VSN Weekly Review - S71 Week 2

[Erik Summers 451]

Welcome to the second edition of VSN’s S71 Weekly recap (Games 49-132).  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

 

Offences around the league have struggled so far this season as we’ve seen goalies excel. Interestingly, a wide variety of teams have found success in this defence-heavy climate. Both star-studded rosters and teams with an array of solid position-players have started to rise to the top. We have also seen a fairly dramatic decline in fights and physicality in general around the league and this lack of man-advantage opportunities may be a contributing factor to the goal shortage.
 
In the European conference, Moscow continues to lead, but they find themselves neck and neck with Prague who appears to be a real threat. The Titans started the week by being shutout repeatedly and ended it by shutting out their opponents four times in six games. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks followed the opposite trajectory and desperately need to find an offensive spark to keep them competitive in games with more than three goals. In fact, if I said, this team is excelling defensively and their goalie is performing well above expectation, but their offence is inconsistent, there is no way you could tell which European team I was talking about. They all fit that bill at the moment, except for Moscow.
 
In the North American conference, star power is keeping a struggling Vancouver roster afloat while the youth in Calgary has led them to the top of the league. The Bears got off to yet another slow start to the season, but they seem to be finding their stride and could be making a push for the lead in the conference. For the Dragons, despite their success, there seems to be something missing at times as they drop game to seemingly worse opponents. This conference is a Thunderdome at the moment and I am completely unable to predict who will come out on top of it at this time next week.

3-Stars
 
First Star
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (VAN) - 7 G, 12 A
Second Star
Helsinki Goalie Tandem - Virgil Ligriv and Owen May - 0.937 SV%, 1.79 GAA
Third Star
Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen (MOS) - 19 A, 20 SB
 
Power Rankings

 
European Conference

1. Moscow Menace - It is hard not to have the reigning champs at number one when they haven’t lost a step.
2. Prague Phantoms - This team just doesn’t have the proven roster yet, but they are barely behind first, if at all.
3. Helsinki Titans - (+1) One of the best goal performances we’ve seen this season. From two different goalies.
4. Malmo Nighthawks - (-1) The lack of offence is really holding them back. Other teams have corrected for this, maybe they can as well.
5. Riga Reign - Staying in contention, but this week was a big opportunity to climb the ranks and they missed it. 
6. HC Davos Dynamo - Their defence looks really good, but just about everything else is holding them back.

 
North American Conference

1. Calgary Wranglers - They have struggled some against tough competition, but they don’t give away points when they shouldn’t.
2. D.C. Dragons - They won some good games this week to earn this spot, but the distance between second and forth is very small.
3. Vancouver Wolves -  Still one of the scariest teams in the conference, they will make it hard every time.
4. Seattle Bears - (+2) Starting to show some life, but is there enough to keep it going?
5. New York Americans - (-1) They actually have the same goal differential as Vancouver. Perhaps I am underrating them, but they will have to prove me wrong to move up.
6. Toronto Legion - (-1) They briefly looked like they could finish above the bottom of the conference. That hope isn't gone, but it is fading.

 

User-Voted Rankings

 
European Conference

1. Moscow Menace - Winning a cup will get you ranked number one a lot, and for good reason.
2. Malmo Nighthawks - There is a lot of hype around this team and we’ve seen glimpses of greatness.
3. Helsinki Titans - This is higher than most pre-season rankings of the Titans.
4. Prague Phantoms/HC Davos Dynamo -  Okay, I know they tied in votes, but one of these things is not like the other.
5. Riga Reign - Really? This is just cruel.

 
North American Conference

1. Vancouver Wolves -  Their record doesn’t show it, but they seem like they should be the best team.
2. Calgary Wranglers - They’ve upset Vancouver before. They likely won’t mind being the underdogs.
3. D.C. Dragons - They have the points, but their goal differential leaves much to be desired.
4. Toronto Legion - It looked like they could surprise us, didn’t it?
5. Seattle Bears/New York Americans - I think Seattle will break this tie this week.

Notable Games

 
Game 50 - Moscow vs. Prague
In the battle for dominance of the European Conference, there wasn’t a bigger match this week than between Moscow and Prague and it was a nail bitter. Dagmar Havlova opened the scoring for the Phantoms with his second goal of the season, but Nate Telker answered a period later to tie it up with his second as well. From there, the teams continued to battle each holding a one-goal lead at some point in the third. This included another goal each for Telker and Havlova. After good performances from both goalies, overtime wasn’t enough to end it. Finally, in the fourth round of the shootout, it was Alex Pearson with his second of the night to seal it for the Phantoms.
 
Game 84 - D.C vs. Seattle  
Over in the North American Conference, D.C. and Seattle have been neck and neck all week, but it was their game early in the week which would end up being the difference-maker. D.C. took an early lead, ending the first period up 2-0, but the Bears tied things up just four minutes into the second. This time, the Dragons would respond with a three-goal lead that looked secure until late in the third. With less than two minutes to play, Seattle scored two more to bring it within one, but ultimately it was too little too late and they ran out of time to force overtime. Of the nine goals scored in this game, each was scored by a different player. Seattle goalie, Rayz Funk, couldn’t have been pleased with his teammates as he stopped forty-eight shots and still didn’t get the win.
 
Game 109 - Malmo vs. Vancouver 
While the European Conference currently holds four of the top six places in terms of points, a case can be made that there is simply stiffer competition in North America. This game would be one of the key points in that case. Vancouver, despite currently sitting in fourth in their conference, has had two of the most exciting players in the league in Julius Freeman and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who each had a multi-point night. They proved to be too much for the smothering Nighthawks defence and Malmo simply couldn’t manage enough offence to keep up. Despite entering the second period tied 1-1, this game quickly got out of hand from there with Vancouver scoring the game-winner just forty-one seconds into the period.

Events of the Week

Fights
 
Game 86 - Matthews beats up Dawson
Sometimes, you don’t have to win a fight to get your team fired up. That was the case when Lewis Dawson got his face bashed in by Anthony Matthews. Just fourteen seconds after the fight, Malmo opened up the scoring and then they did what Malmo has been doing this season. They dominated the rest of the game convincingly and notched yet another shutout.
Game 97 - Greene beats up Bigshotty 
When you talk about fights influencing the momentum of a game, it is hard to get a clearer example than this. Seattle was getting outshot by Prague by a wide margin before this fight. However, after Scott Greene beat the snotty out of Scotty BigShotty, the Bears began to take control, finally managing to get out of their own end. This resulted in the first two goals of the game coming just minutes later and a lead that they would maintain throughout the rest of the match.
Game 126 - Frobe beats up Madden
I was cheering so hard to the Gordie Howe hat-trick in this one. Gert B Frobe convincingly won his fight against John Madden and then went on to record his first point of the season. With the net empty in the final minutes, it looked like everyone was trying to get the puck to Frobe to finish it off. It will be interesting to watch and see if this fight is a turning point in Gert’s rocky VHL start.
 
Hat-Tricks
 
Game 59 - Julius Freeman
It was Julius Freeman’s third point of the night on an assist to Jeff Downey that forced the Reign to pull their back-up goalie, Joe Nixon. But Freeman wasn’t done yet. The cherry on top came in the sixteenth minute of the third period as he found a hole of the Riga defense to finish the hat trick. Julius led his team with seven shots on the night, with nearly half of them ending up in the back of the net.
Game 85 - Kevin Foreskin
Kevin Foreskin has been having a break-out season, eclipsing a point per game pace and well on his way to shattering his personal goals record. Kevin got started early in the second period of this game, but he didn’t really turn in on until the third, scoring his second and third goals just three minutes apart. Currently, Foreskin is leading his team by a wide margin in both points and goals.
 
Shutouts
 
Game 52 - HC Davos vs. Helsinki
Helsinki has performed above what was expected of them early this season, but they have still struggled to find consistency in scoring. They have been shutout more than any other team and this one has to sting. However, I don’t want to take anything away from the excellent job done by the Davos defence and Pekka Pouta. Pekka has only gotten more than one shutout in a season once before, and with one this early, he looks ready to break that mark for a second time.
Game 53 - Malmo vs. Riga
After three entirely scoreless periods, it would take only twenty-four seconds of overtime to end this match. In the previous sixty minutes, Finn Davison faced twenty-eight shots, stopping them all. This may be one of the greatest defensive battles we’ve seen all season, and as they are conference rivals, I’m excited to get to see this matchup again later in the season.
Game 54 - New York vs. D.C.
This week started strong for goalies as we got yet another 1-0 shutout. This time it was JB Rift getting his second of the season. However, I have to mention the fact that his opponent, A Red Guy, allowed only one goal after facing fifty shots, losing with a save percentage of .980. Guy has to be at least a little frustrated with his offence who could only force Rift to make 17 saves to earn the shutout.
Game 66 - Helsinki vs. Prague
Helsinki has struggled all season to put up the offense and has been shutout more than any other team to this point, but this one had to be especially painful. Virgil Ligriv stopped thirty-six shots. But it was Brick Wahl who walked away with the shutout in yet another 1-0 game this week.
Game 68 - Vancouver vs. Toronto
Did someone say dead-puck era? Yeah, we’ve got another 1-0 game. This time it was Greg Eagles and Jaxx Hextall who battled it out. Getting revenge in the rematch, Eagles bested the young goalie and secured his first shutout of the season.
Game 86 - HC Davos vs. Malmo
I’ve said before that getting a shutout and getting FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from the three stars is a travesty. However, when you only face nine shots in an entire game, I guess I get it. Michael Johnson will probably lead the league this season in shutouts, but this will surely his easiest.
Game 90 - Seattle vs. Helsinki
Well, perhaps the Titans are finally going to get some payback for being shutout so many times this season. Virgil Ligriv made twenty-six shots in his first shutout of the season. Ligriv has some big shoes to fill in Helsinki, but he is off to a fantastic start. If he can keep this up, they just might be able to compensate for their offensive woes.
Game 98 - New York vs. Moscow
At the beginning of the season, I believed that Raymond Bernard would lead the league in shutouts this season. He isn’t quite keeping up with the competition in that regard, but, when the goalie of the reigning cup-champions is on pace to have an even better season than his last, it is scary nonetheless. This game was non-stop action and Bernard had to make an amazing thirty-six saves to get the shutout.
Game 99 - Helsinki vs. Toronto
In his first game back in Toronto after being traded, Owen May shocked the fans. While the Titans finally started capitalizing on the power-play, May casually stopped twenty-eight shots for his first shutout of the season. It is always a good day when your backup goalie records a shutout, but most of the time you can credit your defence with a large part of the success. However, that wasn’t the case, as Owen just put the team on his back and carrier them to victory.
Game 112 - Helsinki vs. H.C. Davos
What a performance from the Titan’s backup goalie. Back to back shutouts for the veteran, Owen May. May got some help from his defence on this one, as they only gave up twelve shots and kept Davos from building any kind of momentum, even on their five powerplays. Helsinki came into the seasons with questions in net after losing Alexander Peppers to retirement, but it looks like the only question now is which of their two goalies is more elite.
Game 118 - Malmo vs. Helsinki
To round out their revenge tour for their offensive shortcomings early in the week, Helsinki gave Malmo a taste of their own medicine. This time it was back to Virgil Ligriv, and he showed us why he is the starter. This game was incredibly close through two periods, but early in the third, Helsinki scored twice in a span of nineteen seconds to put it away.
Game 126 - H.C. Davos vs. Prague
To close out this week of recaps we have yet another European Conference shutout. With ten of the twelve shutouts this week, European goalies are having the time of their lives at the moment. This game was incredibly evenly matched with each team having twenty-two shots and being perfect on the penalty kill. However, it was Brick Wahl who was flawless in this victory as he collects his second shutout of the season.

 

Rookie Spotlight
Thomas Landry II

 
After just twenty games in his first season in Halifax, it wasn’t clear what Thomas Landry II was going to become. But after spending a year in San Diego, he became one of the most exciting prospects of the S71 draft. Scoring one hundred and forty-five points to surpass two points per game, Landry was an offensive phenom and special teams expert.
 
Several teams had their eyes on the rising star, but it was the Prague Phantoms who snagged him fifth overall and even there he was a steal. He has continued to develop at an incredible pace, taking every opportunity to emulate veterans on the Phantoms roster such as Joel Ylonen and Roll Fizzlebeaf.
 
Currently, in the top five in points among rookies, Landry has been as high as first at times this season. His consideration for rookie of the year may rest largely on Prague’s success this season, but, at the moment, I see him as the front-runner.

 

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Players Mentioned: @Telkster, @diamond_ace, @Jayrad28, @Rayzor_7, @rjfryman, @Beaviss, @Kendrick, @Anthony Matthews, @DoktorFunk, @FerdaJets, @NumberJ5, @Thranduil, @JeffD, @Bonzaijoe, @Esso2264, @Snussu, @Poptart, @Devise, @.sniffuM, @MMFLEX, @BladeMaiden, @Greg_Di, @ROOKIE745, @fonziGG, @Mr_Hatter, @FacebookFighter, @Sonnet, @Doomsday, @TacticalHammer

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Erik Summers

[Peace 1,562]

The disrespect to Toronto is unreal. 

[Doomsday 4,143]

Landry's four goal performance against Helsinki in today's sim certainly bolsters the argument for him!

[Erik Summers 451]

2 minutes ago, Doomsday said:

Landry's four goal performance against Helsinki in today's sim certainly bolsters the argument for him!

 

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

[Jayrad28 397]

3 hours ago, Doomsday said:

Landry's four goal performance against Helsinki in today's sim certainly bolsters the argument for him!

Landry is a fucking beast!