Around the League

[Scurvy 1,495]

Another week into the season and there is plenty of happenings to chat about. First, its April Fools and I got GOT twice in 12 hours by the VHL.  Great job!   For this week I’d like to cover the current VHL standings, a look in at Saskatoon in the VHLM, and give a little “tough guy” tribute. 

 

VHL STANDINGS

In the North American league the defending champs, DC Dragons are killing it.  At 20-4 they have cruised out to first place with a tough Toronto club nipping at their heels.  

 

Led by The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath with 22g 26a= 48 pts and defenseman, Mark Calaway @Beketov 12g 26a= 38pt they are showing that they want to raise that Continental Cup again.  They have great depth and are getting scoring and contributions from everyone on the roster.  Added to this, they are nasty in net with Henry Tucker Jr @NSG who already has two shutouts.  

 

Prediction:  Victory Cup

 

In the EU, Moscow, Malmo, London, and Prague are all really close and I predict there will be many lead changes before the trade deadline. All these teams are crazy good but I want to look in on Prague today.

 

Prague has scored the most goals in the league (100) but have allowed 78. If they are to compete for the cup I would think team defense would have to improve but their offense is impressive. 

 

Led by John Jameson @Frank 23-30-53pts (85 hits) and Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide 25-27-52pts up front and all-star defenseman Skor McFleury @AlexAlex 9 -33-42pts in the back they have the tools to be competitive every night. They have some depth that can add points as well in Rip Wheeler, Spanish Moon, and Chris Sanzone and a great goalie in Matt Murdock. 

 

But if this team is to win the cup one of these depth pieces might have to go for some defensive help.  If this team can bring down the goals against and maintain their offensive tempo, they will be a force come playoff time. 

 

SASKATOON

In the VHLM there are some teams blowing away from the pack.  Ottawa, Halifax, Vegas, and Houston are all single digits in losses.  Saskatoon is just outside of these clubs and despite losing two in a row they have such a solid club I think they could go for it come playoff time. 

 

Offensivly they are led by Oliver Loo @Misty 18-16-34 pts and RW Leon Bruhmaninho @BigBruhman.  But it’s their defense which is where Saskatoon really shines.  Carson Tripp @Cartripp14, Bollos de Trueno @Thunder, and Lazlo Holmes @Gustav are all max or close to max and will definitely help play long minutes in crucial games.  

 

Sask is up there with goals scored (83) and are 2^nd fewest in goals allowed in the league showing a team commitment to defense.  

 

In net, the team could use a few more weeks of TPE earning for both goalies.  Both have winning records, but a few more allocated points could put them over the hump in games against elite talent.  

 

Best of luck Sask! 

 

Tough Guy Tribute

This week’s tribute goes out to Prague’s center, John Jameson @Frank.  As of this week he has 8 total fights in 25 games.  The aging veteran is averaging over 2 points a game and is on a record pace for fighting majors in the modern era. Great job JJ.

[Alex 3,207]

12 minutes ago, Scurvy said:

Prague has scored the most goals in the league (100) but have allowed 78. If they are to compete for the cup I would think team defense would have to improve but their offense is impressive. 

The weird thing with Prague is that they’ve also allowed the 4th most shots which is usually a sign of a struggling team (DAV, LAS, and RIG ahead of them). Offence seems to be clicking though, will be interesting to see how they do the rest of the way.

[Gaikoku-hito 2,089]

35 minutes ago, Alex said:

The weird thing with Prague is that they’ve also allowed the 4th most shots which is usually a sign of a struggling team (DAV, LAS, and RIG ahead of them). Offence seems to be clicking though, will be interesting to see how they do the rest of the way.

Surprised to see you here!! LOL!!

Consider we have been talking about this a bit!! LOL!!

 

53 minutes ago, Scurvy said:

In the EU, Moscow, Malmo, London, and Prague are all really close and I predict there will be many lead changes before the trade deadline.

Prague will fall back hard since they cannot keep up with the top teams in the league and are allow a ton of shots against due to the fact that they are running with five forwards. Prague needs to trade for a forward with  the fact that they have $8.5M is salary and the fact that some teams are starting to like like sellers.

 

Yes, Adding another defender wouldn`t hurt either but that is more for a playoffs than the regular season. Options are also limited I think so might also be hard to make find a deal than complete a deal.

 

I think if they don`t make a deal they are at risk of missing the playoffs as Helsinki are under-performing at the moment, Warsaw is better than most think; which leaves Prague as likely as the odd ones out in a make or break season. We will see if they make any deals.

[Banackock 8,060]

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