Under 250: The VHLM Review (S70 #1)

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

 

 

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Under 250: The VHLM Report. In these series, we will be taking a look at the trends and topics from the past week in the VHLM. What twists and turns will our minor league hold? Stay tuned to find out!

 

 

The Review:

 

And so it begins! Last week saw the S70 VHL and VHLM seasons kick off with a bang. Although it is certainly too early to tell, a few teams have quickly jumped to the top of the pack, as the Ottawa Lynx and Minnesota Storm have pulled away from the rest of the pack at 30 and 28 points respectively after 16 games played. Time will tell if these two teams will keep their position in the standings, come the postseason, but for now, one thing is certain: they have been dominant thus far. Ottawa’s only loss thus far has been to the Storm, while Minnesota has lost just twice, to the Philadelphia Reapers and the Houston Bulls, the 3rd and 4th place teams.

 

Speaking of the mid-table teams, the Reapers and Bulls, along with the San Diego Marlins, have all started strong as well. Despite not quite reaching the same level of Ottawa and Minnesota, they are all tied with a respectable 20 points each after 15 games played. Further down the standings, we have the Mexico City Kings with 16 points, the Las Vegas Aces with 14 points, and finally, rounding out the playoff positions we have the Halifax 21st, with 10 points. 

 

Looking to catch up and regain playoff position we have the Mississauga Hounds with 7 points, the Saskatoon Wild coming off their Founder’s Cup hangover with 6 points, and finally, the Yukon Rush, who round out the standings with only 5 points. This leads us to our current standings as of Game 84:

 

 

 

The Highlights

 

Certainly, the highlight of the initial week of games is the emergence of the two leading teams at the top of the pack, Ottawa and Minnesota. Ottawa has been a terror offensively, with 92 goals for, leading the league by a significant margin. Led by a forward core that includes three of the top five points leaders, including their top two centres, Lewis Dawson and Ola Vikingstad, Ottawa has been putting teams through the paces. They have scored eight or more goals on five separate occasions out of 16 total games, including a 10-3 thrashing of the Yukon Rush in game 31, featuring a six-point, two-goal game from the aforementioned Vikingstad. Their defence, while not outstanding, has been consistently solid, and have allowed a total of 45 goals against for an average of 2.815 per game. When you consider they have scored an average of 5.75 goals per game, however, their defence appears less of a problem and is regardless good enough for fourth in the league. 

 

The Storm, while still potent offensively, have concentrated their efforts on the defensive end of the rink. Led by last year’s regular-season MVP Danny DeYeeto and sophomore goaltender Jaxx Hextall, the Storm has allowed just 2.25 goals against per game on average, good for best in the league. On the offensive end, despite having scored the third-most goals in the league (more on that later), only left-winger Gabriel Gutzwiler cracks the top ten in points. The Storm rely on a host of depth scoring, with the most point-per-game players on their team in the league at eight total reaching the mark, and with all eight having 20 or more points through 16 games played. 

 

Minnesota Storm is third in the league for goals scored, however, who is second? The San Diego Marlins, despite sitting in 5th position, have scored a huge 81 goals throughout 15 games played, leaving them with a goal differential of  +35. Showcasing their offensive talent, look to Game 50 in which the Marlins put 12 past the Mississauga Hounds in a 12-3 blowout. 

 

Recently acquired via trade from Las Vegas, Marlin’s starting goaltender Bruce Grimaldi has been thus far a powerhouse in the VHLM, and has all eyes on him for early predictions of the end of the year awards. He has passed not only the .900 SV% mark, usually considered good for a VHLM goaltender, but also the .910, with a fantastic .915 SV% on 468 shots against. Combine that with the fantastic scoring ability of the Marlins from the likes of Roque Davis and Kyl Oferson (each in the top five points leaders), and you have yourselves a real threat. Although the Marlins are currently 5th (on tiebreakers, on points they are tied for third), with the talent they have, expect to see them rise soon. 

 

Trades

 

Outside of the ice, there has been relatively little movement. Mexico City lost a few players early on in the season to their VHL teams on call-ups in the way of Alyksander Hunter and Milos Slavik, though they traded for defenseman Dylan Carpenter to bolster their defensive pairs somewhat. The biggest trades thus far this season go to San Diego, with the aforementioned trade for top goaltender Grimaldi from Las Vegas, which at the price of an S72 2nd round pick is a tidy investment to help them make a run at the cup and Minnesota. The Storm offloaded a pool of picks and prospects to Halifax in exchange for veterans Ben Storm and Liam Rooney. The duo has had an immediate impact, having scored a combined four points in their first two games. 

 

 

That’s all for this edition of Under 250: The VHLM Review. Thank you all for reading, and stay tuned next week for the inside scoop on all the going on in the league. Until next time!

 

Players Mentioned:  @Kendrick, @Dil, @Cran, @ROOKIE745,

@DaftRaincloud, @Psyduck77, @Josh, @Nykonax, @Jaku,

@Frank, @Carpenter74, @BigBallerFromDownUnder, @elrune1988

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

 

Edited February 1, 2020 by Mr_Hatter

[Banackock 8,138]

Sweet write up @Mr_Hatter

[Dil 1,763]

18 game point streak ez

[Brrbisbrr 207]

Ottawa having top scoring and a solid but not overpowering defense.  Haven't we seen this before?

[Kendrick 4,741]

9 minutes ago, Brrbisbrr said:

Ottawa having top scoring and a solid but not overpowering defense.  Haven't we seen this before?

I remember a day when we won a cup that way

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

50 minutes ago, Brrbisbrr said:

Ottawa having top scoring and a solid but not overpowering defense.  Haven't we seen this before?

Yeah but their goalies were great

[DaftRaincloud 62]

Thanks for the shoutout! Nice article.