Swirling Speculation in Mississauga?

[der meister 3,197]

A cursory look at the VHLM's Eastern Conference standings would show you that the Mississauga Hounds are in the dead center of things, ranked third of the 5 squads. A few seconds later, however, you might notice the enormous gap between the top two teams and the rest of the Conference.

 

At the head of the table with a sterling 31-3-2 record (good for 64 points) is the Halifax 21st. They lead the VHLM in goals for with 152, good for 4.2 goals scored per game. Not only that, but they lead the VHLM in fewest goals against, with 59, or 1.64 allowed per game. That ratio gives them an astounding +93 goal differential in 36 games.

 

A full ten points behind Halifax sits the Miami Marauders. Miami has the VHLM's second most potent offense, with 135 goals scored, along with a very good though middle of the pack goals allowed of 84. These numbers equate to 3.86 goals scored per game and 2.4 goals allowed. Both of those are outstanding and noteworthy, would it not be for Halifax's dominance.

 

Then there's Mississauga. The Hounds are 11-23-2, meaning they have a paltry 24 points. Thirty points behind the second place team, in only 36 games. The Hounds have scored 95 goals, which isn't terrible especially considering the lineup issues that plagued the first chunk of the season. But where Mississauga's really struggling is a pitiful 137 goals allowed, which is worst in the Eastern Conference and second worst ahead of only the Las Vegas Aces' 164. For the sake of direct comparison, the Hounds are scoring at a 2.64 goals for per game rate, and allowing a staggering 3.81. Naturally some of that can be attributed to sharing a conference with the VHLM's two most potent offenses, but a deeper dive also shows a troubling lack of defensive depth and shaky, underdeveloped goaltending. Consider for a moment that all three members of the top forward line - Ozzy Batty, Konstyantyn Shevchenko, and Clapbomb Bardownski the Third - are well over a point per game pace. In fact, as a trio they are averaging 4.36 points per game, combining for 59 goals and 157 total points.

 

Where does this leave Mississauga moving forward? One would expect the Hounds to likely try to sell off their top line for additional assets moving forward. If that's the case, it's not difficult to imagine a situation where Mississauga ends up with multiple high draft picks, especially considering Batty is currently fourth in the VHLM in scoring, and both Batty and Shevchenko rank in the top 10 in goals. Bardownski is currently ranked 7th in assists.

 

Interestingly, Miami's Tim Robinson is their top scorer with 50 points, good for 10th in the league. Could a team like Miami mortgage their future to perhaps bring in two of Mississauga's three big guns? Such a bold move would give the Marauders three full forward lines of well developed threats, and could be enough to give them a boost over Halifax.

 

Or perhaps the answer lies out west. The Western Conference leaders, the Mexico City Kings, sport a forward lineup including four overagers in Gavin Bebard, Hunter S, Owen Two, and Cole Stermer. Mexico City is currently in a dogfight with the Saskatoon Wild, holding a three point advantage in the standings but having scored 22 fewer goals. An offensive boost to the Kings could really set them apart as the top of the Western Conference class.

 

This level of speculation always makes me think of this scene from BASEketball