Under 250: The VHLM Review (S70 #2)

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

 

Hello, and welcome back to 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

 

Welcome back to the VHLM Review; let's take a look at how the last week of games went, and see what’s going down. At the top of the table, the Ottawa Lynx have maintained their number one position with 57 points through 33 games played, having maintained their dominant offensive presence that holds the most goals scored in the league. With that said, the Minnesota Storm are right on their heels, only a point back with a game in hand, as they were triumphant over the Lynx in Game 150 in a 6-4 victory. They maintain the league’s title of best defensive record with 70 goals allowed through 32 games. 

 

The San Diego Marlins, as predicted last week, has made a strong push to secure the 3rd place position, only seven points off the top. They beat the Storm in turn off a fantastic two-goal, one assist performance from one of the leagues top D-men in Roque Davis in a 4-3 thriller (Game 173). In fact, Marlin’s offence has been firing on all cylinders, and are only one goal scored behind the Lynx with a game in hand. Following the Marlins closely we have the Houston Bulls, who have also pulled away from the pack somewhat, holding a six-point lead over 5th place, the Philadelphia Reapers. The Reapers are the first team out of the top five to drop off in form, as they fall behind both the Marlins and the Bulls, with whom they previously shared the 3rd position in the table. They have lost three of their last five, including a surprise upset to the Las Vegas Aces (though they demolished the Aces 10-2 in their very next game, Game 172).

 

Just as last week, following the top five contenders we have a little bit of a drop-off, with the Mexico City Kings coming up for the sixth slot. They are comfortably sitting in playoff territory, eleven points off the fifth and six points above 7th, but they have some work cut out for them if they want to push for the cup this season. They have had a bag of mixed results recently, splitting their last ten games at five wins and five losses. The Las Vegas Aces are the next playoff team in the seventh position with 25 points. They have struggled thus far to keep consistent scoring from their forwards, and have relied on great performances from their top defensive pairing, Mike van Stronk and Blacker Velvet, making up two of their three players scoring at a point per game, and sit at the fifth and seventh position for defenseman scoring, respectively. 

 

Searching for that playoff bubble, we have the Mississauga Hounds with 20 points, having taken the eighth final spot from the Halifax 21st who have dropped off in quality following their player movements out of the squad. The Hounds have relied on performances from their top scorer and 1C Dick Cheezy, but remain slogging it out for a chance at a Cinderella cup run. Following the Hounds, we have the Saskatoon Wild who continue to struggle, currently on a five-game losing streak, including a 6-1 loss to 10th place Halifax in Game 176. 

 

Speaking of Halifax, they have struggled recently, dropping down out of playoff position, though they remain four points back off it. Interestingly enough, Halifax remains one of only three teams to have failed to lose in overtime this season, the other two being Minnesota and Philadelphia, with netminder Hex Valentine having seen them victorious through three shootouts thus far. Rounding out the table we have the last-place Yukon Rush. The Rush have struggled greatly this season, on both ends of the ice, they have just three wins on the season, and with no point-per-game scorers on the squad, it may be a long season. This brings us to our table as of Game 177:
 

 

 

The Highlights

 

Now on to some highlights and spotlights from the past few weeks. Game 152 between the Mexico City Kings and the Yukon Rush saw Mexico take the game in overtime in a fantastic showdown between these two teams. Yukon went down by two goals just ten seconds into the third period but quickly came back, with Yukon’s leading scorer Zyrok12 scoring a power-play goal to tie it up just two minutes later. Alex Bridges would go onto score the game-winner for Mexico just 3:46 into the overtime period on a power-play goal. It wasn’t just the game-winning goal to make this game memorable, however. We saw a fantastic three fights over the course of the match, with VHLM vet KSI dropping the gloves not once, but twice, although he lost the first to Yukon’s Mickey Dickson, and drew with Ray Shields.  Fantastically, KSI wasn’t the only player to use his fists twice; so did Ray Shields, who beat up Mexico’s 1C Alex Bridges late in the third! Though, Bridges and the Kings ended up having the last laugh after his OT game-winner. 

 

Taking a look at some other fun statistics, let’s see who is leading the league with shot percentage! Taking only players with over 50 shots, the most precise player in the league is currently Minnesota’s Ben Storm, hitting the back of the net off 21.67% of all his 120 shots. Next, we have Philadelphia’s Jared Spaz who is shooting 18.63% on 102 shots. Heading back to Minnesota and rounding out the top three we have Leon Gutzwiler, with 18.12% on 138 shots. As an honourable mention for our true volume shooters (over 200 shots), we have Erik Killinger of the Houston Bulls, good for 16.59% of his whopping 205 shots. 

Player Spotlight: Gary Tarantino

 

Going into his second year with the Saskatoon Wild, Gary Tarantino has already scored roughly twice the goals he has scored over his first 145 games in the VHLM, in just 32 games. He has been a bright spot for the otherwise struggling Wild and leads the team with his 51 points. He has the second-best +/- on the team of players with over 10 MPG, with only his fellow winger Joaquin Ventura beating him out at -11 to his -12. Tarantino is one of only a few players still with the Wild after their Founder’s Cup last season and has brought that same championship mentality back for another year. Saskatoon is currently on the brink of securing a playoff position, and Tarantino looks to be the man they think can do just that. 
 

 

Player Movement

 

There have been a couple more shifts, but nothing too major. After being called up by the Riga Reign, Alyksander Hunter has been sent back down to Mexico City, likely to prove a boon for the Kings side. On the trade end of things, Yukon has shifted away a few players for future picks, including sending defenseman Sven Nyckel to Mexico City for a 5th and 6th round pick, as well as centre Tomothe Dylansen to the Houston Bulls in exchange for a 4th and 5th round pick. 

 

 

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 that's going on in the league. Until next time!

 

Players Mentioned: @Josh, @Beerfridge, @Higgins, @goldenglutes, @DrHexDex, @Zyrok, @Alex Bridge, 

@Kritz, @Brewins15, @Zetterberg, @BigBallerFromDownUnder, @Spaz, @Gwdjohnson,

@Peace, @Garrett, @ChiefKeefe, @Jaku, @Thatguy91, @Boomcheck

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Mr_Hatter

[Peace 1,562]

8 minutes ago, Mr_Hatter said:

we have Erik Killinger of the Houston Bulls, good for 16.59% of his whopping 205 shots.

I generate offense with a player of mine?! 

Edited February 9, 2020 by Peace

[Walter Fizz 84]

5 minutes ago, Peace said:

I generate offense with a player of mine?! 

You also generate our team cap

[Motzaburger 1,590]

Mexico City making talk

[Zyrok 173]

8 hours ago, Mr_Hatter said:

 

Hello, and welcome back to 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

 

Welcome back to the VHLM Review; let's take a look at how the last week of games went, and see what’s going down. At the top of the table, the Ottawa Lynx have maintained their number one position with 57 points through 33 games played, having maintained their dominant offensive presence that holds the most goals scored in the league. With that said, the Minnesota Storm are right on their heels, only a point back with a game in hand, as they were triumphant over the Lynx in Game 150 in a 6-4 victory. They maintain the league’s title of best defensive record with 70 goals allowed through 32 games. 

 

The San Diego Marlins, as predicted last week, has made a strong push to secure the 3rd place position, only seven points off the top. They beat the Storm in turn off a fantastic two-goal, one assist performance from one of the leagues top D-men in Roque Davis in a 4-3 thriller (Game 173). In fact, Marlin’s offence has been firing on all cylinders, and are only one goal scored behind the Lynx with a game in hand. Following the Marlins closely we have the Houston Bulls, who have also pulled away from the pack somewhat, holding a six-point lead over 5th place, the Philadelphia Reapers. The Reapers are the first team out of the top five to drop off in form, as they fall behind both the Marlins and the Bulls, with whom they previously shared the 3rd position in the table. They have lost three of their last five, including a surprise upset to the Las Vegas Aces (though they demolished the Aces 10-2 in their very next game, Game 172).

 

Just as last week, following the top five contenders we have a little bit of a drop-off, with the Mexico City Kings coming up for the sixth slot. They are comfortably sitting in playoff territory, eleven points off the fifth and six points above 7th, but they have some work cut out for them if they want to push for the cup this season. They have had a bag of mixed results recently, splitting their last ten games at five wins and five losses. The Las Vegas Aces are the next playoff team in the seventh position with 25 points. They have struggled thus far to keep consistent scoring from their forwards, and have relied on great performances from their top defensive pairing, Mike van Stronk and Blacker Velvet, making up two of their three players scoring at a point per game, and sit at the fifth and seventh position for defenseman scoring, respectively. 

 

Searching for that playoff bubble, we have the Mississauga Hounds with 20 points, having taken the eighth final spot from the Halifax 21st who have dropped off in quality following their player movements out of the squad. The Hounds have relied on performances from their top scorer and 1C Dick Cheezy, but remain slogging it out for a chance at a Cinderella cup run. Following the Hounds, we have the Saskatoon Wild who continue to struggle, currently on a five-game losing streak, including a 6-1 loss to 10th place Halifax in Game 176. 

 

Speaking of Halifax, they have struggled recently, dropping down out of playoff position, though they remain four points back off it. Interestingly enough, Halifax remains one of only three teams to have failed to lose in overtime this season, the other two being Minnesota and Philadelphia, with netminder Hex Valentine having seen them victorious through three shootouts thus far. Rounding out the table we have the last-place Yukon Rush. The Rush have struggled greatly this season, on both ends of the ice, they have just three wins on the season, and with no point-per-game scorers on the squad, it may be a long season. This brings us to our table as of Game 177:
 

 

 

The Highlights

 

Now on to some highlights and spotlights from the past few weeks. Game 152 between the Mexico City Kings and the Yukon Rush saw Mexico take the game in overtime in a fantastic showdown between these two teams. Yukon went down by two goals just ten seconds into the third period but quickly came back, with Yukon’s leading scorer Zyrok12 scoring a power-play goal to tie it up just two minutes later. Alex Bridges would go onto score the game-winner for Mexico just 3:46 into the overtime period on a power-play goal. It wasn’t just the game-winning goal to make this game memorable, however. We saw a fantastic three fights over the course of the match, with VHLM vet KSI dropping the gloves not once, but twice, although he lost the first to Yukon’s Mickey Dickson, and drew with Ray Shields.  Fantastically, KSI wasn’t the only player to use his fists twice; so did Ray Shields, who beat up Mexico’s 1C Alex Bridges late in the third! Though, Bridges and the Kings ended up having the last laugh after his OT game-winner. 

 

Taking a look at some other fun statistics, let’s see who is leading the league with shot percentage! Taking only players with over 50 shots, the most precise player in the league is currently Minnesota’s Ben Storm, hitting the back of the net off 21.67% of all his 120 shots. Next, we have Philadelphia’s Jared Spaz who is shooting 18.63% on 102 shots. Heading back to Minnesota and rounding out the top three we have Leon Gutzwiler, with 18.12% on 138 shots. As an honourable mention for our true volume shooters (over 200 shots), we have Erik Killinger of the Houston Bulls, good for 16.59% of his whopping 205 shots. 

Player Spotlight: Gary Tarantino

 

Going into his second year with the Saskatoon Wild, Gary Tarantino has already scored roughly twice the goals he has scored over his first 145 games in the VHLM, in just 32 games. He has been a bright spot for the otherwise struggling Wild and leads the team with his 51 points. He has the second-best +/- on the team of players with over 10 MPG, with only his fellow winger Joaquin Ventura beating him out at -11 to his -12. Tarantino is one of only a few players still with the Wild after their Founder’s Cup last season and has brought that same championship mentality back for another year. Saskatoon is currently on the brink of securing a playoff position, and Tarantino looks to be the man they think can do just that. 
 

 

Player Movement

 

There have been a couple more shifts, but nothing too major. After being called up by the Riga Reign, Alyksander Hunter has been sent back down to Mexico City, likely to prove a boon for the Kings side. On the trade end of things, Yukon has shifted away a few players for future picks, including sending defenseman Sven Nyckel to Mexico City for a 5th and 6th round pick, as well as centre Tomothe Dylansen to the Houston Bulls in exchange for a 4th and 5th round pick. 

 

 

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 that's going on in the league. Until next time!

 

Players Mentioned: @Josh, @Beerfridge, @Higgins, @goldenglutes, @DrHexDex, @Zyrok, @Alex Bridge, 

@Kritz, @Brewins15, @Zetterberg, @BigBallerFromDownUnder, @Spaz, @Gwdjohnson,

@Peace, @Garrett, @ChiefKeefe, @Jaku, @Thatguy91, @Boomcheck

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

 

Is this going to be every week?

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

5 hours ago, Zyrok said:

 

Is this going to be every week?

So far it has been; that's the goal!

[Zyrok 173]

2 hours ago, Mr_Hatter said:

So far it has been; that's the goal!

 

In my opinion this idea is great, keep it up!!!