VSN Weekly Report - S70 Week 3

[Erik Summers 451]

 

Welcome to the third edition of VSN’s S70 Weekly recap (Games 124-205).  We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance.
 
Recap

We have nearly reached the midpoint of the season and defences around the league have hit their stride as we saw an extremely low-scoring week all around the league. This included multiple games that went scoreless until the shootout and the most shutouts we've seen in a single week so far this season. This has been especially true for the North American Conference and anyone playing against the Helsinki Titans (sorry Titans, it was a rough skid).

It shouldn't be shocking at this point, but after the rough start, many wondered if Seattle had lost a step. However, the Bears came roaring back up through the standings and are threatening to take the top spot at their current pace. Seattle has probably benefited most from the defensive surge around the league as they have consistently shown the ability to win low-scoring games while struggling to keep up in more offensive matches.

While Seattle soars, Helsinki, New York, and Davos have all had a rough week. I think a lot of people were cheering for the Dynamo to succeed under their new leadership, but it may take longer than it first appeared to recover. The Titans were the highest-scoring team in the league entering this week, but their offensive production completely shut off midweek and they have struggled to get back up to speed. New York faced the toughest part of their schedule this week, so I would expect the Americans to make a comeback soon.

 
3-Stars

First Star
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (VAN) - 6 Goals, 14 Assists
Second Star
Finn Davison (RIG) - .935 SV%, 2.1 GAA, 3 SOs
Third Star
Jet Jaguar (MOS) 7 Goals, 11 Assists
 
Power Rankings

European Conference

• Moscow Menace - (+1) Back on top of the league, and now also the scoring leader.
• Riga Reign - (-1) A bit of regression to the mean this week.
• Prague Phantoms - One of the quietest good teams in the league.
• Helsinki Titans - Oof. They need to find their identity quickly.
• Malmo Nighthawks - (+1) A much better week than last, even sniffing a playoff spot.
• HC Davos Dynamo - (-1) It was a tough schedule, but definitely a disappointing result. 

 

North American Conference

• Vancouver Wolves -  Fell behind Moscow slightly, but could still be the best team in the league.
• Seattle Bears - (+3) This team finally woke up from their cup hangover; Watch out!
• Calgary Wranglers - (-1) A middling performance this week. This team can produce better.
• New York Americans - (-1) A tough schedule leads to a bit of a slide.
• D.C. Dragons - (+1) Wins are wins, and not being in the basement is nice.
• Toronto Legion - (-2) The N.A. Conference caught up to Europe this week. Toronto did not.

 
Notable Games

 

Game 137
This game sums up Seattle's week. The Bears had solid point distribution across their roster, with only two players going without a point this game, they managed top-notch goal-tending from Rayz Funk, and their defence shut things down after the first period. For Vancouver, this game should be a wake-up call. Just because you are at the top of the North American Conference, doesn't mean the former champs aren't still a threat. Hopefully, this game broke any potential complacency building in the Wolves locker room.

Game 176
These are the two quietest playoff teams in the league and this was an excellent inter-conference match. New York needs to win these games if they're going to hold on to their playoff spot, especially in the middle of their toughest schedule of the season. For Prague, this game was a great example of what is keeping them in striking distance of the top teams in the league. They walked away with two points in a game where they easily could have earned none and have nearly locked up their position in the playoffs.

Game 194
A battle for dominance of the European Conference, Moscow walks away with the win and the too spot in the league after this one. We saw excellent net-minding and defensive play from both teams, but the Menace were able to capitalize on their limited scoring opportunities early in the game. Despite out-shooting their opponent twenty to twelve, Riga went into the third period down by two. They managed to avoid the shutout, but Moscow's defence proved to be too much for the Reign this time.

Events of the Week

Fights

• Game 127 - Laughton beats up Clements
  • I don’t call him the top enforcer in the league for nothing. Blake Laughton must have heard he was falling behind the number one spot for penalty minutes. After a hard hit on Ryo Yamazuki II by Seabass Perrin, Walter Clements took exception and started looking for some retribution and Laughton saw his opportunity to keep up his reputation. Despite winning the fight, his team was unable to hold on to their 3-0 lead and had to settle the game in the shootout.
• Game 128 - Hafkey beats up Kastelic
  • When scores are lopsided between rivals, fights happen. It was 4-1 to start the third when Ryan Kastelic hit Brian Strong cleanly. However, the legality of that hit was in question by at least one person, and when Ben Hafkey saw that the officials weren’t going to act, he stepped in to seek his own justice. Hafkey won the fight and his line won this game for the Titans.
• Game 131 - Scott draws with Nygren and Marleau
  • It is good to see that in the third week of the season we are still having some season-firsts. Micheal Gary Scott got into fights at the beginning and end of the game. First, after a very physical first minute of the game, MGS was called upon to send a message that Vancouver would not be a victim to such heavy play. Markus Nygren was happy to oblige and get one of the Wolves top players off the ice for five minutes. That worked in Malmo’s favour as the scored just seconds later. A similar outcome came in Scott’s second fight, although Malmo would have to also sit one of their best players to make it happen. Unsatisfied with the first fight being called a draw MGS thought he could at least win something this game by fighting Phil Marleau. Alas, he could not. Two even fights and the Nighthawks were able to cling on to the lead to win it in regulation.
• Game 141 - Meyers beats up Laughton
  • Blake Laughton took an absolute beating, but he took it for the team. Despite being in the offensive zone with the man advantage, Bert Myers thought it would be a good time to drop gloves with Laughton. Perhaps Laughton was still a little sore from his last fight since it has never been a long time since his last, but he did not look ready for the beating he received.
• Game 142 - Helmsley beats up Washington
  • D.C. has been looking for a solid rival since joining the league and the top team in the conference is always a good choice. HHH and George Washington met in the faceoff circle and had a few choice words for each other. Reviewing the replay, it doesn’t look like either player even touched the puck before going for one another. Helmsley only had an inch on his opponent but used his seventy-five-pound weight advantage to pummel Washington to the ice.
• Game 155 - Stark draws with Jaguar
  • Seattle vs Moscow has consistently been one of the most exciting matchups of this season and despite losing in their early meetings, the Bears have gained the upper hand in the most recent games. Tensions flared as the two teams went into the third period tied at two. After a hard hit from Jet Jaguar, Seattle enforcer Ambrose Stark stepped in to settle the score. Despite not winning the fight decisively, his protective instinct inspired his teammates to score the game-winner just nineteen seconds later.
• Game 158 - Jaguar beats up Clements and Nolan draws with Gritty
  • Good to see this type of scrappy mentality from Moscow. We have watched them throw away too many close games this season with low-effort moments. The third period of this match-up against New York was a great example of the opposite. Fighting to hold on to a 3-0 lead, Jet Jaguar and Gritty both put it all on the line to deal with the building momentum of a surging Americans’ team.
• Game 160 - Stava draws with Hafkey
  • Down by just one, Edu Stava gets levelled by Sidney Crosby. However, just like his team, Stava would not be kept down. Coming up the ice looking for more, he was cut off by Ben Hafkey before reaching his assailant. He must have figured that was good enough and they dropped gloves. The fight that ensued was entertaining but was ultimately broken up before a winner could be declared. Toronto went on to tie the game before the Titans sealed the deal late in the third.
• Game 170 - BRAWL!
  • Of the ten skaters on the ice, only Joey Boucher walked away without a penalty, but that likely only because he was bleeding on the ice from the high stick of Jordan Tonn that started it all. The pairs of combatants were as follows, Hiroshi Okada and Ben Hafkey, RJ Jubis and Chico Smeb, Kefka Plazzo and Brian Strong, and Cody Smith and Sidney Crosby (although these two only got minors). Helsinki was unable to capitalize on the ensuing three on four and was ultimately unable to manage a comeback.
• Game 178 - Okada beats up Graves
  • We have a new heavyweight champion! Hiroshi Okada has become quite the fighter this season, and he may now have his crowning achievement, the championship belt. Okada fights often enough that we will hopefully get to see him defend his title soon.
•  Game 182 - Nygren draws with Matthews
  • This game felt like it was over already, just a minute and a half into the second period when these two dropped gloves. Malmo already had a 3-0 lead after a dominant first, so perhaps Anthony Mathews thought he could give his team some life with this fight, but Markus Nygren stood his ground and ultimately, so did his team.
• Game 188 - BRAWL!
  • What is it with Calgary and fighting European Conference teams? So far, it has worked out for them, as they have won both games, but this is the second time in a week that they had five players sent to the box at the same time for a brawl. This time, the refs decided everyone must go, filling the boxes with all ten skaters on the ice. The fighters paired off as follows, Tyler Barabash Jr. and Phil Marleau, Sigard Gunnar and Dan Wilinsky, Kris Rice and Aleksander Rodriguez, Charlie Paddywagon and Condor Adrienne, and Cody Smith and Lucas Nygren.
• Game 195 - BRAWL!
  • Following a bad hooking penalty by Jerry Wang on Dagmar Havlova, both teams paired off and we got a good ‘ol fashioned punch-fest. The individual fights were as follows, MGS and Gert B Frobe, Kevin Low and Scotty Bigshotty, Brock Louth and Ben McGirr, and Shawnomir Jagr got the worst of it from Edward Vigneault. Despite losing their entire second line to penalties for five minutes, Vancouver went crazy in the third, racking up a 7-2 lead in the end.
• Game 202 - Scott beats up Hafkey and draws with Bailey
  • A four-game series between Vancouver and Helsinki has gotten off to an exciting start, with two games decided by only one goal. After MGS got the upper hand over Hafkey about halfway through the first period, each team scored their first goal of the game within the next two minutes. MGS’s second fight, against Kronos Bailey this time, didn’t have the same effect of spurring on scoring, but he was desperate for a second win on the night and got the game-winning goal as well in the closing minute of the third.
• Game 204 - Martin draws with Gritty
  • This game was a battle in every other sense of the word, so it is fitting that we got a fight as well. Although the result was rather anti-climatic, being broken up quickly by the refs, Aston Martin and Gritty served as a great metaphor for the rest of this match. In the end, there were more shots taken in the shootout than punches thrown in this fight.

 

Hat-Tricks

• Game 128 - Chico Smeb
  • Scoring his fifth, sixth, and seventh goals of the season all in one game, Chico Smeb helped Helsinki’s second line dominate this game with four of the Titan’s five goals. If this line can continue to produce against top-tier opponents like Riga, the Titans will be a scary opponent going into the second half of the season.
• Game 157 - Shawnomir Jagr
  • I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me this game was a hard-fought and evenly-matched contest with eleven minutes left in the third. However, over the next seven minutes, Vancouver went crazy. Of the five goals scored in that stretch, Shawnomir Jagr picked up his second and third for his first hat-trick of the season.
• Game 185 - Matthew Materazo
  • D.C. thought that the slumping Davos Dynamo would be a safe game for them to start their back-up goalie. It took Matthew Materazo less than seventeen minutes to chase Pekka Pouta from the game. Even better, he was then also responsible for chasing Kallis Kriketers as well, late in the third. The Dragons’ goalies were thoroughly humiliated, each going five for eight for an SV% of .625. This was one for the record books as well for Materazo, scoring a hat-trick on just three shots.
• Game 195 - Julius Freeman
  • You almost have to feel bad for Tzuyu this game, having a five-point performance and still only getting the second star because a teammate got a hat-trick. However, I’m sure it was celebrations all around the Vancouver locker room after this game following the clinic they put on in the offensive zone. Julius Freeman got his first hat-trick of the season, but the way this team has been playing recently, I don’t expect it to be his last.

 

Shutouts

• Game 129 - Davos vs Calgary
  • It is a hard case to make, but I would argue that Calgary, despite getting the shutout, looked like the worse team in this matchup. That isn’t to take away from what JB Rift accomplished, stopping twenty-five of twenty-five shots is always a good night. However, when you spend almost an entire period on the powerplay and only manage to outshoot your opponents by five shots and score a single goal, it is hard to say the Wranglers looked put together. But two points is two points and a shutout is a shutout, so keep up the good work.
• Game 130 - Moscow vs Toronto
  • This is what we expect to see from Moscow on a regular basis. The toughest part of their schedule is ahead of them and they haven’t always been this impressive against teams they should be putting away easily. Goal-tending has probably been the biggest concern for the Menace so far this season, so it is good to see Raymond Bernard get his feet under him and put together his first shutout of the season.
• Game 133 - Prague vs Riga
  • I don’t know what is happening, but this isn’t the last double shutout this week, but it is the first of the season. Something has gotten into the defences around the league to lower league-wide scoring significantly in the first few days of this week, but this one was all on the goalies. Finn Davison and Brick Wahl managed to stop a combined sixty shots without letting a single one go in through regulation and overtime. It was not until the shootout that they each gave up a goal and Davison ended up gaining the win.
• Game 135 - Calgary vs Davos
  • Remember what I said last time these two played? Yeah, none of that applies this time around. Calgary walked all over the Dynamo in this one, opening up the scoring while shorthanded. Instead of spending over fifteen minutes on the powerplay, they only got a single call in their favour, and yet, they were able to hold Davos to just fourteen shots the entire game. The Wranglers’ defence was overbearing, but the third period was nearly perfect, allowing only a single shot. The goalie always gets credit when they get a shutout, but this was probably the easiest perfect game of Rift’s career.
• Game 136 - D.C. vs Malmo
  • I am not certain (feel free to correct my work on this one), but I believe this game saw fewer shots than any other so far this season, with Malmo getting stuck in the single digits. The second period was the only sustained excitement with D.C. getting over half of the game’s total shots. Even then, the only goal of the game came on one of D.C.’s last shots in the third.
• Game 151 - New York vs Riga
  • Some people may claim I shouldn’t count games going scoreless to the shootout as shutouts, but I think they count. However, even if that is your position, A Red Guy got a true shutout stopping both shots he faced in the shutout. Another defence-heavy game, Finn Davison only faced sixteen shots, including the three in the shootout. If the defence we have seen so far this week keeps up, we may see one of the lowest-scoring seasons we’ve seen in years.
• Game 159 - Davos vs Riga
  • Finn Davison has been making his case for the Aiden Shaw this week at a crazy pace with his third shutout of the week. Riga’s defence once again shut things down, allowing only eighteen shots all game. For Davos, scoring has become a real problem. They have been shut out four times in the last seven games.
• Game 161 - Vancouver vs Seattle
  • Seattle has been surging back after a rough start, but it was time for Vancouver to show who’s the king of the North American Conference this season. It took one period to do so, denying all thirteen of the Bears’ shots and scoring four of their own. The rest of the game was just gravy as Greg Eagles went on to collect his third shutout of the season.
• Game 166 - Helsinki vs. Moscow
  • Alexander Pepper was the only reason this game was even close, stopping ten more shots than Raymond Bernard faced, but Moscow’s sustained offensive pressure simply overwhelmed the Titan’s defence. The Menace managed so much offensive zone possession that Helsinki could rarely even threaten a scoring opportunity in this one and Bernard walked away with his second shutout of the season.
• Game 167 - New York vs Vancouver
  • I realize now that I should have started counting at the beginning of the week, but this is yet another game where the goalies took both the first and second stars of the match. Greg Eagles finds himself back on top of the shutout leader-board with his fourth of the year while A Red Guy still maintained a .953 SV% in this 2-0 loss. Hopefully, for the sake of excitement, the offences around the league figure out their slumps and we see a little more scoring next week.
• Game 185 - Davos vs D.C.
  • D.C. has been replaced by Davos at the bottom of the league for now, but it did not show at all in this game. Samuel Ross has been the Dynamo’s MVP so far this season with another excellent showing. However. Davos’s young defensive core still looked shaky, allowing a total of thirty-four shots. If Davos is going to finish above the bottom of the league, solidifying this strong defensive identity will be the way they do it.
• Game 198 - New York vs Malmo
  • The American’s had a rough week in many aspects, but games like this can be looked back on with pride. New York’s defence allowed only sixteen shots, helping A Red Guy achieve his third shutout of the season. They also played an incredible disciplined game, giving Malmo zero power-play opportunities. Ultimately, that discipline was a deciding factor, as the game-winner came on a New York power play in the first period.

 

Rookie Spotlight
Edu Stava 

After back-to-back championship wins in the VHLM. Edu Stava has finally arrived in the VHL and he is giving everyone something to talk about. He is currently shooting with 15% accuracy but hit limited opportunities have held him to six goals so far this season, behind only Rice and Tallinder, who each have a more impressive supporting cast around them.
 
It will be hard for Stava to top his performance last season in Saskatoon, but it is possible that he might find himself packaged up to a contender in need of some depth before the trade deadline. If that happens, his recent championship experience might really help the rookie centre.
 
This may be an outside chance at the moment, but I think a strong case can be made for Stava for Rookie of the Year. If he finds a hot stretch and bumps up his point total a little more, his performance looks even more impressive when you take into consideration the limited help he is getting from lacking top-level talent on his line.
 

Spoiler

Players Mentioned: @Beaviss, @Poptart, @gorlab, @Rayzor_7, @Grape, @Donno100, @Sebster03, @cpetrella, @Enorama, @McLovin, @Wheaties, @Motzaburger, @Devise, @Advantage, @Phil, @RunnerBert11, @Banackock, @eaglesfan036, @Edustava, @SidTheKid87, @Tape-to-Tape, @enigmatic, @Jubis, @xDParK, @diamond_ace, @cody73, @Anthony Matthews, @Bushito, @oilmandan, @Big Mac, @Jtv123, @DMaximus, @OrbitingDeath, @ColeMrtz, @NumberJ5, @Smarch, @FerdaJets, @cartoes, @TheLastOlympian07, @Patpou22, @Quik, @Sullvino, @Matt_O, @hedgehog337, @Snussu, @tfong, @rjfryman, @Mr_Hatter, @BladeMaiden, @.sniffuM, @Greg_Di, @Sonnet, @Brrbisbrr

 

[McLovin 389]

2 minutes ago, Erik Summers said:

Hafkey won the fight and his line won this game for the Titans.

lmao what a goon

[Brrbisbrr 207]

Thanks for the shoutout!  I always enjoy reading your weekly reports, it helps me keep up with the league despite my busy schedule

[Big Mac 310]

Calgary represent

[gorlab 4,321]

VHL = goon league apparently 

[Grape 528]

6 hours ago, Erik Summers said:

 

I don’t call him the top enforcer in the league for nothing. Blake Laughton must have heard he was falling behind the number one spot for penalty minutes. After a hard hit on Ryo Yamazuki II by Seabass Perrin, Walter Clements took exception and started looking for some retribution and Laughton saw his opportunity to keep up his reputation.

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Players Mentioned: @Beaviss, @Poptart, @gorlab, @Rayzor_7, @Grape, @Donno100, @Sebster03, @cpetrella, @Enorama, @McLovin, @Wheaties, @Motzaburger, @Devise, @Advantage, @Phil, @RunnerBert11, @Banackock, @eaglesfan036, @Edustava, @SidTheKid87, @Tape-to-Tape, @enigmatic, @Jubis, @xDParK, @diamond_ace, @cody73, @Anthony Matthews, @Bushito, @oilmandan, @Big Mac, @Jtv123, @DMaximus, @OrbitingDeath, @ColeMrtz, @NumberJ5, @Smarch, @FerdaJets, @cartoes, @TheLastOlympian07, @Patpou22, @Quik, @Sullvino, @Matt_O, @hedgehog337, @Snussu, @tfong, @rjfryman, @Mr_Hatter, @BladeMaiden, @.sniffuM, @Greg_Di, @Sonnet, @Brrbisbrr

 

I didn't choose the thug life. The thug life chose me.