What Makes Toronto Tick?

[der meister 3,368]

The VHL season is just over a third done already, which seems impossible. One team that has to be thrilled with how it's gone so far is the Toronto Legion, who are sporting an incredible 22-3-1 record. They hold an incredible 14 point lead on the North American standings over both the Vancouver Wolves and Calgary Wranglers and the Legion's 93 goals scored rank second in offensive potency behind only H.C. Davos Dynamo's 98. The Legion also have the VHL's stingiest defense, surrendering a paltry 43 goals so far. The next best is Moscow's 51.

 

Rumor has it D.C. uses performance-enhancing drugs whenever they play the Legion

 

But what is the secret to the Legion's surprising start and massive success? Let's take a look under the hood, like the guys on Car Talk on NPR. That was such a fun show. Anyway.

 

Offensively, the Legion are led by defenseman Andrew Skilton. In fact, Skilton is tied for fourth league-wide with 38 points and the only Legion player in the top ten. His 33 assists are second in the league behind Mina of Davos, who has 34. But as impressive as the 6'6" Skilton's season has been - well on pace to break his previous career best of 81 points - the Legion's true strength may just lie in their depth.

 

Every skater on the Legion has double digit points, including rookie winger Inker Belle, who has 12. As expected, every skater is also a plus player, with the lowest being a +13, shared across three players. Tied for second behind Skilton in team scoring at 30 points is Spanish Moon Moth. And Konstyantyn Shevchenko. And DB IV.  AND Raimo Tuominen. That's right; FOUR players, including both centers, have hit the 30 point mark already. Just behind them is winger Toby Kadachi, who has 10 goals and 29 points on the season.

 

That segues nicely into the next stat: the Legion have 5 players who have already reached double digits in goal scoring. That covers every forward except for the rookie, Belle. There's a two-way tie for the lead in that category, with Tuominen and Moon Moth both at 17 goals. Winger Dorji Khan has 11, and Shevchenko has 10. To add yet another layer to the argument that Toronto's record is the byproduct of incredible depth, every skater except for defenseman Walter Fitzroy Jr has at least 1 game-winning goal. 

 

I would be remiss, however, to not mention the incredible goaltending put on by both netminders this season. Backup Toddly Bobbly is 3-0-0 with a shutout, a 0.971 save percentage, and a 0.67 goals against average. Starter Dalkr Vidarsson is 19-3-1 with a league-leading 6 shutouts (tied with Deadpanda of Moscow), a 0.941 save percentage, and a 1.74 goals against average. Both the save percentage and goals against average are the best in the league amongst all starting netminders.

 

Vidarsson is never out of the play

 

Ultimately, this is just the opinion of one person: me. And I obviously would have a bias here, as I'm a member of this squad. But honestly, when I started looking into the numbers under the hood, this is an incredible start to the year. Our team management must be over the moon with how things are going so far, and I hope we can keep it up. 
 

[qripll 567]

1 hour ago, der meister said:

 

Rumor has it D.C. uses performance-enhancing drugs whenever they play the Legion

[BOOM 9,045]

More like we wish Toronto would get ticks....am I right?

[der meister 3,368]

45 minutes ago, BOOM said:

More like we wish Toronto would get ticks....am I right?

 

See qripll's post