Malmo and Moscow: A Tale of Two Expansion Teams

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The Victory Hockey League just announced that they were going to expand their league and welcome two new teams! But they have yet to announce which two lucky cities will be receiving the teams. Instead of guessing which cities will get VHL teams, I'll instead talk about the last two expansion teams. The Moscow Menace who joined in Season 65 and The Malmo Nighthawks who joined in Season 66.

 

Inaugural Seasons:

 

Moscow Menace: The Moscow Menace had a very rocky start in the Victory Hockey League, finishing last in the league with a record of 9-56-7. Only 9 wins. Wow. To make matters worse, they had 155 goals for them, but gave up 332 goals, giving them a goal differential of -177. That is the worst goal differential since S63, which was the farthest back I could check. The second worst goal differential since S63 was -157 by HC Davos Dynamo. To prove even more of a point, in the past two seasons, the last place teams had differentials of -63 and -79.

 

Malmo Nighthawks: The Malmo Nighthawks stormed out the gate in their inaugural season, even being first place for a while. They were doing well until the latter half of the season, where they eventually dropped down to second last place with a record of 28-41-3, only the Seattle Bears having a worse record that second. Though they had a relatively okay goal differential. With 185 goals for and 221 against, they had a goal differential of -36, which is honestly not that bad.

 

The Two Teams Currently:

 

Moscow Menace: Moscow has their best season in their young franchise history, as they are currently tied for second place with the Helsinki Titans with 74 points.They have a record of 35-23-4, which is impressive. They might make the playoffs for the first time in the short three year history of their franchise, assuming they can hang on, which they probably will. They have 176 goals for and 165 goals against, making their goal differential +11. I think it's safe to say that they are having their best season so far.

 

Malmo Nighthawks: The Nighthawks have disappointed in their second season as a franchise, experiencing some Deja Vu as they are currently the second last team in the standings, with only the New York Americans below them. They have a record of 22-34-6, which is again, okay but not good. The Nighthawks have scored 168 goals but have also given up 230 of them, -62 being their goal differential. Still, this is their second season, so don't give up on them yet. After all, the Moscow Menace did horrible in their first 2 seasons, but they're doing great now. Maybe the Nighthawks will do the same.

 

Now, back to the two new expansion teams that are coming up. Based on what Moscow and Malmo have experienced, I think it's safe to say they will have the same pattern in their first few seasons. Maybe for their first two or so seasons they'll have a rough time. Eventually though, they will get adjusted to the VHL and have good seasons in the future.

 

But then again, who knows?