Playoff Previews: First Round SEA/NYA

[McWolf 3,116]

Playoff Previews: First Round

Seattle Bears v. New York Americans

 

And there it is. 72 games later, we are in the playoffs. This season was a weird one but, once all was said and done, the teams that were supposed to make it into the playoffs did, and the teams that are rebuilding or are still in that expansion setup phase. Just like that, the 72 games every team just played aren’t worth much anymore. Even if a team made the playoffs without too much hassle, they’re just 4 losses away from being eliminated by a team that barely made it in. Which brings us to this North American Conference first-round matchup between the defending champion 2nd-seeded Seattle Bears and the young 3rd-seeded New York Americans, reminiscent of a fight between David and Goliath.

 

 

Road to the playoffs

 

The Seattle Bears should be the overwhelming favourites, coming into this first-round series. They are better offensively and defensively, and apart from a couple of players, they are virtually the same team that seized the Continental Cup in Season 68. However, things are not always either black or white. While the Bears enter the playoffs as one of the best teams in the North American Conference and one of the favourites to make it to the Continental Cup finals, they have strangely struggled against the weaker New York Americans all season. Both teams won twice with the home-ice advantage and won twice on their opponents’ ice. Seattle did win one game in overtime, giving New York a lightly superior head-to-head record of 4-3-1, compared to Seattle’s 4-4-0. Both teams also tied with 19 goals across the 8 games played. However, when the Bears won a game, they did it in explosive fashion, leaving the Americans scoreless in their 3 regulation wins.

When it comes to games played against other teams, Seattle did have the edge, finishing second in the North American Conference and fourth in the whole league with a record 44 wins, 23 regulation losses and 5 overtime losses. New York ended up just one spot behind them in the conference and seventh overall thanks to their 35 wins and 37 losses, including 10 in extra time. As said earlier, the Bears were the most recent winner of the Continental Cups, capturing it last season after sneaking in the playoffs for the first time since Season 65. On the other side, the Americans are just making it back into the playoffs after missing them in the last two seasons.

 

Why the Seattle Bears should win

 

Even though they didn’t overwhelmingly dispose of the New York Americans every chance they had throughout the season, the Seattle Bears are still entering this series as the favourites, and are actually among the favourites to be the North American representative in the Continental Cup finals. They are stronger in literally every aspect of the game, sporting better forwards, defensemen and one of the best starting goaltenders in the VHL. Their forward corp, led by veterans Dan Wilinsky and Joel Ylonen, and youngsters Acyd Burn and John Frostbeard, is one of their obvious strengths. Wilinsky had a career-high of 39 goals this season, while also surpassing the 80-point mark for the 3rd straight time. Ylonen has been his regular self, playing a strong two-way game while eclipsing the 60-point mark for a 3rd season in a row. Burn and Frostbeard have actually both taken step backs from their strong performances last season but were still very serviceable, both scoring over 30 goals and 60 points. On defence, the team can count on a ridiculous top 5 of Hulk Hogan, newcomer Guy LeGrande, Leph Twinger, Ambrose Stark and forward-turned-blueliner Berocka Sundqvist. All of them are equally good offensively and defensively, but if we had to highlight one that could be a difference-maker over the course of the next 4-to-7 games, I’d say LeGrande, who was acquired from the Americans this very season, might be holding a grudge against his former team and could wreak havoc on them. Finally, the team’s MVP this season has definitely been goaltender Rayz Funk, who’d be in the discussions for the Shaw Trophy if it wasn’t for Riga’s Kallis Kriketers’ almost historical numbers. He shut the Americans out thrice this season already and could very well do it again a couple of times in the next couple of weeks. 

 

On the other side, the New York Americans have a tough matchup ahead of them. They did win half of the head-to-head games this season, but their roster is nowhere as competitive as their opponents’. While the Bears were named among the favourites to win the Continental Cup since before the season even started, no one knew if the Americans would even join them in this spring dance until about a week or two ago. Now, while their roster might not be as strong as the Bears’, they are a very young team, dressing only three players not still on their rookie contracts, meaning. Indeed, except soon-to-be-retired Konstantin Mulligan, no one on the team has been in the league for more than four seasons, with the vast majority of them actually playing only two or three seasons in the VHL. Despite all that, the Americans could surprise the better Bears if their young stars perform well. Boris the Forest and Keven Foreskin, the team’s leading scorers, both coming off career years, need to step their game up even more if they want their team to even have a chance in this first-round series. Soren Jensen and Ryo Yamazuki II, two of the league’s top rookies, are also expected to carry the offence for the Americans. On defence, the Americans are definitely not as dangerous as the Bears, but still sport a couple of strong blueliners, like Fredrik Elmebeck, former Bear Kevin Low and defending Jake Wylde Trophy winner Lance Flowers. The team’s true X-factor, however, is definitely young goaltender A Red Guy. His 0.923 SV% and 2.24 GAA both rank top 3 among starting netminders. Should he play as good in the playoffs as he did in his sophomore season, he might be able to save his team and steal a couple of games for them, which is basically what they need to advance to the next round.

 

 

At this point, all the Bears have to do to win this series and proceed to the North American Conference Finals is be their usual selves. The Americans were the slightly better team in the 8 matchups between the two teams this season, but they’d need a literal miracle on ice to summon their inner David and overcome their own Goliath. A Red Guy would need to play on his head, but it’s definitely possible. Not probable, but possible. My predictions are A Red Guy will be able to steal two games for the Americans, but they come short and the Bears win the series in 6.

     

Players mentioned: @oilmandan @Esso2264 @Acydburn @FrostBeard @HulkHogan @Steve @DollarAndADream @Banackock @Berocka @Rayzor_7 @hedgehog337 @Pandar @chillzone @Velevra @Donno100 @Elmebeck @Smarch @CowboyinAmerica @.sniffuM

     

VSN Writer McWolf

 

[Steve 1,951]

Good luck teams.

[Esso2264 774]

can i fight myself

[Jubis 1,350]

[Banackock 8,138]

44 minutes ago, Jubis said:

[Jubis 1,350]

@Banackock

Me on the golfcourse 

[ThePerfectNut 563]

NY in 7. Why not hehehe