A Look at Games 1 and 2 of the VHL Conference Finals

[der meister 3,338]

Deadlocked after 2 games, the Toronto Legion and Seattle Bears are vying for the right to contend for the Continental Cup. Seattle took game one 5-2, outshooting the Legion by a 40 to 28 margin. Eric White Jr was named the first star of the game after registering 2 goals an an assist, with the second of those goals being the eventual game winner, a power play marker. 

 

Officiating was a point of contention in game one, as the Bears enjoyed 7 man advantage scenarios, compared to just 1 for Toronto. With the game knotted at 2 entering the third period, Toronto was whistled for 4 minor penalties in the first 7 and a half minutes, which made all the difference in the game. 

 

Seattle scoring on the man advantage after a poor line change

 

Knowledgeable that the Seattle Bears are the Kansas City Chiefs of the VHL, Toronto spent the time between games shoring up their penalty kill unit. The fix was in once again, as Seattle had the man advantage a stunning 9 times in game two, versus a single power play for Toronto once again. Despite that, Toronto was able to hang on for the 5-4 victory.

 

Meanwhile in Europe, the Riga Reign jumped out to an early 2 games to none advantage in their series against the Moscow Menace. Game one saw Riga squeak out a victory in double Overtime, with Axle Gunner scoring his 12th of the post season at the 11:58 mark. Game two was a very different story, with Riga dogpiling Moscow en route to a 5-1 win.

 

Unlike the North American series, game one saw the penalty calls close to even, with 5 minors called on Moscow, versus 6 minors on Riga. Game two was more lopsided, which is reflected in the score, as Riga was able to score 3 times on 8 power play attempts. Moscow went 0 for 3.

 

Another point worth mentioning in game two was the ejection of Moscow netminder Deadpanda, who was removed from the game just 4:41 into the first period for abuse of officials. The first Riga goal was scored toward the end of that penalty, and rumors circulate that Deadpanda may be suspended for game three, though there's no official word out of the league offices on that just yet.

As for what caused the ejection, no one is speaking plainly and openly about the incident. Upon reviewing the footage, the ejection happened at the end of a 27 second play in the Moscow zone. Ahubham Anand won the faceoff for Riga and Riga controlled the puck from there, eventually getting it to Ben Laas. Laas took a shot, which missed wide, but the rebound came back out in front. Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage blocked the shot, presumably with some extra letters he had lying about.

 

The puck then squirted free to Simons Worst Nightmare, who blasted a shot at Deadpanda. Facing 3 shots in 4 seconds, but only one on target, Deadpanda presumably verbally laid into his team, but whatever he said must have been either misheard or, perhaps, directed at the officials, as he quickly made his exit at that point, to be replaced by Hugo Boss, who gave up 5 goals on 33 shots.

Assuming Deadpanda is back for game three, I'm predicting a win for Moscow. The emotions have clearly already been running high in this series, but Moscow is too good of a team to find themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 series.

 

Deadpanda looked sharp on the rapid saves, but then was ousted for abuse.

 

The North American picture is a little harder to predict. If game three has similar officiating - remember, the man advantage opportunities through two games favor Seattle 16 to 2 - then it's easy to predict Seattle coasting their way to the Cup Finals.