Moscow Menace vs Warsaw Predators; can the farm team challenge Moscow?

[jRuutu 2,475]

On the surface, the matchup between Moscow and Warsaw is going to be a tight battle as Warsaw won 41 games during the regular season and Moscow 38 games. Still, when we take a closer look at the finer details between both teams it is not a surprise that Moscow is heading into the series as a heavy favorite!

 

I sent the link to the S94 regular-season index to various AI programs online. I instructed the AI to analyze how lucky and unlucky the VHL teams were during the regular season. Perhaps quite surprisingly Warsaw was seen as the luckiest team in the whole league by scoring a whopping 100 out of 100! They were seen as having the easiest schedule, the most favorable calls from the referees, and the most soft goals allowed by other teams. On the other side, Moscow Menace was seen as the unluckiest team in the league with a score of 18 out of 100. Moscow had to face the toughest schedule with numerous top teams on away ice in a row, Moscow also was the victim of the most incorrect penalties called against with 245 minutes in total that were seen as "questionable" and 84 minor penalties that were seen as incorrectly whistled. Not to mention the sheer number of shots that hit the posts, a total of 351 of Moscow's shots hit the post. Second most posts hit was Calgary with 64.

 

The "big brother vs little brother" element gives the edge to Moscow. The core players in Warsaw are considered to be home-grown in Moscow. Queefson, Kardashian, and Reingaard have elevated their game to another level while representing the Menace. On the flip side, these players were reportedly not seen as "good enough", so they were shipped off to Warsaw where they found a home in an organization with lesser expectations. The steady flow of players moving from Moscow and Warsaw has led many VHL fans to call Warsaw to be the farm team for Moscow.  This aspect will, without a doubt, bring a unique element into the series as Moscow Menace is an organization Warsaw Predators hopes to be one day.

 

Depth and skill vs whatever is the opposite of depth and skill. Taking into consideration how unlucky Moscow was during the regular season it is perhaps scary to think that Moscow has 8 players who scored the magical 69 points or more. If Moscow was even as half as lucky as Warsaw was, Moscow would have 10 players with 100 or more points. At the same time, I don't think it's an outlandish statement to say that without the superior luck, Warsaw would not be in the playoffs as they have only 3 players who scored 69 points or more.

 

On the ice Warsaw players want to show they can compete against a superiorly talented Moscow, but can Warsaw get by with just luck alone? If and when Moscow shows up when the games are played,  Moscow should dominate the series and move on to the next round.

 

[Victor 11,021]

Remarkably prescient trash talk