Under 250: The VHLM Review (S72 #1)

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

 

 

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of a new season of 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!

 

This season we welcome a new writer to our coverage, @diamond_ace! We are very excited to have him on the team, expanding VHLM coverage further. We will be trading off articles, so that’s all for now, but stay tuned for his content coming down the pipeline!

 

Speaking of other VSN content, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more!

 

 | The Talent Behind the Trophies |  S72 Mock Draft | S72 Top 25 | 

 

The Review 
 

With a new season of hockey comes some new, sweeping changes to the structure of the VHLM. It’s been crowded enough the past few seasons, and so our benevolent overlords have seen fit to give us an expansion team! Welcome to the Miami Marauders, the newest addition to the VHLM family. The Marauders are led by fearless leader/GM Kris Rice @Ricer13, who is backed up by his assistant, @bigAL. Welcome boys!

 

 

 

Now into the standings, starting with the Eastern Conference. The Marauders aren’t exactly up to a great start, and sit at the bottom of their conference with 8 points (though not the worst in the league; more on that later). Next up is the Halifax 21st with 15 points, who are trailing playoff position by five points, partly by virtue of their conference’s strength. 

 

Entering the playoff spots in the East we actually have a three-way tie for second place. The Philadelphia Reapers, Ottawa Lynx, and Mississauga Hounds all have 20 points apiece, sitting on 10 wins, 6 losses, and 0 overtime losses. The Reapers take 4th position due to one of their victories coming in a shootout (Game 73 against Halifax), while the Hounds just edge out the Lynx on goal differential to secure the second position. 

 

Leading the Eastern Conference is the Minnesota Storm, whose 26 points is tied for top overall in the league. The Storm have a dominant goal differential of +42 in only 16 games; in part thanks to some really absurd victories (to the tune of 12-0 and 11-0). 

 

Just who did those victories come against? The two teams bringing up the rear of the Western Conference, the Houston Bulls and the San Diego Marlins. These teams have each won just a single game to go along with their 15 losses, and boast a combined goal differential of -160; meaning roughly a -5 differential per game across the two teams. Luckily for last season’s runner ups, the Yukon Rush, should be thankful, as if things keep going the same way their playoff position should be more or less guaranteed. The Rush currently sit at 13 points, having had middling to poor results so far. 

 

Entering the third position we begin to look at competitors again, starting with the Mexico City Kings. The King’s have the second-best goal differential in the league and have looked dangerous thus far, boasting the fewest goals allowed across their 16 games. In second place in the West is the Saskatoon Wild. The Wild have dropped a few games in overtime, including one early in the season against the West’s leaders, the Las Vegas Aces. These late-game performances so far mark the separation between the two, as the Aces have won all three of their overtime games in a shootout, while the Wild have lost both of their shootouts. With only two points separating these two teams, it is clear the margins could hardly be tighter. 

 

This rounds out our review of the standings. Let’s take a look at our ELO charts to see if they paint a clearer picture of the first week of the season:

 

The first thing that jumps out from the ELO charts is the plummet of the aforementioned Houston Bulls and San Diego Marlins, which should come as no surprise given their performances thus far. Going up the chart we see the Yukon Rush having a lot of movement; they kicked off the season strong but fell quickly thereafter. Miami has been a slow ride down, but manage to stay ahead of the Rush for now despite their worse record. 

 

One of the most interesting facts on our chart thus far is the position of the Hounds. Despite being second in the Eastern Conference, they have an ELO barely above average. This can mostly be explained by the difference in conferences, as they would only be fourth in the West, and they are also only in second in the East by virtue of that three-way tie. 

 

Taking a look at the Las Vegas Aces also showcases something peculiar. Although the Aces are first in the West and are tied for the top record in the league, they are next in ELO; meaning they are seventh right now, lower than the Halifax 21st, a team that isn’t even in a playoff spot right now. This tells us two things: one, the power dynamic in the West is almost certainly not settled yet, and two, the Eastern Conference is proving more and more to be a tough mix of teams. 

 

The top two teams by ELO are the Philadelphia Reapers and the Minnesota Storm, with the Reapers just edging out the Storm for that top spot. The Reapers started off strong, but have plateaued recently, while the Storm are currently riding a seven-game winning streak. In general, though, there appear to be a lot of competitive teams this season. The Reapers and Storm in the East are closely trailed by the Saskatoon Wild and the Mexico City Kings in the West; here’s to hoping a Founder’s Cup showdown between equally competitive teams will come to fruition. 

The Highlights

 

Miami’s Big Break

 

First things first; let’s look at the Marauders. Usually, we won’t cover individual games in too much depth, instead focusing on the bigger picture, but hey, the first game of an expansion team deserves something. And boy was that first game something else. Game 4 on the season, between newly minted Miami Marauders and the perennial contenders of the Minnesota Storm. The Marauders were travelling to Minnesota in this match, but it did little to deter them. The franchise’s first goal was scored by their top-line centre and first star of the game, Andre Lebastard, with the assist from Kosmo Kramerev. Congrats you two! 

 

Despite scoring first, the Storm hit back and hit hard with three unanswered goals to close out the first period, outshooting Miami 21-3. The second period was more of the same on the shot totals, but somehow, Miami evened up the score with two more finding the back of the net. Heading into the third period, I don’t think anyone could predict what was going to happen. 

 

Thirty seconds into the period, the Marauders took the lead off a goal from Bobbie Cheechoo. Not to be outdone, the Storm evened it up, but they wouldn’t score again. The game-winning goal came from Kosmo Kramerev, whose powerplay snipe sealed the franchise's first franchise win in their first-ever game. A nervy third period played out, but with only a minute or so left, Miami sealed the deal with an empty-net goal. Particularly impressive was the performance of Miami’s goaltender, the one and only Bacon, whose 46 saves on 50 shots was the backstop that weathered the Minnesotans storm of offence, leading them to victory. 

 

A Season for the Goalies

 

So far this season we have seen some impressive offensive performances (mostly thanks to a few team’s particularly unimpressive defences). Take a look at Game 72 in which the Minnesota Storm beat the Houston Bulls 12-0. This tied the league records for most goals by one team in one game (12), most assists by one team in one game (24), and most game points in one game (36). Interestingly enough, the Bulls nearly beat their own record for shots blocked in this game with 30; that’s because they got 31 earlier in the season against the Saskatoon Wild in Game 19 that saw them outshot 93-6. 

 

Despite such one-sided displays, it is in fact the defensive qualities that are most impressive this season. The goalies, in particular, have started off hot, with three starters over .900 SV%, and another two right on the border with .899.  Granted, it is still early, but compare this to the end of last season, where only three players had an SV% over .895, and the top goalie ended at just .900. That is a pretty impressive difference, sample-size notwithstanding.  Thus far Grekkark Gyrfalcon has the highest SV% through his 12 games at .910, followed by Mexico City’s Zamboni Driver with .906 over 16 games played; both goalies are currently tied on GAA with 1.81. Last season, no one had below a 2.61. 

 

Who knows if this trend will continue, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts. It’s not too often that we are treated to such impressive goaltending displays, regardless of opponent quality. 

 

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!

 

GMs:  @Proto, @ColeMrtz, @DoktorFunk, @Dil, @Rayzor_7, @Motzaburger,

@MexicanCow123, @McWolf, @DMaximus, @iRockstar, @Sonnet, @Ricer13

 

Players Mentioned: @Andre LeBastard, @Mongoose87, @Sharkie, @Bacon, @Sharkstrong, @Tape-to-Tape

 

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

[bigAL 2,176]

Love the breakdown of MIA Game 1, thanks for making our grand entrance into the league a special one!

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

17 minutes ago, bigAL said:

Love the breakdown of MIA Game 1, thanks for making our grand entrance into the league a special one!

Of course but you are the one who made the entrance special!! I was just the reporter.