Claimed: Ottawa Overtakes Saskatoon

[MD9 139]

Ottawa Overtakes Saskatoon

 

 

VHL.com // VHLM Subsidiary 

 

The VHLM is not known for its parity, to say the least. Last season, the league was all but dominated by the Las Vegas Aces, while the Saskatoon Wild emerged as the best hope to dethrone the presumptive (and eventual) championship winners. This year, the Oslo Storm was the team that jumped to an early and commanding lead. Early on, Saskatoon looked primed to repeat last season's success (so to speak) as the 'favourite' underdog, as much of an oxymoron as that is. However, the Ottawa Lynx have recently overtaken the Wild to claim the second place spot in the lead, proving that they're worthy of being viewed as a contender to upset the Storm this coming post-season. Although fans in Saskatoon may worry now as their team has struggled on more than one occasion to claim wins against theoretically weaker opponents, and as a consequence have dipped in the standings -- granted, still holding a rather unsettling lead over the bottom two teams -- this does seem to suggest something positive for the league.

 

There's more than two contenders this year.

 

Certainly, anything can happen in the playoffs, but almost anyone could have predicted that the finals was going to be Saskatoon against Las Vegas, given how well the Wild played after they made a few moves early in the season. This year, barring a stunning upset, it appears that the league may see an actual legitimate question-mark in the battle between Ottawa and Saskatoon. Something they can at least market on. 

 

To put it bluntly, the VHLM is not doing well right now. Even with two moderately strong teams (and one powerhouse), there remains two teams that haven't even cracked a .350 winning percentage. The fact that the third place Wild have over double the amount of wins than the team one slot below them speaks to how little parity really exists. But, seeings as how there's at least come controversy to build off of, the VHLM can rest assured that its playoff attendance and television ratings might not face as steep a decline as they might be suspected to, after the predictable finish of last year. In fact, the potential of an Ottawa-Saskatoon rivalry is an enticing one, as it pits a team relying upon depth and role-players to succeed, against one relying more upon star-power. Where Ottawa lacks a single point-per-game player, Saskatoon has three -- yet still, the Lynx have proved to be a tenacious team. Rather than viewing the possible series as a duel between McAllister, Ron or Scheel against another highly touted prospect, it can be seen as a clash of styles. Predicting such a battle is difficult, if not entirely infeasible -- while the impressive offense of a player like McAllister could help lift the Wild to a victory, a game or two where the Wild's top stars almost always spells a lost. For example, not long ago Daring Do managed to record a hat-trick -- but without any of the other team's major names really showing up to play, it wasn't enough to grant the team a victory.

 

So, in conclusion -- Ottawa and Saskatoon battling it out in the standings is something of a silver lining in a league which, as it stands, needs all the help it can get to drum up interest. Three competitive teams and two so far out of the picture they barely seem worth mentioning barring some serious line changes is hardly the league most would like to see. But it's better than just having one or two teams, isn't it?