VSN Weekly Review - S71 Week 3

[Erik Summers 451]

 

Welcome to the third edition of VSN’s S71 Weekly recap (Games 133-216).  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.
 

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Recap

 

It has been a week of big trades around the league and one already seems to be paying off. After acquiring goalie Greg Eagles, the Riga Reign have shot up through the standings and now sit atop the European conference. This looked like a good move for the future, but it is paying off greatly already. On the other side, Vancouver also seems to have improved after receiving Finn Davison in return. It is not often that you see two teams who have a real chance of facing each other for the cup make a trade of this calibre.
 
In the North American Conference, Seattle has jumped up out of the pack to take the lead, but only by a point. In fact, the top four spots are each separated by just one point each. Calgary leads the league in goals for and Vancouver leads the conference in goals against, so it is impossible to make an airtight case for any of these top four teams as the best in the group. Regardless, one thing we know for sure is that it is going to be a gauntlet to get out of the North American Conference this season.
 
In the European Conference, that span of three points separates the top three teams, but they have started to pull away from the bottom half. The Riga Reign now leads the conference, but Moscow and Prague are close behind them. Riga also has the second-fewest goals allowed in the league, beat only by the Helsinki Titans who are narrowly hanging on to the fourth playoff spot at the moment. The biggest shock of the season might be the struggles of Malmo. It will be interesting to watch and see if they can turn it around and reclaim a playoff spot.

3-Stars
 
First Star
Cinnamon Block (PRG) - 4 G, 15 A, 24 SB
Second Star
Ambrose Stark (SEA) - 11 G, 11 A
Third Star
Jacques Lafontaine (CGY) - .921 SV%, 2/57 GAA
 
Power Rankings

 
European Conference

1. Moscow Menace - They are clinging onto first in my power rankings, but just barely.
2. Riga Reign - (+3) A huge surge in the standings this week. They look significantly better after their big trade.
3. Prague Phantoms - (-1) They have been pretty consistent all season. They can still compete for first.
4. Helsinki Titans - (-1) Currently holding forth by a tight margin. Will we see any moves to sure things up before the deadline?
5. Malmo Nighthawks - (-1) Still a lot of potential, but their offence fell apart this week.
6. HC Davos Dynamo - They’ve slowed the bleeding some, but it looks like too little too late.

 
North American Conference

1. Calgary Wranglers - Ranking the top teams in this conference is near impossible, but they have been good throughout the season so far.
2. Vancouver Wolves -  (+1) A little post-trade bump. I still think they are a serious contender.
3. Seattle Bears - (+1) Another surging team. After a slow start, it took a lot for them to get here.
4. D.C. Dragons - (-2) This was a disappointing week, but they are still within striking distance of the lead.
5. Toronto Legion - (+1) They actually went on a good run this week, but it is going to be very hard to find room in the playoff picture.
6. New York Americans - (-1) They were tied for last in the league at one point. They sold early, time to tank for the future.

User-Voted Rankings

 
European Conference

1. Moscow Menace - I’m interested to see if this drops at all this week 
2. Prague Phantoms/HC Davos Dynamo -  (+2) Okay, I know they tied in votes, but one of these things is not like the other.
3. Helsinki Titans - Holding on, just like in the standings.
4. Malmo Nighthawks - (-2) Public favour turned against them before the standings did. You called it.
5. Riga Reign - Really? This is just cruel.

 
North American Conference

1. Calgary Wranglers - (+1) They continue to make the case for cup favourites.
2. D.C. Dragons - (+1) Trading away Frostbeard? Really?
3. Seattle Bears - (+2) Could they make it to first this week? 
4. New York Americans - (+1) After the recent trade, this is now the greatest team in the league.
5. Vancouver Wolves / Toronto Legion - (-4/-1) I’m not sure what Vancouver is doing here.

  
Notable Games

 
Game 140 - D.C. Dragons vs. Vancouver Wolves
Finn Davison has gotten off to a great start with his new team, but this was actually one of his lesser games this week. Instead, the wolves turned to their consistent safety valve, Julius Freeman, who scored two goals and an assist on the night. The Dragons managed to tie the game up late, with two goals in the third period, but they got swept out of the shootout after just two rounds. Mikko Aaltonen also had a three-point game with a goal and two assists. This included an assist on the tying goal with less than two minutes to go by John Frostbeard, in one of his last games with D.C.
 
Game 157 - Seattle Bears vs. Calgary Wranglers  
We didn’t know it at the time, but this game would end up deciding who leads the conference at the end of the week. It will be a very exciting series if we get this matchup in the playoffs because these teams have very different compositions. Seattle’s star-studded roster is very similar to the one that won those back to back cups just a couple seasons ago. Meanwhile, Calgary has some of the most exciting young talents in the league without having a clear superstar. Seattle edged them out in this one, but I am eagerly looking forward to the rematch.
 
Game 193 - Riga Reign vs. D.C. Dragons
These two teams were on opposite trajectories this week. As Riga rocketed up the standings, D.C. slowly got passed by teams in their conference until they were holding onto the last playoff spot. Riga started the week outside of playoff qualification, but after a rather surprising trade for possibly the hottest goalie in the league, they began to dominate teams left and right. Domination isn’t what happened in this game, but Eagles definitely played a large role in keeping them in it, making thirty saves on the night. It wasn't until the second half of the third period that Riga would score a power-play goal to put them back in the lead, a lead they would manage to hold to the end.

 

Events of the Week
 

Fights
 
Game 137 - Stark draws with Gritty
This fight was impactful in a different kind of way. Going into the final minutes of the third period tied 2-2, Ambrose Stark looked to spark something in his team and propel them to victory by dropping gloves with Gritty. However, that didn’t work out so well as Stark was ejected for instigation and the Bears went on to lose in overtime, where they certainly could have used their top scorer.
Game 148 - Telker draws with Frobe
It was a quiet first period with just a single goal scored by the Phantoms. However, after a fight between a couple of bottom-sixers, the game exploded. Nate Telker got called for instigation and drew an ejection as he went after Gert B Frobe. This was in retaliation for a pretty dirty trip committed by Frobe a few minutes earlier. But once their fight was over, the scoring was blown wide open with six goals in the next sixteen minutes.
Game 164 - BRAWL!
In the final minute of a scoreless second period that would drag on into a scoreless third, we got a flash of excitement. John Madden and Lewis Dawson fought to a draw and Lewis Dawson was ejected for instigating this whole mess. Milos Slavik took the opportunity to beat up Nate Wright and several players game in a sword fighting match with their sticks. Walter Clements, Pierre Persson, Aleksander Rodriguez, Jerry Garcia, and Fernando Jokinen each got either slashing or high-sticking calls for the reckless swinging.
Game 196 - Nygren draws with Nolan
How do you know there is a beef between two players? One way to tell is when they get into a fight just nine seconds into a game. Despite never playing in the same conference, let alone for rivals, something has been brewing between Lucas Nygren and Owen Nolan that just couldn’t wait. Although the fight had no clear winner, Nolan clearly won the night, scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout.
 
Hat-Tricks
 
Game 139 - Thomas Landry II
This is several levels of impressive and might go down as one of the top highlights of the season. First, a hat-trick is always a major feat, even more so from a rookie. It takes it to a whole other level when you consider the scoring drought we saw from rookies last year. Then, to cap it all off, Thomas Landry II went a step above and made it a four-goal game as well. He could have stopped at just his second and still won the game, but he was hungry this game and there was nothing the Titans could do to deny him.
Game 153 - Zeno Miniti
Coming into this season, Zeno Miniti’s career had been on an unfortunate trajectory. After an impressive showing as a rookie, Zeno’s scoring has declined every season since. However, he seems to have entered some sort of renaissance and this hat-trick is the icing on the cake. For the first three-quarters of the game Zeno was the only thing keeping Toronto in it, matching Davos’ three goals with three of his own. Finally, after he had finished his hat-trick, the rest of the legion stepped up to seal the victory.
Game 155 - Brian Strong
Brian Strong had some huge shoes to fill this season, and so far he has done an excellent job. After several key retirements on Helsinki’s roster, it is now Strong’s turn to lead the team in scoring. Getting one goal in each period, it was the same small cast of actors terrorizing the Nighthawks all game. Guillaume Fontenette had assists on each of Strong’s goals and Cody Smith contributed to two of them. This is the type of scoring Helsinki needs right now.
Game 182 - Jet Jaguar
Maybe we are finally out of the league-wide scoring drought with our fourth hat-trick of the week. Jet Jaguar showed that he still has the ability to put his team on his back and carry them to victory, scoring all three of Moscow’s goals against Helsinki. Rookie, Kyle Anderson, tried to get the Titans back in it with two goals of his own, his first of the season, in the third period, but it was too little too late.
Game 189 - Joel Ylonen
This was a rough one for the Phantoms, despite being their second hat-trick of the week. Joel Ylonen scored his entire hat-trick in the first period and Prague left the period down 5-3. They would end up down 7-3, less than three minutes into the third, causing them to swap goalies. Despite a valiant effort, they were only able to draw within one, leaving the comeback incomplete.
Game 200 - Kris Rice
Leading the amazing run the Calgary Wranglers have been on is their unbelievable young talent. Kris Rice is second in scoring on the Wrangler’s roster and just behind a point per game pace. That might be the most interesting thing about Calgary, the way they spread the scoring around. However, in this one, it was all Rice. Scoring four of their five goals to lead them to a win over their rival Americans, Rice completes his first hat-trick of the season.
Game 215 - Ryan Busser
Riga has been seeing the top-level play from unexpected places all week, and this game it came in the form of Ryan Busser. I don’t want to disparage Busser’s earlier play in any way, but he has taken a huge step forward this season and it is good to see him get rewarded with this hat-trick.
 
Shutouts

Game 143 - Calgary vs. H.C. Davos
The offence isn’t Davos’s thing this season, but this was a new low. Facing the Wrangler’s sophomore goalkeeper, Jacques Lafontaine, the Dynamo only managed six shots all game. At the very least, they managed to avoid getting held to zero shots in any period, but that is a very very small victory. This was just ugly.
Game 155 - Malmo vs. Helsinki
Two of the hottest goalies in the league going into this week, Virgil Ligriv got the better of this matchup. Getting some assistance from the strong offensive play of Brian Strong and company, Helsinki dominated possession and only allowed fifteen shots from Malmo. With that, Ligriv records his third shutout of the season.
Game 191 - Malmo vs. Seattle
While the majority of the league seems to have figured out at least some of their scoring issues, Malmo continues to struggle offensively. Rayz Funk has faced a lot of shots this season, so I am sure he was thankful for this seventeen shot reprieve and his first shutout of the season.
Game 197 - Davos vs. Prague
The Dynamo had a better performance in this one, forcing Solomon Crawford to make nineteen saves, but that wasn’t enough to get one past him. By the end, the Phantoms were in absolute control, holding Davos to just a single shot in the third period. It has been a hard week for the lower half of the European conference.
Game 198 - Seattle vs. Vancouver
Seattle continued their rise up through the standing this week, but someone forgot to tell Finn Davison and the Vancouver Wolves. Davison seems to be adjusting well to his new team with an amazing twenty-nine saves to capture his third shutout of the season. It will be hard to compete with Riga’s post-trade success, but Finn is certainly keeping the conversation going about who won this trade.
Game 201 - Malmo vs. H.C. Davos
It has been a rough week for both of these teams, but one of them had to win this game. They actually both managed reasonable offences, despite struggling in that regard all week. Samuel Ross stopped twenty shots in this 3-0 game to earn his second shutout of the season.
Game 204 - Vancouver vs. Moscow
Moscow had plenty of opportunities in this game, but Finn Davison was outstanding. Davison is meshing very well with his new team and shutting out the reigning champs should prove to everyone that Vancouver got exactly what they wanted from this trade.
Game 206 - New York vs. Helsinki
Another matchup between two teams that struggled this week, New York looked stronger defensively than they have all season. After two quick powerplay goals in the second, this game was in the bag and A Red Guy had his first shutout of the season.

Rookie Spotlight
Kyl Oferson 

Probably the most explosive rookie to enter the league this season, Kyl Oferson started his career with the Mississauga Hounds. However, it was after being drafted by the San Diego Marlins that his explosive playstyle took off. Scoring one-hundred and fifty-three points and carrying an absurd +126, it was no surprise that he went first overall to the Riga Reign.
 
It has taken some time for Oferson to adjust to the speed of the VHL, but he seems to have gotten it all figured out at the right time. Riga was dominant all week, and Kyl played an important part in that. He is currently third in goals scored on the Reign roster and I wouldn’t be surprised if he climbed even higher.
 
There was some question as to whether Riga would be heading into a rebuild in the next couple seasons, but with top-notch talent like this, it seems like they have pushed that further into the future. It has to be fun to play for a real contender as a rookie, but it is likely even better when you are playing a significant role in getting them to that point.

 

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Spoiler

Players mentioned: @Greg_Di, @Poptart, @omgitshim, @Banackock, @SlapshotDragon, @rjfryman, @FrostBeard, @GRZ, @ContinentalCup036, @Telkster, @NumberJ5, @Thranduil, @Kendrick, @Frank, @73MPL4R, @cpetrella, @Dominus89, @Jtv123, @GustavMattias, @Ahma, @Advantage, @studentized, @Doomsday, @Zeno, @Wheaties, @okochastar, @cody73, @gorlab, @Esso2264, @Ricer13, @diacope, @MMFLEX, @Rayzor_7, @AndrewWarren13, @Brrbisbrr, @.sniffuM, @Nykonax

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Erik Summers