Under 250: The VHLM Review (S70 Regular Season Review/First Round Preview)

[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; apologies for the brief hiatus! Last time we checked in, the VHLM was at the midpoint of the season. Let’s see how things have shaken up since then, shall we? Here is a look at the final standings: 

 

 

Also, we have the new ELO chart, courtesy of @Enorama

 

 

As we can see, the basic breakdown of team strengths remains the same, although the individual breakdown of positions has changed. In terms of surprises, the only major one is that the Yukon Rush, formerly the last place team, went on a daring run to secure seventh position and a chance in the playoffs. For their trouble, they get to go against perhaps the hottest team right now, the San Diego Marlins, who despite their second place in the standings have a league-leading +234 goal-differential; but more on that later. 

 

Going back to the standings, we have Minnesota Storm in first place, the aforementioned Marlins in second, and the Ottawa Lynx in third. These three teams have been truly dominant; expect one of them to come away with the cup, although stranger things have happened, and the next couple teams could certainly give them a run for their money. The Houston Bulls find themselves in fourth place, while the Philadelphia Reapers take the fifth position. After that, the quality does certainly drop down somewhat. The next team is the first to find themselves with a negative goal differential; we have the Mexico City Kings in sixth place. Following them the Rush take the seventh slot, having ended the season with 44 points. Finally, taking the final playoff position, just one point back of the Rush and one point ahead of ninth place, we have the Las Vegas Aces. 

 

Barely beaten out of the playoffs, Halifax 21st takes ninth position. Next comes the Mississauga Hounds, and finally, still coming out of their cup hangover, the Saskatoon Wild round out the standings in last place. Although these teams ended up coming short of reaching the playoffs, they can now take a nice, long break, reset, and come back swinging next year after enjoying some playoff hockey from the stands. Speaking of playoff hockey, let’s jump right into the first round preview!

First Round Preview

 

Minnesota Storm (1) vs. Las Vegas Aces (8)

 

Kicking off the first round we have the number one seeded Minnesota going up against the Las Vegas Aces. The Storm certainly have the upper hand in this one. With eight PPG scorers, including five players over 100 points, the Aces will have a hard time keeping the puck out of their net, and scoring themselves will be even harder, as the Storm also has the number one defence in the league. Keys to the series for the Aces will be to avoid getting behind on the power play and to take all the chances they can get. Any mistake the Storm make, they have to capitalize on. They will need scoring from their two main men, Mike van Stronk and Justin Graves, who had a respectable 87 and 85 points each during the regular season. For the Storm, they just need to keep doing what they are doing, as they are the clear favourites in this matchup. 

 

San Diego Marlins (2) vs. Yukon Rush (7)

 

This is a tough series for the Rush to win. Similar to the Storm vs. Aces, the higher seed is clearly the dominant team. These are some of the scores during the regular season for these teams: 6-1, 5-0, 8-2, 6-2, 4-1, 7-3, 12-1. Every single one of those is a Marlin win. This isn’t to say the Rush are without hope, but they are going up against the best offence in the VHLM. This team can shoot it with the best of them; they are the best of them. They have the top five scorers in the league, full stop. Roque Davis, Kyl Oferson, Roadkill Steve, Uhtred, and Thomas Landry II. All lethal, all prolific, and all ready for the playoffs. Additionally, they can lock it up on defence. Goaltender Bruce Grimaldi has a .901 SV%, second-best in the league, and their goals against of 173 is good for fourth in the league. The Rush are going to have to rely on grit, dedication, and no small miracle to beat this San Diego squad.  Fun Fact: the top three points leaders on San Diego have 458 combined points. The Rush, as a team, have 471. 

 

Ottawa Lynx (3) vs. Mexico City Kings (6)

 

Next up, we have the Ottawa Lynx coming up against the Mexico City Kings. Despite a strong start to the season, Ottawa has faded slightly, though they are still strongly in contention for the Founder’s Cup. Ottawa’s problem this season has been their defence (I say “problem”; they still have the fifth-best GAA in the league), which is something the Kings will have to exploit if they want to advance to the second round. Mexico City is top-heavy, they have a really strong first line but fall off quickly. Shush Nyko is their number one man, having just reached 100 points, finishing the season with 103. Ottawa has a host of scoring talent, with four players over 100 goals scored, including left-winger Iangenere Risteneen and centre Ola Vikingstad, each with 130 points or more. Although they should be comfortably past the Kings, they will need to rely on some good performances from their goaltender Joakim Bruden, who has had a mixed season, with an SV% of .886. If he gives his best showing, and their scoring stays steady, the Lynx have a fantastic chance at the cup.  

 

Houston Bulls (4) vs. Philadelphia Reapers (5)

 

Not to presume, but the first three series we have looked at are all more or less foregone conclusions. Yes, the lower seed has a chance in each, but it will be very tough for them to come out on top. This series, on the other hand, will likely be the most interesting matchup in the first round. Houston did take the regular-season series, but only by a tally of 4-3. Both teams have very strong defences, within a goal apart at 161 and 162 goals against, though the Bulls have a much stronger offence, at 309 goals scored compared to 264. The Bulls’ secret weapon? The top goaltender in the league, Stone Wolski, whose impressive .915 SV% leads the league. The Reapers’ Isak Sjostrom is no slouch, however, as his .898 ranks for fourth-best. Whichever goalie gets hot has my money on winning the series, and maybe even more down the line. The Bulls have another edge as well, as they benefited from numerous waiver signings from recreates towards the end of the season; players like SS Hornet and Randy Marsh. Don’t underestimate the new face of the Bulls, as these players offer strong depth scoring in addition to their already fearsome top line. Lethal wingers Erik Killinger and Kristopher McDagg complement their team’s points leader Hugh Jass, their blue line general, quite nicely. The Reapers are going to need big numbers from their number one man Bud Knight, whose 123 points lead the team, while fellow winger Derek Eriksson leads the team in goals. 

 

 

Player Movement

 

This season in the VHLM we saw a lot of deadline action, as contenders rushed to secure the pieces they thought necessary to make a push for the cup. Minnesota was the most active team in the market, dealing in five of the nine trades that went on towards the end of the season. They brought in a couple of top line players to give them even more depth at the forward position with Gary Tarantino and Dick Cheezy. The majority of their other trades were draft pick maneuvering, already looking ahead towards the next season. Ottawa made a move to strengthen their blue-line with the addition of Blacker Velvet, while Houston also made a few changes, shifting some personnel around to fit the team’s needs, including bringing in a variety of depth pieces from Yukon to give them the edge in their postseason matchups. All in all, nothing too crazy happened, but it sets the stage nicely for what should be a fantastic postseason!

 

 

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!

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

[MexicanCow123 906]

Fantastic article! Keep this up for next season!

[Motzaburger 1,590]

Wow throw Mexico under the bus  

 

OTT in for a wake up call!

[Ricer13 2,776]

Go Yukon!!! Awesome article! Please give me more

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

2 hours ago, Motzaburger said:

Wow throw Mexico under the bus  

 

OTT in for a wake up call!

I actually meant to be a little kinder; I feel like out of the top three teams, Ottawa might be the one to drop. Not because Storm and Marlins are that much better,  but because Mexico is in a higher tier I think.