VHL By The Numbers

[Ninetyfourgoalie 168]

VHL By The Numbers
WRITTEN BY ADVANTAGE
 
This article series takes a look at the more detailed and minute side of things, specific numbers around the league and what the mean to the team or player they represent, how these numbers impacting the league and what they mean to the league's history.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Molholt

[Ninetyfourgoalie 168]

So I'm hoping this will be alright but the hometown hero articles are so terribly formulaic and a bit boring to write even though I somehow manage to get lost in them and write 1000 words. Because of this, I'd prefer to only write them for those who purchased the article + cover combo from the player store. With only Mike left and his preference to wait until the end of the season/end of szatkowski's career, figured I'd take a break from those articles.

 

So, VHL By The Numbers will basically be a look at some interesting statistics throughout the season. Hopefully this first one will be interesting and will be a nice addition to the mag!

 

Edition 244

 

This week we're introducing a new feature in the VHL Magazine - VHL By The Numbers. In this article, we'll be taking a look at different statistics throughout the league and the stories they tell. Please make sure to leave any feedback on this that you may have but if you enjoy looking at the numbers, which I'm sure most of us do being in a fake online hockey league and devoting hours upon hours to it, this should be a fun read for you each week.

 

.875 If you thought the Stockholm Vikings' league-leading .814 record was impressive, prepare to be even more astounded. This is Stockholm's record against their North American Conference foes. In 32 games, they have a record of 27-3-2, exerting total dominance over these opponents. Even more incredible is that they have a 3-2-1 record against the Quebec City Meute with their only other losses coming against the Bears and Legion, whom they have a 5-0-1 and a 6-1 record against, respectively. If this indicates anything beyond Stockholm's domination thus far this season, it's that the European Conference just may be significantly better than their counterparts across the pond.

 

0 This is the number of goals scored by the league's tenth highest scoring left wing who happens to go by the ironic name of TOR D2. TOR D2 has actually netted a fair bit of ice time for the Legion, currently holding onto the third and final playoff spot in the North American Conference, averaging more than 17 minutes per game. To go along with his impressive goal total, he's picked up eight assists. So how did TOR D2 climb all the way to tenth on the league's left wing scoring charts? It looks like it can be chalked up to a simple dearth of left wings in the league. I sure know what position I'd go for if I were creating a player right now.

 

90.19% No team in the VHL has a better penalty kill than the Dynamo and they aren't just good - they're historically good. In fact, no team has finished a season with a penalty kill above 90% since the Season 33 New York Americans who just so happened to be the league's runner up as they fell to the Riga Reign in the finals. If the Dynamo can keep this special teams dominance up - they also have the league's top powerplay - they very well could pose a threat to conference front runners Cologne and Stockholm.

 

12 The Riga Reign have now lost twelve games in a row as they've been officially eliminated from playoff contention. The Reign were not expected to be competitive this season after trading away much of their assets to start off a rebuild but the franchise is in a difficult position right now as they lack any real significant assets aside from Season 43 second overall pick Bronson Faux and goaltender prospect Bernie Gow. Riga will be looking to improve upon their Season 43 performance but, for now, they seem to be exactly where management wants them.

 

35.47% Bismarck Koenig's breakout season has everyone hailing the Cologne Express center as the second coming of Odin Tordahl but his sophomore season has not been all roses and sunshine. Yes, his 81 points are sixth best in the league and his 42 goals are tied for second but his faceoff percentage is the worst among all players with at least 1000 faceoff attempts this season. While his offensive performance is certainly helping Cologne, one has to wonder if his weakness in the faceoff circle has been holding his team back. While this will likely be overlooked come the end of the season when awards and all-star voting commences, Koenig will have to be much better come next season if he wants to truly rank among the league's elite.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Molholt

[eaglesfan036 4,604]

So I'm hoping this will be alright but the hometown hero articles are so terribly formulaic and a bit boring to write even though I somehow manage to get lost in them and write 1000 words. Because of this, I'd prefer to only write them for those who purchased the article + cover combo from the player store. With only Mike left and his preference to wait until the end of the season/end of szatkowski's career, figured I'd take a break from those articles.

 

So, VHL By The Numbers will basically be a look at some interesting statistics throughout the season. Hopefully this first one will be interesting and will be a nice addition to the mag!

I feel you, that's why I wanted to change positions. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Actually this is a very good idea, an article on Canucks.com is similar to this

[STZ 5,377]

Yeah I love this. Everyone is open to doing things like this, where they come up with their own ideas. Mind you, if your current article has certain needs, they must be fulfilled as the priority.. But if you have a new idea or want to switch things up, always able to shoot me an IM..

 

Great work, 94

[Ninetyfourgoalie 168]

2 defensemen finished the season with at least a point per game and one, Jake Wylde, was way ahead of the pack with an incredible 103 points. His 81 assists were also good enough for top in the VHL and would have been enough to capture the defensemen scoring title. The other point per game scorer was Mason Richardson, who has been long overdue for such a season. Former Cologne Express teammate Logan Laich was on pace to finally break the 72 point barrier for the first time in his disappointing career but fate stepped in as he finished with 71. Interestingly enough, there were six point per game defensemen in Season 42 and although only Matt Bentley retired, none repeated with Jack Kowalski of the Stockholm Vikings coming closest.

 

101 goals scored the entire season by the lowly Helsinki Titans. A season after being cup contenders, they went into full rebuild mode and traded virtually every single asset as the finished Season 43 with the second worst record in the league. To make matters even worse, Cologne Express forwards Thomas O'Malley and Bismarck Koenig scored a combined 103 goals which also happens to be more than the 102 scored by the Wranglers this season. Parity is at an all time low in the VHL.

 

1.67 Mike Szatkowski's goals against average since coming to the Toronto Legion early in the season has been excellent and a big part of the team's late season success. With his career coming to a close, Szatkowski has shown tremendous determination to finish of his career on a high note as he leads the Legion into the playoffs. With his retirement along with that of Martin Brookside and Brick Wahl, the league's attention will be shifted to young goaltenders such as Niklaus Mikaelson and Hans Wingate to see who will take over the reigns of the Season 36 netminders.

 

0.125 Today is officially bash on the teams who aren't trying day as this was Riga's win percentage against playoff teams. Yet another team that went all out to rebuild, they struggled immensely against the top 60% of the league, not only winning just six games against playoff-bound competition but were outscored by 100 total goals in these games. If the upcoming SHL Entry Draft doesn't go Riga's way, it could be a long time before this once great team returns to relevance.

 

1.74 is the average goal differential per game for the Stockholm Vikings. This team is arguably the favorite to win the Continental Cup this season and for good reason. They finished the season with the league's top record, securing the young franchise's first Victory Cup, while allowing a league low 124 goals all season. This team truly did it all in the regular season and earned a first round bye. Will their dominant play continue into the playoffs? Led by former New York Americans stars Tom Slaughter and Brick Wahl, it would be a surprise if it didn't.

 

[Ninetyfourgoalie 168]

4 goals allowed per game by the Titans. Although Helsinki was expected to be in the cellar yet again this season, they are on pace to have a historically awful performance. Just 1-6 through seven games, they have a per game goal differential of great than two. With an incredibly thin roster and rookie Season 43 draftee Souryuu Kaminogi leading not only the team but the entire league in minutes played thus far, this team has nowhere to go but up. Unfortunately, they probably won't get a whole lot better until next season.

 

70.08% Thomas O'Malley's faceoff percentage is exceeded the 70% threshold - a truly incredible feat. Ever so slightly ahead of Slaughter in this department while the two share the league lead in goals with eight, it would be difficult to say anyone but these two are the top players in the league. Although Slaughter, the face of the VHL, will be retiring after this season, fans won't have to search hard for the guy to take his throne. O'Malley is elite in virtually every facet of the game and will be fun to watch as he looks to guide the Express to another Continental Cup this season.

 

2 Two players have registered hat tricks thus far this season. Interestingly enough, those two players happen to be centers: one from Cologne and the other from Stockholm. Even more surprisingly, while one is Thomas O'Malley, the other is not Tom Slaughter. Rather, it's second line center Jody 3 Moons, who has enjoyed a tremendous career since being taken with the final selection of the first round in Season 40. He will likely be taking over first line duties for the Vikings next year with Slaughter heading to retirement so the organization should be excited with his great play thus far.

 

0.895 This is Callum Sinclair's save percentage. Pretty bad for a goaltender expected to help his team compete in a strong European Conference. Especially when you put it into perspective. Right now, three CPU goaltenders have started at least five games. All three have save percentages above the .900 mark, putting Sinclair's to absolute shame. SEA G leads the way with a surprisingly strong .924 save percentage while Toronto's and Helsinki's are at .912 and .906, respectively. Luckily, the Dynamo have played well in spite of his performance as his team is tied with the VIkings atop their conference. He will have to improve, though, if Davos is to take home the conference title and make a legitimate cup run.

 

41 The Express have absolutely pelted their opponents with an incredible 41 shots on goal per game. To compound this, they've allowed only 22.71 shots per game, nearly doubling their opponents thus far. What is even more difficult to believe, though, is that this display of domination has not quite translated onto the scoreboard as they find themselves in the middle of the pack in goals scored, tied for fifth with just 2.71 per game, a number that should increase so long as they maintain their shot totals.

[Ninetyfourgoalie 168]

6 gamewinning goals this season for rising star Bismarck Koenig. The former first overall selection, born in South Africa but raised in Germany, tore up the league last season and is doing it yet again in Season 44. His six gamewinners lead the league as he's been a vital part of Cologne's success. But, perhaps even more impressively, there are still two teams who have yet to win a total of six games. It should come as little surprise as to which teams haven't reached the six win benchmark yet as the rebuilding Titans currently have five wins while the Reign sit at the bottom of the league with four. One does have to wonder if this is a display of Koenig's ability or rather a reflection on just how weak these two teams are.

 

7.27% What could this be? A shooting percentage, possibly? Nope. It's the Seattle Bears' powerplay percentage. While the league as a whole isn't exactly strong on the man advantage with all teams combining for a total 17.44% success rate on the powerplay, the Bears are still significantly worse than what would be expected out of a team currently in playoff position. Not only do they have the worst powerplay conversion rate, but they also have had the least attempts with a man advantage in the entire VHL. With the most penalty kill opportunities in the league, this certainly not a recipe for success although as we saw just last season, you can never count this team out.

 

35 points for Quebec City Meute defenseman Jake Wylde. The defending Sterling Labatte Trophy winner is at it again, scoring at a clip that far outpaces his peers and is once again the early favorite to repeat as the top defenseman in the league. His 13 goals and 22 assists are both best among all defensemen as he's doing everything he can to delay the rise of the next wave of stars to man the VHL's bluelines.

 

8 losses in a row for the Riga Reign right now. Their most recent win came way back in game 70 against none other than the Helsinki Titans. This win just so happened to break Riga's first eight game losing streak of the season. And yes, you heard that right. In 22 games, the Reign now have two separate eight game losing streaks. For their sake, let's hope this one ends when the Seattle Bears come to town tomorrow night.

 

36 points this season for Brady Stropko. After average over a point per game in each of his first two seasons, Season 43 was supposed to be his breakout year as the Bears solidified their roster and appeared to be building around the young winner. Cue massive disappointment as he finished with just 36 points. But that's looking to be a major fluke as he's already scored 36 through 22 games in Season 44, good enough to be tied for second best in the VHL. While it's not likely he can keep up this pace, one thing that's for sure is that this season will be a major individual performance improvement for Stropko.

[Advantage 2,897]

EDITION 259 - VHL BY THE NUMBERS

BY ADVANTAGE

 

It’s nice to be back on the VHL Magazine for a multitude of reasons.  I can stop bugging Boubabi about the VHLM Magazine, I can get back to writing on a magazine that pretty much kept me active here through my entire last few players and I can finally get back to doing point tasks, which if you haven’t noticed, hasn’t been very consistent lately.  That’s what happens when you run out of ideas to write about so it is nice to be back and the fact that I’m doing an article that I thought was great when introduced (but sadly has not been featured in many editions) is fantastic.  I will ideally be looking at three different numbers each week that represent a talking point in the VHL right now.  So without further ado, let’s get to this week’s numbers:

 

11 – This is the number of players who are currently on pace to reach the one-hundred point plateau.  While it is early, this is the exact number of players who reached that very same plateau last season.  It was the Thomas O’Malley show however, while this season is proving to be a far more competitive scoring race.  While O’Malley has trotted along at a respectable but disappointing 1.13 point-per-game clip, it has been a pair of unlikely Americans along with veterans Bruno Wolf and Jackson Miller that have been stealing the show.  Shockingly, sophomore Jorma Ruutu is currently tied with Miller for the league lead in points with twenty-five, while Niklas Kurri and Wolf both have twenty-four points tallied up.  While it seems pretty hard to believe that Ruutu and Kurri will stay up in the top-five scoring, one has to consider the clearly improving nature the Americans are going through, and the fact that Kurri did reach the one-hundred point plateau last season.  Regardless of whether or not they can remain consistent though, there seems to be quite a race going on for the scoring title this season.

 

.892 – With lots of scoring comes disappointing seasons for some goaltenders.  Blake Campbell, Callum Sinclair and Bernie Gow were all probably expecting better seasons than they have had, but no one is even close to the rough year Niklaus Mikaelson is having.  The young net minder has a league worst .892 save percentage and an equally terrible 3.12 goals-against-average to go along with it.  All of these numbers are being posted by the league’s best goalie when it comes to training time!  This strikes a core with me as it was just a couple years ago that Brick Wahl started pretty similarly with the Stockholm Vikings, only to turn it around and finish strong in his last season.  I definitely see something similar in the future here for Mikaelson, as in his last season he is finally starting to get some solid results lately.  While it is an extremely short sample, the last three games have seen Mikaelson record a pretty solid .927 save percentage and 2.67 goals-against-average.  Still, I cannot ignore the rough start he has had and even if it is likely to change pretty quickly here, this is likely the main reason the Americans are playing pretty mediocre right now.

 

5 – This is easily the most significant talking point going into the season.  There are five excellent teams in the European Conference.  Every single team is looking to not only make the playoffs, but potentially make a run at the Continental Cup this season.  So far it has been the new and improved Helsinki Titans on top, but as of now all five teams are good enough to be in a top-two position in the North American Conference.  Even the Vikings and Dynamo, who see themselves out of the playoffs at the moment, would be good enough to pass New York and Quebec, slotting themselves right behind Calgary in the standings.  This reminds me of season thirty when all four North American Conference teams had at least ninety points, while the only team to even get over fifty points in the European Conference was Davos.  That season did have the distinct difference of having crossover though, resulting in the third-place Calgary Wranglers (which would have put them out of the playoffs without crossover) winning the Continental Cup over the Seattle Bears.  This season will be even more unique because two of the better teams in the league will miss the playoffs, which is pretty unfortunate for the General Managers that really threw all their eggs into one basket this off-season.

[Advantage 2,897]

EDITION 260 - VHL BY THE NUMBERS

BY ADVANTAGE

 

3 – This is the exact number of points separating the New York Americans and the Calgary Wranglers for first place in the North American Conference.  It might come as a shock to some to see the Americans in first place, as the team has really picked it up lately while the Wranglers have been slumping a bit.  With thirty-two games left in the season there is a lot of time remaining, but with the amount of cap space remaining for the Americans, you have to think they will be looking to add come deadline.  If they are successful in adding a significant name for their club, it may prove difficult for the Wranglers to catch New York, unless Wingate and the rest of Calgary can start meeting expectations.

 

85 – The Helsinki Titans have started to separate themselves from the rest of the league and their goaltending has been a significant reason why.  The Titans have surrendered a league low eighty-five goals, despite having a rookie net-minder in the crease.  Greg Clegane has been tremendous all season with a league-best 2.14 GAA and a .920 save percentage that is good enough for second in the Victory Hockey League.  While most would have expected the offense of the Titans to carry them (to be fair, their offense has been fantastic as well), it is their defensive play that has shocked many and has really given them the edge in the European Conference.  Gow, Campbell and Sinclair are all not meeting expectations for their respective teams this season, while Greg Clegane has surpassed everything that was expected of him.

 

32 – Bruno Wolf is back to doing what he does best…scoring goals.  The Quebec City winger has recorded thirty-two goals so far this season, which goes nicely with his twenty-eight assists for a nice, even sixty points.  This puts him just four points back of the league lead, and he is doing all of this while being an all-out physical force for the Meute.  Along with Lord Karnage, he is easily a favourite for the Boulet Trophy due to being fourth in the VHL in hits, to go along with his impressive totals.  However, the one question that is looming is will he be traded? It seems the writing is on the wall that Bruno will be moved to the deadline, and with some top teams having cap space to bring in a player of his caliber, Wolf might be taking a shot at some extra hardware come playoff time.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Advantage

[Advantage 2,897]

WEEK OF OCTOBER 4TH - VHL BY THE NUMBERS

BY ADVANTAGE

 

1786 – This seemingly random number is the amount of TPE the New York Americans have added in players during this most recent trade deadline.  The Americans traded two picks to acquire the services of both Bruno Wolf and Tyson Stokes.  Wolf, who recently retired, is undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer that is looking for his first ever Continental Cup in his last possible run.  Meanwhile, Stokes is a solid veteran center also looking for a Continental Cup in his last chance.  The interesting thing that will have to play out is what the Americans will do with their lineup.  Adding these two players gives them seven forwards, and since they have four defenders already, it will be curious to see whether or not Stokes moves to defense and takes the place of a weaker defender, or whether or not they actually run with seven forwards given his strong faceoff skills.  This is the same New York team who is first place in the North American Conference, and given they are the only team that really improved at the deadline, the Wranglers and the rest of the league may very well be concerned with New York if they can go far in the playoffs.

 

3 – I find that rookies can be really hard to predict, but when you get off to a great start to your career, it does usually lead to great career success.  Look at players like Ryan Sullivan, Jody 3 Moons and Alexander Labatte.  All players who were at or near the top of the rookie of the year race, and have gone on to have great careers.  This year, there are three players who are at a point-per-game or higher.  Max Molholt leads the way with a stunning seventy-one points in fifty-one games, while Aleksi Koponen has sixty-six and Simon Valmount has fifty-five.  All three of these players look to be off to fantastic starts, but there is a very good chance neither of them will win the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy.  Why? Greg Clegane has arguably been the goaltender all year and it would be hard to see anyone beating him for the Stolzy, even if Molholt hits triple digits.

 

.911 – This is not exactly an ideal save percentage to have if you are a well-established goalie in the VHL, but this is the exact number of both Blake Campbell and Hans Wingate.  Campbell is the starter for Stockholm who seemed to breakout last year, but has suffered from being on an aging roster in a transition towards a rebuild.  Meanwhile, Wingate was the Shaw Trophy winner last year but has mysteriously had a terrible year, opening up first place for the New York Americans to snag.  Both of these goaltenders have a .911 save percentage and while Campbell won’t have a chance to make up for it come playoff time, if Wingate can get going, the Americans need to look out for what he could do to them.

[Advantage 2,897]

WEEK OF OCTOBER 11TH - VHL BY THE NUMBERS

BY ADVANTAGE

 

13 – The Cologne Express have had a good season, but in a conference as tight as the European one, something had to give.  The Express currently find themselves four points back of a playoff spot with just five games remaining.  While hardly impossible, Cologne fans are quite concerned over the possibility of the team not making the playoffs in Brock Waldron’s final year.  Fortunately for the Express, they have two more games against the team that is directly ahead of them (Davos).   However, their entire remaining schedule is against New York, Davos, Riga and Helsinki.  Hardly a foursome you want to match up with when you need wins.  On the other side of things, Davos has a weak spot in their remaining schedule with one game left against Toronto.  With that being an almost assured win, the Express may have to sweep the Dynamo in the remaining two games, to have any shot at the playoffs.   

 

.923 – It was only a few editions ago that I was knocking Niklaus Mikaelson for his start.  He had a .893 save percentage and while I did say I expected him to improve, I also felt like he did zero chance at a Shaw Trophy.  With that being said, shout out to Mr. Mikaelson who now looks like he has the Shaw Trophy locked up.  The veteran goaltender leads the league in wins, goals-against-average and save percentage.    What might be most important is his .923 save percentage that puts him five points up on anyone else.  He has undoubtedly been the major reason New York has climbed to first place in the Conference and there has even been some talk of potentially a Campbell Trophy.  While that could end up being a stretch in the end, New York is just happy to have the stability between the pipes once again.

 

13...again – The New York Americans and Calgary Wranglers have been battling it out all year for first place in the North American Conference.  However, the Wrangler’s recent thirteen game win streak may have just sealed the division for them.  The Wranglers rattled this streak off during a time where New York was forced to play their backup and it resulted in them being up three points.  However, it is important to note that New York has a game in hand, so if Calgary slips up at all here it may be interesting to see if the Americans take advantage.  When discussing his team falling to second, Christopher Miller had this to say: “I don’t think we are very worried.  We know that we are better and with the lack of competitiveness in the North American Conference, these two teams will get to face off regardless.”  Their GM does make a good point in that either way these two teams will very likely play each other to get to the Continental Cup Finals.  Ever since trading away Bruno Wolf and Tyson Stokes, the Meute have gone 5-8-3, with only one of those wins being against a playoff team (Davos).

[Molholt 2,185]

 

WEEK OF OCTOBER 11TH - VHL BY THE NUMBERS

BY ADVANTAGE

 

13 – The Cologne Express have had a good season, but in a conference as tight as the European one, something had to give.  The Express currently find themselves four points back of a playoff spot with just five games remaining.  While hardly impossible, Cologne fans are quite concerned over the possibility of the team not making the playoffs in Brock Waldron’s final year.  Fortunately for the Express, they have two more games against the team that is directly ahead of them (Davos).   However, their entire remaining schedule is against New York, Davos, Riga and Helsinki.  Hardly a foursome you want to match up with when you need wins.  On the other side of things, Davos has a weak spot in their remaining schedule, with one game left against Toronto.  With that being an almost assured win, the Express may have to sweep the Dynamo in the remaining two games, to have any shot at the playoffs.   

 

.923 – It was only a few editions ago that I was knocking Niklaus Mikaelson for his start.  He had a .893 save percentage at the time, and while I did say I expected him to improve, I also felt like he had zero chance at a Shaw Trophy.  With that being said, shout out to Mr. Mikaelson, who now looks like he has the Shaw Trophy locked up.  The veteran goaltender leads the league in wins, goals against average (I found no hyphens and goals-against hyphenated. I guess we'll go with no hyphens for consistency with other articles) and save percentage. What might be most important is his .923 save percentage, which puts him five points up on anyone else.  He has undoubtedly been the major reason New York has climbed to first place in the conference and there has even been some talk of potentially a Campbell Trophy.  While that could end up being a stretch in the end, New York is just happy to have the stability between the pipes once again.

 

13...again – The New York Americans and Calgary Wranglers have been battling it out all year for first place in the North American Conference.  However, the Wrangler’s recent thirteen game win streak may have just sealed the division for them.  The Wranglers rattled this streak off during a time where New York was forced to play their backup and it resulted in them being up three points.  However, it is important to note that New York has a game in hand, so if Calgary slips up at all here it may be interesting to see if the Americans take advantage.  When discussing his team falling to second, Christopher Miller had this to say: “I don’t think we are very worried.  We know that we are better and with the lack of competitiveness in the North American Conference, these two teams will get to face off regardless.”  Their GM does make a good point in that, either way, these two teams will very likely play each other to get to the Continental Cup Finals.  Ever since trading away Bruno Wolf and Tyson Stokes, the Meute have gone 5-8-3, with only one of those wins being against a playoff team (Davos).

 

 

Small edits.

[Advantage 2,897]

WEEK OF OCTOBER 18TH - VHL BY THE NUMBERS
BY ADVANTAGE

 

4 – This was predictable right? Both of the first round playoff series ended up going a measly four games as the Calgary Wranglers and Davos Dynamo destroyed their opponent’s swiftly and definitively.   The Calgary Wranglers outscored the Quebec City Meute sixteen-to-six over the four games series and really in unsurprising fashion, looked a tier above anything Quebec was putting on the ice.  The Dynamo had a tougher matchup but still managed to win in four with a solid fourteen-to-eight goal differential.  Both teams will now go on to far tougher matchups as the Wranglers will face off with the New York Americans, who split the season series with them (each team scored twenty-two goals over the eight games).  Meanwhile, the Davos Dynamo will take on the Helsinki Titans who they only went 2-5-1 against during the regular season series (the Titans outscored Davos by a total of thirty-four-to-fifteen).

 

10 – Mason Richardson really hasn’t had the career he probably expected to have after his successful first season.  He was supposed to be the next great defenseman, and while no one has really taken that spot since Conner Low left it, Richardson really failed to make his mark for the majority of his career.  With that being said, we all have felt he had the potential, and he is finally showing it.  So far in the playoffs, Richardson has a very impressive ten points in four games against a pretty strong Riga Reign team.   These ten points put him first place in the playoffs in points thus far, and if the Davos Dynamo can move on to the finals and continue to have success, it will likely be on the back of Richardson.

 

1 – On the other side of things, the Riga Reign really disappointed quite a bit.  While Bernie Gow was expected to have a better performance, the name to really look at as disappointing is Aksel Thomassen.  Aksel had one point in four games and was minus-two over the four games.  Mixed with other disappointing performances like Le’Sean Coutzen, Bronson Faux, Milos Denis and Kurtis Hunter (four points between these four), the Reign just couldn’t get anything done against the more experienced Davos team.  It wasn’t a great performance by Riga but they will be back and hopefully we get to see them again next year, and they can find a lot more success.  For this year though, they needed better performances out of players like Aksel Thomassen, leaders on a young team in a tougher environment.

[Advantage 2,897]

4 -  The Calgary Wranglers are one game away from doing something that only four other teams have done in Victory Hockey League history.  With one more win, the Wranglers will become the fifth team (and the first since the S25-26 Davos Dynamo) to repeat as VHL champions.  Many teams have fallen just short of this endeavor including the Cologne Express, who blew a commanding series lead in the finals last season, concluding in a loss against the Wranglers.  This should serve as a reminder for Calgary that they cannot take the Titans easy, even if Helsinki does have to win the next three games.  At the end of the day, the Titans had the best record in the league this season, and the Wranglers will need to have their best game going on the ice in order to finish off the Titans.

 

7 - Bismarck Koenig is one of a few names who are likely to become the Daisuke Kanou Trophy winner.  While many will point out Cote's strong performance and Wingate's impressive statistics, I think it has been Koenig who has come up the most valuable in the finals.  While Tyler Cote has a solid four points in the three wins this series, Bismarck Koenig has a very impressive seven points.  To tally up seven points (including four goals) in the finals that you are poised to win, I think that may very well be the tight breaker in what appears to be a close three horse race for the Playoff MVP trophy.  Another name that should be watched is Jake Wylde who has also been impressive in wins against the Titans (five points in three games), and given the fact that he is a defender, I wouldn't be too surprised to see some votes go his way if Calgary finishes off Helsinki.

 

1 - On the other side of the spectrum, if the Titans are going to get back in this series, they really need Christoph Klose to step up.  He is a very talented first line forward who should be having a far more impressive impact, but has been stifled thus far in the postseason (six points in ten games).  What is even worse for Klose is that he has one point in the three losses against the Wranglers this series.  While Clegane needs to be better too, a guy like Klose is supposed to be a leader on the team that was supposed to be the favourite to win it all this season.

[Advantage 2,897]

35 – Being that this edition of ‘By the Numbers’ is all about the off-season, why not start off with the draft? Thirty-five players were selected in the season forty-six draft with the Toronto Legion and Seattle Bears dominating much of it.  The Legion took Zach Parechkin with the first overall pick and proceeded to take six other players in the first two rounds, including Sean Blacker, Pete Stockton, Saul Hackett, World B Free and LeAndre St. Pierre.  The Seattle Bears drafted Jeff Hamilton, who is run by veteran agent Sterling, along with Shawn Muller, Jory Rose and Niels Skovgaard.  The Legion definitely look great coming out of it by adding so much talent, and while they will be forced to deal with eventual difficult cap situations given all of the prospects are from the same draft, they managed to snag six actives in general.  Other than Toronto and Seattle, the Reign took Jordan Maverick sixth overall and the Americans selected Olivia Diamond with the eighth overall pick.

 

4 – It was a very quiet off-season when it came to trades, with much of the focus being on free agency.  Only four trades were made in total (although one other was vetoed) throughout the off-season.    Only three players and five draft picks were exchanged overall, and there really wasn’t anyone significant that was moved.  The biggest names to be moved were Rami Jakobssen and Le’Sean Coutzen, while the highest pick moved was a season forty-seven Davos second round pick.  There was a big trade that was apparently in the works, with assets being talked about including three first round picks, Blake Campbell, Nicolas Caprivi, Lloyd Light and Jody 3 Moons.  Meanwhile, New York also had discussed a potential trade for Ariel Weinstein that would have saw the goalie rented out for a couple years for a cup chance, but in the end, neither trade happened and Campbell ended up signing with the Americans.

 

14 – Like I previously said, much of the focus was on free agency rather than trading.  Fourteen players signed with either their previous team in unrestricted free agency or with a new one.  Among the free agents were Bismarck Koenig, James Faraday, Blake Campbell, Brady Stropko, Shadhu Rathod Jr, Severin von Karma and Golden Jedtsson.  Safe to say it was a very impressive class with the Davos Dynamo and Riga Reign snagging the two big fish in Koenig (Davos) and Faraday (Riga).  

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30 -  The North American Conference is currently seeing an expected battle for first place.  The New York Americans and Calgary Wranglers both have fifteen wins and thirty overall points, with the Americans playing one more game than Calgary.  In the only matchup between the two teams this year, Calgary won a very tight two-to-one game.  The two teams who met in the North American Conference Finals last season, are expected to once again battle for a chance to play for the Continental Cup.  However, one cannot ignore that with the Wranglers cap space remaining, they may be in a position to put forward a superior team to the still fairly young New York Americans squad.  After all, the New York Americans are lacking the one thing that is almost always present in Continental Cup winning teams…STAR POWER.

 

44 – Max Molholt is off to a flying start to his season.  With twenty-four goals and forty-four points, Molholt finds himself in the lead of both categories.  At this rate it seems hard to imagine anyone other than teammate Joseph Roy III can catch him.  The next closest players to his total are former top scorer Aksel Thomassen, and future Hall of Fame player, Thomas O’Malley.  It will be a very interesting race as the season continues, but as of now, Molholt is off to massive lead.

 

.897 – It can’t all be positive as I will now look at the pitiful save percentage of Bernie Gow, who to some may be the best goalie in the league.  It seems a bit ridiculous to be talking about such a talented player in this way, but it reminds me of when I did the same for Niklas Mikaelson not that long ago.  Mikaelson would turn it around and win the Shaw Trophy so perhaps this is a bit of good karma for Gow.  Whatever it is, his lack of success has actually made me very scared of Riga as they still are second in the European Conference with thirty points, and just two points back of the league lead.  This is of course mainly behind their sixty-eight goals and their strong scoring in close games, but if Bernie Gow can figure things out, the Riga Reign may run away with the European Conference.

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6 - I feel like I write about the North American Conference battle every week due to the tight race the Americans and Wranglers have had.  Once again, I will talk about it but this time it will be more about how the New York Americans are starting to break away a bit from Calgary.  While the Americans only lead by six points, New York has used a seven game win streak that saw wins against Davos, Cologne and multiple victories over Calgary, to pull away a bit.  While Calgary will certainly be doing some work come the trade deadline, the Americans have been making the statement that they are a legitimate team to watch.  New York has been led by the stellar goaltending of Blake Campbell (.920, 1.85 GAA) and a solid defense, that has resulted in the Americans surrendering the least amount of goals in the league.  Additionally, the team has showed a solid offense this year with Edwin Reencarnacion, E’Twaun Delicious and Nicolas Caprivi all being over fifty points over halfway through the year.  Jorma Ruutu, Golden Jedtsson and Reencarnacion have also led the team physically with a ton of hits this year.

 

32 - Here is a good change of pace.  Let’s talk about a rookie defender playing for the Toronto Legion.  World B. Free has been very impressive this season for the Legion and has been making a lot of waves across the league.  With thirty-two points in forty games, he has shown a decently consistent offensive effort.  Despite the fact he only has one goal, you have to look at his defensive and physical contributions to see the full effect of having him on the ice.  Free is third in the league in blocked shots with ninety-nine and ninth in hits with one-hundred and fifty-three.  The blue and white have a lot to be excited with as Max Molholt has shown incredible improvement this year, but one should not sleep on someone like World B. Free that may very well be that key piece down the road.

 

70 - Finally, Thomas O’Malley is once again at the top of the VHL in scoring as he now has seventy points in forty games, good enough to tie Max Molholt for the league lead in scoring.  He has consistently been one of the top offensive players throughout his career and it seems that with his recent surge, he may very well be back alone on top soon.  This is the second last season of O’Malley’s career, but it seems clear that he is an obvious first ballot Hall of Fame player and someone who will likely find himself in the conversation of one of the better scorers of all-time.  For now, he is one of the biggest contributors on the best team in the league and is in line to add another Continental Cup to his total.

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4 – The exact amount of assets moved in the only deadline deal between the Riga Reign and Calgary Wranglers.  In what seemed a surprising move to some (not this writer) the Calgary Wranglers decided to part ways with Hans Wingate and trade for Bernie Gow, Griffin Simons and a S48 1st Round Draft Pick.  Why is this not surprising to me? Back in the off-season, I was alerted that the Wranglers put Wingate on the block asking for a significant package.  While this NY GM can confirm that the offer was Kyanon, Reencarnacion and two 1st Round Draft Picks, one has to keep in mind that the Wranglers either needed to be greatly overpaid, or be given a similar goaltender in return along with some additional assets.  That is exactly the kind of offer that the Reign could give them.  With Bernie Gow (a member that is obviously very familiar with Calgary’s GM), the Wranglers get a very good goaltender that will be loyal for them until his career is over.  Then they had an additional piece for this year in Simons, and a first rounder that could either help them stock the system or perhaps be used as trade bait.  The Reign get the upgrade they needed and get an excellent, loyal member in Cowboy.  Good trade by both teams.

 

15 – The exact number of players who will be available to be drafted in Season Forty-Seven.  I honestly cannot remember a year this weak in depth. I would like to give a number of legitimate reasons defending the VHL on why this happened, but it comes down to poor recruiting in the end.  For whatever reasons, the league has not been able to step up where they need to on this front, and while the BOG’s been discussing this issue the most, action needs to happen soon or Season 48 will follow suit.

 

118 – The combined amount of TPE for the only two Season 48 players we have so far: STZ and DGFX.  Two recreates who both have great histories with Hall of Fame players, perhaps the Season 48 draft can take this momentum and become a far better draft after some excellent recruiting efforts.  Both of these members have great potential to have players who hit 700 TPE or more.  In fact, STZ has never had less than 1100, so there is certainly a lot of promise there.  DGFX hasn’t really been the same since Anton Brekker, but he still can make great players, especially if he is consistently tapping into some source of TPE, be it welfare or PT’s.  

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If you're waiting on me just put it up.  Finals week this week and I'd rather just start fresh and have a new one in for Wednesday. @Molholt

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The season is over and we are off to the playoffs.  The six teams have been decided and with the statistics final, we can now give major props to three different players on three excellent seasons (but for different reasons).

 

129 - It seems like a mere formality at this point when discussing this year's Most Outstanding Player.  Once again, Thomas O'Malley will be bringing a significant amount of hardware home as he has already locked up the Top Scorer Trophy.  While he finished second in both goals and assists, Thomas O'Malley once again had a tremendous season as he led his team to a Victory Cup.  It seems like an absolute guarantee that he will win the Scotty Campbell Trophy as well this season, as he had thirty-six more points than any other Titan.  In addition to the consistently tremendous offense he provides, O'Malley led the league in face off percetage (66.43%) and was very disciplined for someone that plays as much as he does (6 minor penalties).  On a team where no other player that played the whole season with the Titans had more than ninety points, it seems absolutely ridiculous for Thomas to record the numbers he did.  While Molholt had more goals than him, once again this is O'Malley's year to shine.

 

84 - It might finally be the year where Mason Richardson wins the Sterling Labatte Trophy.  Despite being a favourite for the majority of his career, Richardson has finally stepped up by finishing second for defenders in points.  The only player higher on the list is Joseph Roy III, who played forward for the majority of the season before being traded to New York.  Richardson recorded 84 points, 184 hits and 108 blocked shots while playing over thirty minutes per game.  He was a work horse and while he is probably winning in what should be considered a weak year (if excluding Roy III, only Richardson was a point-per-game) he will win nevertheless due to his solid play for the Dynamo.  While there are defenders who recorded more hits and blocked shots (like World B. Free and Francis York Morgan), Richardson's offense and the fact that he didn't have to rely on his team for great defensive statistics should give him the decisive victory in the voting.

 

72 - While it may seem unfair to him, Hans Wingate got to pay seventy-two games this year.  Due to the trade that happened mid-season, Wingate was in a position where his team did not have to play the backup any more, and his old team had yet to play their backup.  Due to this rare occurrence, Wingate racked up the starts leading the league in the category.  However, what matters is what he did with those extra games.  Wingate led the league in wins (49), save percentage (.923) and shutouts (11), while finishing third in goals against average.  While the likes of Blake Campbell were edged out and will likely fall short, Wingate continued to improve as the season went on and came up big for Riga after the trade.  Despite his slow start to the season, Hans looks to be the favourite to win the Shaw Trophy, but his goal is likely a lot more important than that this season.  With the Reign in the playoffs, Wingate has a chance to shine where many goalies shine the most.

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Super late but don't see it up.

 

6 – There are six players on the Calgary Wranglers who have recorded at least a point per game in this year’s playoffs.  While much of this is due to their easy matchup with the Toronto Legion, which saw Calgary score twenty-two goals in four games, this is still very impressive given their tough matchups with New York and Helsinki.  Milos Denis leads the way with an impressive twenty-two points in thirteen games, while Brady Stropko, Tyler Cote, Marcus Hurley, Lloyd Light and Tim TebowGow round out the other five.  Shadhu Rathod Jr. deserves a shout out too for his six goals and ten points in their thirteen playoff games.  The Wranglers are in tough though as they are down 3-1 at the time of this being written.  Whether or not they will come back will depend on a lot of the names above and of course on Bernie Gow.

12 – Aleksi Koponen has taken over the Helsinki Titans offense and is leading the team to a potential Continental Cup victory.  Koponen’s twelve points in nine games only puts him eighth in playoff scoring, but given he has played four less games than six of the players ahead of him, and also never got to play against a weaker team like Toronto, this is a very impressive total.  While the playoff series is not over, if the Helsinki Titans pull it out, there is a good chance that Koponen will win Playoff MVP.  Clegane has not been overly impressive during their playoff run, and the rest of the offense is a step behind Aleksi overall.  Only way this changes (under a Titans win) is if the series goes an extra couple games and Christoph Klose takes over the points lead from him.

18 – It has been a very fast playoffs this year with only eighteen games played to get through the first four series’ of the VHL’s S46 Playoffs.  The first round saw both the Davos Dynamo and Calgary Wranglers sweep their opponents, and the second round saw Calgary and Helsinki win their matchups in five.  The final round is looking similarly quick with the Titans up 3-1, but perhaps this is an indication that the league isn’t as full of parity as believed? Then again, Calgary beat New York in five, but the Americans were the ones who led the North American Conference at the end of the year.  Some teams just seem better prepared for playoff games.

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Should have mine up tonight.  Sorry for last week.

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13 – That is the amount of wins the Davos Dynamo have tallied up so far this season.  They currently lead the league and are off to a flying start despite a rather troubling off-season that saw a whole bunch of changes including both Koenig and Richardson leaving along with a switch at the GM position.  While many now feel the Dynamo are one of the favourites, this writer thinks that they will fall off fairly soon.  While they are getting great production, it is hard to ignore the fact that they have had a fairly easy schedule so far this season.  With five games against Seattle, two against Cologne, three against Toronto and two against Quebec, twelve of the sixteen games Davos has played, were against weaker teams (albeit Seattle is fairly middling).  Meanwhile, against New York, Riga and Calgary, Davos is 2-2-0 with seven goals for and eight against.  Hardly awful, but not exactly the separation that the “top team in the league” should have.  In response to this criticism, the new General Manager simply responded with “no comment.”  Not exactly the response you hope to get from your new leader, but perhaps he is prepared to just let the on-ice play do the talking.

 

12 – It seems that the entire league is paying attention to the last season of future Hall of Famer, Thomas O’Malley’s, career.  Despite being on a great team and having a fairly difficult schedule (Stockholm excluded) early on, the star has still produced an impressive twelve goals in fifteen games.  While I don’t think he will reach some of the milestones that many have set out in front of him, I do think it doesn’t really matter for his legacy.  At the end of the day, he has a chance to add some more awards to his already guaranteed first ballot Hall of Fame legacy.  None of this year will change that.  With that being said, this writer certainly hopes that he can at least lead the league in goals and points once again.  While he is slightly behind in points due to the easier Davos schedules and some other talented players near the top, O’Malley is on track to once again be a threat in the goals race.

 

18 – Lets spend some time talking about a new rookie in LeAndre St. Pierre who is off to an excellent start with eighteen points (and eleven goals) in just sixteen games.  For many, he is the obvious favourite for the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy and he was mine as well.  I have said before that he is my single greatest regret when it comes to drafting when I was GM of New York, and I stand by that.  St. Pierre is a future star in this league and if his start to the season is any indication, he is on his way to becoming a clear impact forward for the Toronto Legion.

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106 – Get used to it everyone, but I will be covering Thomas O’Malley’s point total all season.  Why? Because, if Thomas O’Malley hits 119 points, he will find himself third all-time behind only Scotty Campbell and Mike Szatkowski.  At the moment, O’Malley is only on pace for 106 points which would put him fifth all-time but still allow him to hit 900 points (and also the best point producer of anyone post season ten.  However, he has really stepped up his game after a really difficult opening schedule, so if things keep up, I could see O’Malley picking up his pace well enough to find himself third on the all-time list.  As of now, O’Malley finds himself tied for fourth in points but it has been a really tight race outside of Bismarck Koenig’s ridiculous seventy point start.

 

7 – The number of shutouts that Ariel Weinstein has had this season.  He currently sits first in the category, with two more than both Hans Wingate and Blake Campbell.  While it has been an up and down start to his career for Weinstein, he seems to have found a really nice spot with the Vikings.  His .920 save percentage mixed with his good performance on a mediocre team, likely slots him in the race for the Aidan Shaw Trophy for best goaltender.  While he perhaps gets a little overlooked in comparison to some of the top goalies, he very well could be the standard by which this next era gets compared to.

 

1 – The amount of points separating the Stockholm Vikings and Davos Dynamo from the third and final playoff spot in the European Conference.  The Vikings (20-16-2) have been led by the impressive play of the aforementioned Ariel Weinstein, and the tremendous offensive contributions of Lord Karnage, Jody 3 Moons and Severin von Karma.  The Dynamo (20-16-1), on the other hand, are predictably stumbling a bit with a 3-7-0 record in their last ten games.  They find themselves middle of the pack offensively and defensively with Sinclair having a decent season and both McJustice and Valmount carrying the load up front.  With six games remaining between these two teams, it predictably seems likely that these games will be the ones that determine the final result.  The Dynamo have won the first two games and have outscored the Vikings six-to-three, but with the way Davos has played lately, you have to wonder if their confidence is still riding high or if they are coming back to earth.