Justice served in the VHLM

[Victor 11,022]

After all the debates about the VHLM and whether activity or talent (though the two are not mutually exclusive) should be rewarded, Season 43 has at least for the time being shut everyone up. Four VHLM teams have more than 100 points, with over a 40-point gap between them and the other half of the league and are deservedly the cup contenders.

Although my activity waned slightly in the last couple weeks of the season, ironically once I created a player, after almost a full season of very intense attention on the VHLM, I can safely say that whatever the result and eventual winner of the Founder's Cup, it will be fair.

The Bern Royals are arguably the best team on paper because they are built around two Gows and a host of send-downs from the S43 draft, mainly hailing from Riga and Calgary. As a result, lots of TPE is invested in the team and GM Zoidberg has done a good job maintaining activity levels, including by picking up loose pieces such as Jed Mosley and Marcel Faux from Moscow and Saskatoon, respectively.

Coming off a drought-ending championship, early-season Brampton could have been accused of focusing on inactives over actives, but GM Fong focused on that issue with the midseason acquisition of Coutzen, McFullO'Schmidt, Hamilton and Sandro Clegane – with original actives Jedtsson and Perron this is not a likeable VHLM team again.

Bratislava's season was marred slightly by GM controversy but there is no taking away from the activity of likely top three picks Reencarnacion and Valmount plus VHL GMs Humbert and Dupont. The team has, though, like Ottawa, been hampered by inactive goaltending and it's bizarre that the Lynx got both Greg Clegane and Ariel Weinstein to complement, their, like Bern, army of promising send-downs.

Whatever happens, we should have two much discussed and close conference finals as well as a fine spectacle of a Founder's Cup final.