Devise 4,475 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) Last season we saw a tight battle between several teams in the European conference. Vasteras Cologne and Helsinki were all close in points for a portion of the season with Davos standing tall among the rest. Eventually Helsinki would pull away and it came down to Vasteras and Cologne fighting for the last spot. Despite selling off assets Cologne walked away with the playoff spot. In S37 the North American conference is going to see a tight battle. After the previous season concluded Helsinki pushed forward on a complete rebuild selling of all the important assets on their roster. While a piece ended up in Davos, the majority of the players went to Toronto, Quebec, and Seattle. The three top teams in the North American conference. Quebec replaced retiring Skylar Rift with Tumoas Tukio putting their roster at similar level as it was last season. Toronto added Anatoli Zhumbayev adding some star power that they felt their roster may have lacked in the playoff run that saw them lose to Davos in 7 games. Seattle added another one of the top defenders in the league in Willie Webber and one if, if not the best overall player in the league in Ethan Osborne. This certainly addresses their perceived lack of star power forwards heading into S37. Also needs to be mentioned is the New York Americans added a star power player in Odin Tordahl. The New York American conference looks to be stacked, and not just for S37 but seasons beyond that. Toronto and Seattle are two teams that are beginning to age that have shown the urgency and need to win as soon as possible. While Seattle has added some youth in the form of Damon Tyrael they still will feel the urge as some of their core pieces get close to retirement. The Legion's biggest piece is inching closer and closer to retirement. While they certainly have a great roster combination of depth and star power, one has to figure that when Remy LeBeua retires, the Legion will be a shell of what they used to be. Seattle's window to win is longer than Toronto's so the urgency for Toronto to finally get a Cup in the next couple of season grows. Quebec, the only of the three who have recently won a Cup look to try to play spoiler. With still a solid roster of two of the top defenders in the league, 3 of the top forwards and an elite caliber goalie they shouldn't be slept on. They could just as easily upset either Toronto or Seattle with the talent they have. But the urgency for them isn't as high. They already won a Cup, and the expectation is they will be the first of these three teams to hit the rebuild button. The wild card in this entire situation is New York. The Americans nearly upset a Seattle team that many pegged to be far ahead of New York in S36. While one has to think with the recent additions Seattle has a great spot above New York, don't count New York out. Not even just against Seattle. If Quebec or Toronto find any struggles during the season, or a key player under performs, New York could very well be right there in the race, knocking on the door. With a top player in the league in Tordahl, stellar up and comers in XXX and Conner Low, the continued improvement of Brick Wahl and very likely some of the best draft candidates that appear to be roster ready heading into the season you could see a very hungry and surprising American team. They will likely win more games than they lose, and end up out of the playoff position but still a strong team. Ultimately the North American conference race looks to be a crazy one in S37 and beyond. With so much of the top end VHL talent finding it's home in North America, Europe is going to have to once again do some catching up after the rebuild of Helsinki to rival this conference. TL;DR THE LEAGUE IS CRAZY WITH TONS GOING ON THAT IS INTERESTING SPECIFICALLY IN THE NA CONFERENCE. HOORAY FOR COMPETITIVE TEAMS! Edited March 3, 2014 by Devise22 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kesler 1,514 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 #CakeWalkForDavos Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/#findComment-47002 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,940 Posted March 3, 2014 Admin Share Posted March 3, 2014 thank god for the tl;dr Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/#findComment-47010 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higgins 3,618 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 To say New York American Conference in a podcast is one thing, but to actually type it... yikes! Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/#findComment-47044 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devise 4,475 Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 Jesus I didn't even notice that....but I'm going to leave it.... *facepalms* Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/#findComment-47047 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,940 Posted March 3, 2014 Admin Share Posted March 3, 2014 scratch that, fuck the tl;dr, I missed the fun part because of it Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/5596-north-american-conference-the-elite/#findComment-47065 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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