Big Changes On the Leej

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Toronto Legion Prepared For S59

 

The Toronto Legion are sporting a bit of a new look going into Season 59, and it is one that many believe might hold down the number one spot in the VHL come season's end. The Riga Reign have been storming through the league the past few seasons, and teams have definitely challenged them, but they have ultimately come out on top during the season and during the playoffs. Last season, the Toronto Legion and Seattle Bears were the teams to challenge them the most, but in the end, Riga still went home with all the glory. John Locke and Freddy Krigars have been unstoppable these past 2 seasons, and you can only guess that it will repeat in S59.

 

Toronto is coming into S59 with a bit different of a look, and one that had them go through some trades during the off-season. They acquired Fabio Jokinen and Fook Yu, while Xander Finn, Lee King Snatch, Dexter Lane and Verner Reinholdt headed out the door. Another big change for them is star defenseman Roman Sokolov changing to right wing for next season. Sokolov will get all the chances he needs to flourish at forward, and will get top minutes with Bo Boeser, Fook Yu, MA Leblanc, and Daring Do. Analysts predict for him to have a great season, and possibly a career one.

 

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For what's been a great career for Roman Sokolov, he has never earned the trophy for top defenseman, which he has been gunning for every season. For anchoring the Legion blue line for so long, one might have predicted better seasons from him, especially considering Bo Boeser's top 10 scoring seasons. That has not happened for Roman though, and even this past season, his new defensive partner ended up out-performing him offensively. Pablo came onto the team and performed much greater than most suspected, and took everyone by surprise. Roman Sokolov also had a career season, but even then, other defensemen in the VHL did better. That seems to be the end of being a defenseman for Sokolov now as he has switched to winger and will be playing alongside Bulbasaur...I mean Bo Boeser. With a new training regime under him, he will be playing with a lot of firepower next season. Pablo and Jokinen will be on the blue line for S59, so Sokolov will not have to worry about the defensive side of the game as much anymore. Hopefully, things will click the way Toronto expects, and Sokolov, Boeser, Yu, Leblanc, and Do can fire on all cylinders.

 

With the VHL's best defenseman, Fabio Jokinen in blue and white, and another nominated best defenseman in Pablo, the Legion should be set on the back end, and set on forward. Then after that they have the best goalie in S58, Torstein Ironside. He did not have a great playoffs, so he definitely wants to get back to his A game next season. Although, he is having an awesome showing at the World Cup right now, with a 7-0-0 record and 94.7% saves, including a 0.99 goals against average. He brings along with that 3 shutouts as well, and all of those numbers are best in the round robin.

 

Nevertheless, next season is definitely going to be interesting. The Riga Reign will once again be a strong team, as well as New York and Seattle still. Toronto and Riga are likely the favourites, but the big challenges will come several weeks from now during the post-season.