VSN Weekly Report - S70 Week 5

[Erik Summers 451]

Welcome to the fifth edition of VSN’s S70 Weekly recap (Games 289-371).  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
This week's recap has been delayed by the coronavirus trying to murder my family. My apologies.

 
The regular season is quickly drawing to a close and we still have two heavily contested playoff spots. Moscow has nearly locked up first place in the league, but the rest of the European Conference has been thrown into disarray as League slips further and further and Riga and Helsinki continue to be middling at best. Vancouver has pulled into a commanding lead of the North American Conference while Seattle and Calgary will almost certainly face off in the first round of the playoffs.

The first of the incredibly close playoff races come in the European Conference with Prague struggling heavily this week and Malmo finding their stride. I think Prague still has the slightly stronger roster, but getting hot at the right time counts for something and Malmo is streaming right now. Malmo also holds the tie-breaker, so if they can make up the two-point deficit they will be in control of their own destiny.

In the North American Conference, we have a similar situation transpiring between New York and D.C. These rivals are separated by just two points and D.C. has a game in hand. Despite the slow start, the Dragons have had an intimidating roster on paper all season, but this week their talent really showed. With D.C. having a game in hand, the Americans will have to stay on their toes to keep their playoff spot. 

3-Stars
 

First Star
Greg Eagles (VAN) - .912 SV%, 2.21 GAA, 4 SOs
Second Star
Matthew Materazo (DAV) - 7 G, 10 A
Third Star
Randoms (MOS) - 10 G 8 A
 
Power Rankings
 

European Conference
Moscow Menace - The only question that remains for Moscow is if they will be able to maintain their dominance into the post-season.
Riga Reign - It was a rough slide, but their talented roster keeps them afloat.
Helsinki Titans - (+1) Helsinki didn't improve as much as they would have liked this week, but their weakening conference helped them out.
Malmo Nighthawks - (+1) After an extremely slow start, Malmo is actually making a playoff push.
Prague Phantoms - (-2) They need to find their identity pronto if they want to hold on to their post-season dreams
HC Davos Dynamo - Ah Davos, at least they got to embarrass some playoff contenders this week.
 
North American Conference
Vancouver Wolves -  Easily the best team in the conference. If I had to pick today, my money would be on Vancouver to win the cup.
Seattle Bears - (+1) The power difference between second and third is narrow, but Seattle gets the edge this week.
Calgary Wranglers - (-1) Wranglers are a bit schizophrenic, but when they show up they are a real threat.
D.C. Dragons - (+1) It is exciting to see a recent expansion team begin taking steps in the right direction.
New York Americans - (-1) At one point, New York looked like a real contender, but a lack of discipline has cost them dearly.
Toronto Legion - Not completely out of it yet, but at this point, they are at the mercy of two other teams to keep their dreams alive.
 

 

Notable Games
 

Game 309 - New York vs Toronto
This week's notable games have a bit of an upset theme and our first game is a doozy. I'm convinced some pumped cocaine into the locker-rooms through the vents because we could hardly keep up with the right goals in the first thirteen and a half minutes of the game. It took less than a minute to open the scoring and the rest of the goals averaged just a minute-thirty between them with the smallest margin being just twenty second between the fifth and sixth goals. After that sixth goal, the game was tied 3-3, but New York stopped scoring there. Toronto did not. They went on to score two more times in the first and one in each of the following periods for the blowout win.

Game 327 - Davos vs Riga
HC Davos actually had a few good upsets this week, including a shutout of Helsinki, but I chose this one to highlight what is actually going right in Davos. Matthew Materazo is in his final season in the league and he is making the most of it. Materazo has had a phenomenal week and a strong season in general. The entire team went through an extreme slump that lasted almost two weeks, but when they've looked good, they've looked really good. The top-tier playoff Samuel Ross has also been a big factor and they have him locked up for another season, so I expect to see a lot more from this team next season.

Game 329 - Vancouver vs Seattle
This last recap isn't necessarily an upset (although the team with more standings points lost), but I had to feature such an amazing game between the top two teams in the league. In what could very well be a preview of our cup final this season, we had exciting, physical hockey, exactly what we would want to see in that kind of match-up. The lead changed five times in the game and was ultimately decided just eight seconds into overtime. Julius Freeman continues to be a force in this league and one of the brightest stars on Vancouver's roster.

 

Events of the Week
 

Fights

 

• Game 291 - Sasakamoose draws with Okada
  • Hiroshi Okada was the hero of this game, leading his team in goals, points shots, and penalty minutes, including scoring the game-winner in OT. However, a few minutes into the second period he levelled Guy Sasakamoose well after the puck had left his stick. No-call from the refs, so Sasakamoose took matters, and fistfuls of Okada’s jersey, into his own hands.
• Game 294 - Stark beats up Ritchie
  • Ambrose Stark tied the game up, but when it came to fighting Raleigh Ritchie, he wasn’t going to let anyone think the word tie. Sometimes a good beating is all it takes to motivate a team and this momentum swing was all Seattle needed to hold onto their lead to the end.
• Game 295 - Laughton draws with Okada
  • Okada is thugging it up this week, but at least he, and the rest of the Wranglers, have been playing well. I don’t think it shocked anyone to see Hiroshi drop gloves with Blake Laughton as they both establish themselves as heavy-weight powerhouses in the league.
• Game 298 - Dissanayake draws with Jaguar Twice
  • This game was tied, but these two just kept going at it. Good on Nethila Dissanayake I guess for taking one of the most dangerous players in the league out of the game for ten minutes. However, it didn’t exactly work as planned, as Jet Jaguar went on to get the assist on the game-winner. The hit that initiated the first fight was rather innocuous, so I don’t think they were still angry about the play. It seems like Nethila and Jet just believed that they had been broken up too fast the first time they started throwing hay-makers.
•  Game 305 - Kastelic beats up Marleau
  • This wasn’t a great game for the Reign, but this was an excellent game for Ryan Kastelic. He scored Riga’s only game and convincingly won the fight against Phil Marleau. Hopefully, this can inspire his team to live up to the physical play he has been exhibiting lately.
• Game 309 - Forest beats up Dissanayake
  • There were eight goals in the first period, a brutal fight in the second, and a hat-trick in the third in this game. Borris the Forest brought us the second-period excitement after getting tackled by Nethila Dissanayake. Both players scrambled to their feet and seemed to agree to drop gloves, but Nethila didn’t know what he was getting himself into. I think a dentist might be is Dissanayake’s future.
• Game 311 - Bailey draws with a nobody
  • When you are a player at the calibre of Kronos Bailey it looks pretty bad when you let your emotions interfere with a game in this way. Who knows what was said, but Bailey took exception and attacked the unsuspecting Dragons player. The clear initiation from Kronos got him ejected and his team went on to lose in OT, where they really could have used his help.
• Game 318 - Gritty draws with Martin
  • Both Gritty and Aston Martin made contributions to their teams in this game, Gritty scoring the first goal, and Martin getting the primary assist on Riga’s comeback attempt. But being a role-player doesn’t get you mentioned in the weekly recap for that, the easiest thing to do is fight. Their fight happened immediately off a faceoff in the neutral zone, so neither side had too much to lose. They gave the crowd a good show and broke it up quickly when the linesman stepped in.
• Game 320 - BRAWL!
  • This is the second ugly brawl the Americans have been in this season, and they are starting to develop a reputation as one of the dirtiest teams in the league. After a bad boarding penalty by Joseph McWolf, which probably should have been a major, John Madden came in hot and started swinging at anyone who could get his hands on. Eventually, he paired off with Soren Jensen. Brendan Plunkett got the better of Boris the Forest and Matthew Materazo and Dalton Wilcox also duked it out. In the end, Andrej Petrovic and Fernando Jokinen both received minors for their involvement as well and Madden was ejected for instigation, although I’d say he was justified.
• Game 333 - Perry draws with Nygren
  • Looking at the box score, it would be easy to assume that this fight was in response to a high-scoring first period that the teams wanted to reign in a bit. Nope! This fight in the fourteenth minute of the first opened the floodgates to the following four goals to be scored before the close of the period. Jacob Perry and Markus Nygren were uninvolved in any of those scoring plays, but perhaps the fighting spirit is just what their benches needed to get going.
• Game 335 - Washington draws with Okada
  • Hiroshi Okada continues his thuggish streak and the refs have finally seen enough. After drawing George Washington into a fight he clearly didn’t want to be in, Okada got ejected from the game as the Wranglers got blown out by D.C. Washington held his own, and manage to stay upright long enough for the refs to get in a break it up.
• Game 351 - Hafkey draws with Baillie
  • This could end up being the two teams battling for the European Conference title, and both sides played accordingly. It is no surprise that tempers flared in this game that was eventually decided in the shutout. Ben Hafkey and Dan Baillie were both prepared to fight for their teams in more ways than one.
• Game 357 - Perry beats up Helmsley
  • Jacob Perry deserves some respect and the rest of Prague could use his fighting spirit this week. Beating the pants off Hunter Hearst Helmsley isn't an easy task and neither will be to hold onto a playoff spot be for the Phantoms. This is exactly what they need.
• Game 358 - BRAWL!
  • It wasn't particularly close when Gritty scored in the closing minute of the second period, so it wasn't exactly a shock to see a line brawl to start off the third. When Vladimir Pavlov crashed the net and crashed hard into A Red Guy everyone knew what was coming. Gritty, Owen Nolan, Dan Baillie, and Joel Ylonen were the only ones penalized for fighting, but Mat Tocco and Keven Foreskin each got minors for their involvement in the fray as well.
• Game 360 - Dissanayake beats up Washington
  • Nethila Dissanayake tried to do it all for Toronto in the first period. He scored the team's only goal and convincingly won his fight when challenged. However, George Washington would end with bragging rights of his own as his goal would become the game-winner.
• Game 363 - Hogan draws with Martin
  • Is Hulk Hogan going to go an entire season without winning a fight? It is certainly starting to look that way. The game was a 4-1 beating already and Seattle has in control of the momentum so a part of me wants to believe that he challenged Aston Martin just in hopes of not going winless this season.

 

Hat-Tricks
 

• Game 302 - Tyler Barabash Jr.
  • I was honestly starting to wonder if it was going to happen! We finally have a player with two hat-tricks this season. Getting himself back on the top-ten list for point, Barabash scored four in this match. Toronto actually manages to keep in close for the first fifty minutes, always staying within a goal but, after RJ Jubis scored on the power play, Barabash kept piling on with two more of his own.
• Game 304 - Owen Nolan
  • When you are playing against the top team in your conference, you need a player to step up and make an exceptional individual effort. Owen Nolan did just that for the New York Americans. When Nolan scored his first, it was to take a one-goal lead, his second was to bring it back to a tie, and finally, the hat-trick goal becomes the game-winner.
• Game 309 - Teemu Lehtinen Jr
  • After scoring the first two of the game, Teemu took a back seat and let his teammates score the next four. However, after things had seemed to cool down in the third, Lehtinen Jr took the opportunity to pot one more and make it a hatty, his first of the season.
• Game 331 - Randoms
  • It looks like we have another contender for most hat-tricks of the season. Randoms opened up the scoring early and then scored his second to bring the Menace back to a tie in the second. From there, Helsinki’s defence began to look exhausted from the extremely fast game and Moscow took full advantage, racking up a 6-4 lead. Randoms was able to finish his hat-trick late in the third to put the cherry on top of the night for Moscow.
• Game 343 - John Frostbeard
  • After the disaster that was my highlight of John Frostbeard’s play last week, hopefully, my benevolent task-master will not further punish me for this piece. Frostbeard got his first hat-trick later in the season than many, but he is getting hot at the right time. He has joined the exclusive club of players who have scored their second hat-trick already this season.
• Game 366 - Pat Svoboda
  • Of all the talent on Riga's roster, I have been most impressed by Pat Svoboda this season. With this four-point game, Svoboda joins the growing list of players scoring their second hat-trick of the season. Ryan Kastelic also went nuts in this game with three assists, including two on Pat's second and third goals.
• Game 368 - Phil Marleau
  • Remember when we were in the middle of the season and defenses had taken over the games? Yeah, that seems to be over now. Phil Marleau is the seventh and final player to score a hat-trick this week. It couldn't have come at a better time either, as Malmo makes a late-season push for a playoff spot. Condor Adrienne, who usually only gets mentioned for thugging it up also had a great game with assists on all four of Malmo's goals.

Shutouts

 

 

• Game 292 - Vancouver vs Malmo
  • Vancouver came out hot, racing to a 2-0 lead in under five minutes and a 3-0 lead by the end of the first. From there, they played a much more defensive game, allowing just six shots in the third period. However, Malmo managed to sustain some strong offensive pressure early in the third that made Greg Eagles really work for this shutout.
• Game 296 - Davos vs New York
  • I don’t want to pick on Davos, they were eliminated from the playoffs this week, but this was ugly. The Americans outshot the Dynamo 47-13 and I’m honestly surprised Samuel Ross didn’t refuse to come out of the locker room after the second period. A Red Guy got what will probably be the easiest shutout of his career, but it keeps him in the running for the shutout leader of the season.
• Game 319 - Prague vs Malmo
  • Shutouts are a bit down this week, but we almost had a double in this game. Was it a defensive showcase? An offensive failure? A goal-tending extraordinaire? A little bit of each. The first period was dominated by defensive hockey, with both teams collectively managing just seven shots. The second exploded to twenty shots but no production, neither team could really sustain pressure or create high-danger chances. In the third, we finally saw both teams firing on all cylinders and now it was time for the goal-tending to shine. This is a shutout Brick Wahl is happy to have under his belt because there were many moments it looked like it could go the other way.
• Game 322 - Calgary vs Toronto
  • This game was a nail-bitter. Calgary went up by one just six and a half minutes into the game, but they were then unable to ever fully put the game away and ended up winning on just that one goal. Thankfully for the Wranglers, the combination of their defence and the stellar performance of JB Rift secured the shutout and won them the game.
• Game 334 - Riga vs Vancouver
  • Fisted anally by a circus monkey! What do you have to do to record a shutout and still be left of the three stars of the game? Greg Eagles just found out. Eagles faced just ten shots the entire game, as he starts to pull away from the crowd in total shutouts this season. Riga needs to figure out what has happened to their offence this week as they are beginning to slide in the standings.
• Game 344 - Vancouver vs Helsinki
  • The treatment Eagles got in the last game was nothing compared to this snub. I mean, at least Alexander Pepper got a game star, but the third star for a twenty-three save shutout? That’s crazy! Borwinn and Smeb do deserve some recognition for their excellent play this game, but Peppers is starting to get really hot as he nears his three-hundredth win.
• Game 356 - Davos vs Helsinki
  • Virgil Ligriv did everything he could to steal a win as a backup goalie. If he performs like this as a starter next season, Helsinki will be in good shape. However, the Titans have struggled to maintain any sort of offensive consistency. Samuel Ross took advantage and demoralized this so-called contender.
• Game 357 - Vancouver vs Prague
  • Greg Eagles is one step closer to cementing his place as the best goalie of the season. At this point, regardless of where his stats end up, it's going to be hard to argue that he hasn't been the most effective goalie of the season. Preying on struggling teams is what good teams, and good players, do. This is why Vancouver is in such a good position going into the final stretch.
• Game 370 - Davos vs Moscow
  • One-shot. That is how many Davos had in the third period of this game. I know you're in the basement, but this is professional hockey and you can't convince me that being held to a single shot isn't a result of just giving up. Raymond Bernard has that effect on teams and for his effort, he can be added to the list of goalies who were FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from the three stars despite getting a shutout.

Rookie Spotlight
Patrick Tallinder

 
After playing two full seasons in the VHLM, both with the Mississauga Hounds, Patrick Tallinder has reached the ranks of the VHL. The immediate selling point for Tallinder is his accurate and quick shooting ability, which was on full display in the M. In his first season with the Hounds, he scored 34 goals, adding 30 assists to finish with 64 points. After being drafted tenth overall by the Riga Reign, he spent another season in the M with Mississauga to season further. 
 
All Tallinder did was make Riga extremely fortunate to have taken him. He nearly doubled his point production, scoring 63 goals and showed off an improved passing skill with 64 assists, finishing with 127 points. He proved to be deadly on the power play, scoring 16 man-advantage goals. He also added 14 game-winning goals for the Hounds, as they reached the Founder's Cup Finals, ultimately falling short to the legendary Season 69 (nice) Saskatoon Wild.  
 
While he hasn't yet produced at that level in the VHL, Tallinder has a bright future. His offensive skills are only getting better, he plays responsibly in his own zone and he's willing to play physically if needed. To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't put up more points with this build because it is rock solid. Riga has an absolute gem in Patrick Tallinder, and VHL Fantasy Hockey players would do well to remember his name when they draft next season. He has serious potential to win the Dustin Funk Trophy as the most improved player in the VHL in Season 71.

~ Feature Writer for Rookie Spotlight - @Doomsday

 

 

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