Phantoms enjoying a good start

[Seabass 593]

Phantoms enjoying a good start

 

The Prague Phantoms are off to their best start to a season, ever. They're currently sitting in the middle of a three way tie for first place on top of the VHL standings with both S70 Continental Cup finalists, the Moscow Menace and the Calgary Wranglers. But they've been holding that position in the standings for a while now, is this how good the Phantoms are this year or are they due to fall down to earth? Signs seem to point that this might be real as they've been holding their own in their games against European Conference teams, including being 2-1 against the top ranked Menace. But a good point to add is that the European Conference is pretty weak overall this year. The Riga Reign and Helsinki Titans are rebuilding after key retirements and UFA departures. The Nighthawks seem to be more of a bubble team and well Davos is, well just being Davos. So essentially there isn't too much top end competition else then the defending champs so the Phantoms chances of finishing up the S71 near the top is actually pretty good.

 

So far the only thing that may hold the team back from competing with teams like the Moscow Menace is a elite offensive threat. The Phantoms currently only have one point per game player in defenseman, Cinnamon Block @omgitshim who just keeps on getting better every year. But, in comparison, the Menace currently have 4 point per game players and 2 of their players are only 2 points shy of making it 6 point per game players. The Phantoms lack of offense isn't really affecting their position in the standings so far but it might start rearing it's ugly head anytime now. Brick Wahl @BladeMaiden has been their savior so far with his .928 save percentage but that doesn't seem very sustainable long term considering the Phantoms are leading the league in penalty minutes with 296 team PIM, a full 30 minutes ahead of the next team, the Seattle Bears. 

 

" I think we're playing well right now and i'm not really worried about our scoring all too much as we're more of a defense first team anyways. We're not scoring very much, but neither are our opponents against us. Most of our games as tight low scoring games. Think of us more like the NHL's New Jersey Devil's of the early 2000s just with more grit. We've always scored by committee so what else is new? It's our position in the standings that ultimately count and we're winning games right now so i'm happy with that. However I'm not currently happy being the most penalized team in the league. The officials of the VHL are all haters and I think our GM @diamond_ace and the VHL should look into their officials for being out to get us and let us play hockey. " - Defenseman, Seabass Perrin

 

That's pretty strong accusations coming from the team captain. Perrin has been no saint himself having spent 48 minutes in the box, good for 2nd on the team behind Frobe  who has a few fighting majors under his belt. Perrin, has never fought in his 3+ years in the VHL. He is also 2nd behind Frobe on Phantoms all time PIM list with 426 total PIM with the team since his rookie season in S68.

 

The Phantoms have two games set for today, one against the Toronto Legion and a game against the Helsinki Titans. The Phantoms are 1-2 against the Titans and hope to bounce back against their former teammates, Erik Draven @Jbeezy76 and Blake Laughton @Grape. The Phantoms have just come off a 3-2 shootout win versus the Legion on friday and hope to continue their good fortune against the Legion. 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Sebster03