Slipher Producing Despite Low Ice Time

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The VHLM season is in full swing, and so far the action has been dominated by the Yukon Rush. With a 19-2-0 record, the Rush are 15 points clear of the next-best team in the standings.

 

With a roster loaded down with stars, one player flying under the radar so far this season is second-line winger Vesto Slipher. With a 10-14-24 line, Slipher barely ranks in the top 15 in scoring and sits at seventh on his own team. However, he is the only player in the top 21 in scoring who has yet to play 400 minutes this season, and his average TOI is about three minutes lower than any other player in that range.

 

It would seem that Slipher, who ranks fifth in the league in points per 20 minutes, would warrant a bit more playing time. However, the two wingers on Yukon's top line are Sergei Kovalev and Leph Twinger, who are flat-out dominating the scoring race and are playing more than well enough to justify Slipher's reduced role. For the time being it seems he'll have to hope that what he does produce on the ice, as well as the work he puts in off the ice, makes up for the relatively low raw output he has so far this year.