VHLM Playoff Preview | Halifax vs San Diego

[Matt_O 896]

Well, it's that time of the year again. The playoffs are upon us, as eight teams will battle it out for the leagues 66th Founders Cup. Last year, we saw the Minnesota Storm win it all, but it certainly looks like we will have a new champion this year. Lets take a look at the matchup between the 21st and the Marlins.

 

Halifax 21st vs San Diego Marlins 

Season series: 5-2 Halifax

Offense

 

Lets be honest, Halifax absolutely dominates the Marlins in terms of offense. They scored 58 more goals in the regular season, and they have the best line in hockey, with Gaudette-Nacho-Axelson forming the most dangerous line in the minors. Gaudette and Axelson both finished the year with 105 points, creating the most dangerous pair of wingers the league has seen in quite some time. Nacho is also a big peice to this line, and his 79 points are nothing to look past. Another reason the 21st have an overwhelming offense is because of their extremely dangerous second line, which some could argue is the second best line in the league, only behind their first line. Acyd Burn and Emil Passerelli once again round out another pair of wingers that is frightening to go up against, as they both finished above the PPG mark, and Passerelli passed the 100 point marker. Their center Trevor Van Lagen can score as well, completing the most dangerous top six forward group in the league. Unfortunately for the Marlins, they don't seem to have the depth or the star power to keep up with the high flying 21st offense. The first line of Tannehill-Marleau-Mikhailov is alright, but is no where near the Halifax first line. The second line is where Rhys Chism, the Marlins best forward, can do some damage. He finished with 85 points, despite his wingers Dalton Wilcox and David Clarkson having mediocre seasons. On the powerplay, both teams are very similar, with the 21st holding a one percent advantage, but that is insignificant. The Marlins will need to continue to play the defensive brand of hockey they have been playing all season if they want a chance to win this series. The 21st have an overwhelming advantage with depth and starpower, despite Rhys Chism's strong season for the Marlins

Advantage: Halifax

 

Defense

 

If the Marlins want to win the series, this is likely what it comes down too. Throughout the season, they had a better defense than the 21st, and their defensemen produce points as well. Lincoln Tate was in a battle with Hulk Hogan for the points lead early in the season, but they both dropped off towards the end of the year. Tate dished out nearly 70 assists throughout the season, and he will need to take over this series if the Marlins want to win. The Marlins also got contributions from second pairing defenseman Pierre Persson, with almost fifty assists over 100 blocked shots. The Marlins other two defensemen Samuel Sparrow and Dean Clarke also put up good stats, with point totals in the forties. While the Marlins have an impressive top four, the 21st also have a strong defense to back them up. Headlined by newcomers Lance Flowers and Guy LeGrande, they both hovered around PPG for their shortened time in Halifax. Boheem Bismark and Hugh Chan had decent seasons, and they finish up a solid defensive core for Halifax. Both penalty kill's were at basically the same percentage throughout the season, but I would give a slight edge to the Marlins. If Flowers and LeGrande had played an entire season and we could see how successful they would be, rather than just looking at a small sample size, I might give Halifax an edge. But for now, give me the Marlins.

Advantage: Marlins

 

Goaltending

 

This was a tough one to decide. The Marlins have Greg Eagles, who just came off of a pretty solid season in net, with a .900 Save Percentage and a 2.61 GAA. For Halifax, they have two goalies with high TPE totals, that split the games through the season. They both had underwhelming stats, although I suspect Michael Johnson will get the start over Thorvald Gunnarsson. One interesting stat is that Greg Eagles had over 100 more shots against him than the two Halifax goalies combined, and yet allowed 22 fewer goals. I'll give the Marlins the edge, but Eagles will have to stand on his head to give the Marlins a chance.

Advantage: Marlins

 

 

Even though the Marlins have the edge in goaltending and defense, it is a small advantage, and they have very little room for error. The 21st are far better than the Marlins, especially on offense. If the first or second line for Halifax gets going, this series could be over quickly. The huge advantage that Halifax has on offense is more than enough to offset the Marlins advantage on the defensive side of things. Unless Lincoln Tate plays out of his mind, or Greg Eagles steals the show, I would be very surprised to see Halifax lose this series.

 

Prediction: Halifax in six

 

Other series previews:

Reapers vs Storm

Wild vs Kings

Lynx vs Hounds (not published yet)

 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Matt_O

[Greg_Di 932]

Great article, Lets go Marlins!

 

[Gaudette 65]

Oh wow I knew our top 6 was good but I didn't know we may have the 2 best lines in the league holy shit

[Saelven88 58]

Fun article, thanks for posting.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Saelven88