Saskatoon Wild vs Yukon Rush: Team Comparisons

[Matt_O 897]

The Saskatoon wild and the Yukon Rush are the two best teams in the VHLM. They are the two favorites to meet in the finals, and there is good reason for that. The Halifax 21st, the third place team, finished with 40 wins, which is nine less than the Wild and eight less than the rush. 60 words.

 

In terms of forwards, the Wild have the best offense in the VHLM, scoring the most goals in the league at 244. Meanwhile, the Wild also have a solid group of forwards, even though they only scored 214 goals, which is second to last, tied with the Ottawa Lynx. A major factor in Saskatoons success in the offensive end can be credited to their first line, which has Chance Trepanier, Rylan Peace, and Anthony Dabarno. Each of those three have 200 TPE. On the other side of things, the Rush have an elite first line of there own. They have Kisshan Shan, Kronos Bailey and Ryan Zabby, and they combine for 582 TPE, 18 less than the Wilds first line. Shan and Bailey both are at 200 TPE, while Zabby is at 182. Their first line is also  very good, but I believe the Wilds first line is better. The Rush play a very top heavy game, while the Wilds lineup is more balanced. Now let’s look at the depth forwards.

 

The Wild acquired Mark Gebauer via trade to solidify their second line, and that trade has worked in all aspects for them. He provides Gucci Garrop, the Rushes second line center, with some stiff competition, as Garrop has one more TPE than Gebauer. The rest of the Wilds second line is filled with Curtis Gary and Alyson Blake on the wings, which help compliment Gebauer. They combine for a solid 412 TPE as a line. For the Rush, the players around Garrop are similar in skill level to those around Gebauer, with Dan Ballie and Nathan N having 123 and 134 TPE totals respectively.

 

Now we can look at defense and goaltending. The Wild have the likes of Toby Fitzgerald and Piotr Jerwa as their top two defenders, and that creates a solid one-two punch on the first line. The Rush have Ryan Sullivan Jr. and Jagger Philliefan on their lineup, which is very good, but not quite as good as the wilds lineup.  However, things change in favor of the Rush when you look at the second pairing. Burnt Toast and Dallas Jones are a fairly weak second line. Luckily for them, the Rushes second line isn’t so hot either, with B.B. Nat and Robert Renner filling that out.

 

In net, we have arguably the two top goalies in this league: Rhett Stoffiday and Brick Wahl. Stoffiday has 200 TPE, and so does Wahl. They had 5 and 4 shutouts respectively, and they were both top five in all three goaltending stats. This should be quite a battle. The two goalies practically draw a stalemate.

 

With that review of these two teams, I would have to give the edge to the Wild. They have the slight edge in most of the positions with exception to the second pair of defenseman. In a seven game series it could realistically go either way, but I would give it to the Wild in a hard fought seven games.

[Sova 53]

I mean Gebauer has 182TPE and is 6 points over Gucci Garrop but otherwise nice article

[Thranduil 293]

Turns out, Yukon couldn't even beat Ottawa.