Some interesting facts from the S57 regular season. [1/2]

[hedgehog337 3,483]

 

*a boring S57 regular season game, amrite?*

 

 

We've been waiting for this moment since the season has started - the S57 regular season is over and after a week or so we will crown a new champion...or an old-new champ (if Quebec). However, it didn't mean that this season was plain boring - at least it was sorta entertaining for some members, like Boubabi. There were kinda unique things that are not happening often or just an interesting moments that should be mentioned. Here we go.

 

 

SECOND LINE IS ALSO IMPORTANT

 

Well, at least I got a proof in this season. I'm really lazy to check the old indexes, but perhaps the we witnessed the GOAT second line performance the VHL has ever seen. And yes, Johnny Styles scored only 8 points and RIG D3 amassed even less (two), but the Krīgars-Locke-Thrower trio went ham in this season. Let's take look at their accomplishments:

 

The 74 OV player:

 

* 147 points, good for the tied 19th place in the all-time scoring TOP 25 list (tied with Rybak, Virkkunen and Milo)

* Guaranteed Mike Szatkowski award (most points)

* Has a shot at the Brett Slobodzian award (most outstanding player) and Scotty Campbell award (regular season MVP)

 

John Locke:

 

* Guaranteed Kevin Brooks award (most goals scored)

* 70 goals, good for the tied 16th place in the all-time goal TOP 25 list (tied with Campbell (S3), Radmonovic, Kroenenburg and Berger)

* New GWG record - 21

 

Alexander Thrower:

 

* Guaranteed Alexander Beketov award (most assists)

* 90 assists, good for the 24th place in the all-time assist TOP 25 list

* Probably has a shot at the Sterling Labatte award, however Casey Jones is a clear leader here

 

I think it was a good season for the 400 TPE dudes and I'll name this season a favorite I've ever had in sim-leagues if Riga wins the Continental Cup this season.

 

 

THE BEST SAVE % IN A REBUILDING TEAM? EZ.

 

These words are coming out from Rhett DeGrath now. We know that it's not hard to post a good numbers in a bottom feeder team, but I'm not sure if this is enough to get a best save % and if someone was able to pull that. But Rhett DeGrath says it is possible - his Davos was about to fight with Stockholm for not being a worst team in this league, but an MVP goalie decided to make other goalies in shambles. His 93.5% was enough for the best in this category. Also, this is another player who made the all-time TOP 25 list - 93.5% is enough for the tied 16th in the all-time save % TOP 25 list (however, he had a better performance in S55 - the 94.1% was enough for the second place). Is it enough to take a Shaw award? Not sure - the current situation in Davos might screw him, but I think he is pleased with his performance regardless.

 

 

WHERE ARE THE STARS AT?

 

While the Reign's second line was doing a nasty job, we saw a drastic decline from some players who were supposed to occupy the TOP 5 of scoring lists or grabbing the Labatte award. Only Helsinki's first line and Ravenwing were able to stay consistent. What about others?

 

Lukas Muller - The last season's Slobozian, Beketov and Szatkowski award winner notched 92 points in S57. Decent, but not 137 points from last season.

Diana Maxwell - The player who scored 100+ points for three seasons in a row collected only 87 points in S57. But at least her physical play was on top with 374 hits so perhaps she switched this style for the purpose.

Phil Shankly - The same goes to Phil. He was supposed to complete the Reign's first line, but instead his mediocre shooting % allowed him to score an okay 76 points. But then he has the league-best 426 hits; I guess he decided to give his scoring power to Ravenwing and Trombone.

Fabio Jokinen - The best S56 defenceman certainly won't repeat his success: his 74 points and 124 shot blocks are good, but I think we were waiting something more from the best Quebec def.

Lee King Snatch - Perhaps the second/third best S56 defenseman switched his position to a forward and this change kinda screwed him: an okay 68 points definitely helped Quebec to get a bye, but he could've performed better imo.

Pierre Gaudette - from two straight 100+ point seasons to 67 points in S57. We can actually say that almost the whole S50-53 Quebec squad underperformed in this season and only Skye saved their Continental Cup dreams. Bow down to Apollo.

 

 

DEJA VU: SEATTLE BEARS EDITION

 

Remember the S49? Not only this season started the decline of European conference, we also witnessed a 82-point team missing the playoffs from the NA conference. Which makes it worse, the 82 points is 7 points more than two best EU teams (Cologne and Davos) were able to collect. Seattle was definitely the most unlucky team there, but you now what? He comes the deja vu effect - the same happened in S57. Seattle managed to grab some good offensive players, but the mediocre goaltending didn't allow them to make the playoffs again in the highly competitive NA conference. An interesting fact - 88 points is way more than the third EU team Cologne has (88 vs 48). @Banackock could easily become the most unlucky GM of all time if his Seattle won't win a Continental Cup in one or two seasons (depends on his plans). That also caused a discussion about the potential changes in a playoff format - we might implement a crossover system once again to prevent this injustice.

 

 

AN EXTRA GAME?

 

Once again, my player is featured in this article. Like I said, I'm too lazy to check the old indexes. However, it is not usual to see a player who played more than 72 regular season games and I don't know if this thing even happened. So Guntis Petenis definitely makes a history - he played 73 regular season games instead of 72. There is an obvious explanation of this - by the time when Guntis was traded to Toronto, Davos had more games played than the Legion so thanks to @JardyB10 for this.

Also, Ike Arkander played 65 games as a starter. However, we can let it slide as NY didn't make the playoffs.

 

 

I named some interesting things that happened in S57 regular season. Perhaps I missed something, but I have more than 1000 words for Petenis, hence I'm finished with this article.

 

 

That's it and I'm out

 

6x2=12 TPE (14 TPE with an upgrade) goes to Petenis.

[Da Trifecta 1,902]

@hedgehog337, no Moon mention for stars?

Edited November 24, 2017 by KGR

[DollarAndADream 3,357]

Review:

That Riga team definitely was something else. Amazing performances by a lot of Reign players.