S66 VHL Power Rankings: Week 1

[ShawnGlade 1,002]

 

1 Helsinki Titans, 52-13-3, 1st in EU

Last week: N/A

The Titans have been enjoying a very healthy season thus far, thanks in part to their big FA signing, Matt Thompson, as well as some familiar faces in the locker room in Julian Borwinn and Dan Montgomery. They continued their dominance this week posting a 9-1-0 last 10 record, only suffering losses to Toronto, Vancouver, and Davos. The real story of this team however, is the dominant play of their young goalie, Alexander Pepper. After a rough week last week, Pepper bounced back posting a .973 Sv% facing 37 shots against a talented Riga offense. However the issue that is currently plaguing the Titans, is their inability to hold leads. Multiples games this week saw Helsinki struggle to keep a lead for very long, including a game against Vancouver, which saw Helsinki leading with 5 minutes left, only to lose in regulation. This being said though, the Titans are still on a very dominating pace, and are the only team so far to pass the century mark in points, with Riga in second with 86 points. Having already clinched a spot, Helsinki looks to be a clear favorite for the Continental Cup,  as they will likely face Vancouver, Davos, or Calgary at some point in the playoffs. The one thing aspiring GMs should take from Helsinki is their depth, as their depth players had a very strong week. Defenseman Sidney Crosby exploded with offense this week in multiple winning efforts, and Orion Slade joined him adding in some assists. Their young depth players have really made the difference however, as Ludvig Sederstrom and Burt Meyers have had solid rookies campaigns thus far, however both had somewhat of a down week, with the only really noteworthy performance coming from Meyers picking up 2 assists in a win against Riga. Overall the Titans  are looking very sharp and have continued their dominance in the last week and distanced themselves from Riga, securing the first seed in the league.

 

2 Riga Reign, 40-21-6, 2nd in EU

Last week: N/A

Ranking in second this week we have the very defensively oriented Reign. Enjoying a healthy last 10 of 6-2-2, it seems like the Reign are buckling a little bit, but still maintaining a strong pace heading into the postseason. A big point of the season so far has been the underwhelming rookie campaign for HHH, but the talented Riga more than makes up for it. Their leading scorer Edwin Preencarnacion had a stellar week, notably a 4 point performance against Calgary who sits just one spot below them in the standings. This team however, wins games with defense. Contrary to Helsinki, Riga's style of play seems more based on getting the lead and keeping it. A good portion of their wins this week saw them grab a lead with lots of time left, but they never allowed another goal. A nice example was Riga's matchup against Toronto, where Riga grabbed the lead early in the third, and never looked back, defeating the Toronto Legion 3-1. The bright spot on this team shouldn't be their defense, but they are finding ways to win games without needing to score too many goals. Of their 12 games with week, only 4 games saw Riga allow 4 or more goals. Looking at the defensive core of this team, it is scary to see two rookies on the back end with an aging player, however since the departure of longtime Riga dman, Shawn Glade in the offseason, Ryan Kastelic has since filled that hole left by Glade and has taken over the Riga defense, leading all Riga dmen with 72 points. Looking at just this week however, a young gun who showed up a lot was Chico Smeb. Originally a Davos draft pick, Smeb broke through offensively this week, adding helpers in numerous winning efforts, as well as scoring the game tying and game winning goals against Toronto in their matchup this week. Heading into the postseason, I think the biggest need for Riga is for HHH to become the rookie he was expected to be and step up to score. While Riga definitely has the talent, they struggle to score large amounts of goals, in fact the only impressive offense showcase this week was a 7-5 loss to Vancouver. They've shown time and time again that they can defend, but their issue heading into the postseason is will they be able to hang with the offensive juggernauts of Davos, Vancouver, and Helsinki.

 

  3 Vancouver Wolves, 37-27-4, 2nd in NA

Last week: N/A

The talking point of the last week for the Wolves was their acquisition of elite defenseman Shawn Glade from Davos. Since the trade, Glade has been the star of the show so far, averaging 4 points per game (and no, I'm not joking) in his short time with Vancouver. It seems like the right move to make, considering Vancouver is struggling for offense as of late, with only 3 forwards passing the 70 point mark at this point in the season. Winger Jake Davis has led the charge for Vancouver so far this season, with 100 points so far, with Beau Louth not too far behind. However if we were to look at this week only, the three players mentioned have been the only ones performing consistently. Despite a shutout against Moscow, Roger Sterling has looked a tad sub-par in the last 2 weeks,  allowing 5 or more goals in multiple games this week. The aging netminder has been solid all season, but the team in front of him has struggled to put it together defensively as of late. On a better note, Shawn Glade has been nothing short of stellar, with performances like his 5 point night in a 7-5 win over Riga, as well as getting the first defenseman hat-trick in what seems like a while in a 6-3 victory over Moscow. While Glade has certainly been a large part of Vancouver's success, it's unfair to hand him all the credit. The defender has developed some nice chemistry with center Beau Louth and winger Jake Davis, where the two mentioned have had a nice chemistry going for a little while. Despite the great offensive outbursts, the Wolves only managed a 6-2-2 last 10, which isn't bad but isn't ideal when the standings are this close. Speaking of which, this week saw Vancouver finally breakthrough and overtake Davos in 4th place overall. Heading into the postseason, the Wolves will have to tighten it up on defense and have their star players keep up their current pace. The Wolves are one of the more offensively talented teams in the league, and they really need that to continue to have a nice chance against a defensive wall like Riga.

 

4 Calgary Wranglers, 38-25-4, 1st in NA

Last week: N/A

Despite being ahead of Vancouver in the standings, Calgary just seemed a bit meh this week. They are above .500 in their last last, at 6-4-0, as they are fighting Davos and Vancouver for a playoff spot. The thing about this team that really slaps you in the face is their lack of star power and scoring. On the season so far, only one player has surpassed 80 points, which is not very good compared to the teams they are chasing. Sebastion Ironside led the way offensively this week, picking up a few assists in losing efforts earlier in the week, but the real MVP of the week had to be their goalie, Brick Wahl. Wahl was able to keep opponents to 3 goals or less 9 times in Calgary's last 11. A stat line like this was what drove Calgary in the second half of the week, overtaking Davos just a few days ago to recapture third. Despite Wahl's brilliant play all week, Calgary was unable to put it together in some games, including getting shutout 2-0 against Riga on home ice. One player that could've done better all week was Diljodh Starload, as the young winger struggled to get on the score sheet in multiple games. As lackluster as the offense performed this week, the defense really earned their paycheck, including a defensive clinic against Toronto in which the PK went 9/9 and the Wranglers were able to take it to a shootout tied a 1-1. It's safe to say that barring a catastrophic collapse, Calgary will safely make the postseason, and may even finish 1st in the NA conference if they can hold off Vancouver. Having said this, Calgary is going to need to start winning games without taxing their defense and goalie heavily. They have big names on their roster, and some young guns who have shown promise, but their struggle is putting it together, and if they don't figure something out fast, it may be too late and they may be an early playoff exit.

 

5 HC Davos Dynamo, 34-25-8, 3rd in EU

Last week: N/A

Coming into the season, Davos was a clear cup favorite, but after struggling for most of the season, they now find themselves fighting for a playoff spot. With a last 10 of 4-6-0, Davos has been on a downwards trend as of late, and it's spiraling out of control. Davos is another team where nobody stands out as a true scorer, but they're an interesting case, as six players on their roster have reached the 60 point marker. The beginning of the week saw Davos on a nice winstreak, and at one point they had sole possession of third in the league, but all that slipped away in an instant. The Dynamo traded star defenseman Shawn Glade to Vancouver in exchange for Marvin Harding and a prospect. So far, the trade has had mixed reactions, most suggesting that Davos lost the trade, seeing Harding's lack of production since coming to Davos. Over the week, Davos dropped two games to expansion teams, scoring 3 or less in both contests. Dynamo superstars have come up short for answers on their play, as Davos once dominated the league in shots, but now find themselves consistently being outshot by teams at the bottom of the standings. Winger Elias Dahlberg had a solid week, adding a few assists in quite a few losses. Ryuu Crimson and Rylan Peace continue their hot streaks, building chemistry and emerging as the top two players on this Dynamo squad. In net, Finn Davison had a down week, but the blame rather falls on the defense this week, as Alvaro Jokinen and Charlie Paddywagon consistently found themselves earning minuses every night. Maybe a week ago, Davos was a lock for the playoffs, but now that may be in jeopardy, because if they fall any further they'll get caught. Their biggest need right now isn't for offense or defense, rather they just need to get it together and start playing like the cup contenders they should be. If they are an early playoff exit or miss completely, it could be a long offseason in Davos.

 

6 New York Americans, 34-29-5, 3rd in NA

Last week: N/A

This week saw New York start to buckle a little in terms of production. In their last 10, NY is 5-5-0 and really struggling for offense. Of their last 12 games, they've only managed to score 4 or more goals in 2 games, which is completely the opposite of what they need right now, as the NA conference is wide open and they're chase of Davos. New York all season has never stood out as a particularly flashy team, or one that scores consistently for that matter. New York's leading scorer, Leph Twinger, had himself a particularly good week, earning at least a point in nearly every game this week, including a few multi point games against Riga and Davos, the latter being a 2 goal, 1 assist performance against a team they are chasing in the standings. Despite a relatively weak week from the team in front of him, Ismond Kingfisher put on a clinic this week, allowing 3 goals or less in 9 games this week, bailing his team out big time. So it begs the question: Who is the next man up for New York? It seems as if Dan Wilinsky had a solid week, but still struggled in the later part of the week. Young center Carles Puigdemont has started a hot streak as of late, but throughout his first two seasons, the center has struggled with consistency. It's definitely  a logjam in New York, as they have 3 natural centers on their roster, leaving one center to have to play wing, and it also doesn't help that they only have 3 defensemen on their team. If New York wants to push for the playoffs, they're going to need to help our Kingfisher, as the Americans are consistently being outshot by 10+ shots, leaving the defense to do all the heavy lifting. Time is running out for the Americans, but if they stay consistent, they'll have a decent shot at the playoffs.

 

7 Toronto Legion, 31-31-6, 4th in NA

Last week: N/A

Toronto is an interesting team, because they really should be doing better than they are. On paper, they are way ahead of New York, but they too can't seem to put it together. In their last 10, the Legion are 4-4-2 which is not ideal at all when they are chasing a playoff spot. If the past week was any indication, the Legion may miss out this season. The Toronto offense did it's job this week, scoring 4 or more goals in 4 of their last 12, and 3 or more goals in 7 of those 12, which are some nice numbers. Oyorra Arroyo and Joey Boucher led the way for Toronto this week, with a combined 7 points in a 7-4 win over Malmo this week, as only one of their numerous good games as of late. On the back end is where things get dicey, but it's hard to understand why. Ryan Sullivan Jr and Tzuyu both had decent weeks, each racking up points in that Malmo win and some assists on the side in losing efforts. It seems like their defense plays a more offensively oriented game, as both dmen have over 50 points, yet they have 2 very old dmen to work with that can't seem to get it going. However, I think the real problem lies in JB Rift, as he's suffering from a very lackluster season thus far. In his last 12 starts, JB has allowed 4 or more goals 5 times, two of which came at the hands of the Dynamo. Overall, this team is not a bad one, however they need their defense to be a little more involved and JB Rift really needs to get it going, and fast or this team is going to be done within the next day or two.

 

8 Moscow Menace, 25-34-8, 4th in EU

Last week: N/A

Now we enter elimination territory, where these next three teams are playing their last few games of the season. Moscow is only in their second season, so they can't be teased too much, but I'm not sure what happened to this team. In the first half of the season, they competed and looked like a solid team, what happened? Anyways, the Menace have nice pieces to build on for next season, as rookie Jet Jaguar continues his dominant season with  a 3 point game against Davos in a 6-5 shootout loss. There isn't really much to say about this team other than they were able to nab a few wins off Davos this week and they tried their best. They were able to upset some teams and maybe spoil some runs, who knows. The bright spot this week for the menace was not only their rookie phenom, but their rookie goalie Owen May. In his last 11 games, May has allowed 3 goals or less 6 times. Those numbers don't sound very good until you consider the team in front of him. Menace had a good run, but it's time to look forward to the draft.

 

9 Seattle Bears, 21-39-8, 5th in NA

Last week: N/A

Believe it or not, Seattle doesn't rank bottom in this week's power ranking. This past week actually went well for the Bears, as their last 10 is a respectable 5-5-0. Despite their poor record, the Bears actually have quite the offense, led by Scott Shawniganen and rookie Shane Mars. most notably helping lead the way with defenseman Samuel Gate to a 4-2 win over the New York Americans. Poor goalie Clayton Park has been left out to dry all season, and I think it may continue into next season as well. The future is bright for Seattle however, as they have a nice rookie pool and can say they finish the season strongly, as they've been at their best over the past 3 weeks.

 

10 Malmo Nighthawks, 26-39-3, 5th in EU

Last week: N/A

Last but not least we have Malmo. Malmo also started off really well, actually they were in first for a little bit during the first half, but it all went downhill from there. An awful 2-6-2 nets them last place in this week's rankings, yet they are not last in the overall standings yet. There's not much to say in Malmo's case, so I won't bother going over which games were good or not, but you don't expect a team to do well in their first season anyways. They have a bright future if they just stay the course.

[Matt_O 896]

Malmo in last smh. Not surprised though