Alucard 46 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Bridging the Gap 21 July The first half of the S44 regular season has seen Oslo storm to the top of the European conference, building a healthy eleven point lead over the Bratislava Watchmen. Nevertheless, the Storm sit four points adrift of the Yukon Rush in the overall standings, and are seven behind the Saskatoon Wild. Five of their eight regulation time losses have come against these two teams, and with the Norwegians bound for the playoffs, we analyse whether or not they will be able to bridge the gap and defeat either of the North American frontrunners in the post-season. The Storm’s record against each of the other VHLM sides: Boasting a record of 13–1–0 against sides within their own conference, the Storm are strong favourites to top the European conference and clinch a first round bye in the play-offs, but their form against the North American sides is a cause for concern if they wish to end the post-season as VHLM champions. Against Brampton, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Yukon their record is 14–7–1, though it is well worth noticing that four of their eight defeats have come against the Saskatoon Wild, who have so far been the dominant team in the league. Their record against Yukon is certainly not bad, standing at 2–1–1, but they have yet to play a game in Yukon. All four games in Oslo have been extremely tight: the first and fourth games were settled by a shootout, and while the Rush dominated the season’s second encounter between the two sides, it took until the final two minutes of the game for Yukon to finally put the game to bed. Oslo got revenge for that 3–1 defeat by reversing the scoreline a few days later, but they only outshout their rivals by 15–11. The Storm are within touching distance of Yukon, however, and if they were to begin a seven game series tomorrow it would a difficult task to pick a winner. Verdict: there are just four points between Yukon and Oslo, and the Storm are more than capable of catching up to the Rush. A seven game series would be a very tight affair, and winning chances must be viewed as being equal. The more difficult question is how to bridge the gap to Saskatoon, or—more pressingly—how to beat them in a seven game series. Looking at the regular season standings, one might spot a potential answer amongst the stats: Saskatoon lead the league with 136 goals, whilst at 49 Oslo have given up the fewer goals than any other team. While the Wild have been finding goals from all areas of the ice (defencemen Kyanon and Hammer have already accumulated 112 points between them), the Storm have been relying more on the league’s number 1 goalie. Sandro Clegane leads the league in shutouts, save percentage, and GAA, and a series between these two sides is likely to be an archetypal battle between offence and defence. Beyond letting the Storm’s GM Jason Glasser figure out how best to emphasise the strength of their defence over Saskatoon’s formidable offence, two other stats are worthy of notice: Oslo has by far the best faceoff percentage in the league (67.53%), which is something they will need to make the most of should they face the Wild in the play-offs. They should also take care not to give up too many penalties, as the Wild—along with the Rush—currently boast the best powerplay unit in the VHLM (and the best penalty killing unit to boot). Verdict: Saskatoon have been the best side in the VHLM this season, and if they continue to play as they have they will be very difficult to beat. Very difficult, but not impossible. Oslo have already shown this season that they can beat the Wild, but they would have to be at their very best to keep a winning record over seven games. This would make for a fascinating final. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,940 Posted July 21, 2015 Admin Share Posted July 21, 2015 Pfft, don't worry about Saskatoon. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/#findComment-246645 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Baozi 1,658 Posted July 21, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 21, 2015 Pfft, don't worry about Saskatoon. Hey Vic, watch your back. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/#findComment-246810 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast 887 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Content: 3/3 665 words. Oslo has been doing great in their own conference it seems, and hopefully they will be able to meet the challenge when Sasky comes around again. I'd definitely like to see a playoff series between the two teams now! Grammar: 2/2 Watch some of those run-on sentences. Some could be broken up, mostly ones where you use colons. It isn't a big issue though. has seen Oslo storm -> has seen the Oslo Storm adrift -> ? (maybe you meant ahead here..) outshout -> outshot Appearance: 1/1 This has a nice news article feel to it. I like that you included stats! Nice stuff. Overall: 6/6 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/#findComment-247912 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard 46 Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 adrift -> ? (maybe you meant ahead here..) Nope, I meant adrift; we're four points behind Yukon! Anyway, thanks for the grade, and apologies for the silly mistakes! Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/#findComment-248084 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick 4,741 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Claimed Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/22244-claimedstorm-report-bridging-the-gap-final-66/#findComment-249812 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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