Devise 4,475 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Hi there, I'm the hockey insider Bob Mckenzie and today I wanted to talk some VHL. For those who don't know, the VHL or Victory Hockey League is a very competitive landing spot for players who want to experience a more internationally flavored league while still having the ability to remain in North America. It is widely considered the top league that merges both European and North American teams. The VHL is currently in it's 47th season, and the playoffs to crown the Continental Cup Champions have just begun. With that in mind, I'd like to discuss the Cup favorites, the New York Americans. There has been a lot of buzz about some of the confidence the Americans enter the playfofs with. They did after all, win the Victory Cup as the best regular season team, and won the North American conference by a staggering 29 point lead. The two other teams to make the playoffs in North America were the Calgary Wranglers and Seattle Bears. Both teams finished with 80 points. What is really staggering though is the win difference. The Amreicans won a massive 57 games out of the 72 game season. They only lost in regulation ten times all year. On the other side of the fence, the Bears or the Wranglers who are currently locked in a tight series in which Calgary has a 2-0 lead had 38 and 37 wins respectively. That is right, the Americans had 19, and 20 more wins on the season than the two teams they have a shot at competing against. So I was asked an interesting question, are the Americans a lock for the Continental Cup finals? Listen, I'm a hockey guy. I've seen upsets. I've seen goalies stand on their head to rob a sure fire team of greatness. I've seen young players emerge to break though and make history. But, to quote the great C3PO, the odds of either the Seattle Bears or the Calgary Wranglers stopping the Americans momentum are approximately 3,720 to 1. If your a betting man, which I am, you put all your money down on the Americans here. But I'm not just going to wax poetic about the Americans dominating season, one in which only the defending, repeating, Cup champions in Helsinki were able to dent them. I'm going to present some hard evidence. Hard evidence number one comes right down to the rosters. Seattle is a far younger team, struggling even to score against the Wranglers. Their goalie Sandro Clegane, who will no doubt one day be a bonafied starter is still finding his legs in the league. They also don't compensate with enough star power on their roster. An aging Tyler Cote and Christoph Klose remain the offensive movers from the young squad. Getting back from the 2-0 hole they got themselves in will be tough enough. But toppling an Americans team that has the best star power in the league, a goalie that will contend for a Shaw this season and some solid depth? No chance. To further this, the Americans defeated the Bears 6 of 8 times this season, with both of their losses against them coming in a shootout. During the 8 games the Americans outshot the Bears 239 to 178. Even if the Bears get a super human effort, the best it seems they'll be able to do is try to hang on. Against a team like the Americans, I just don't see it. That brings us to the Wranglers, the team in the drivers seat and most likely to face the Americans. While initially I felt I could see arguments from the Wranglers, especially after the McJustice trade, the more I look at the stats and the games the more I feel that the group in Calgary will end their season in disappointment. If your going to beat New York, and do some consistently in the playoffs, you need to have an edge on them. While McJustice helps complete a star forward group for Calgary, it still pales in comparison to what New York offers. The top scorer for Calgary, Tim TebowGow potted an impressive 97 points this year. However after that, the offense takes a big dip with only two other players above a point per game, being Rathod Jr and the aforementioned McJustice. New York meanwhile had 6 players above a point per game, and three players with more point totals than the TebowGow, the highest scorer on the Wranglers roster. While the Americans only took 5 of 8 from Calgary, including two rare regulation losses, both those losses came early in the season. As the Americans built momentum and the season wore on, and after Calgary made a trade they simply had to make to stay competitive, Calgary simply tasted defeat to New York time and again. What is more impressive to me is when the Americans had control just how they dominated. They limited to Calgary to under 20 shots in a game on multiple occasions, and poured on the offense. While the Wranglers certainly have better odds than Seattle, they have to be asking themselves even if they play to their top, even if their goalie stands on their head do they have enough firepower to generate not just the goals, but the shot totals needed to try and match New York? The answer is likely no. The last piece of evidence I'll present is none other than Americans leading scorer and generational player Thomas O'Malley. A player the caliber not only Calgary can't match talent wise on their roster, but with the experience and winning pedigree they can't match. Only two different teams since Season 1 have won the Cup without a returning Cup winner on them. O'Malley's experience speaks for itself. He's won 3 Continental Cups in his 7 previous seasons, and he's made the finals 5 straight times. If he makes it this year, that'll be his sixth straight year in the finals. I'm sure despite the confidence in that Americans locker room they won't overlook either Seattle or Calgary. But it would be unrealistic, and unfair, to give the Calgary and Seattle fans more false hope. Their teams stand a snowballs chance in hell of beating the leagues top squad. Neither club edges the Americans anywhere, not in faceoffs, not in starpower, not in goaltending, not in depth, not even in defenders, arguably the Americans weakest spot. The plus side for those fans though? Thomas O'Malley and Lloyd Light who have done serious damage to the VHL this season offensively, will both be retired. So things can only get better right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,844 Posted February 20, 2016 Admin Share Posted February 20, 2016 6 minutes ago, Mr. Power said: Only two different teams since Season 1 have won the Cup without a returning Cup winner on them. That's an interesting stat. Which two teams are those? I imagine S2 Wranglers and? Also not sure how it's relevant since Calgary definitely has cup winners on the team... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boubabi 4,725 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Looking forward to see NYA's cherry to get popped by Devise's jinx TheLastOlympian07 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devise 4,475 Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 8 minutes ago, Victor said: That's an interesting stat. Which two teams are those? I imagine S2 Wranglers and? Also not sure how it's relevant since Calgary definitely has cup winners on the team... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesfan036 4,595 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Americans were in 1st in the regular season in S46 and S45, Quebec was in 1st in S44. Didn't matter. Regular season records mean nothing come playoff time. Do I think New York has better odds of winning? Yes, but it's not a gimme like you think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,844 Posted February 20, 2016 Admin Share Posted February 20, 2016 5 minutes ago, Mr. Power said: wow. Yes of course S2 had Tommy Brown, fucking Smarch and his 3 cups in 3 seasons. That's slightly unexpected though not unbelievable. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Admin Will 4,660 Posted February 20, 2016 Senior Admin Share Posted February 20, 2016 i predict o'malley chokes and blows everything eaglesfan036 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLastOlympian07 2,388 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 can we all laugh at devise when NYA lose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,844 Posted February 20, 2016 Admin Share Posted February 20, 2016 7 hours ago, StevenStamkos91 said: can we all laugh at devise when NYA lose? we already all laugh at devise? TheLastOlympian07 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devise 4,475 Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 10 hours ago, StevenStamkos91 said: can we all laugh at devise when NYA lose? As Victor said due to my gloriously incompetent players, the laughing is forever. But no, sorry NY is making the finals and really everyone knows it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FacePuncher 1,343 Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) Review: nice of you to get Bob McKenzie's opinion on the 'playfofs'. Jokes aside, there is clearly a lot of research some on this article, great work. NYA is in the finals and looking good, we will see if you are right or not 1103 words Edited February 28, 2016 by ADwyer87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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