Ironside Progress

[DollarAndADream 3,357]

Rookie S. Ironside

 

Throughout the first 11 games in this VHL season, it's become clear who the contenders and rebuilders are. The Toronto Legion are dead last in the VHL in what is their second season of rebuilding their next core to compete. They have a current record of 1-8-2, with not a lot of players on their roster. Their more notable names are rookies Sebastian Ironside and Lew Bronstein, alongside long time veteran Slava Aleksei. Clearly, those are all defenseman, and that's basically all the skill on their team this season. With no goalie besides TOR G in net, and a few inactives manning the front lines, this team is riding hard for the gutter, and if they are lucky it will pay off in the off-season. These are the obvious plans though in Toronto. That defense actually would not be too shabby if they had a real forward group and goalie in front of them, and it bodes well for their future with Ironside and Bronstein gaining experience this season.

 

That brings me to my main point in this article, and that's talking about defenseman Sebastian Ironside. In his first 11 games, he has 8 points, and that includes 3 goals. He's been playing 30 minutes on average each night, and has a hell of a work load in his rookie year with Bronstein, considering the bottom of the barrel team in front of him.

 

Sebastian Ironside sits 6th amongst all rookies right now with 8 points. The list goes as follows: Beau Louth (13), Matt Thompson (11), Bryce Zhields (10), Podrik Cast (9), Samuel Gate (8). Ironside is tied with Samuel Gate in points with 8, and they are the top rookie defenseman in the VHL. Considering Gate came into the VHL as one of the top prospects and highly praised with a franchise player of a future, Ironside has been playing quite well. The rookie race is too close at this point to really judge anything, so it will be interesting to watch it moving further into the season, perhaps at the 20-30 game mark. The prediction for top rookie is basically a crapshoot this season, so we will have to see how the voting goes down at season's end, because I expect the numbers to remain close.

 

--------------------------

--------------------------

 

Ironside has made a bit of a name for himself so far defensively in the VHL as well, having some of the most shot blocks in the league. 1st place is Emil Martinov with 58, 2nd is Toronto teammate Slava Aleksei with 40, and then holding down 3rd place in blocked shots is Sebastian Ironside with 38. Those are some big numbers for a rookie defenseman, and if he can keep that up, I expect a huge season defensively from him.

 

Surprisingly enough, Ironside is one of the top power play goal scorers in the VHL right now as well. He is tied for 2nd with 3 power play goals in 11 games. Only Mats Johnsson has more with 4, while Ironside is tied with Veran Dragomir (QUE) and Mathieu Bourdon (QUE) with 3. That seems like some pretty random competition, so maybe looking at that number through only 11 games is farfetched.

 

From what I can tell so far, Sebastian is having a good rookie season in the VHL. It remains to be seen whether he will garner any votes for the Stolzschweiger Trophy for top rookie, but with this small sample size it is not too far out to predict him as a possibility. I would guess that guys like Samuel Gate, Matt Thompson, or Bryce Zhields would likely have the best chance, but who knows? I've won ROTY with Boychuk, Parechkin, and Boeser though, so really, it's not a trophy I'm dying to win. If I can get there with Ironside though I would be ecstatic.