Tagger 2,722 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) Welcome to the second part of this six part series looking at the chances of each team at the Season 46 World Cup. Last week, we looked at the chances of a Team Canada squad that failed to make the Semi Finals in Season 43, so this week we will look over the potential roster of the other team who didn’t make the Semi Finals last time around, Team Scandinavia Issues in net led to Team Scandinavia struggling in Season 43 Last Tournament While Team Scandinavia was heading into the Season 43 World Cup having reached the World Cup Final in the previous tournament, there was little optimism of repeating that success in Season 43. While they had retained star centers Aksel Thomassen and Devin Sundberg from the previous tournament, the team had taken big hits both in net and on the blue line. The goalie situation looked to be the most damaging as, with the retirement of Kimmo Salo, Team Scandinavia were forced into starting Bernie Gow, a player who wasn’t set to play his first game in the VHL until after the tournament. Combining that and an updating error which saw Gow enter the tournament missing nearly half of his TPE, it became clear that it would be up to the forwards to carry the team if they were to have any success in the tournament. Star Player The player who should be the best performer for the team Aleksi Koponen It’s rare for a player as young as Koponen to be considered the most important player for their team but that will be exactly the case when the Season 46 World Cup opens. Despite only being in his second season, Koponen is currently third out of potential Team Scandinavia players in TPE, but more impressive is that he’s only a handful of TPA behind Oskars Harumpf, who currently leads Team Scandinavia in that department. Should Koponen continue his high work ethic (and we’re screwed if he doesn’t) then Koponen will very likely be the best performing player for Team Scandinavia this tournament. Biggest Loss The player who played in the Season 43 World Cup but cannot play in this tournament that the team will miss the most Nicklas Karlsson Sure, if you were just to look at Team Scandavia’s losses in terms of their ability then yes, the likes of Aksel Thomassen and Devin Sundberg would be considered bigger losses. However, both of those players were centers on a team that will still have the likes of Aleksi Koponen, Tim TebowGow, Oskars Harumpf and Niklas Kurri. On the other hand, it’s highly likely that because of Karlsson’s surprise retirement, Team Scandinavia will have to rely on some VHLM players to fill spots on their roster. Potential Surprise Exclusion The player who you would expect to make it onto the roster but may actually end up being left off Rami Jakobssen It’s not often that a player who had competed in the previous World Cups misses out on their third, but that could very well be the case for Rami Jakobssen. Quite some time has passed now since he and the now retired Wesley Matthews were traded to the Meute for four first round picks and, while he hasn’t lived up to that early overvaluation of his talent, he has been a reliable contributor for both the Meute and the Wranglers. Now on the Express, regression has started to take its toll on Jakobssen and while he is in second place in TPE out of eligible Team Scandinavia forwards , he’s only sixth in TPA. Considering his recent lack of activity, it will likely take either a miracle or Team Scandinavia selecting a less-knowledgeable general manager if we’re to see Jakobssen compete for Team Scandinavia in Season 46. Best Upcoming Prospect The best player from the nation to be eligible for World Cup selection for the first time in their career Joel Jarvi We talked about Team Scandinavia’s defensive problems earlier on in the article and how they were likely to pick some VHLM players for the blue line; one of those players could be Joel Jarvi. Jarvi, who is set to join the Express at the conclusion of the tournament, is showing a lot of potential at the minute and could even make it onto the first line for Team Scandinavia, depending on whether Kerkko Hyvarinen returns to full activity after taking time out from the league. A special shout-out as well to Niels Skovgaard, another player showing promise that could well end up on Team Mercenaries roster this tournament. Projected Roster Forwards Oskars Harumpf Aleksi Koponen Tim TebowGow Jorma Ruutu Simon Valmount Max Molholt Defensemen Golden Jedtsson Kerkko Hyvarinen Joel Jarvi Marquis Hyvarinen Goalies Bernie Gow Gunnar Skovsgard Conclusion Team Scandinavia will be a very interesting team to watch out for this tournament. On one hand, they have the forward core that’s most likely to improve the most prior to the start of the tournament, but on the other hand they have a defensive unit that will be half-filled with players from the VHLM. What works in Team Scandinavia’s favour is that they look very similar to how Team Western Europe looked last tournament, but at the same time that same Western Europe side has also improved since the last tournament. Regardless of how well they do at this tournament though, this is definitely the team to watch out for at the Season 49 World Cup. SILVER MEDAL Edited November 17, 2015 by Phil eaglesfan036 1 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Admin Will 4,660 Posted November 16, 2015 Senior Admin Share Posted November 16, 2015 "In conclusion, Team Scandinavia's chances will depend largely on which commissioner is simming" Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-287018 Share on other sites More sharing options...
boubabi 4,725 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 tim tebowgow not an american ? wut Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-287019 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesfan036 4,598 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 tim tebowgow not an american ? wut ya i am scandinavian goml Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-287078 Share on other sites More sharing options...
boubabi 4,725 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 so you believe in Thor, right ? Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-287094 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 5,119 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) Content: 3/3 - I love these types of articles. Deeply thought out and researched, written in a style that's easy to read, and about something I care about! Very nice, in-depth look at some projections for Team Cold Europe for the upcoming World Cup! Well done indeed sir. Grammar: 2/2 - Beauty Appearance: 1/1 - Well, only one picture, and it could have definitely used at least another one, but other than that, the lay-out was clean so FINE, I'll give you dat sweet TPE. Overall: 6/6 Edited November 17, 2015 by Phil Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-287448 Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachReilly 688 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Claimed Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/25605-claimeds46-world-cup-preview-pt2-team-scandinavia-final-66/#findComment-288785 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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