fever95 333 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Edition #19 "Down The Stretch" -VHLM Playoff Races As the stretch drive approaches us for Season 36 in the VHLM, we are witnessing some interesting and tight playoff races shape up as well as teams who have pretty much no chance at qualifying for the post-season. In the North American Conference, the Minot Gladiators, led by rookie GM, Davey Jones have been the cream of the crop and are all but guaranteed the top seed and a first round bye. The Gladiators hold a twelve point cushion over the Yukon Rush, led by another rookie GM in the form of Austin Gow. Yukon will most likely hold onto that position, barring a monumental meltdown. The third to fifth positions are all still undecided, Ottawa leading the way so far with thirty-two points and holding onto that third and final playoff spot. Saskatoon and Brampton are currently tied with twenty-six points and have an equal chance at making a run to overcome the Lynx. In the European Conference, the powerhouse, Bratislava Watchmen and Bern Royals lead the way with seventy-four and seventy points respectively, while Vasteras sits in third with sixty-two points. The Oslo Storm and Turku Outlaws sit with forty and twenty-seven points respectively. I will firstly take a look at the North American Conference, where we have the Ottawa Lynx, Saskatoon Wild, and Brampton Blades all fighting it out for the playoff spot. I personally don't see the Brampton Blades making any kind of push with their lack of depth. That leaves the Ottawa Lynx and Saskatoon Wild battling for that final playoff berth. Six points seperate Ottawa and Saskatoon in the standings and they have battled hard against each other all season long. In six games played, the Lynx have taken three close games while the Wild took the other two in convincing fashion. The goal differential favours Saskatoon by just two goals and it will be a very exciting race to watch to the finish. Over in the European Conference, we have the Bratislava Watchmen and Bern Royals battling it out for top spot in the confernce and a first round bye. Bratislava currently holds a four point lead in that regard and have taken the season series thus far, with three wins to Bern's one and three games remaining between the two clubs (which could prove to be crucial). The goal differential favours the Watchmen by six goals . These two powerhouse teams will make every attempt and pull out all the stops to make sure that they are the team to receive the first round bye and a free ride to the European Conference Finals. Lower in the standings, I do not see any way that the Oslo Storm or the last place Turku Outlaws can make up a twenty-two or a thirty-five point disadvantage to claim a spot in the playoffs. This means that Vasteras will likely claim the third and final seed in the playoffs. They will just have to wait and see if they will face the Bern Royals or Bratislava Watchmen in the opening round. There will be some exciting games down the wire, so you better fasten your seatbelt and get ready for some great hockey! Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Edition #20 "Who Should Win The Bourque Trophy?" -VHLM's Top Defensemen The Raymond Bourque Trophy is awarded following each VHLM season to the defenseman that is deemed to be the top defenseman in the VHLM. This award has many elements to take into effect when trying to determine candidates and the eventual winner. You always have to evaluate each candidate's point total, hits total, blocked shots total, and minutes played. You could evaluate plus/minus total but that is more of a team stat and is not very telling in my opinion. I will be evaluating some of the best candidates for this season's Bourque Trophy and predict who I think will be the eventual winner. I will not include any inactive players since I do not think that a player who doesn't train, does not deserve to be even nominated for an award. The first player that I will evaluate is Triton Jackson from Vasteras. I was on the fence of including him or not since he has not hit the training facility in about a month. Jackson has had a very good season on the ice, scoring 34 times and adding 67 assists for 101 points in 56 games played. He has take 70 penalty minutes and thrown 134 body checks, while blocking 104 shots that were directed towards the Iron Eagles net. Triton plays over 27 minutes a night and 31 of his 101 points were scored on the powerplay. Next up will be David Januzaj from the Bratislava Watchmen who is in the same boat as the aforementioned Jackson for me, not training in over a month. Januzaj leads Bratislava in point scoring with 85 points (23 goals, 62 assists) in 56 games played. He has played a very disciplined game with only 45 penalty minutes but also shys away from taking the body, throwing only 47 body checks all season. He has a decent amount of shot blocks with 50 and has done all this in just over 21 minutes per game. 24 of David's points were scored while the Watchmen were up a man, on the powerplay. The first real candidate from my point of view also comes from the powerhouse, Bratislava Watchmen. Phil Villeneuve has potted 23 goals and added 57 assists for a total of 80 points in 56 games played. He has spent 76 minutes in the penalty box and thrown 171 big hits with his big, 6 foot 4, 230 pound body. Villeneuve has laid out to block 53 shots directed towards his goaltender and plays close to 26 minutes on a nightly basis. 31 of the 80 points that he has scored have come on the powerplay. Bern Royals defenseman, Ron World Peace is the next guy on the list of potential Bouque Trophy candidates and the rookie has had himself a decent season, playing almost 28 minutes per game and putting up 17 goals with 45 assists for 62 points. Peace has spent 88 minutes of his time in the sin bin and has used his body to his advantage, throwing 129 body checks. Ron has scored nearly half of his points on the powerplay (28 of 62 points) and has sacrificed his body to block 101 shots for the Royals. Sami Kravinen of the Oslo Storm is another guy who has to be included on the list of candidates for the top VHLM defenseman during Season 36. Kravinen has scored 51 points (10 goals, 41 assists) and sits second among Oslo's scoring leaders. He has played a very physical game with 138 body checks and 70 penalty minutes in his 56 games played this season. Sami plays about 28 and a half minutes a night, playing opposite the best players on the opposing teams each night and has scored 18 of his points while on the powerplay. He does whatever it takes to help his team be successful, shown by his league-leading 125 shots blocked and has etched out a very nice season for himself. At the end of the day, when it comes down to who has been the top defenseman in the VHLM during Season 36, one name comes to mind for me. It is not Triton Jackson or Davis Januzaj who show little to no motivation to train and improve their game. The guy that I would choose to take home the award may not have the point totals as some of the other candidates but he plays an all-around game at the defense position and his team counts on him to bring his 'A' game every night. He is one of, if not the hardest working players who I have mentioned and that is what the award is all about in my opinion. Other voters may disagree with me on this, but at this point I would give the award to Sami Kravinen. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-36949 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Edition #21 "Brick Wall Bratislava" -The Watchmen Defense There are a lot of people who attribute the Bratislava Watchmen's success to their firepower at the forward position. My view on this is the exact opposite. My take is that the Watchmen have been able to tear the VHLM up, due in large part to their defensive and goaltending play. Don't get me wrong, Bratislava's offense has been a big part of their success this season but in my opinion, their play in their own end of the rink has been more of a factor and has allowed them to dominate opposing teams on a nightly basis. This week, I will be evaluating the Bratislava Watchmen defense and goaltending to determine just how they have been able to put up such dominant performances. When evaluating a team's defensive abilities, you first must identify how many shots on goal they have allowed and Bratislava has been the best in the league at not allowing many shots get to their goaltender, Martin Brookside. The Watchmen allowed a stingy 1231 shots on goal, over 400 less than any other team in the VHLM. Goals against is another statistic that Bratislava ranks at first in the league, allowing just 94 goals to get into the back of their net, about 90 less than any other team. Hits and blocked shots are a big part of playing a successful defensive game and Bratislava has done a great job in both of those elements of the game, blocking a total of 350 shots directed towards Martin Brookside and throwing a total of 1348 body checks this season, ranking them fourth in the league. Individually, many of Bratislava's defensemen have had great seasons for themselves. Ironically, the Watchmen's two leading scorers are from the back end in the form of David Januzaj, and Phil Villeneuve who have notched 98 and 91 points respectively. Both of these guys have played well in their own zone too, Januzaj putting up 56 hits and 60 blocked shots while Villeneuve has put up a team-leading 202 hits and 68 blocked shots. Slaeter Fjorsstrom sits at fifth in team scoring with 65 points while playing solid defensively with 72 hits and 70 blocked shots. Andrey Zadorov sits right below Fjosstrom in points with 58 and has been a beast defensively, throwing 95 hits and blocking 87 potential shots on net. Haggard Slobban, Chad Werek, and Remy Devereux each have played 18 games and have solid numbers as depth guys. Slobban has notched three points with 20 hits and 11 shots blocked while Werek has put up seven points with 28 hits and 13 blocked shots. Devereux has put 12 points on the scoresheet with 31 hits and 14 shots blocked. As the old saying goes, defense wins championships and Bratislava has the best defensive team in the league according to this writer. Their goaltending has also been solid when it has needed to be, Brookside sporting a 0.924% save percentage and a 1.41 goals against average to go with 16 shutouts. The Bratislava Watchmen have been the class of the league and will continue to do so until a team can solve the Bratislava Brick Wall. I fully expect the Watchmen to walk away with a Founder's Cup when it's all said and done. Edited February 9, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-39303 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 Edition #22 "Monumental Meltdown" -How Ottawa Missed The Playoffs The Ottawa Lynx held down the third and final playoff spot in the VHLM's North American Conference for much of the season. It looked as though that they would be the team that would be matching up against the Yukon Rush in the opening round of the playoffs. As the season came to a conclusion, that was not the case as it became apparent that the Saskatoon Wild had earned the right to play the Season 34 Founders Cup Champions, and the defending champs had been dethroned much earlier than they would have liked. Many factors went into the Lynx franchise missing the playoffs for the first time since Season 33 and I will examine these factors in this week's edition of the magazine. The first reason that comes to mind as to why the Ottawa Lynx will be sitting at home during the playoffs this season is their horrendous conclusion to the season. In their last eighteen games of the season, the Lynx were only able to muster together three wins and a lousy nine points of a possible thirty-six. They were outscored by their opponents by a total of twenty-six goals during this stretch, scoring only fifty-two goals, while allowing seventy-eight against. There were a couple bright spots, such as 6-0 win over the lowly Brampton Blades and a hard-fought, 4-3 win over the Minot Gladiators, the best team in North America. The bright spots, however, were few and far between and there were much more dark spots such as back to back losses to the Turku Outlaws, the basement team in the European Conference by the score of 4-2 and 6-4, respectively. When you look at Ottawa's team statistics as a whole throughout the season, it is not as bad as you would think for a team who lost as many games as they did down the stretch. The Lynx finished ranked at second in hits with 21.46 per game and fifth in shots for with 30.10 per game. They finished sixth in goals for with 218, powerplay percentage with 23.32%, and penalty kill percentage with 73.88%. Ottawa's faceoff success was ranked seventh in the VHLM at 50.80% while they had the number eight ranked defense with 34.64 shots against per game and 307 goals against. They were ranked dead last when it came to discipline, spending an average of 9:53 in the penalty box each night. On the bright side, the Ottawa Lynx have developed some nice prospects who should be high draft picks in the upcoming VHLM Dispersal Draft. These players include Russian sensation, Konstantin Azhishchenkov who lead the team in goals, assists, and points in just 61 games of work. There is also Jack Ryan who finished the season with 51 points in 59 games, and Travis Boychuk who finished with 42 in 49 games. Late addition, Noah Jackson had five points in three games and could be a diamond in the rough at the upcoming draft. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-41770 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Edition #23 "Founder's Cup Finale" -Yukon vs. Bratislava The end is near. After 72 grueling regular season game and two rounds of playoff series' we have finally arrived at the Founder's Cup championship series. A conclusion will be reached in a week or less and the encounter appears as if it will a David vs Goliath clash at first site, but that will not be the case. It features the second place Yukon Rush from the North American Conference, a team that has won two championships since their inception in Season 31. Yukon will have the hands full with a team that joined the league in the same season, the powerhouse Bratislava Watchmen. Bratislava won the championship in Season 33 and will attempt to match Yukon's championship numbers by ousting their counterparts from the Season 31 expansion in the final showdown of the year. Offense: The offensive firepower for the two championship finalist teams was not as close during the regular season as it has been during their respective playoff runs. Bratislava was able to score over a goal more per game during the regular season, while Yukon has averaged a half-goal per game more than the Watchmen during the playoffs. Leading goal scorers for Yukon during these playoffs has been Queen Latifa with 14 and Gordon Bombay with 7 in 10 games. The Watchmen have two players with 3 goals a piece, in the form of Slaeter Fjorsstrom and Logan Laich but have played less than half the amount of games that the Rush have. Herman Mudgett and Frédérik Ernst lead Yukon in assists with 14 an 13 respectively, while Bratislava counters with Andrey Zadorov, who has picked up 7 helpers. The advantage on offense in these playoffs would have to go to Yukon by a slight margin. Defense: On the defensive side of things, it is much closer again than it was during the regular season. Throughout the regular season, the Watchmen owned the best defense in the league by a long shot, but that has not been the case in the playoffs. Bratislava still has been the best team without the puck but Yukon has not been far behind. The difference in goals allowed has been very slim, Bratislava leading the way by just a tenth of a goal less per game! Gabrial Johnson has used his body well for the Rush, delivering 33 hits and blocking 10 shots. Yukon has four more players with close to 20 hits and three guys with double-digits in shots blocked. For Bratislava, you have Phil Villeneuve with 14 hits and Logan Laich with 12. Phil Villeneuve and Andrey Zadorov each have 8 blocked shots, David Januzaj following close behind with 6 and remember that is in only 4 games played. The defensive battle is close, but I give a slight edge to the Watchmen. Goaltending: The goaltending in the regular season for Bratislava from Martin Brookside was much better than what Yukon got from the duo of Santeri Heikelä and Zach Fucale and was a big reason why the Watchmen were able to have so much success. In the playoffs, the story has been much different, the Rush deciding to play Zach Fucale, exclusively and he has outplayed his counterpart in the series. Fucale sports a 0.891% save percentage and 2.54 goals against average while Brookside carries a 0.888% save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average into the final series. Fucale has faced almost two shots more per game and the edge has to be given to him in the goaltending battle. Outcome: The Watchmen finished 50 points ahead of the Rush during the regular season and it would appear that this series would be a cakewalk for them. In my opinion, this will be a hard-fought series right from the get-go and every win will be earned through hard work, sacrificing blood, sweat, and tears along the way. I think the series will go the distance and Bratislava will eventually win. They have been not been playing up to their potential in the playoffs thus far and that is why it will be close. If they catch their stride early, expect a nasty Watchmen team to take it to the Rush early and often. Yukon can come away with an upset if they are able to continue to do what they have been doing all playoffs long and if the monster known as the Watchmen are not awoken. Edited February 22, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-43895 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) Edition #24 "Mockin' It Up" -S37 VHLM Dispersal Mock Draft First of all, I would like to congratulate Vincent Wong, Seth Plaut, and the entire Bratislava Watchmen franchise on their Season 36 Founder's Cup victory. It is only fitting that Wong went out on top as his last season in the Bratislava head office, before being promoted to the VHL as Helsinki's new general manager. With the off-season upon us, and the VHLM Dispersal Draft a short time away, it is time to put together a mock draft, predicting what each team will do with their selections during the first round. I will make these predictions, as well as providing a brief description as to why that player fits the needs and pick selection for each particular selection. So without further adieu, lets get down to business. 1. from Kimmo Salo - G The Yukon Rush hold the first overall selection in the draft, and they are in need of a starting goaltender. Kimmo Salo is the only goaltender who has declared for this draft as of now, and is a beauty of a tender. Salo is a hard-working Finn who has spent over 100 hours in the training facility already and is as good as it gets to a "can't miss prospect". He will provide the Rush with solid goaltending on a nightly basis. 2. Konstantin Azhishchenkov - C The Turku Outlaws make their first draft selection in three years and pick up arguably the best forward, the Russian phenom known as KJA in the hockey world. The flashy, playmaking center has also spent over 100 hours in the training center and has one of the best work ethics among draft eligible players. He will provide Turku with a true number one center. 3. from Vojzek Svoboda - D The Minot Gladiators lack a number one defenseman, and coming from a well-respected agency, Vojzek Svoboda is an easy decision to make at the number three pick. Already nearing 100 hours in the training facility, the young Czech plays a great two-way game and can be a game changer. The Gladiators gets a leader on and off the ice and will thrive in Minot. 4. from Logan Laich - LW A bit of a steal in the number four slot, Logan Laich is a very devoted player who will do whatever it takes to become the best. Laich sits at 99 hours spent in the training facility and is a pure sniping Canadian winger, hailing from Wawota, Saskatchewan. Yukon selected their #1 goalie earlier, and they take their #1 here and will compliment Frederik Ernt nicely. 5. from Jakob Linholm - LW Turku`s second selection in the draft is Swedish-born, Jakub Linholm, a winger who has dedicated over 100 hours to training thus far and he can become either a playmaker or a finisher. If he ends up in Turku, my money is on him becoming the sniper to compliment KJA. Linholm is dedicated to improving his game as much as possible, and with his work ethic, it is very possible to become the best player out of this draft class. 6. from Dimothenis Vlasis - D John McBride, the Turku Outlaws GM, makes his final selection in the first round by picking up a young Grecian defensive defenseman who skates like the wind. He has spent over 50 hours in the training facility, and is decidated to becoming a great player. He may not have the star power of players in front of him, but he will quietly go about his business and help Turku in their quest for a Founder`s Cup. He has the potential to be one of the best defensemen from this draft. 7. Travis Boychuk - C With Davey Jones selecting a defenseman with his first pick, he takes a forward here. Travis Boychuk, a center who will become a sniper or playmaker depending on where his development takes him. This skilled Ukranian will instantly become the #1 center in Minot and a very solid pick, near the end of the first round. Boychuk is an underrated talent who has spent over 80 hours in training. 8. Markus Bjorkstrand - LW The Bern Royals have a solid collection of forwards and defensemen, as well as a starting goaltender and GM, Tyler Barabash selects the best player available here. Markus Bjorkstrand is a sniping winger with solid skating and passing skills. He will add some scoring to the Bern lineup and is nearing 50 training hours. 9. from Mikael Svensson - C Another underrated talent, a scoring center in the form of Mikael Svensson is picked up with the ninth pick of the draft. He stands at over 60 training hours and have a very good work ethic. Svensson could be moved to the wing in Minot as Boychuk becomes the playmaking center. The Gladiators become much stronger at forward with the pick-up of this Swedish forward. 10. from Dexter Morgan - D With the last selection of the round, Austin Gow selects a defenseman that he is familiar with. Dexter Morgan played with the Rush in Season 36 and brings a defensive and skating game. The native of Miami, Florida is a savvy veteran who has been around the minor leagues for many years and knows what it takes to win. The 36 year-old is a solid pick-up that will help Yukon to pursue a third Founderès Cup in franchise history. Edited March 3, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-46794 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Edition #25 "The Trophy Case" -S36 VHLM Award Results The Sakic Trophy is awarded to VHLM player who is determined to be the most valuable player during the regular season. It was a landslide in this one, Bratislava goaltender, Martin Brookside receiving nine of a possible ten votes with one vote going to Bern forward, Earl Parker. Brookside was outstanding during the season, shutting out his opposition in one-quarter of the Watchmen's games during the 72 game regular season, including a 21 save shutout over the Brampton Blades in a 5-0 win during the last game of the season. Brookside was outstanding and there was never really any question whether or not he would win the Sakic Trophy. Green's Prediction: Martin Brookside ✔ Actual Winner: Martin Brookside The Esposito Trophy is awarded to the VHLM player who is deemed to be the most valuable player during the Founder's Cup playoffs. It was much closer for this award, Queen Latifa receiving two of the ten votes, while Slaeter Fjorsstrom taking home three votes, and Brookside winning the award with five votes. He may not have been dominant like he was during the regular season, but Brookside was sharp when he needed to be such as his 4-0 shutout in game six of the finals to help the Watchmen bring a second Founder's Cup back to Bratislava. Green's Prediction: Martin Brookside ✔ Actual Winner: Martin Brookside The Sawchuk Trophy is awarded to the VHLM goaltender who is deemed to be the best at his position during the regular season, and this is not even close. As mentioned earlier, Martin Brookside was nothing short of dominant during Bratislava's impressive regular season performance. He was a big part of their success and posting 66 wins with a 0.924% save percentage is nothing to scoff at. In the end, Brookside shuts out the competition, receiving all ten votes for the award. Green's Prediction: Martin Brookside ✔ Actual Winner: Martin Brookside The Bourque Trophy is awarded to the VHLM defenseman who is deemed to be the best at his position during the regular season. There were different types of defenseman who brought different elements from the back-end and any of them could have taken this award home. Razzle Dazzle, Triton Jackson, and Phil Villeneuve all received two votes each, while the eventual winner, Bern's Matt Rielly received the other four votes. Rielly was not a physical defenseman during the season but the voters couldn't deny his offensive abilities from the blue line, posting 150 points, including many multi-point nights and that is what eventually won him the award. I may not agree with the winner, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. Green's Prediction: Not Determined ✘ Actual Winner: Matt Rielly The Yzeman Trophy is awarded to the VHLM player who is determined to be the best two-way forward. This award is for unselfish players who are good offensively, but do not stray from playing a defensive style of game or taking the body. It was not all that close in this one, Bern's Earl Parker receiving a single vote, Bratislava's Tom Slaughter taking a pair of votes, and Minot's Aelred Leskowski capturing the remaining seven votes. Leskowski was atop the scoring leaderboards during the season, used his body to his advantage to deliver hits, block shots, and to play solid positional defense. He was a monster at both ends of the ice and was well-deserving of this award. Green's Prediction: Aelred Leskowski ✔ Actual Winner: Aelred Leskowski The Holland Trophy is awarded to the VHLM general manager who is determined to be the top executive in the VHLM. This is another award that was won by a landslide, Saskatoon's Ville Sixten receiving just one vote while the other nine went to Bratislava's Vincent Wong. Wong put together one of the most dominant teams together in recent memory and there is no doubt that he is deserving of the award. The Watchmen dominated the league from start to finish and that is why takes the award home, as well as promotion to the VHL. Green's Prediction: Vincent Wong ✔ Actual Winner: Vincent Wong Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-49493 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Edition #26 "European Pile-Up" -The Jam-Packed European Conference The VHLM European Conference has been a dog fight right from the get-go this season, just eight points separating the first-place Bern Royals from the last-place Oslo Storm. Over in the North American Conference, it is pretty clear who will make the playoffs, the Brampton Blades and Ottawa Lynx both still yet to record a point and the Yukon Rush 20 points ahead at the top of the standings. In Europe, the Turku Outlaws sit in second place, just a single point back of the Bern Royals, while the Bratislava Watchmen are following close behind, trailing the Outlaws by just a single point. The Moscow Red Wolves find themselves below the playoff cut line, three points back of Bratislava, and the Oslo Storm following Moscow closely, just three points back. It will be tightly contested all season long in the European Conference, and that will make for some great hockey. Bern Royals (9-2-0) The Bern Royals are winning games with offense, scoring 58 times in just 11 games played. Their defense has been like a cement wall, allowing just 28 goals in those 11 games. Special teams have also been a big part of Bern's success, the powerplay clicking at 48.57% and giving them the best unit in the league while their third-ranked penalty-killers have killed off 73.33% of chances against. The Royals spend the majority of games in the attacking zone, allowing them to own an average of +13 in the shot differential category. They do this by taking the body at every opportunity, but that does leave them prone to taking penalties and they are just average in the face-off dot. Turku Outlaws (8-2-1) The Turku Outlaws got off to a slow start to begin the season, but have since heated up, winning seven of their last eight contests, placing them at second in the conference. Turku wins their games by outscoring their opponents and playing solid defense in front of a goaltender that has proven to be shaky at times, early on this season. The Outlaws have found the back of the net 51 times, while allowing 35 goals against, a +16 goal differential, and have good special teams units as well. The powerplay has found twine on 29.79% of chance, while the penalty-killers are 77.27% efficient. The club does not take as many shots as a lot of the teams in the league but make the most of their opportunities, all while limiting the amount of scoring chances their opponents receive. The team loves taking the body and are a team with average discipline, while sporting one of the best face-off percentages in the league. Bratislava Watchmen (8-3-0) Next up are the Bratislava Watchmen, who do not have a great goal differential at just +4, and a terrible penalty-kill unit that has been able to only get the job done 68.75% of the time. They do own one of the league's top powerplays, clicking at 38.46% and take nearly 43 shots on goal per game. The Watchmen have been average in the dot and land an average amount of hits per game. They also allow one of the highest shots against per game, and are not a very well-disciplined team. It is all offense for Bratislava and they will live or die by it. Moscow Red Wolves (6-4-1) The Moscow Red Wolves, formerly the Vasteras IK J20 hockey club are next, and they play a balanced two-way game, scoring the same amount of goals that they have given up. Moscow does not get many shots towards the net and give up one of the highest totals against. Their powerplay is average at 28.26% and they are home to the worst penalty-kill in the league, allowing opposing powerplays to connect 40% of the time. The Red Wolves hit quite a bit and have to be very well-disciplined with the way their PK unit, or lack thereof one has performed. The centermen in Moscow are not very successful in the dot and I don't expect this team to move up from the number four spot this season unless they can make a drastic turnaround. Oslo Storm (5-6-0) Sitting in last place are the Oslo Storm, a team that plays a balanced game but have not had a great start to the season, currently sitting with a -3 goal differential, and a +9 shot differential per game. Their powerplay is in the bottom half of the league, while their penalty-kill sits in the top half. The take the body a lot and are pretty-well disciplined, while being a good face-off team. Their luck is bound to turn around, and i expect them to make a push for the playoffs. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-53795 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 (edited) Edition #27 "Wondrous Watchmen" -How Has Bratislava Found Unexpected Success? Every season there are teams who are expected to be very successful, but for one reason or another, find themselves underachieving. On the other end of the spectrum, many times there are teams who are not expected to much of anything and they defy the odds, overachieving and frustrating many top teams in the process. This year's version of the overachievers in the VHLM are none other than the defending Founder's Cup Champions, the Bratislava Watchmen. Recently hired General Manager, Seth Plaut has somehow been able to get the Watchmen to play at a very high level, squeezing every ounce of work ethic out of his club. The hard work from Bratislava has them sitting at second in the European Conference with a record of 18-4-0 and 36 points, just four back of the Bern Royals for top spot. You may be asking yourself "How does a team with such little depth play at such a high level?". Well, I am here to examine and determine the answer to that question this week. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of this version of the Watchmen is offense and lots of it. Bratislava has scored 126 goals on the season, claiming a share of second place in the league. Leading the way are Sasha Stepanov and David Januzaj with 25 points each, but after that there is a big drop-off, Magnus Hertzberg sitting third on the team with fourteen points. The powerplay unit has been unreal as well, converting on 18 of 99 powerplay chances for a 37.11% success rate. The Slovakian club has fired a total of 983 pucks on net, or 40.96 shots per game, good for third in the league. On the defensive side of the game, the Watchmen have not been great but they have not been all that bad either, allowing 94 goals against and 744 shots against, or 31 per game. They rank fifth in the league in both of those categories, a solid showing from a team with an unknown goaltender between the pipes who nobody has ever heard of. The penalty-killers have managed to kill 68 of 90 powerplays against off, a 75.56% efficiency rate and ranking them third in the league. In terms of the intangible portions of the game, Bratislava has been solid, winning 50.92% of faceoffs taken, and throwing around 506 hits, or 21.08 per game. Their discipline needs to be better, taking 216 penalty minutes, or nine per game and ranking at seventh in the league. Seth Plaut has Bratislava playing well above expectations, holding a ten point lead over the third-place Turku Outlaws, a team that was expected to be much better this season. Will this trend continue, or is this just the Watchmen peaking and the Outlaws in a deep valley? Time will tell as the season rolls along, but Bratislava has already proved many experts wrong early on in the season. A Bratislava/Turku playoff series is not out of the question, and expect a hard-fought battle the whole way should that come to fruition. The two franchises have met in the playoffs back in Season 33 when Bratislava upset the Kolari Panthers (who moved to Turku, following that season) in a seven-game thriller which seen Kolari take a 3-0 series lead, only to see it evaporate and the Watchmen go on to win the Founder's Cup. Edited March 30, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-56116 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Edition #28 "Outlaws Accelerating" -Turku Making Headway The Turku Outlaws were expected to be a big time contender for the Founder's Cup this season, following a great dispersal draft for the franchise. A rough start to the season which seen the Outlaws go 13-8-3 in the first 24 games of the season, could have put that in jeopardy for the Outlaws. The next fifteen games were much better for Turku, winning twelve times and acquiring 24 of a possible 30 points, bring their record on the season to 25-11-3 after 39 games. The currently sit third in the Europena Conference, four points back of Bratislava, and eighteen back of Bern with a eleven point cushion over the fourth-place Oslo Storm. Turku's first two selections in the S37 VHLM Dispersal Draft were both defensemen (Vojczek Svoboda and Jake Wylde) so you wouldn't expect them to be an offensive juggernaut, and they are not. They come in at number five in the league in goals scored with 174 and sixth in shots per game at 33.69. Their defense, on the other hand is one of the best in the league, allowing the third least goals and shots against per game at 133, and 26.51. The Outlaws have one of the most physically dominating teams in the M, throwing 930 hits on the season, and thus causing them to take a lot of penalties, 412 on the season. They rank third and ninth in these categories and when it comes to intangibles, they rank second at winning faceoffs, coming away with the puck 55.89% of the time. Turku's top three scorers come from the back-end in the form of team captain, Vojczek Svoboda leading the way with 77 points, followed by Jake Wylde with 52 points, and Dimothenis Vlasis with 47 points. Up front, Travis Boychuk and Azi Ali have found chemistry on the top line, combining for 89 points, with Dexter Morgan and Mikael Svensson finding chemistry of their own on the second line, combining for 78 points. Kez Kincaid and Walt Pringle have chipped in with 58 points on the third line, while Jake Wylde has destroyed everything in his path, posting 146 hits. Vlasis leads the way in blocked shots with 85, followed by Svoboda at 71, and Wylde at 58, with Backenbauer putting up a solid 19 points, 76 hits, and 29 blocked shots from the second defensive pairing. Brock Waldron got off to a slow start, but has put up solid numbers recently, sporting a 0.866% save percentage, 3.66 goals against average, one shutout, and a record of 22-12-8 on the season. If the Outlaws continue to improve throughout the season and into the playoffs, I see no reason why they cannot contend for the Continental Cup and possibly take it home when it's all said and done. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-58618 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 (edited) Edition #29 "Beastly Blueliners" -Early Bourque Trophy Candidates The Raymond Bourque Trophy is awarded following each VHLM season to the defenseman that is deemed to be the top defenseman in the VHLM. This award has many elements to take into effect when trying to determine candidates and the eventual winner. You always have to evaluate each candidate's point total, hits total, blocked shots total, and minutes played. You could evaluate plus/minus total but that is more of a team stat and is not very telling in my opinion. I will be evaluating some of the best candidates for this season's Bourque Trophy and predict who I think will be the eventual winner. I will not include any inactive players since I do not think that a player who doesn't train, does not deserve to be even nominated for an award. The first player that I will evaluate is Jake Wylde from the Turku Outlaws. Wylde is one of the more dedicated players in the league, rarely missing any chance to log training hours. Wylde has had a very good season on the ice, scoring 29 times and adding 40 assists for 69 points in 54 games played. He has taken 111 penalty minutes and thrown 211 body checks, while blocking 71 shots that were directed towards the Outlaws net. Wylde plays over 24 minutes a night and 21 of his 69 points were scored on the powerplay. Next up will be Jack Ryan from the Minot Gladiators who is consistently hitting the training facility, but usually favours the less strenuous workouts. Ryan has put some solid numbers up, scoring 16 goals and 57 assists for 73 points in 54 games played. He has played a fairly disciplined game with only 73 penalty minutes but has not taken the body nearly as much as other candidates, throwing only 141 body checks on the season. He has a decent amount of shot blocks with 131 and averages nearly 30 minutes a night, proving he is a vital piece to the Gladiators' defense. Only 13 of Jack's points were scored while the Gladiators were up a man, on the powerplay. The next candidate on my list is another member of the Turku Outlaws, the team captain who leads on and off the ice, taking every opportunity to log more training hours. Vojczek Svoboda has potted 19 goals and added 76 assists for a total of 95 points in 54 games played. He has spent 74 minutes in the penalty box and thrown 96 big hits with his big, 6 foot 3, 214 pound body. Svoboda has laid out to block 91 shots directed towards his goaltender and plays just under 29 minutes on a nightly basis. 24 of the 95 points that he has scored have come on the powerplay. He does not excel in one area of the game, but is a great, all-around, two-way defenseman who the Outlaws count on to come up big every night. Oslo Storm defenseman, Penis Hudson is the next guy on the list of potential Bouque Trophy candidates and he has had himself a brilliant season, playing over 28 minutes per game and putting up 18 goals with 83 assists for 101 points. Hudson has spent 98 minutes of his time in the sin bin and has used his body to his advantage, throwing a league-high 271 body checks. Penis has scored just 20 of his points on the powerplay, and has sacrificed his body to block 116 shots for the Storm. He does the bare minimum in the training facility, but it has been getting the job done for him. Ron World Peace of the Bern Royals is another guy who has to be included on the list of candidates for the top VHLM defenseman during Season 37. Peace has scored 150 points (64 goals, 86 assists) and sits first among VHLM defenseman scoring leaders. He has played a very physical game with 261 body checks and 117 penalty minutes in his 55 games played this season. Ron plays right around 25 minutes a night, and has scored 54 of his points while on the powerplay. He will do what it takes to help his team be successful, shown by his 97 shots blocked and has been consistently hitting the training facility whenever possible, helping Bern dominate the European Conference. At the end of the day, when it comes down to who has been the top defenseman in the VHLM during Season 37, it will be a very tough decision as many of these guys are deserving of the award. Most players mentioned here have a strong work ethic and leadership skills, but there is one guy who really does it all for his team. He is an elite defenseman in the VHLM and is always working hard, training to become a better player. At this point in time, I would award the Bourque Trophy to Bern Royals defenseman, Ron World Peace in a very close race. Edited April 6, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-60379 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Edition #30 "Early Sakic Trophy Candidates" -VHLM's Most Valuable Players The Joe Sakic Trophy is awarded following each VHLM season to the player or goaltender that is deemed to be the most valuable player in the VHLM during the course of the regular season. This award has many elements to take into effect when trying to determine candidates and the eventual winner. Forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders are all eligible to win this award so it can be tough sometimes to determine who the most derving player is. I will be evaluating some of the best candidates for this season's Sakic Trophy and predict who I think will be the eventual winner. I will not include any inactive players since I do not think that a player who doesn't train, does not deserve to be even nominated for an award. There are a lot more deserving players who didn't make the list, but I cannot include everyone or I would be here for days. The first player that I will evaluate is Johan Hallstrom from the Yukon Rush. Hallstrom is a very committed player when it comes to traing, spending close to 200 hours in the training facility and has had himself a great season, splitting time between Oslo and Yukon. He leads the league by a wide margin in goal scoring with 126 and has added 62 assists for a total of 188 points. Johan has thrown 79 hits while taking only 20 penalty minutes, and sports a plus-89 rating with 15 blocked shots. He has notched 11 game-winning goals and 34 powerplay points in 28 minutes of ice time per night. Next up will be Bruno Wolf from the Minot Gladiators who is consistently hitting the training facility, and hits it hard, logging close to 150 training hours in his rookie season. Wolf has been a vital part to Minot's success this season, scoring 54 goals and 75 assists, to total 129 points on the season. He has a plus-41 rating with 111 penalty minutes and 249 hits and 93 blocked shots, a true sign of a power forward who is willing to do it all for his team to succeed. 28 of his points have come on the powerplay and 8 of his goals have won the game for the Gladiators, coming with just 27 minutes of ice time per night. Without Bruno in the lineup, it is safe to say that Minot would not be as high in the standings as they are. The next candidate on my list is another member of the Yukon Rush, their goaltender who usually is very dedicated to training and to improve his game each week but has strayed away from that a bit over the last month, although he is nearing 200 training hours. Kimmo Salo has a record of 61-7-0 and has a save percentage of 0.917% and a goals against average of 1.66. Salo has out the opposing team on 12 occasions, most of any goalie in the VHLM while putting 3 assists and 2 penalty minutes on the board. The goaltending has been very good in Yukon and without Kimmo Salo, there's no telling where they would be. Bern Royals goaltender, Blaine Olynick is the next guy on the list of potential Sakic Trophy candidates and he is another goaltender who has put up brilliant season between the pipes. Olynick is one of the hardest working guys in the entire league with over 200 training hours to his credit and it has showed in his play. Bern does not appear to be as deep of a team as Yukon or even Turku on paper but Blaine has still managed to league the VHLM in wins, posting a record of 62-8-1. He is not far behind Salo in save percntage, sporting a 0.913% and his goals against average sits at 2.24. Olynick has put up 5 shutouts, 10 assists, and 2 penalty minutes while facing 500 more shots than Salo. Without him, Bern certainly wouldn't be the top team in the league. Ron World Peace of the Bern Royals is another guy who has to be included when you talk about Sakic Trophy candidates. The defenseman has put up an astounding 79 goals, 105 assists, and 184 points from the back-end and leading the Royals offense. It doesn't stop there for Peace who is one hit back of the league-lead with 337 and is among leaders in blocked shots with 118. He has scored 11 game-winning goals, sports a plus-84 rating, and 63 of his points have come on the powerplay. He has spent 145 minutes in the penalty box, and has put these numbers up with just 26 minutes of ice time per game. When it comes down to it, it will be a very close race on who has been the most valuable player in the VHLM during Season 37, but in me eyes there are two guys who stand out from the rest. Both of these guys are teammates and very hard workers. As it stands, the player who has been the most valuable and has made the biggest impact for his team comes from the Bern Royals. The player that I am talking about is none other than their star goaltender, Blaine Olynick. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-62858 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Fqhd d. D. Did. F Edition #31 "European Conference Playoff Preview" -Bratislava vs Turku The opening round playoff matchups are set and in the European Conference, we have an interesting series shaping up. The defending Founder's Cup Champions, the Bratislava Watchmen will go head to head with the Turku Outlaws. This is a re-match of the Season 33 European Conference Finals which seen the Outlaws franchise (Kolari Panthers) go up 3-0, only to drop four straight and allow Bratislava to go on and win their first Founder's Cup. Turku will be looking for redemption while Bratislava will look to upset them and it should make for an exciting series. I will break down the series into different elements of the game and predicting the eventual series winner. Offense: The offensive aspect of the game has been Bratislava's bread and butter all season long, firing almost 40 shots on the opposing goal per game and lighting the red lamp 341 times. David Januzaj put up 207 points with Sasha Stepanov putting up 191 and Magnus Hertzberg with 102. In Turku, goal scoring was not the Outlaws strength, taking under 34 shots on net per game and scoring 306 times. The Outlaws had only one 100+ point scorer but had five others at 70+ and one guy just shy of the 70 point mark. Advantage: Bratislava Defense: On defense, Bratislava did not have nearly as much success as they were able to accomplish on offense, allowing 33 shots against per game and 311 goals against on the season. On the other side of the spectrum, the Turku Outlaws were one of the best defensive teams during Season 37. Turku allowed just 26 shots per game and 225 goals allowed on the season. Advantage: Turku Special Teams/Intangibles: Bratislava sported a powerplay percentage of 30.66% and a 70.90% penalty-kill percentage on the season while Turku put up a 26.62% powerplay percentage and a 80.58% penalty-kill percentage. The Watchmen threw 21 hits per game and won 50% of their faceoffs while the Outlaws threw 23 hits per game and won 55% of their faceoffs. Advantage: Turku Goaltending: Bratislava and Turku's goaltending both were not all that great, Matti Auvinen posting a record of 20-18-2 with a 0.864% save percentage and a 4.50 goals against average in Bratislava. Brock Waldron posted a 35-17-3 record with a 0.882% save percentage and 3.10 goals against average with three shutouts. Advantage: Turku Prediction: Bratislava has the advantage on offense but Turku appears to be the better defensive team and on special teams/intangibles as well as goaltending, thus I predict the Outlaws to pull the series win out in six games. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-65130 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 Edition #32 "Founder's Cup Finals Preview" -Yukon vs Bern Well, It's that time of year once again, it is time to determine who the best team in the VHLM is this season. The Yukon Rush and Bern Royals have earned the right to represent their respective conference to battle it out for VHLM supremacy with the Founder's Cup on the line. Both of these clubs fought during the regular season to clinch the top seed in their conference and a first round bye. The Yukon Rush swept the Minot Gladiators in the North American Conference Finals, outscoring the Gladiators by a margin of eighteen to eleven. It was not nearly as painless for the Bern Royals in the European Conference Finals who took care of a Founder's Cup contender (Turku Outlaws) in six games, outscoring the Outlaws twenty to thirteen in the process. It's no coincidence that the two top goaltenders in the VHLM have brought their teams to the Founder's Cup Finals, Kimmo Salo for the Yukon Rush and Blaine Olynick for the Bern Royals. Olynick has been the busier of the two netminders during these playoffs, facing over 100 more shots than Salo and playing in just two more games. The save percentages and goals against average numbers have been similar, Olynick leading the way in save percentage with a 0.904% and Salo close behind at 0.898% while Salo leads the way in goals against average at 2.37 and Olynick at 3.08. Neither have posted a shutout thus far and I give a slight edge to Bern in goaltending. Concerning the offense firepower in this series, it is very close again with Yukon scoring 28 goals in six games played and the Bern Royals putting up 24 in eight games played. Shots for per game are very similar as well, Bern with a slight edge at 33.75 to the Rush's 33.67 and the powerplay units are very close as well. Yukon has scored on 12 of 38 chances (31.58%) while the Royals have capitalized on 14 of 45 chances (31.11%). Ron World Peace leads the way for Bern, scoring 16 points in eight games while Konstantin Azhishchenkov leads Yukon with 13 points in six games. I give a slight edge to the Yukon Rush in the offensive department. On defense, Yukon has allowed 15 goals in six games while Bern has allowed 25 in eight games. Yukon has allowed 24.50 shots against per game and Bern's defense have allowed 32.63 shots on Olynick per game. The Rush penalty killers have been scored on five times in 30 chances against (83.33%) while Bern's penalty killers have allowed eleven goals on 45 chances against (75.56%). Ron World Peace has been a rock on the back-end for Bern, delivering 39 hits and blocking 20 shots while Triton Jackson has thrown 16 hits and blocked 10 shots. It may be the result of Bern playing tougher competition but I give the slight edge to Yukon in defensive play as well. This series will be a hard-fought battle from the get-go and I cannot wait to watch it unfold. VHLM fans are in for some great action as the Yukon Rush will do their best to bring a third championship to their city in seven seasons while Bern will attempt to stop them and bring home their first championship in 17 seasons. This is going to be a close one, going the full seven games in my books and in my view, Blaine Olynick will come up big when it matters and help the Royals win their first Founder's Cup in quite some time. Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-68435 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Edition #33 "Yukon On Top of the VHLM World" -Rush win Founder's Cup After a long season consisting of 72 games and three rounds of playoff games, a Founder's Cup winner has finally been crowned. For the third time in their seven-year existence, the Yukon Rush can call themselves the class of the VHLM while the Bern Royals will have to wait at least one more year to end the 17-year championship drought. In a highly contested final series, the Yukon Rush were able to gain the upper hand and defeat the Bern Royals in six games, claiming VHLM supremacy for themselves. The feeling in Yukon has to be one of elation, joining some of the elite franchises to accomplish many championships in a short period of time. In Bern, there is no doubt that the feeling of disappointment will be spread throughout the city, their team not able to take advantage of their situation and management will have to go back to the drawing board. The Founder's Cup Finals showcased the two best regular season teams and the two best goaltenders (Kimmo Salo and Blaine Olynick) in the VHLM going head to head with all the marbles on the line. It was only fitting that these two franchises were the two to represent their respective conferences in the finals. It made for some great hockey and a great conclusion to the VHLM season with all but one of the six games being decided by three goals or less. Game one was an overtime thriller that was highlighted by Konstantin Azhishchenkov's game winner less than eight minutes into the extra frame. In game two, the Bern Royals came out flat and it showed on the scoreboard, Yukon running the score up and defeating Bern by a score of 6-1. Azhishchenkov was once again a game-changer, scoring twice and adding an assists on eleven shots. In game three, Bern turned the tide, shutting the Rush out by a score of 2-0 on the strength of a 25-save performance from Blaine Olynick. Yukon bounced back in game four with a shutout of their own to take a 3-1 series lead and allowing only 17 shots on goal. With their playoff lives on the line, the Royals came up with a 3-2 win on the strength of a pair of goals from Kristian Stormborn to force a game six in Bern. Kimmo Salo posted his second shutout of the playoffs and the Rush defense was unbreakable, allowing just 13 shots on goal in a 2-0 win. It was a fun VHLM season and great to be a part of. We can only hope Season 38 comes close to being as exciting as Season 37 was and a big congratulations goes out to Austin Gow and the Yukon Rush management as well as each and every Rush player who showed why they were VHLM's elite this season! Edited May 5, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-69374 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) Edition #34 "Examining the VHLM Dispersal Draft" -Winners and Losers of the Draft Last night, the General Managers of the respective VHLM franchises convened at the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia to select players for the Season 38 VHLM Dispersal Draft. The arena was packed to it's capacity of 10,200 people, ,many of which were hopeful VHLM prospects, combined with representatives from each team as well as hockey experts from the media who were in attendance to analyze and break down each draft selection on national television. There are always winners and losers in every draft and I am here to provide my insight on who I believe are the winners and losers from the recently completed draft. I will list selections for each team that I believe to be a winner and explain why I chose them as a winner as well as listing selections and explaining why I chose certain teams as losers. The winners and losers will be listed in no particular order so let's get to it! Winners: Turku Outlaws 1st Round, 7th Overall: Koji Yamazaki - Japan 1st Round, 9th Overall: Milos Denis - Slovakia 2nd Round, 18th Overall: Braxton Hunter - Canada 3rd Round, 25th Overall: Matti Auvinen - Finland Newly hired GM, Sergey Brovalenko came into the draft with no first round selections and had to deal with the losses of Jake Wylde and Vojczek Svoboda who moved on up to the VHL's Helsinki Titans and Travis Boychuk who moved up to the VHL's Calgary Wranglers. Brock Waldron re-entered the VHLM draft and Hanz Backenbauer and Colin Greening retired as well so Brovalenko had his work cut out for him. He first dealt Azmet Ali and a Season 38 third round selection to the Bern Royals for the 9th overall selection in Season 38 and followed that up by dealing a Season 40 1st round selection and a Season 39 2nd round selection to the Bratislava Watchmen for the seventh overall selection in Season 38.Turku proceeded to select Koji Yamazaki at 7th overall, a player who has the potential to develop into one of the best first generation players the VHL has seen in a while. At 9th overall, the Outlaws went with Milos Denis, a Slovakian who is represented by an agent who has represented some great VHL talent in the past. Braxton Hunter returns to Turku with the 18th overall selection and if he can continue to develop, he is a superstar in the making while Matti Auvinen is a bust or boom type with the 25th overall selection and will back-up Fernando Pergher at worst. Brampton Blades 1st Round, 2nd Overall: Tyson Stokes - USA 1st Round, 6th Overall: Tyrone Williams - USA 1st Round, 10th Overall: Hunter Backenbauer - USA 2nd Round, 12th Overall: Hudson Backenbauer - Canada 3rd Round, 22nd Overall: Daniel Acker - Canada The Brampton Blades finished Season 37 as the second worst team in the league at the end of the regular season and received the second overall selection in the draft as compensation. With that pick, they selected American centerman, Tyson Stokes who is rumoured to be one of a few players in the running to be selected 1st overall in the Season 39 VHL Entry Draft. At 6th overall, a pick they received from Bratislava back in the Season 35 off-season for Andrey Zadorov, they selected winger, Tyrone Williams. Williams is another player who is rumoured to have the potential to be drafted 1st overall in the Season 39 VHL Entry Draft. At 10th overall, the Blades selected Hunter Backenbauer and picked up his brother Hudson two selections later at 12th overall. The Backenbauer's have all the potential to become star players and with their final selection, Brampton selected Daniel Acker at 22nd overall. Acker could either boom or bust but was a good selection at that point in the draft. Yukon Rush 1st Round, 1st Overall: Brock Waldron - USA The Yukon Rush just finished their season off with a Founder's Cup victory but lost starting goaltender, Kimmo Salo who moved on to the Helsinki Titans of the VHL and were in need of a goalie if they wanted to continue to compete. General Manager, Austin Gow went out and paid up to Ottawa, dealing a Season S39 1st round pick with a Season 40 1st and 2nd round pick to get the 1st overall selection in Season 38. Gow went on to select former Turku Outlaws goaltender, Brock Waldron who should be the top netminder in the VHLM this upcoming season. Losers: Moscow Red Wolves: 1st Round, 3rd Overall: Seth Rollins - USA 1st Round, 8th Overall: Steve Tremblay - Canada 2nd Round, 13th Overall: Jose Canseco - USA 2nd Round, 17th Overall: Dan Cooper - USA 3rd Round, 23rd Overall: Josh Bennett - Canada 3rd Round, 30th Overall: David Sharp - USA The Moscow Red Wolves held the 3rd overall selection and must have not been fully prepared because they selected Seth Rollins when guys like Jackson Miller, Mikkel Boomgaarden, Tyrone Williams and Koji Yamazaki among other were still on the board. Rollins is a bust or boom type of player who would have been a good selection as an early 2nd round selection but not at the 3rd overall selection. Steve Tremblay was a solid selection with the 8th overall pick but selecting Jose Canseco at the 13th overall pick over Andrej Hasek could end up being a mistake. Cooper, Bennett, and Sharp are all likely to end up being nothing more than role players. Edited May 12, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-72676 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) Edition #35 "Outlaws Dominating" -Turku Off To A Quick Start A new VHLM season is upon us and this is the time where every franchise finds out how well the acquisitions that they made during the off-season via drafting, free agency and other moves paid off. For the Turku Outlaws, it seems that the decisions they made have been smart ones, at least for now. Rookie General Manager, Sergey Brovalenko brought in Koji Yamazaki, Milos Denis, Braxton Hunter and Matti Auvinen through the VHLM Dispersal Draft and secured Ugot Change, Emma Watson, Sraxxarrakex as free agent signings. Dimothensis Vlasis, Dexter Morgan, Mikael Svensson, Kez Kincaid, Kristoffer Ruud, Antoine Sauve, Walt Pringle, Joseph Baker, Jacob Peterson and Fernando Pergher all returned to the Outlaws for another season. Turku currently sits atop the European Conference standings with a record of 5-2-0, scoring 39 goals and allowing only 22 and the highest goal differential in the league at +17. The Outlaws own the third best powerplay in the league which has scored on 9 of 32 opportunities for a 28.13% success rate while the penalty-kill unit has killed off 25 of 29 chances. This is good for a 86.21% efficiency rating and the top unit in the league. Turku ranks first in both shots for and shots allowed, firing 342 shots on their opponents goaltender while allowing only 153 to find their way to Pergher. The Outlaws have been very physical, delivering 163 hits and are one of the better teams in the face-off circle, winning 52.88% of the time. They rank second in the league in both categories. Dexter Morgan and Dimothensis Vlasis have led the charge on offense, Morgan with an astounding 28 points and Vlasis not far behind with 26 in just seven games! Yamazaki and Svensson each have a respectable eleven points while Kincaid follows with seven and it drops off after that. Yamazaki has put up 40 hits to go with his 11 points and Vlasis has blocked 17 shots. If the Outlaws can keep up this pace, they will be a definite favourite to win the Founder's Cup. Turku has had trouble in the past getting over the hump from contending to actually having a chance to win a championship. A new GM is in town now though and maybe he has the vision to bring the first championship to this franchise in a long time. Only time will tell if this dream for Brovalenko becomes reality or not. One thing is for sure though, the fans in Turku are very excited for the season to roll on and eventually the playoffs, where they believe that their hockey club has what it takes to bring the Founder's Cup home. Edited May 20, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-76020 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Edition #36 "Brampton Blades" -Struggling to Find Chemistry Following a rough go in Season 37, the Brampton Blades had an amazing draft and picked up a few quality players from the waiver wire, trade and free agency to begin Season 38 and were supposed to be a very good team. They were considered to be a big time contender coming into the season but needless to say, they have not lived up to that hype as of yet. Their draft picks included the Michigan duo of Tyson Stokes from Hell at 2nd overall and Tyrone Williams of Detroit at 5th overall as well as Hunter and Hudson Backenbauer of Turku, Finland at 10th and 12th overall, respectively. Brampton rounded out their draft with the depth selection of Ottawa native, Daniel Acker at 22nd overall. Sam Keeler was brought in through the waiver wire to provide grit and toughness and Jarome Iginla joined the club soon afterwards. Keeler hails from Madison, Wisconsin while Iginla calls Edmonton home. Lastly, Henrich Backenbauer was brought to the Blades via trade from the Bern Royals to complete the trio of Backenbauer brothers from Turku, Finland. Bodie Broadus and Vladimir Bodnar were brought in via free agency to provide help on defense and between the pipes while Triton Jackson, David Januzaj and Sasha Stepanov were trade acquisitions to provide some more depth. Returning players included Olli Brunnstrom, Kaspars Tsizling, Andrew Sorensen and Mirko Draisatl. With that kind of talent and depth, you are sure to compete for the top seed in the conference, right? Wrong. Well at least thus far, 25 games into the season that has been the answer to that question. Brampton sits five points out of a playoff spot with a record of 12-12-1 and are just +7 in goal differential. The Blades have struggled scoring goals with just 83 on the season but shut down the opposition in their own end, allowing just 76, second in the league behind the Yukon Rush. Brampton's powerplay has been dominant, scoring 28 times on 92 chances for a 30.43% efficiency rate while the penalty-kill unit has struggled at times, killing of 69 of 90 chances against for a 76.67% success rate. They have been one of the least disciplined teams, spending 229 minutes in the penalty box and have thrown only 470 hits while winning just 51.45% of their faceoffs. Two defensemen lead the team in scoring in the form of David Januzaj and Triton Jackson with 41 points each while first-year player, Tyson Stokes leads the charge up from with 27 points and the drop-off is quite significant from there. Sasha Stepanov and Bodie Broadus have 18 points each and Hudson and Hunter Backenbauer putting up 17 and 16 respectively. Tyrone Williams is next with 15 while many others are in single digits. Vladimir has been solid between the pipes, posting an 0.885% save percentage and 2.99 goals against average and two shutouts. Triton Jackson and Tyson Stokes have provided a physical presence with 84 and 61 hits respectively with Jackson, Januzaj and Broadus blocking shots like nobody's business with 47, 40 and 31 respectively. Brampton needs to start putting more pucks in the back of the net or they will find themselves on the outside looking in when the regular season has concluded. If they can improve this goal scoring drought, I have a feeling that they would become a very dangerous team and a threat to bring home the Founder's Cup when it's all said and done. Edited May 29, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-78766 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) Edition #37 "Moscow Red Wolves" -Shocking Results The Moscow Red Wolves finished Season 37 as one of the bottom four teams in the VHLM and things were not looking any better for them heading into Season 38. Moscow made an off the board pick with their first selection in the draft, opting to take Seth Rollins but followed that up with an excellent pick with their next selection when they went with Steve Tremblay. They made another off the board selection with their next pick, selecting Jose Canseco while the rest of their selections were just depth players. In free agency, General Manager, Bruce Wayne was able to snag Ludovic Kabambi and Nicolas Stormborn and picked up Askel Thomassen, John Heffley and Leo Dalton. Although many people do not agree with some of the Red Wolves' draft selections, they have iced a solid team thus far and whatever they have been doing has been working. Mosscow sits second in the European Conference with a record of 20-10-1 and just seven points back of the first place Turku Outlaws. The season is nearing the halfway point and the Red Wolves have been one of the better teams in the entire VHLM but how have they done it? Well, it is time to find out just how Moscow has been able to win games and exceed expectations in Season 38. The Red Wolves have scored the second most goals in the league with 147 but have allowed 127 against, seventh in the league and leaving them with a +20 goal differential, good for second in the VHLM. Special teams in Moscow have not been great, the powerplay ranked sixth at 24.82% and the penalty-kill unit ranked eighth at only 69.94% but they have been able to pound opposing goalies with a ton of shots. The Red Wolves have fired 1330 shots on net and allowed 1167 on Jose Canseco while blocking 349 more. Moscow has played very physical, throwing 864 hits on the season and thus, causing them to play undisciplined, taking 377 penalty minutes. The faceoff dot has also been a very kind place for the Red Wolves who have won 51.57% of draws this season. Steve Tremblay and Jackson Miller have been the leaders on offense for this Moscow club, Tremblay scoring 45 goals and 33 assists for 78 points with Miller putting up 32 goals and 39 assists for 71 points between Oslo and Moscow. The scoring production drops off from there, Mills with 41 points, Kent with 35, Miller and Thornstrom with 33 each and Rollins and Thomassen with 32 each. On defense, Moe Mills and Dale Kent have been solid with 78 and 80 hits respectively and 57 and 53 blocked shots respectively. Between the pipes, Jose Canseco has been a blow average netminder, posting a 0.877% save percentage and a 3.82 goals against average with two shutouts but has done what he needs to do to get the job done. If Moscow can continue their strong play, they will have a great chance to make a deep playoff run. Edited June 5, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-80972 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 (edited) Edition #38 "Yukon Do It" -Rushing Towards Another Championship? The Yukon Rush finished Season 37 on top of the world, finishing the regular season as the top team in the league and winning the Prime Minister's Trophy. During their playoff run, the Rush were dominant, sweeping the Minot Gladiators in the North American Conference Finals following a first round bye. In the Founder's Cup Finals, Yukon won the first two games but traded wins with Bern in games 3 and 4 and lost a close one in game 5. In game 6, Yukon proceeded to shut out the Royals and hoisted their third Founder's Cup in seven seasons. Although Yukon only had only selection in the Season 38 VHLM Dispersal Draft, it was a very good selection. They traded for the first overall pick and selected goaltender, Brock Waldron who they needed to replace Kimmo Salo. Season 38 has been nearly as dominant for the Yukon Rush with additions such as Mario Corvia (later traded to Oslo), Razzle Dazzle and Vincenzo Valentini via free agency as well as Kayl Kuzie, Lukas Nykvist and Gunzerker Salvador through the waiver wire and James Faraday from a trade with Bratislava. Yukon may not be on pace for the amount of points they had last season but they are still dominating with a record of 41-10-2 and a 26 point lead in the North American Conference standings. The season is about three-quarters complete and the Rush have been arguably the best team in the entire VHLM but how have they done it? Well, it is time to find out just how Yukon has been able to win games and find themselves as a favourite to win the Founder's Cup in Season 38. The Rush have not scored all that many goals this season with just 224 but have allowed a stingy 118 against, ranking them fifth in goals for and first in goals against, while sporting a +42 goal differential, tops in the VHLM once more. Special teams in Yukon have been feast or famine, the powerplay ranked ninth at 22.48% and the penalty-kill unit ranked first at an extraordinary 83.08%. The Rush have fired just 1576 shots on net and allowed a league-low 1317 on Brock Waldron while blocking 366 more. Yukon has played a fairly physical game, throwing 1084 hits on the season but surprisingly enough, this hasn't caused them to play overly undisciplined, taking 460 penalty minutes. The faceoff dot has also been a very comfortable place for the Rush who own the best percentage in the VHLM and have won 58.29% of draws this season. Don Draper and Bennet Wahl have been the leaders on offense for this Yukon club, Draper scoring 40 goals and 57 assists for 97 points while Wahl has put up 37 goals and 44 assists for 81 points for the Rush. Kai Randal follows with 78 points and then the scoring production takes a bit of a dip, Valentini and Dazzle with 60 points each, Kuzie with 54 each and Riggs with 45. On defense, Don Draper, Kai Randal and Razzle Dazzle have been solid with 118, 76 and 138 hits respectively and 78, 54 and 111 blocked shots respectively. Between the pipes, Brock Waldron has been an elite talent for the Rush, posting a 0.911% save percentage and a 2.19 goals against average with three shutouts and has been the best goaltender in the league this season. With this continued success, I wouldn't be surprised to see Yukon competing in the Founder's Cup Finals and even win their second championship in as many seasons. Edited June 13, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-83620 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Edition #39 "A Royal Storm Brewing in Europe" -European Conference Playoff Race With less than ten games remaining on the regular season schedule portion of the VHLM`s 38th season, the playoff races are starting to heat up, most notably in the European Conference. The first two seeds are pretty much decided with the Turku Outlaws likely to take the first seed and a first round bye, sporting a 42-18-3 record and 87 points. Meanwhile, the Moscow Red Wolves will take the second seed, barring a miracle, currently with a 40-21-1 record and 81 points. The Bern Royals and Oslo Storm are fighting it out for the third and final playoff seed in Europe, Bern sitting at 29-7-7 and 65 points while Oslo sits at 30-29-4 and 64 points. The Bern Royals schedule consists of three games against the Ottawa Lynx, a game against both the Saskatoon Wild and Bratislava Watchmen, three games against the Turku Outlaws and a game against the Minot Gladiators. For the Oslo Storm it will be a pair of games against the Bratislava Watchmen, a game against the Moscow Red Wolves, three against the Yukon Rush, a couple against the Turku Outlaws and one against the Minot Gladiators. As far as goal scoring goes, both clubs are very similar with the Oslo Storm scoring 261 goals on the season, ranking them sixth in the league and the Bern Royals scoring 257 times and coming in seventh in the VHLM. In terms of defense, Bern ranks seventh in goals allowed at 271 while Oslo has allowed 275 goals and rank ninth in the league. This leaves both hockey clubs with a -14 goal differential on the year. On special teams, it is much of the same story with the Storm owning the better powerplay percentage and the Royals owning the better penalty killing percentage. The Storm's powerplay have clicked on 53 of 212 powerplay advantages for a 25% success rate, ranking them sixth in the VHLM and the Royals have clicked on 59 of 248 powerplay chances for a 24.08% success rate and the eighth ranked powerplay. Bern has killed 215 of 286 penalties against, good for a 75.17% efficiency rate and the fourth best penalty killers while Oslo has killed 161 of 234 powerplays against, ranking them dead last in the league with a 68.80% efficiency rating. The Storm are fairly disciplined, spending under nine minutes of penalties per game in the penalty box while the Royals spend over ten minutes per game in the sin bin. Bern also holds the advantage in hits and faceoff percentage, out-hitting Oslo by over 160 hits and winning nearly five and a half percent more faceoffs. This should be and exciting race to watch right to the end and is good for the VHLM and it's fans all over the world. Edited June 20, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-85564 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 (edited) Edition #40 "European Conference Finals Preview" -Moscow vs Turku The Conference Finals in the VHLM are almost set with the Moscow Red Wolves sweeping the Bern Royals 4-0 in Europe and the Ottawa Lynx holding a 3-1 advantage over the Brampton Blades in the North American Conference, The Turku Outlaws and Yukon Rush finished first in their respective conferences and received a first round bye. Moscow finished 20 points ahead of Bern in the regular season standings, so a sweep was not out of the picture but Ottawa and Brampton finished with the same amount of points. I expect Brampton to give it their all for the rest of the series and make it difficult for the Lynx to advance. This week, I am here to preview the European Conference Finals between the Moscow Red Wolves and the Turku Outlaws. I will break down the series into different elements of the game and predicting the eventual series winner. Offense: During the regular season, the two top scoring teams were the Turku Outlaws and Moscow Red Wolves who scored 355 and 338 goals respectively, averaging 4.93 and 4.69 goals scored per game. The Outlaws fired 3007 shots on net while the Red Wolves fired 2562 shots on the opposing goaltender, Moscow finishing with a 13.19% shooting percentage and Turku with a 11.81% shooting percentage. Dexter Morgan, Dimothensis Vlasis, and Yoji Yamazaki tore it up for Turku, putting up 174, 173, and 128 points respectively while Steve Tremblay and Jackson Miller had a hell of a capaign, scorring 165 127 points each. Moscow also had four more 70+ point scorers and Turku had three more guys at 70+ points. Advantage: Turku Defense: On the defensive side of things, the Turku Outlaws and Moscow Red Wolves were nearly as successful, ranking third and fourth in goals against, Turku allowing 252 goals against and Moscow allowing 269. Turku allowed just 1985 shots on goal while Moscow allowed 2222, ranking them third and fifth in the league in that aspect. The Red Wolves were one of the most active teams in the league in terms of blocking shots with 721 while the Outlaws were no slouches either with a total of 666 blocked shots on the season. The defensive aspect is another close affair between these two clubs. Advantage: Turku Special Teams/Intangibles: Turku's powerplay unit was the third best in the league, scoring 89 goals on 306 chances for a 29.08% success rate while Moscow's powerplay was rated second best in the VHLM, scoring 83 times on 268 chances for a 30.97% success rate. As for penalty killing, Turku and Moscow were about "middle of the pack" ranking fifth and sixth in the league. Turku killed off 201 of 272 powerplay chances against for a 73.90% efficiency rating and Moscow killed off 249 of 340 powerplay chances against for a 73.24% efficiency rating. Moscow was avery physical team, delivering 1712 hits throughout the season and won 51.43% of their faceoffs while Turku delivered 1479 hits and won 5134% of their draws. Advantage: Moscow Goaltending: Goaltending has not been a strength for either of these clubs, Jose Canseco posting a record of 47-24-1 with a 0.879% save percentage and 3.70 goals against average with a pair of shutouts for Moscow. Fernando Pergher posted a record of 51-16-3 with a 0.874% save percentage and 3.35 goals against average with a pair of shutouts as well. Canseco was forced to face about 350 more shots than Pergher but neither were great. Advantage: Moscow Prediction: This is going to be a very close series all around, each club very close to the other in different aspects of the game. They play a similar style of play and it should make for some exciting hockey and a long series. The coach that can execute his gameplan without a hitch will be the team that comes out on top. It is anybody's series but I take Turku in seven games. Edited June 29, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-87630 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fever95 333 Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) Edition #41 "Rush to Join the Elite?" -Yukon with a Chance to Make History The Yukon Rush are currently battling it out with the Turku Outlaws in the Founder's Cup Finals for a chance at VHLM glory and have a chance to make history. Yukon currently leads the best of seven series by a score of two games to none on the strength of dominant 2-0 and 4-1 victories in the first two games. Should the Rush manage to close the series out and win their second Championship in as many seasons, they will make history in join some elite company. Only two franchises have won back to back Championships in the history of the VHLM in the form of the Brampton Battalion in Season 13 and 14 as well as the Season 24 and 25 Saskatoon Wild. Yukon would also capture their fourth Founder's Cup in eight seasons if they able to eliminate the Turku Outlaws and capture something very special, a dynasty in the VHLM. You do not hear about this kind of dominance very often in the VHLM and should the Rush pull it off, they would become known as one of the most dominant franchises in this era and quite possibly something that won't be seen again in the VHLM. During the Season 38 playoffs, the Yukon Rush have dominated every opponent that have been thrown their way thus far. earning a bye in the first round via their dominant 120 point regular season, finishing with a 59-11-2 record and fifteen points ahead of the next best team, the Turku Outlaws. In the North American Conference Finals, the Rush swept the Ottawa Lynx in four games, outscoring them 14-5 in the process and advanced to the Founder's Cup Finals to face the Turku Outlaws who came away with a seventh game win over the Moscow Red Wolves. In the regular season head to head battle, Yukon and Turku matched up nine times and the Rush won six of those contests while dropping the other three and outscoring Turku 35-21. In these playoffs, the Rush have yet to lose a single game and if they keep playing the style of hockey they have been, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go undefeated. They need to force the Turku Outlaws to play Yukon Rush type of hockey for that to occur though, and so far that is what has happened in this series. I think it's just a matter of time before Yukon hoists the Founder's Cup for a second straight season and joins only two other franchises in claiming that feat, whether it be in four games or seven. The Turku Outlaws are a great hockey club, there's no doubt about that but they just don't have the skill to compete with the Yukon Rush. Austin Gow has built a team that will be remembered in the VHLM for years to come. Edited July 6, 2014 by fever95 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/4474-fevers-articles/#findComment-89716 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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