VHLM Playoff Round 1 Predictions [1/2]

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

With the VHLM playoffs set to begin in the coming hours, I think it's time we take a look at our bracket and see how they stack up

 

1 Halifax 21st v 5 Saskatoon Wild

After a very dominant regular season, expansion team Halifax finds themselves in a very comfortable spot heading into the postseason. But first, let's see how Saskatoon got here and how they're made up.

The Saskatoon Wild were able to defeat the Oslo Storm in 4 games in the Wild Card round. The Wild did a fantastic job of putting the puck in the net, but looked shaky on the other side of the puck. The defense is really going to have to step up for Kevin Weekes, or this series could get messy quick. Players like Anderson LaVey and Wolf Edmunds are really going to have to score a ton of goals if Saskatoon wants a shot at the series. The power duo of Burnt Toast & Magnus Backlund should shoulder most of the workload however. The weakest point on this team is by far the goaltending however. Kevin Weekes is not a bad goalie but any means, but he's far too inconsistent to carry this team past the 21st. If Weekes becomes streaky or needs to be replaced, the Wild may as well pack it up, as they have no backup to take his spot, unless the computer G can channel his inner Roy. However, their strong defense should rebound in this series and may actually manage to steal a game or two for Saskatoon.

The Halifax 21st are having a season for the history books. A first year team run by a first time manager and they're making a serious run for the cup is nothing short of amazing. The strongest point of this team has to be the defense, with 3 capped defencemen in Tzuyu, Dylan Nguyen, and Shawn Glade. All 3 players have show how scary good this team is when you have capped defencemen on your second pairing. Not to mention, Shawn Glade won DOTY as well as the goal scoring title as a second pair dman. Up front, Karl von Moltke, Ryuu Crimson, Nathan MacKinnon, Rylan Peace and Nikita Flipachyev are all busting their asses to name a few. In between the pipes, the 21st have played Cole Mertz and Tyler Smith half and half all season long and it seemed to work really well. Either goalie could've made a case for GOTY as well as either one could win a series by themselves. They are the reason Halifax was able to maintain the top spot all season.

Keys for success: 

If Saskatoon wants to pull off the upset of dreams, they're going to need that offence to maintain it's form like it did against Oslo. If they can learn to shut down the high powered offence of the 21st, it'll be a close one.

If Halifax wants to win, they're going to need to torch the Wild with their goal scoring and have the defence shut down the high scoring offence from Saskatoon. If they do that it should be a quick series

Predictions:

BarzalGoat: Halifax in 5

Jose Gonzalez: Halifax in 6

Jubo07: Halifax in 5

Shawn: Halifax in 5

 

2 Las Vegas Aces v 3 Ottawa Lynx

Both teams battled all season to catch up with the 21st, but neither pulled it off and now they both are in a bloodbath series to keep their season alive. Let's see how these teams stack up against each other.

The Las Vegas Aces have had a hell of a season and were oh so close to catching Halifax, but ran out of gas at the end of the race. However, their offence is from another planet, with players like Scott Shawniganen, Julian Borwinn and Jose Gonzalez all having great break out seasons in the VHLM. Not to mention their star studded defence core led by Cayden Saint and Mountain Thunderfist but being absolutely insane for them. However, the real strength on this team has to be their goaltending. Alexander Pepper has made a very strong case for GOTY and will more than likely win it. He's the type of goalie to really push Vegas over the edge in this series and may in fact get his chance, and it's shaping up to be a close on. The real lack for this team is depth outside of their top players. Except for their big name players, they don't have a lot of guys stepping up and playing too well. They'll need to be way more consistent with their defending as well.

The Ottawa Lynx have been a dominant team all season and it's very shocking to see them playing third fiddle to LVA and HFX this season. However, they may be the best team on paper in these playoffs. Guys like Dan Wilinsky and Chace Trepanier have carried the load this season in terms of scoring, but the depth involves much more than that. The thing with Ottawa is they can kill you with any combination of players on the ice at any time. On defence, they boast an absolutely LETHAL combo of Ryan Kastelic and Lando Baxter are enough to keep the team afloat on the back lines. In net, soon to be Reign tendy, Kallis Kriketers, is having a field day with the other teams. He's shutting out top teams every night and could contest Cole Mertz and Alex Pepper for GOTY. This series will come down to goalies, as either goalie has the potential to carry their team to victory

Keys for success:

If Las Vegas wants to win this series, they're going to have to wear down the defence on Ottawa and maybe sneak one or two in. They have the offence to do it but they need to show us what they're made of.

If Ottawa wants to win, they'll need to throw everything they can at Vegas and overwhelm them. Ottawa has the better team on paper, but they need to translate that to on ice success

Predictions:

BarzalGoat: Ottawa in 7

Jose Gonzalez: Vegas in 5

Jubo07: Vegas in 6

Shawn: Ottawa in 7

 

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

Review:

This is a good prediction sheet for Round 1! I love how everyone said Halifax was gonna win. The Vegas-Ottawa series was split as always. But, this was really organized and had good points for every series.