Claimed:VHLM Semi-Final Analysis

[Guest Svoboda_3]

North American Conference Semi-Finals   

 

(1) (64-8-0) Vs. (2) (4-0 Series Win Over Saskatoon)

 

The Yukon Rush were the class of the North American Conference and basically the entire VHLM this season. They finished with the best record during the regular season and showed throughout the campaign why they are as strong as they are. Turning our attention to Minot, they recently disposed of their rivals in a quick 4-game set by scores of 5-0, 5-4, 4-2 and 5-1 during the Quarter-Finals. It was no surprise that Minot would prevail in that series given how weak Saskatoon is and how deep and talented a team like the Gladiators are. Other than an overtime win and a close 4-2 score, Minot was in total control over the Wild, setting up this epic North American Conference Semi-Final battle between the number one and two seeds in the Conference. In the opening round series for Minot, they got key contributions from Bruno Wolf and Aelred Leskowsky, as well as stellar performances out of goaltender TotallyNotA Bear, who had sparkling numbers in the series. Yukon enters the playoffs with a strong 1-2 punch of Johan Hallstrom and Queen Latifa, who had 192 and 140 points respectively. Not to be outdone is Konstantin Azhischenkov, who poured in 118 points of his own during the regular season.

 

Not only are the Rush deep offensively and defensively, but they have arguably the best goaltender in the minors in Kimmo Salo, selected first overall in the VHLM Dispersal Draft by the Rush. While the numbers may be unspeakable, the save percentage is one that stands out. In my opinion, a strong goaltender on a dominant team should have a higher save percentage, so there is some angle for the Gladiators to take away with; basically meaning that if the Gladiators can attack the goal and put pressure on Salo, they may be able to get a few past him. Regardless of any chinks in Salo’s armour, the Rush are just too strong in several aspects to allow four losses in a seven-game series. Some say that regular season records don’t matter between two clubs, and while that is equally true (Yukon was 5-2 against Minot, scoring 32 goals and giving up 14), the Yukon Rush should be able to continue their success against the Gladiators in the Semi-Finals.

 

Players To Watch:

Yukon Rush

Johan Hallstrom 73GP | 128G | 64A | 192P | +93 | 18PPG

Queen Latifa 72GP | 67G | 73A | 140P | +79 | 100H

Konstantin Azhischenkov 72GP | 50G | 68A | 118P | +83 | 142H

Kimmo Salo 70GP | 63W | 7L | 0OTL | .917SV% | 1.66GAA | 12SO | 4204MP

 

Minot Gladiators

Bruno Wolf 4GP | 7G | 5A | 12P | +8 | 6PIM | 20H

Aelred Leskowsky 4GP | 3G | 3A | 6P | +6 | 11HTT

Ashton Galbraith 4GP | 3G | 3A | 6P | +4

TotallyNotA Bear 4GP | 4W | 0L | .905SV% | 1.79GAA | 1SO | 241MP

 

Prognosis:

As much as a person wants to believe that this series will be close, I just don’t see the Gladiators exposing any real weaknesses for more than one game to upset the Rush in a playoff series. The Rush are very strong in goal, up the middle and on defense, not to mention their specialty teams play will be a key contributing factor in this series. Minot, while a good hockey club in their own right, they don’t have the elite talent that Yukon possesses and their goaltending, albeit strong in the opening round, will be exposed in a series like this against a superior opponent like Yukon. Yukon Rush in 4 games.

 

European Conference Semi-Finals

 

(1) (63-8-1) Vs. (2) (4-1 Series Win Over Bratislava)

 

Having just come off of a dominant series performance against the defending Founder’s Cup champion Bratislava Watchmen, the Turku Outlaws are living and dying by their depth and are currently riding high after scoring 31 goals in just 5 games, averaging out to 6.2 goals per game in their first round playoff match-up. The Outlaws received outputs from all sources up and down their line-up and got timely goaltending when Waldron was called upon (most notably in Game 5). The Outlaws enter the European Conference Semi-Finals on the coattails of a defensive duo consisting of Dimothenis Vlasis and Vojczek Svoboda, both tied for the team lead in playoff scoring with 12 points apiece. As mentioned, the depth of Turku has been their bread and butter all season long, which could pose as an advantage for them entering the series with the Bern Royals. The Royals on the other hand have been idle for the past week as they earned the break thanks in part to their impressive 63-8-1 regular season record.

 

In the season series between Bern and Turku, the Royals held a 5-2 edge, while Turku was technically 2-4-0-1, scoring 14 goals, while surrendering 22. Bern is led by a copious of offensive weapons, including Ron World Peace, Matt Reilly and Earl Parker, all whom of which surpassed the 100-point plateau this season. Bern has the obvious edge is in goal, where returning netminder and Cologne Express draft pick Blaine Olynick will be looking at finishing off his VHLM career with a Founder’s Cup berth. While his numbers are vastly more impressive than Brock Waldron’s, Blaine’s save percentage is far too low for a returning goaltender on a top flight hockey team. Bern is a team with a plethora of depth at their disposal, much like Turku. However, the Royals did lead the VHLM with 371 goals scored and only gave up 164, which makes the challenge for the Outlaws that much more difficult. As impressive as that number is, the Watchmen also score a lot of goals (35 more than Turku), so it’s nothing new for the Outlaws to have to go out and out-score their opposition and in fact, Turku has the capability to do so.

 

Players To Watch:

Bern Royals

Ron World Peace 72GP | 79G | 106A | 185P | +83 | 345H | 119SB

Matt Reilly 72GP | 38G | 90A | 128P | +75 | 22PPG

Earl Parker 72GP | 51G | 69A | 120P | +76 | 153H

Blaine Olynick 72GP | 63W | 8L | 1OTL | .913SV% | 2.24GAA | 5SO | 4337MP

 

Turku Outlaws

Dimothenis Vlasis 5GP | 6G | 6A | 12P | +6 | 17H | 19SB

Vojczek Svoboda 5GP | 4G | 8A | 12P | +2 | 25SHT | 142MP

Kez Kincaid 5GP | 7G | 2A | 9P | +7 | 16SHT | 43.75SH%

Brock Waldron 5GP | 4W | 1L | 0OTL | .0885SV% | 3.60GAA | 0SO | 300MP

 

Prognosis:

This series could go a variety of different ways. One, it could be a complete landslide and Bern takes complete control from the get go. Two, Turku steals a game in Bern and takes the momentum earlier on in this series. While Bern has the edge in goal and offensive overall skill, Turku can play a solid run-and-gun game as evidenced in their series with Bratislava and they have a solid glut of defenders at their disposal. As much as the cards are stacked in favour of Bern running away with this, the strength of Turku’s depth should come through and given the strength of the Outlaws’ defense, the series will be a lot closer and will surprise a lot of people. Turku wins in 6.

[RandomHero 55]

Linholm just flying under the radar.

Exactly as planned

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Linholm just flying under the radar.

Exactly as planned

You didn't have a wowing series against Saskatoon, so I went with the ones that stood out. Now go and upset Yukon.

[Kesler 1,514]

Wolf was a beast in the first round, hope I can keep it up in the 2nd!

[eaglesfan036 4,593]

Really cool breakdown Slobo! I'm not a member of the VHLM mag, but this definitely seems mag worthy. I like seeing the VHLM get some love too.

Edited April 24, 2014 by eaglesfan036

[Runny Nose 15]

God dang, this articles 'looks' amazing. And of course the content is also great.

[Will 4,660]

Content: 3/3

As the guys said above, this is clearly a mag caliber article. Well written, easy to read, and plenty interesting to keep a reader reading. I also really like how you lay out the stats in a way that actually makes them readable. Both series should be really interesting to watch. Despite playing on the Rush, I think I may actually be more excited to see how the Turku-Bern series goes. Like you said, the defensive squad in Turku could very well put a huge damper on the offensive squad in Bern.

Grammar: 2/2
Didn't find anything.

 

Appearance: 1/1 

Looks fantastic. Really, really nice formatting.

 

Overall: 6/6

Edited April 25, 2014 by Draper

[Guest]

Claimed