Week of Theme: Rookie Leaders by Tracked Statistic

[der meister 3,182]

I generally find the theme week prompts to be creatively unsatisfying. I don't mean that as a slight against the originators or anything like that, but I don't like being pigeonholed in that way, so I usually struggle with it. This time, though, instead of writing some strange tale about Shevchenko meeting up with fellow rookies on a road trip in New York City or some nonsense like that, I thought it would be interesting to examine which rookies are the statistical leaders in various stats, and their draft position.

 

Goals: 20 
Player: Maverick Gonclaves

I feel like I should get ready to see this name a lot in this article. Gonclaves is just over a point-per-game pace with 42 in 41, playing for the high-flying Moscow Menace. Honestly not that shocking with the supremely well developed Puck Handling and Defense skills, which are at 89 and 88, respectively.

 

Assists: 26
Player: Felicia Hardy

H.C. Davos is in the upper part of the middle of the VHL pack, and Hardy's performance as a rookie defender is a big part of that success. Her Defense, Passing, and Puck Handling skills [notice a theme?] are all excellent, with 91, 86, and 85 ratings, in that order.

 

Points: 42
Player: Maverick Gonclaves

Why am I not surprised?

 

Plus/Minus: 43
Player: Maverick Gonclaves

He literally leads the league in this category, not just rookies.

 

Shots: 216
Player: Maverick Gonclaves

Gonclaves ranks 33rd in the league in this category, a testament to the "high-flying" adjective I used in the first section.

 

Shooting Percentage: ???
Player: ???

I dunno. This field wouldn't sort for me for some reason. I tried a bunch of times, both on a laptop and through the VHL app on my phone. 

 

Penalty Minutes: 119
Player: Andrew Skilton

Atop the rookie ladder and 5th league-wide comes the 6'6" defender for the Toronto Legion, and a first-gen user, to boot. I was surprised to see that, while his Defense skill is an 85, his Checking skill is only a 65. With that PIM total, I wouldn't have been surprised to see that at an 85, as well. To top it off, he also has 23 points in 40 games. Very solid.

 

Hits: 147

Player: Maverick Gonclaves

Dude is having a hell of a year, what else can I say? He's 7th league-wide here.

 

Blocked Shots: 140

Player: Lazlo Holmes

Defender Lazlo Holmes of the Prague Phantoms is ranked 2nd in the league in this category. The 5'10" American also has 35 points this season, which isn't that surprising with his 86 Puck Handling skill. Fun fact: my player, Konstyantyn Shevchenko, leads all VHL forwards in blocked shots with 58. 

 

Game Winning Goals: 5
Player: Oh just piss off already, of course it's Maverick Gonclaves

Moving on.

 

Power Play Goals: 9
Player: Lazlo Holmes

Nine of his 11 have come with the man advantage, making Prague's power play seem almost shockingly effective given their place in the standings.

 

Short-handed Goals: 2
Player: Gonclaves

Tied with a bunch for the league lead.

 

Hat Tricks: 1
Player: Gonclaves

The only rookie to achieve this feat so far this season.

 

 

Random image included to indicate what a NORMAL leaderboard looks like. Notice how there are different names? Settle down, Maverick.

 

 

Users mentioned:

@leandrofg

@JCarson

@Gustav

@ace_five_

 

[Spartan 4,383]

Waverick Woncalves

[ace_five_ 418]

48 minutes ago, der meister said:

Shooting Percentage: ???
Player: ???

I dunno. This field wouldn't sort for me for some reason. I tried a bunch of times, both on a laptop and through the VHL app on my phone. 
 

 

Looks like Jacob Smith Jr. leads that category with a shooting percentage of 16.67% (4 goals on 24 shots), followed by Shevchenko with 11.34% (11 goals on 97 shots)