Las Vegas Aces Mid-year Review

[DMaximus 1,046]

It’s commonly stated by pundits that the only thing tougher than winning one championship is winning two championships. The Las Vegas Aces are learning the truth in that statement this season. As we pass the midway point of the season, Las Vegas is currently sitting in 4^th place, 13 points behind the leading Halifax 21st. They are only 5 points clear of the 6^th place Yukon Rush and being completely out of the playoffs.

 

Fan expectations were at an all-time high after a great start to the season where the Aces won their first 6 games and rocketed to a 12-5 record. Unfortunate for the Aces faithful, the Aces hit a rough patch, going 2-7 over their next 9 games. During this time, sports talk radio was blowing up with disillusioned fans wondering what happened to their championship team. Whether the angry fan calls influenced Aces GM Jubo07 or not will remain something only he knows, but Jubo07 recognized the Aces needed a spark of change to keep the team from settling into mediocrity. Jubo07 made some bold moves by trading for 3 talented players: Mikko Aaltonen, Charlie Paddywagon, and Tyler Barabash Jr. These moves helped bolster the Aces squad. In most seasons, adding this much depth to a VHLM roster would immediately put the Aces back in the championship discussion. Unfortunately for the Aces, other VHLM teams followed Jubo07’s lead and added talent to their teams as well. Blockbuster deals were pulled off by Halifax, Minnesota, Yukon, and Saskatoon. The shakeup in the league will require time to learn the new identity of each of these teams and ultimately prove which GM made the best moves.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the trades, things did not go as expected for the Aces. In the 8 games following the Mikko trade, the Aces went 2-6, with 3 OTL. Tyler and Charlie played in the final 5 of those games. The new team members combined with the poor results made Jubo07 and Assistant GM BonzaiJoe spend many hours pouring over statistics and videos. This in-depth analysis led to a frequent shuffling of lines between games. It appears Jubo07 and BonzaiJoe have finally landed on the right formula because the Aces seemed to have turned things around, going 7-3 in their last 10 games. Recent player comments echo this new found optimism, new team member Charlie Paddywagon spoke about his increasing comfortableness with Las Vegas, “It feels good to be on this team. The locker room is welcoming. Jubo and Joe help everyone out. It makes for an easier transition when your new teammates look out for you. I feel like Las Vegas is home now.”

 

Based on these recent performances, which include a 7-1 drubbing of 3^rd place Ottawa Lynx and strong performances by all three of the new team members, it appears the Aces are poised for another cup run. The Aces could be headed for a rematch of last season’s final versus the Halifax 21^st and a chance at becoming the first back-to-back Founder’s Cup winners since they did it in S56 and S57.