VSN Presents: VHL Award Predictions - Part 1

[Pifferfish 596]

(Credit: @mmrs617)


Welcome readers! Today I'm going to be giving my personal predictions on who will take home some of the VHL's hardware during next offseason. This will be a two part series as these are a lot of awards to cover and I just think breaking things up a bit will make things easier to digest. Now, a couple more caveats before I begin: firstly, these predictions are mostly my own and will likely different from some theories on the matter, Simon is a tough nut to crack after all and can sometimes get a little whacky. Secondly, most of these were written before the start of S96 and so they are not influenced by any of the sims so far, others were written after the start of sims so I have more data to utilize. Let's get right to it then!

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Victory Cup

Best Regular Season Record

 

 Riga Reign 
@Lemorse7

HMs: Moscow Menace / Malmo Nighthawks

 

Riga is probably one of if not the best roster in the league right off the bat in the VHL and that bodes well for them. Two monsters in the center position in Axle Gunner @Steve and Severus Targaryen @Banackock along with a great defensive game led by veteran Mark Calaway @Beketov and netminder Red Panda @Lemorse7 mean this team's weakness could only be hubris if we had to pick one. I think, however, the most important thing in making them Victory Cup favorites is their favorable conference. The top 3 team's league wide last season were all in the EU. Why was that? It comes down to the competition. You play against your conference slightly more and the bottom of the EU is worse than the bottom of the NA I think. Helsinki, Prague, Warsaw, London are all majorly flawed teams. Compare that to the NA where your bottom four are DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Calgary and you see why I hold my beliefs. I just think all those rebuilding teams are farther along than their EU counterparts by a country mile. Which means more losses to the weaker teams in the NA conference overall. @KaleebtheMighty and Malmo have a very very strong regular season track record but could just be outclassed by Riga's core this season. Moscow is playing really well right now and I do think that has a lot to do with the mind of GM @Spartan . He has a proven track record of strong management but I have to think the 600 TPE goalie in Joseph Reed @BrutalBoost eventually drops the ball enough times to allow Riga to crawl back into the thick of it. 

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Terence Fong Trophy

EU Conference Champion

 

 HC Davos Dynamo 
@Alex

HM: Riga Reign

 

Probably a more controversial pick but it's very possible Alex goes and makes a deadline splash and pushes himself deep into cup contention. Moscow is weaker in net and Malmo hasn't made it past round one with Kaleeb as GM in ... ever? (I genuinely don't know.) Davos had a similar offseason agenda as Toronto, sure up the goalie spot with someone who makes you a contender. AKK @Snussu was excellent in their rookie campaign, but Dilson @MexicanCow123 is a real top end stud and could be exactly what this team needs to make a leap along with a ton of up and comers. Riga obviously has a great team but they don't really have any assets to push even further with TDL activity. Other stars like Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica and Owen Lazaro @traphag should keep their production cruising through to the finals.

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Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy

NA Conference Champion

 

 Toronto Legion 
@Moon

HM: Vancouver Wolves 

 

Part of me would want this semi final just for the storylines with the Vidarsson @KaleebtheMighty trade but I really just think these are two of the better constructed rosters in the VHL. Other strong candidates would be Chicago or New York but I just haven't seen their GMs have playoff success like I have seen with Vancouver and Toronto. @Moon and @Frank both have proven track records of making big adjustments to squeeze out every ounce of performance they can from the personnel they have at their disposal. The main reason I chose Toronto despite the depreciation and retirement they endured is that aforementioned trade. Last season, they went to game 7 in the cup final with a 550 TPE goalie in Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly and they now have the reigning league MVP and Shaw winner in net instead. I just believe that's enough to at least get them back to the dance, despite Vancouver having an incredible squad top to bottom. Toronto also still has two of their big three forwards from last season in Diego Machado @Dadam30 and Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr so I don't see the loss of Mac Atlas @v.2 being as critical as others have theorized.

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Continental Cup

VHL Championship Team

 

 Toronto Legion 
@Moon

HM: HC Davos Dynamo 

 

Toronto was just one game from lifting the cup last year as I previously mentioned. Arguably their biggest weakness was goaltending and they fixed that… as stated. They did lose a franchise legend in Mac Atlas to the driving ranges but they still have two wicked forwards in Callahan and Machado… as stated. The window is closing for Toronto soon so now is the time to make the moves to secure a cup. I trust the process here and let's be honest, pretty much nobody other than Riga players thought they would win last year and look what happened, I'm willing to make an out there pick and appeal to Simon's never ending lust for chaos. 

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David Knight Trophy

Top General Manager

 

 HC Davos Dynamo 
@Alex

HMs: @Lemorse7 (Riga) / @Frank (Vancouver)

I don't really know totally what the criteria this award is generally voted on is; good moves, in season success, playoff success, all of them, none of them, some ratio of them all? I do know however that I personally look at this as an award for the GM who made the best moves to actively push their team to success. Key phrasing is "made the best moves." So while a GM like Lemorse is probably going to have a good team, he usually spends most of his trade chips at the beginning of the season and I feel his moves to set up the year could be long forgotten. Alex on the other hand has quite a few chips in place to make further moves this trade deadline and jumpstart a playoff run. The moves will be fresh on our minds and we will look back at them fondly should they win. Even if it's a "regular season" award.

 

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Daisuke Kanou Trophy

Playoff MVP

 

 Harry Callahan 
@dstevensonjr

HMs: Diego Machado / Dalkr Vidarsson

As we discussed already, I do think Toronto bounces back in a big way and returns to the finals to capture glory. That said, this award is difficult to predict even if I got the team right. Callahan theoretically is strictly better than Machado and should produce more, but once again… Simon T is going to be a little freakazoid from time to time. Vidarsson I think will be a big part of this team making the jump, but this league has so much scoring that I don’t see the numbers looking glamorous. Also, it's worth noting that had they won game 7 last season, Callahan would have been the likely winner in S95.

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Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

Top Rookie

 

 Soju 
@Frank

HMs: Spider Panda / Ahsoka Tano

In S95 the only reason Lovstrom didn't win ROTY off his Clegane performance was the games played, which won't be an issue for Soju. I don’t see much standing in the way of Soju putting up comparable numbers to Lovstrom’s rookie campaign. Like Jorgen, he has a strong defensive team in front of him that should be blazing hot from start to finish this season. Even if the conference is “tougher” I don’t think the gap in numbers will hurt Soju’s case here. Only real risk to him is Spider Panda @Ricer13 but once again, better team and more TPE currently for the Vancouver netminder. If you don't want to roll with the goalie I think your next best bets are Tano @Aimee or Sakic @Phil. Sakic I think is just in a position where it comes down to playing time and whether he gets it. With good linemates he has a build capable of a nice 60+ point season already. I’m just not sure he is going to be placed in the position to do that this season. Tano doesn't have much scoring to speak of but if Aim focuses on the OV and gets that to the 70s maybe we see this player take the strides to get a 50 point rookie campaign. Tano also has the benefit of getting that top line ice time with a weaker roster around them and somebody has to get the points for Helsinki. Soju is the only rookie I kind of know for sure what to expect out of this season; 0.915+ SV% and a sub 2.75 GAA seem very reasonable.

 

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Jake Wylde Trophy

Top Defensive Defenseman

 

 Guntis Gavilrovs 
@Girts

HM: Jacob Stone / Callum Gary Yannick Janser

 

I was originally going to go with YaBoi Oven @Doomsday , who I believed in last season and fell just short of my expectations, but I can't look at the numbers and come to the conclusion that he magically improves majorly on last season, at least in terms of defensive categories. Instead I'll choose a guy I expect to make a jump in Gavilrovs. As stated, I think Vancouver could be a really good defensive team and limit shots against, but if they end up in the middle of the pack in that statistic again, I see no reason why Gavilrovs couldn't repeat or even improve on his top 10 performances in both Hits and Shots Blocked. Stone @scoop as man honorable mention is just me saying "if that guy maintains his performance, he is a good candidate to repeat." I will admit that we should call upon the voting committee to observe his shot blocking with a critical eye. In the same way that we don't heavily value the shot blocking of defensemen on teams who lead the league in shots against because that always just ends up equating to more shot blocks by default, we should also be critical of Dmen who play on a 5v5 line with a bot. Each defensive line will get a certain number of blocks in a game and being alongside a bot is a certified cheat code in this regard because their defense attribute is bad. Another stronger candidate I’ll put forward is CGY Janser @Daniel Janser. He, unlike Stone, plays next to flesh and blood players in the New York Americans’ lineup. Janser shot blocks and hits just as Guntis does.

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Alexander Valiq Trophy

Top Offensive Defenseman

 

 Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage 
@Grape

HM: YaBoi Oven / Jacob Stone / Lucy Leitner

I see Moscow as a team that's main downgrade from one short season ago is in net, so I see no reason why Bocage shouldn't replicate his last campaign on the offensive side. He is still one of his team's best weapons. This league does have so many weapons on the defensive side of things so it’s tough to choose honorable mentions. Lucy @LucyXpher is off my list and that has not a damn thing to do with talent. Lucy is great but Lemorse keeps adding an elite veteran defenseman that takes some shine from Lucy. With Fradin @Fradin99 still there along with Callaway coming in it's just a lot of mouths to feed and I don't know if this offense can secure the production necessary to feed any of them enough for real consideration here. Stone @scoop is a bit of a wildcard because the team around him is theoretically worse but he does still have that elite goal scoring capability on the powerplay and 5v5 so just a big unknown for how much consideration he gets. Then lastly, I wanted to shout out YaBoi Oven @Doomsday again. Chicago is seemingly in the same middle of the NA conference circling pattern they’ve been on for a few seasons [prewritten, don’t judge me] and I predicted him to win this award last year. When I said he underperformed that was only on defensive metrics. His offense was exactly as I predicted; a 90 point breakout campaign. I can totally see that again this season. Bocage had 100 though last year. I don't see the path to that number for Oven so I’m tempering expectations on him this time around.

 

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Sterling Labatte Trophy

Top Overall Defenseman

 

 Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage 
@Grape

HM: YaBoi Oven / Jacob Stone

Once again, I expect the offensive and defensive production for Bocage to remain consistent. I don't see anyone surpassing those numbers with growth so I see it as his award to lose. Stone should remain quite capable even post depreciation. YaBoi Oven's situation was good enough to be a nominee last season and I don't think his situation got any worse. It just didn't improve much either, which it would need to in order to pass Bocage potentially in my mind.

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That wraps up part one of this two part VSN special! Just... *doing mental math* ... NINE more awards to go.

Hopefully I find the energy to do this 6 hour process again, love you forum and your terrible inability to let me copy/paste anything into you.

 

Edited October 21 by Pifferfish

[Pifferfish 596]

because i had to edit this topic and im unsure if that ruined the mentions i had done doing them down here to make sure yall know your names have been echoed into the void of the VHL forums by me:
 @mmrs617 @Lemorse7 @Steve @Banackock @LucyXpher @Beketov @Fradin99 @scoop @Doomsday @Frank @Moon @Grape @Girts @Daniel Janser @Ricer13 @Phil @Aimee  @dstevensonjr @Dadam30 @KaleebtheMighty @Alex @Spartan  @BrutalBoost @MexicanCow123 @Snussu @traphag @CowboyinAmerica @v.2  @ToddlyBobbly

[Lemorse7 1,021]

6 hours ago, Pifferfish said:

Victory Cup

Best Regular Season Record

 

 Riga Reign 
@Lemorse7

HMs: Moscow Menace / Malmo Nighthawks

no thx I will pass on this offer @Spartan  or maybe @Alex want it maybe ?

[Grape 738]

7 hours ago, Pifferfish said:

Alexander Valiq Trophy

Top Offensive Defenseman

 

 Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage 
@Grape

HM: YaBoi Oven / Jacob Stone / Lucy Leitner

I see Moscow as a team that's main downgrade from one short season ago is in net, so I see no reason why Bocage shouldn't replicate his last campaign on the offensive side. He is still one of his team's best weapons. This league does have so many weapons on the defensive side of things so it’s tough to choose honorable mentions. Lucy @LucyXpher is off my list and that has not a damn thing to do with talent. Lucy is great but Lemorse keeps adding an elite veteran defenseman that takes some shine from Lucy. With Fradin @Fradin99 still there along with Callaway coming in it's just a lot of mouths to feed and I don't know if this offense can secure the production necessary to feed any of them enough for real consideration here. Stone @scoop is a bit of a wildcard because the team around him is theoretically worse but he does still have that elite goal scoring capability on the powerplay and 5v5 so just a big unknown for how much consideration he gets. Then lastly, I wanted to shout out YaBoi Oven @Doomsday again. Chicago is seemingly in the same middle of the NA conference circling pattern they’ve been on for a few seasons [prewritten, don’t judge me] and I predicted him to win this award last year. When I said he underperformed that was only on defensive metrics. His offense was exactly as I predicted; a 90 point breakout campaign. I can totally see that again this season. Bocage had 100 though last year. I don't see the path to that number for Oven so I’m tempering expectations on him this time around.

 

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Sterling Labatte Trophy

Top Overall Defenseman

 

 Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage 
@Grape

HM: YaBoi Oven / Jacob Stone

Once again, I expect the offensive and defensive production for Bocage to remain consistent. I don't see anyone surpassing those numbers with growth so I see it as his award to lose. Stone should remain quite capable even post depreciation. YaBoi Oven's situation was good enough to be a nominee last season and I don't think his situation got any worse. It just didn't improve much either, which it would need to in order to pass Bocage potentially in my mind.

 

While I believe in my player, I have a feeling production will drop a fair but due to Woods closing the gap between them and Bocage and therefore eating away at the offensive load Bocage had.

[dstevensonjr 441]

I like these predictions! Let's manifest them into coming true!

[Lemorse7 1,021]

4 minutes ago, dstevensonjr said:

I like these predictions! Let's manifest them into coming true!

VSN is curse you dont want your name on those articles 

[dstevensonjr 441]

13 minutes ago, Lemorse7 said:

VSN is curse you dont want your name on those articles 

Curses are made to be broken I'm just happy to be here.

[Alex 3,246]

2 hours ago, Lemorse7 said:

no thx I will pass on this offer @Spartan  or maybe @Alex want it maybe ?

[Banackock 8,134]

Davos didn’t do enough for GMOTY imo. Lots of other options. 

[Lemorse7 1,021]

24 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Davos didn’t do enough for GMOTY imo. Lots of other options. 

bana for gmoty ?!?!?!

 

[Banackock 8,134]

2 hours ago, Lemorse7 said:

bana for gmoty ?!?!?!

 

I betcha I’m nominated. Idk at this time without looking about winning. Seattle made moves as we always do. Retooled. Went on a sell - looked like we were down and out, then grabbed assets and were now in first with a nice roster that managed to get younger while improving our odds (imo) at a cup hopefully.  

 

Moscow made better moves etc than Davos. More quality and higher value deals with bigger pieces moving each way. Once again, good offseason and control of their roster and futures. As much as I have a rivalry with spartan, he’s one of the better GM’s imo - soon to be “of all time”. 
 

I’d maybe argue Riga improved the quality of their season and roster for success this season too over Davos - as Davos had a lot of trades involving picks for picks. Certainly improved their team, but haven’t really taken the pick traded into it all. 
 

Calgary made some moves but given Moscow, Seattle, Vancouver and other teams moves, I don’t think it’s enough to win/see them win. 
 

I’d also probably put Vancouver above them. Moved lots of assets (rip Joe Block) and acquired a lot of value this offseason in picks, kisslinger, Thorvaldsson etc. Really active, strong offseason by another really great GM. 

 

 

[Pifferfish 596]

5 hours ago, Grape said:

While I believe in my player, I have a feeling production will drop a fair but due to Woods closing the gap between them and Bocage and therefore eating away at the offensive load Bocage had.

Woods had an 8 point lead on you 2 Sims ago. That's down to 4 now. I think you'll be fine

[Pifferfish 596]

3 hours ago, Banackock said:

Davos didn’t do enough for GMOTY imo. Lots of other options. 

Well luckily it's not an award that gets award for the first two Sims of the season lol. my analysis is based on what I expect Davos to do. make a big time splash and as a projected 4th place team, should they finish better than that I think its pretty high odds.

 

Like you can make the argument any team that finishes top 6 overall probably has a good case for GMOTY. All of them make/made moves. Alex certainly is in that Convo right now.

Edited October 21 by Pifferfish

[Banackock 8,134]

4 hours ago, Pifferfish said:

Well luckily it's not an award that gets award for the first two Sims of the season lol. my analysis is based on what I expect Davos to do. make a big time splash and as a projected 4th place team, should they finish better than that I think its pretty high odds.

 

Like you can make the argument any team that finishes top 6 overall probably has a good case for GMOTY. All of them make/made moves. Alex certainly is in that Convo right now.

Tbf, not every team in the top 6 could and should deserve it. All depends on their moves. If they did nothing, stayed the course, there’s probably a different team that made moves to bolster their club etc. 

 

I gotcha though. Just conversing. I don’t like tooting Alex’s horn either. 

[Pifferfish 596]

32 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Tbf, not every team in the top 6 could and should deserve it. All depends on their moves. If they did nothing, stayed the course, there’s probably a different team that made moves to bolster their club etc. 

 

I gotcha though. Just conversing. I don’t like tooting Alex’s horn either. 

Listen if I could shit on Alex, I would lol. A good Davos team is a scourge on the league that should not stand. But yeah idk, at a minimum to me you gotta be top 6 then evaluate the moves is more so what I meant. So like if they are top 2 in EU at the deadline and traded for a player that's in that 900-1000 TPE range to then become a #1 team, I'd say that constitutes enough for me. Plus I know the trades haven't netted a elite player but Mina has been really good so far and Free Agency is part of acquisitions and Merome Dilson is theoretically a really good goalie in the VHL.