Claimed:Meute in the ASG

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

The All-Star week always seems to sneak up on me. This year, the Quebec City Meute are in a lot better position than they were last year around the same time. The Meute is 41-4-4 while all of last year they only managed to win 28 games. Despite their success, they’re still in second place behind the reigning champs, the Toronto Legion at 43-4-2. The Meute and Legion have the same goals against with 77 and actually have more goals for, 181 to 178. They recently went on a 27-game regulation win streak. Since they’re streak ended they have gone 2-0-2 their last four games. During their streak, they did not play the top team, the Toronto Legion, causing many to still question the team and whether they’re deserving of the praise they’re getting.

 

For this season’s All-Star game, the Meute are well represented in every position. Forwards Aleksi Koponen, Tom Lincoln, and Unassisted have all been voted in the first time around. Defenseman Jeff Hamilton and goaltender Greg Clegane have also been voted in. Severin von Karma is currently sittin in third place for the final two spots in the All-Star game, defenseman John Sleeman is in a similar predicament, sitting in fourth place for the final two defensemen spots despite having more total points with 46 and the best plus-minus rating at plus-49 to go along with a respectable 78 hits and 69 blocked shots.

 

Now, on to the Quebec City Meute All-Stars. Sitting in third, sixth, and eighth place in goals are Lincoln, Koponen, and Unassisted with 39, 36, and 33 goals respectively. Koponen has also tacked on 56 assists good enough for third place in total points with 94, one point behind Freedom McJustice of the New York Americans and nine points behind Max Molholt of none other than the Toronto Legion. The Americans’ recent addition of Lord Karnage should make for an interesting point race moving forward, despite Karnage’s drastic decline this season. On the bubble, von Karma has 22 goals and 35 assists on the year after playing for Stockholm for the first eight games of the year. We will have to wait and see how the voting plays out for the final two forward spots in the All-Star game draft.

The entire first line in Quebec City have earned their spot in the All-Star game combining for 108 goals, 138 assists, and a +193 rating. It’s hard to believe that any other top line in the VHL even comes close to those totals, however Toronto, who I’m assuming had a top line of Molholt, Parechkin, and St. Pierre prior to bringing Faux into the fold, combined for 104 goals, 148 assists, and a +143 rating. Even in New York, a potential top line of McJustice, Jorma Ruutu, and Edwin Reencarnacion have a combined 122 goals, 134 assists, and a +117 rating so far this year. Despite all of Quebec’s success this season, they still find themselves having to prove themselves day in and day out.

As for defensemen heading to [Insert All-Star Game Location Here], Jeff Hamilton and potentially John Sleeman, Hamilton is having the better year. Recently acquired from the Seattle Bears, Hamilton has 15 goals and 40 assists for 55 points, four goals and 12 of those assists coming from his time here with the Meute. Off the puck Hamilton has accumulated 72 hits and 80 blocked shots in the first 49 games of the season. Sleeman, still awaiting confirmation on All-Star selection, has 46 points, 10 of those coming in the form of goals. Combine this with his 80 hits and 70 blocked shots and he’s putting together a pretty good campaign for the Meute this year. It just seems he’s been overshadowed by the high powered offense and recent addition of Hamilton.

Finally, in net, Greg Clegane has definitely been an All-Star for Quebec. He’s leading in just about every statistical category. His .933 save percentage, 1.54 goals against average, and 14 shutouts are all top of the charts while his 38 wins puts him one win behind Wins leader Hans Wingate of, you guessed it, Toronto.

Best of luck to all the competitors in the All-Star game, especially those representing Quebec City!

Edited June 14, 2016 by evrydayimbyfuglien

[Kendrick 4,741]

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