Hybrid1486 577 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 MVP? Not likely this season... The Demise of Thomas O'Malley In the VHL's 44th season, Thomas O'Malley was a force to be reckoned with. The Cologne Express standout led the league in both goals (by five) and assists (by six), obviously giving him a runaway victory in the scoring race and setting him up for an easy MVP award. This past offseason, a house-cleaning in Cologne led O'Malley to be moved to the Helsinki Titans. The young Titans squad, while still very much in the process of growing as a unit, were considered to become the European front-runners and definite Continental Cup contenders after the trade, given that O'Malley was still likely to be one of the league's most productive players. As the VHL season gets into full swing, one of those things has become apparently true. The Titans have a strangehold on the conference, with their 22 points well ahead of the competition. However, O'Malley seems to be having a pretty hard MVP hangover, and he's barely registering as even the best player on his own team at the moment. O'Malley's stats from season 43, which he improved on last season Thirteen games into the season, a search for O'Malley on the VHL leaderboards shows his name in five places. He's fifth in the league in face-off percentage, tied for second in game tying goals (he has one, along with just about everybody else), tied for seventh in hits taken, and he places with both the total fights and fights won leaders, having won the only fight he's participated in. He's on a point-per-game pace, but at this point his name resides in 30th place in the scoring race. When his previous output is considered, that's frankly astonishing. Where did the drop-off come from? The biggest reason for the lack of production is most likely the drop-off in quality among O'Malley's linemates. Last season, he was partnered with Christoph Klose and Bismarck Koenig, two of the top players in the league in their own right. Their ability to score goals certainly helped O'Malley's assist total, while they could also do a lot to set him up to score his own goals. This season, while still playing with Klose, his other primary winger is Brady Stropko. Stropko is a me-first kind of player, one who will take bad shots rather than set up his teammate, which hurts O'Malley in the scoring race yet doesn't hamper the team when it comes to winning games. Klose, on the other hand, is starting to feel the affects of his age. O'Malley is about the same age as Klose, but their disparate ability levels means that the aging process shouldn't affect O'Malley as much. Klose is stilla top-notch player, but he's just a half-step below the level he was at last season. In the VHL, that's enough to take a linemate down a notch or two. O'Malley also has seen his shooting percentage take a drastic tumble. Last season, he scored on 11.92% of his shots, which was good for sixth among the top 40 scorers in the league. This season, that percentage has tumbled down to 6.41%. That places him 32nd among the top 40 scorers so far, and puts him on pace for 28 goals given his current rate of six shots per game. Even if his linemates aren't what they were last season, he's taken a step back as well. There's still time for O'Malley to right the ship. He's on the best team in the VHL, and his teammates are improving by the day. Even Stropko, who hasn't shown up to practice in months, is still among the league leaders in scoring. However, with every day that passes where he doesn't have his coming-out party, the hordes of fans who predicted another MVP award are closer and closer to being proven wrong. TheLastOlympian07 and BOOM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,650 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Great read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorlab 4,321 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 koenig carried him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoop 3,383 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 he sucks xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,650 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 koenig carried him Koenig carried his gear is a more accurate statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Such a straycat gorlab 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Baozi 1,658 Posted September 16, 2015 Moderator Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) O Malley needs either XXX or Koenig Edited September 16, 2015 by tfong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 5,111 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Yea, way to fuck up everyone's predictions Green. Anyway - With Hamilton improving, he'll be passing more... which I suppose means that I'll be passing to Stropko more... and he can hog more of the puck. Regardless I need to get some assists going haha. You'll improve. I Believe in you O'Malley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boubabi 4,725 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) The MVP trophy is holding him back. I'm ready to sacrifice myself and claiming it for him. Edited September 16, 2015 by boubabi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLastOlympian07 2,388 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Yea, way to fuck up everyone's predictions Green. Anyway - With Hamilton improving, he'll be passing more... which I suppose means that I'll be passing to Stropko more... and he can hog more of the puck. Regardless I need to get some assists going haha. You'll improve. I Believe in you O'Malley! scrub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 The MVP trophy is holding him back. I'm ready to sacrifice myself and claiming it for him. Not sharing it, besides my team is doing fine like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank 5,057 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 The use of banned substances has finally caught up to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorlab 4,321 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 catnip addict NotAVHLM-GM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVHLM-GM 1,858 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Catnip where where gimmmeeeeeee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOM 8,650 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 O'Malley has recovered since his recent medical diagnosis and treatment... You pussy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toast 887 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Content 3/3 - Fantastic write-up! I'm surprised that O'Malley struggled early on, but at least he's part of the best team in the league at the moment. Good stuff here. Grammar 2/2 - If I really want to nit-pick... offseason -> off-season Appearance 1/1 - Looks good to me! Final 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick 4,741 Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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