Random Thoughts? Random Thoughts!

[Quik 4,113]

So, I don't have my laptop with me, but wanted to claim at least one 590 today since I'm once again procrastinating at work. For anyone who actually reads this, it's basically a rip-off of Elt Frdmn's 31 Thts, where I post some random musings about the league.

 

1. This season has seen a bit of a contrast from last season, in terms of offense. It's still there, but we're averaging about 5.75 GPG throughout the league's first 75 games. Compare it to last season, where the league averaged 6.27 GPG, and we're down more than half a goal per game. A large part of that is goaltending, where a lot of the league's goaltenders were still fairly raw last season, and have taken a step forward this season. But could it also be due to deeper rosters?
2. The dip in scoring can also be noticed in the league's scoring leaders. Last season's phenom, Podrick Cast, who lead the league with 174 points, is currently having his worst season to date, with just 20 points through his first 19 games, sitting outside the top 10 in all offensive categories. Riga is a much deeper team, this season, and that may very well be the cause of this Podrick-Power-Outage, as the Reign have still managed 57 goals, good for 3 GPG.
3. Leading the league in the early going is resurgent Gabriel McAllister. After falling 1-point short of the century mark, in a season where many players had their best offensive seasons, Gabe has scored 15 goals and 22 assists, to average over 2-points-per-game thus far.
4. McAllister seems poised to break both the 400-goal and 800-point benchmarks for his career, in this, his final season, as he vies to end his career with a bang. If he continues this pace, it would be hard to bet against him winning his third each of the Scotty Campbell and Scott Boulet trophies, as the leagues MVP and best 2-way player, respectively. If the Bears can pull out a Continental Cup, that'd give him a third one of those as well (and he already has 2 Kanou trophies to his name). Look for him to be a sure-fire S64 HOF Inductee, as one of the best to ever lace them up in the VHL!

 

Yeah, that's definitely more than 200 words...