Something to be optimistic about, for every VHL team

[der meister 3,179]

I'm probably going to regret this but I had the idea and now it won't get out of my head, so this week we're going to look at one thing each franchise has that should give "fans" of the team hope. For arbitrary reasons, I'll do this in the order of the standings.

 

 

Find something to smile about 

 

 

1 Moscow Menace

With the league's best record (21-1-2) and by far the VHL's best points percentage, 0.917, fans of the Moscow Menace should be optimistic that the squad is able to bring the Continental Cup back to Mother Russia for the second time in three seasons. They're firing on all cylinders and show no signs of slowing down. This is the ultimate Win Now team, which has to get the fans excited to show up, loud and proud.

 

2 Chicago Phoenix

It's been 20 years since Chicago won the Victory Cup, but they are the top of the North American Class, and fans in the Windy City should be thrilled with their performance so far. The Conference is remarkably tight, but the Phoenix have 2 of the league's top scorers in Joshua Schwarzer and Spanish Moon Moth, who are both tied for 3rd in the VHL. Goaltender Ryan Artyomov also leads the league in shutouts with 4 in 21 games.

 

3 Riga Reign

There's the obviously monstrous obstacle of the Moscow Menace to deal with, but fans in Latvia should be excited about the chemistry and offensive prowess of their top players. Six skaters are above a point-per-game pace, and Severus Targaryen is tied for second in goals leaguewide. Riga also has the league's second-stingiest goals against number, allowing just 51 goals against in 23 games.

 

4 Vancouver Wolves

Another team built to win now, Vancouver has a plethora of players in their prime. Alliteration notwithstanding, their depth is excellent, especially on the blue line. It seems like regardless of which pair is on the ice, there is a balance. No one on the defense is stellar, but they have a win by committee philosophy that is paying dividends, and giving opposing teams fits when it comes to matchups.

 

5 HC Davos Dynamo

Despite being losers of their last 2, HC Davos Dynamo boasts an impressively physical duo: Owen Lazaro and Grimgor Ironhide. Lazaro is second in the league in hits with 120 in 24 games, and Ironhide is fifth with 103. Whenever either of these players is on the ice, they're looking to hit to hurt, and that style pays massive dividends in the playoffs.

 

6 Malmo Nighthawks

The Nighthawks have the league's second most potent offense with 87 goals in 23 games, trailing only Moscow's 96 in 24, and Phillip Rave is a huge reason for that. Leading the league with 20 goals and 41 points, Rave has been on fire since the first drop of the puck. He's on pace to demolish his previous best season, which was last season's 89 points in 72 games. Malmo better be careful, however, as he is a pending Unrestricted Free Agent.

 

7 Calgary Wranglers

Calgary's a fun one to write about, because there are two different things to highlight. First is the play of rookie Phil Sakic, who has 11 points in 24 games, putting him amongst the league's best in that category. Second is the Wranglers ability to turn a Penalty Kill into a Power Kill, as Keegan Gamble already has 2 short-handed goals on the season, and Raimo Tuominen has added another.

 

8 Seattle Bears

Seattle's had an up and down start to their season but still find themselves in the top half of the North American standings, largely due to their forward depth and commitment to an all-around game. Like Riga, they have 6 skaters above a point-per-game pace, and 5 of those 6 are above the 40 hit mark.

 

9 New York Americans

Despite being one point behind Seattle, there's a clear line of demarcation between the Americans and the Bears. Still, New York is a lot like HC Davos Dynamo, in that their biggest strength is quite literally their strength. The Americans have 3 skaters in the top 8 of body checks, with Toby Kodachi leading the charge with 108. This is a team that can and will fight and claw for everything they earn, and trust me when I say they earn it.

 

10 Los Angeles Stars

Despite having a -10 goal differential, the Stars are still able to find a way to eek out some victories this season and have an 11-11-2 record. Rookie defenseman Samsayz I-Smell is second in the rookie scoring race with 14 points, and young goaltender Roger Eagles is going to be a star in the VHL for years to come.

 

Eagles will look to bring success back to L.A.

 

11 Toronto Legion

Toronto has 4 players north of 1,000 TPE, including their goaltender. While it's tough to look at the standings and be optimistic, the talent is there to make a serious move as the year continues. I'm not sure if they're just snakebitten, but this is a team that is underperforming and has a good chance to self-correct. If they don't, they might be able to move some of their older veterans like Harry Callahan and Diego Machado for massive hauls at the trade deadline.

 

12 Warsaw Predators

Don't look now, but the Predators are on a 4 game winning streak in what will be goaltender Olober Syko's last hurrah before his already-announced retirement. Warsaw might be the single most interesting team in the list, as literally every player on their current roster is either a pending UFA, or pending retiree. This will possibly be an entirely new roster next season, headed up by Slava Kovalenko, a massive defenseman with a heavy shot. The chances of Warsaw jettisoning some veterans for picks and prospects is high, and under careful leadership, this could be a rapid turnaround.

 

13 Helsinki Titans

The answer here is simple: the Titans pipeline is unbelievably deep. They legitimately might have more prospects than the top half of the VHL standings combined. They won't all hit, of course, but if even a quarter of them do, the Titans are going to be a force to be reckoned with. On the current roster, defenseman Tommy Sleeves leads the league in hits with 124 in 24 games. Sleeves is a throwback to a bygone era, as he is already north of the 100 border in the Penalty Minute category, and it's just a matter of time before he does the same in blocked shots [currently 83].

 

14 D.C. Dragons

The North American cellar-dwellers once again, the Dragons also boast a plethora of prospects, highlighted by center Brandon Petan Jr and winger YNF Retiring. Petan is currently second in VHLM scoring with 35 points in 24 games, and YNF is not far behind with 27, good enough for 6th place. Goaltender Herald Benson is just hitting his prime, as well, and could help the Dragons turn it around sooner rather than later.

 

15 Prague Phantoms

Two words: Pan Dafflack. Last year's first overall selection, the 6'8" defenseman jumped right to the big time and is showing the snarl that led him to being the top pick. With 78 hits, 60 blocked shots, and 56 penalty minutes, he's the kind of rock you build a franchise around.

 

16 London United

It's hard to be optimistic about a team with 1 win in 24 games, but the London United have several positives going for them. First, as you'd expect from a bottom team, are some promising prospects in the form of defenseman Alagsantere Groenvold, forward Drosmis Sarkanis, and goaltender Chazz Michael Michaels. Second, defenseman Zyn Westwood leads the team in scoring while also contributing over 80 blocked shots. He's a pending UFA and could fetch a hefty sum on the trade deadline market. This is a team in desperate need of a 1st overall selection, which has two defensemen in Hugh Neutron and Taavetti Jokinen competing for the top spot. Either of those players could prove to be London's version of Dafflack. Adding in the aforementioned forward prospects, and the United could be boasting the most blue chippers in the VHL.

 

***************

 

Having written all of this, I'm not really sure what to make of it. Moscow is clearly the favorite to win it all, and barring something wildly unforeseen, London should have the best odds at the first overall pick. Honestly I think London could bounce back quicker than some of the other teams ahead of them, simply because of the prospects I mentioned, plus likely adding a top end D in the Draft.

 

From a homer perspective, I want D.C. to do well, but I think it's still a bit of a long road ahead of us.

 

Warsaw's roster situation genuinely shocked me, and this made me excited to see what their management decides to do.

 

I'm not going to tag every player listed in this article, because that sounds like a tremendous amount of time and energy I simply do not have these days. But if you enjoyed this (written before the sim on 10/28/24), let me know. I hope it was fun to read. 

Edited Thursday at 06:23 PM by der meister

[der meister 3,179]

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[VattghernCZ 967]

Grønvold is not a bright spot for London, he sucks defensively so much people are calling him a forward

[der meister 3,179]

4 hours ago, VattghernCZ said:

Grønvold is not a bright spot for London, he sucks defensively so much people are calling him a forward

 

Lol sorry about that.