Unsung Heroes: The Assist Men

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

The VHL has turned into such a low scoring league that the goal scorers get a lot of credit for putting the puck into the net. Which is deserved, but here we are going to talk about those who get assists. The players who don't get as much credit for getting those apples for putting the goal scorers in such good positions to put the puck into the net. These players like Nicklas Backstrom or Erik Karlsson who set up the plays with slick passing and good skating abilities don't get much credit for setting up those like Brent Burns and Alex Ovechkin. Let's look at those in the VHL who have the most assists this season.

 

60 Assist Men - D Diljod Starlord & D Smitty Webenjagermanjensen

There are only two players in the league right with 60 assists and they are both defenseman. Dil and Smitty, as they are both known as for the most part, both have reached 60 assists in 66 games so far this season. Both these men are the number 1 defenseman on their teams so they run the PP as well. They play the most minutes on the team for the most part, they run 5 on 5 play and they run the PP and probably play the PK. These two are probably in the running for the Labatte. That probably would make the "Sung Heroes" but the loser will probably be the unsung hero for that so I can still write about them.

 

50 Assist Men - C Kronos Bailey & D Hulk Hogan

Kronos Bailey is a defenseman turned Center and he just reached the half century mark with his 51st assist in 66 games. Hulk Hogan is also the 4th player of the season to reach 50 assists and he too is a do it all defenseman for the Seattle Bears. Bailey is coming off a 96 point, 71 assist season, unless a big push in the last 6 games happens, he will miss that mark but 50 assists this season is nothing to scoff at. Hulk Hogan as I mentioned, is another defenseman in the VHL who plays a lot of minutes 5v5, PP and PK so his 50 assists are great, his 2 goals though, not so much. However, he is more interested in playing shut down defense and getting those apples. He does both very well.

 

Soon to be 50 assist men? - Julian Borwinn, Apollo Hackett, Jet Jaguar, Guillaume Fontenette, Joseph McWolf, Randoms & Shawnomir Jagr

These 7 players are at 45+ assists with 6 games or so left in the season. They need to get 1 to 5 assists in the last 6 games to reach the half century mark. Could they do it? Borwinn most likely will get there as he has gotten there last season. He currently has 49 assists this season. Borwinn has been a loyal Helsinki Titan playing in his 7th season and will most likely come back for an 8th and final season. Apollo Hackett is also at 49 assists, like the other defenseman on this list, Hackett is the do it all defenseman for the Riga Reign. Hackett reached 50 assists last season and looks to finish with or more than the 53 assists he had last season. Jet has reached 50 assists in 2 of his 4 seasons so far, and if he reaches 50 this season that would be 3 in 4. The one season he didn't reach 50? He had 40. Guillaume Fontenette has had a huge breakout season with Bailey moving to C, Guillaume looked to take over as the number 1 defender on Helsinki. His previous career high in assists as 20, he has 48 right now. Joseph McWolf has reached 50 assists in every season in his VHL career, he has 47 right now, he needs 3 to keep the streak alive. HHH has 45 assists right now and needs 5 more to break 50. His previous career high was 35 last season so he is in brand new territory right now. Randoms career right now has been just that, he has been random. Putting up 29, 15, 25, 45, 38 and 45 assist seasons. All over the place, he needs 5 more to break 50 and any assists he gets right now set a new career high. Shawnomir Jagr is having a career season, his assist total right now (45) is his previous career high in points. He needs 5 more to break 50.

 

These players are amongst the best in the VHL at passing the puck, it would be a great season in the VHL if these 11 players can all break 50 assists. Would this mean scoring would go up in the future? A lot of these players are entering their primes as a lot of names i recognize from the Season 66 draft.