Who is Better: The Las Vegas Aces of S64 or S68?

[KC15 340]

Note:  Had already written my Media Spot for week ending 10/20 so per forum instructions, will claim this in following week, but with double media payout for the history theme week event.

 

 

Who is Better: The Las Vegas Aces of S68 or S64?

 

The Las Vegas Aces have had a great S68. They finished the year only 7 points behind the Houston Bulls to finish second in the league and just barely miss winning thePrime Minister’s Cup. But how does this team compare with the last “great” Las Vegas team – the S64 Aces who won both the Prime Minister’s Cup for best regular season record and the Founder’s Cup for coming out the top team in an always tough playoff bout?

 

Expansion

 

Expansion will make this a difficult comparison – the league has almost doubled in these short 5 seasons going from 6 teams to 11. This could mean a dilluted league in S68 or it could be a sign of an overall weaker league in S64 with not enough talent to go around to even the 6 existing teams. But laying all that aside, here are some interesting comparisons.

 

Overall Points

 

In terms of overall points, it’s fairly even, however, that S64 team does edge out us S68 Aces 111 points to 103 with all the difference being the 4 extra wins for the S64 Aces (both teams had 5 OTL).

 

Goal Differential

 

But that doesn’t tell all the story. Actually, the S64 team has another edge. They both scored more goals (316-383) and gave up fewer goals (164-190) than their S68 “rivals”. This gives the S64 team an incredible 152 goal differential vs. the seemingly paltry in comparison 93 for the S68 Aces. As a further proof of their dominance, the S64 Aces’ differential was approximately 150% better than their next best opponents’ - the Halifax 21^st with a 98 goal differential, whereas the one and two teams in S68 practically performed exactly equal (89 vs. 93).

 

Individual Dominance

 

The above comparisons have been based on overall team performance on both offense and defense, but how do the two teams compare in terms of individual stars. Did one or the other team get carried by one or two stars?

 

Offense

 

In S64, the Aces had 2 of the top 5 points earners and 2 of the top 5 goal scorers. Nathan N was the top point getter and second in goals (113/49), whereas Eric Parker was the 4^th top points earner with 102 while Connor McDavid scored 43 goals – good enough for 4^th best.

 

This means that there were 3 different Aces who topped the offensive charts in S64, whereas in S68 just two players dominated. And dominate they did! Jeff Tates and Benny Graves were #1 and #2 in both points and goals. Tates had 71 goals and 149 points while Graves had 66 goals and 143 points. What a dynamic duo! Perhaps there was a little more depth in S64, but the Tates/Graves tandem blows the S64 boys out of the water for fire power. Both Tates and Graves had at least 30 points more than the best earner in S64 and 17 goals more than the top goal scorer.

 

Defense

 

The vastly superior goal differential in S64 already suggests that the D was better in S64, but another indication is a comparison of the top goalies for the two seasons. In S64, the Aces had the 3^rd best goalie in terms of save percentage (.893). In S68, the Las Vegas goalie does not even qualify in the top 5. In fact, the 5^th best save percentage in S68 was .864 and so the Aces’ S68 goalie would fall much shorter of the S64 goalie, Joe Nixon.

 

Conclusions

 

As stated at the outset, it is always hard to compare teams across the years. Perhaps the better question is in the present. How will this Las Vegas Aces team do in its playoff run? The question seems to be – will the powerful duo of Tates and Graves be able to continue to score at their blistering pace and offset the more average defense or will the sharp falloff in production after Tates/Graves and the lack of a stand-on-your-head goalie prove their undoing?

 

In the playoffs, anything can happen. Goalies can get hot. Second line forwards can play like MVPs. Defensemen can rise up with a crushing set of hits and timely goals. Buckle up everyone – the race to the Cup is on!

[BluObieZ 1,125]

No Vegas team will ever hold a candle to the first season in Vegas

[Banackock 8,220]

I PREDICT S69 @KC15