VHLM in Review: Days 1-32 [1/2]

[TsarPeter 12]

 

VHLM IN REVIEW: DAYS 1-32

The first 32 “days” of VHLM simming have been thrilling to watch. There have been many twists and turns, while everyone tries to gauge where they’re at. Some teams overperforming, others underperforming, and every bit of it has been an engaging rollercoaster of emotions. Here’s a catch up on what has happened thus far.

Halifax 21st | 14-4-0 | First

Halifax is objectively the best team in the league, this season. Five of their roster players have started off with more than a point per game and their offense has never looked better. However, the main reason that they have found success is because of the stellar play of netminder, Chase.

At this point, Chase is the clear Benoit Devereux Trophy frontrunner, being the only goaltender with a save percentage above .900, as well as the only one with a goals against average below 3.00. Next season, Chase is likely to play in a backup role for the New York Americans of the VHL, but at this moment, he remains the reason for Halifax’s winning.

Houston Bulls | 11-7-1 | Third

Houston, the better of the two expansion teams, has done fairly well this season. They are a good, rapidly improving team, however, they have performed somewhat better in the wins column, than you would expect by looking at their player stats. Houston’s main stars are left winger, Kari Jurri and center, Maximilian Kirbsson. Both players have scored 10+ goals and have 25+ points. Houston’s stats take a big jump down after that, and there isn’t much sustained depth on the scoring front, which is why it is slightly surprising that they’ve managed to squeeze into third.

Las Vegas Aces | 12-6-0 | Second

The Las Vegas Aces, defending Founder’s Cup champions, is a team that seems like they have been playing over their heads and are placed a tiny bit higher than they should be on paper. It could be due, in part, to their schedule, but they do have a few spectacular players, which include elite right winger, Rocky LaGarza and star defenseman, Mitch Matthews. Expect to see a drop in Las Vegas’ performance over the next couple weeks.

Minnesota Storm | 10-8-1 | Fourth

Honestly, I have no clue how Minnesota isn’t first or second. They are in possession of the most experienced VHLM goaltender in the league, amazing scoring depth, based on what we know each individual player is capable of, and a great defense. Sophomore defenseman, Denver Wolfe is second in league points,    this season, with 38 points in 19 games, which is exactly 2 points per game. Minnesota’s first line is also doing very well, with all three forwards having a point per game or better. Minnesota’s start to the season has been a big disappointment for fans and management, but they remain confident that they will prevail in the end.

Ottawa Lynx | 10-9-0 | Fifth

Ottawa has been a relatively similar team to Minnesota, in the fact that they have claim of an elite sophomore player, but instead of an all-star defenseman, they have an outstanding right winger talent, in Jack Lynch, who is third in league points. The main separation between Ottawa and Minnesota, however, is Ottawa’s lack of a full roster, which leads to more fatigue and less scoring. This is the main contributing factor as to why they are in the bottom half of the league. Ottawa also has terrible goaltending, which has cost them again and again, this season.

Philadelphia Reapers | 4-12-3 | Eighth/Last

The Reapers this season, are like the Montreal Canadiens on the powerplay, except in this case, the powerplay carries on through the entire game. Philadelphia can’t score, at all, which is ironic, considering they are known as the party team. Their goaltending isn’t much to snuff up to either. Honestly, there isn’t much more to say about the Reapers, other than the fact that they are just dreadful. This is what happens when you break the rules, by tampering with new players Blade.

Saskatoon Wild | 7-11-1 | Seventh

The main cause of Saskatoon not being in the playoffs is their abysmal goaltending, as they have the undoubtedly, the worst goalie in the league. The rest of the team is fairly good, and the Wild would most likely finish in the top 5 if they had someone more reliable to back them up as their netminder, but so long as they stick with who they have, the Wild won’t be getting any better.

Yukon Rush | 7-10-2 | Sixth

Yukon is a team that should technically be doing much better than they are. The god known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley or “HHH” for short, is doing his best to carry the team, but he isn’t really getting them anywhere. Yukon has a player that is most likely going to win the Mitch Higgins Trophy, the Alexander Chershenko Trophy, and the Ethan Osborne Trophy, yet they are only in sixth.

Another factor may be the disappointing play of right winger, Sami Van Den Dreissche, who, despite having a decent amount of hype placed on him, has failed to score a goal and has only 2 assists, in 19 games, playing second line minutes. If Van Den Dreissche and the other underperformers on the team start playing to their ability, Yukon can and will easily make the playoffs as the wildcard 5th seed.

To Summarize

The VHLM is such a tight contest at this point in the season, it is difficult to base the skill of a team on the current standings. It is mostly a garbled mess, so it is almost impossible to know who is for real and who isn’t. We do, however, get an idea of some of the skill in the VHLM, this season. The next few weeks are when the real contenders will begin to separate themselves from the bunch, so this was just a first look at how teams are making out, but expect more of this kind of article in the future, as we move closer and closer to the playoffs.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Beaviss
Underlining

[TsarPeter 12]

Before anyone says anything, I can't unbold the thing, I tried.

Edit: Thanks Beaviss

Edited March 9, 2019 by TsarPeter

[McWolf 3,112]

Wow, bold much

[McWolf 3,112]

Good write up. Love to see Hali in 1st

[Beaviss 4,949]

16 minutes ago, TsarPeter said:

Before anyone says anything, I can't unbold the thing, I tried.

 

I did it for you

[TsarPeter 12]

1 minute ago, Beaviss said:

 

I did it for you

Thank you, it wasn't letting me for some reason

[BluObieZ 1,125]

Minnesota is faltering because we have not made any line changes

[TsarPeter 12]

claiming the second half of this

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

I enjoy reading these kinds of articles. To the point and covers all the teams in the league. Would love to see this for the VHL teams now that im in the VHL