Four Horse Race in the EU

[tcookie 998]

Competition in the European Conference is heating up as we approach the first-quarter pole of S98. The top-four teams in the EU - Moscow, Davos, Riga, and Helsinki - are a combined 47-10-8 for a .785 points percentage, with none of them having more than 3 regulation losses through 16-17 games. They are four of the top-five teams in the VHL thus far, with only 13-2-1 Toronto being among their ranks from the North American side of the league. Moscow, Davos, and Riga are perennial contenders used to being here, but Helsinki is seeking to break a five-season playoff drought after making several additions to their roster over the off-season.

 

European Conference teams also have eight of the league's top-10 scorers, six of the league's top-10 goal scorers and top-scoring defensemen, and four of the league's top-5 goaltenders (by save percentage) thus far. Although that seems to paint the picture that the European Conference is the stronger of the two, two of the league's weakest teams so far also reside in the EU, which could be skewing stats. Regardless, it is clear there are four teams sitting above the rest of the pack right now in the EU, and it will be a hard-fought battle for playoff positioning as the season goes on.

[Daniel Janser 2,306]