but it is still impressive.

 

 

Take a look at Malmo compared to some of the other top scoring teams in the league. The Dragons have a player with 22 goals and two with 15. Again, Malmo's leader has just 15, with Jensen's 12 being second. Despite the vast edge that D.C.'s leaders have in goals, they have only scored three more goals as a team because they realistically only have six players who are threats to score with any sense or regularity. Prague, who have the same four goals-per-game as Malmo, rely even more heavily on their stars, with two players combining for 48 of their 100 goals. I think Moscow is the closest to Malmo in terms of a balanced scoring lineup. Other than the Nighthawks, the Menace are the only team that we may see produce eight 20-goal scorers.