VSN Weekly Review - S72 Week 2

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Welcome to the second edition of VSN’s S72 Weekly recap (Games 120-202).  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.

 

But first, 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!

Under 250 Review | Trade Alerts | Ringless: The S54 Stockholm Vikings

 

Recap

 

Welcome to Week 2 of VSN’s ongoing weekly coverage of the VHL. I would just like to preface this week’s article to say a thank you to the staff here as they have made my transition to full time writer seamless, and I am immensely proud to be representing the VSN here. Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s action.

 

What a whirlwind the VHL turned out to be this week! Some major trades happened early in the week, and to everybody’s surprise, it was some of the league's most dangerous talent on the trading block. Seemingly entering rebuild mode, the Vancouver Wolves traded away their crown jewel and captain Julius Freeman along with a couple of 4th round picks in a three-way trade. In the European Conference, we had Moscow join the rebuild party by also trading away their captain and star forward, Jet Jaguar. 

 

Looking at what happened on the ice, some interesting trends are starting to appear. We have seen an increase in scoring across the league, with 12 skaters currently on pace to breach the 80 point plateau, while last season only had 3 players reach that same mark. With a strong last 10 games, going 7-3-0, the Riga Reign sit atop the European Conference tied on points with HC Davos, but ahead on goal difference. Meanwhile, in the North American Conference the top two teams, Calgary and Seattle are in a close and heated battle for the top spot, while the other teams battle it out for the final two playoff spots.

 

3-Stars

 

First Star

Lincoln Tate (RIG) - 5 G, 16 A, 41 Hits

Second Star

Julius Freeman (NYA) - 9 G, 10 A, +8

Third Star

Raymond Bernard (MOS) - .905 SV%, 2.67 GAA, 1 SO

 

Power Rankings

@Pengu with the incredible power rankings graphic

European Conference

 

The story of the European Conference is very consistent with that of last week. The gap between first and last in the conference has widened by just one point, from six to seven. While they have yet to achieve sole possession of first at any point, the Riga Reign are the clear number one as the only team in the conference with a positive goal differential. The HC Davos Dynamo and Helsinki Titans have both struggled to put together back to back wins all week, but that has been even worse for the Titans as they are not only a point back, but the Reign and Dynamo each have a game in hand. While I expect some stratification of the conference eventually, I would not be surprised if these teams stay close throughout the rest of the season. At the bottom half of the conference, you once again have three teams separated by only a point. However, my money is solidly on the Moscow Menace at the moment. Raymond Bernard has put the team on his back, and I find it hard to believe that their scoring drought will last forever. Conversely to Moscow’s league-leading defence, we have the Prague Phantoms. Despite leading the conference in goals, their one hundred and eleven goals against is the highest in the league. Somehow, Virgil Ligriv has four points already this season, and if the Phantoms can figure out what is going on in front of him it will be interesting to see if he can return to his form from last season. Finally, the Malmo Nighthawks are being single-handedly carried by Condor Adrienne. Without him, I shudder to think where this team would be. With him, however, they are certainly in the running for the last playoff spot in the conference.

 

North American Conference

 

Completely inverse to the EC is the North American Conference. Twenty-one points separate first and last as well as a goal differential of fifty-five goals. At the beginning of the week, it looked as though the Calgary Wranglers may have been running away with the conference, but as the week went on, the Seattle Bears drew within a point. Beyond the point advantage, Calgary also has the slight bonus of having played their backup goalie more than Seattle so far this season. The Toronto Legion fell back to eight points behind, but they maintained a decent cushion from fourth and fifth at their backs. Among the biggest news of the week, The Vancouver Wolves appeared to be throwing in the towel, trading their best player, Julius Freeman, away to the New York Americans, their closest competitor. However, at the end of the week, they still sit one point ahead of the Americans, acting as gatekeepers of the playoff race. With the addition of Freeman, I expect New York to overtake them, but it will be interesting to watch just how long that takes. There is also always a chance that Vancouver has plans for the roughly four million in cap space they now have in order to make another push to the top. At the bottom, we have the D.C. Dragons. Coming into this season, it was obvious that the North American Conference would be a slugfest, but I for one did not see D.C. suffering this much.  At this point, it would be hard to argue against a Boris the Forest curse.

 

Notable Games

 

Game 123 - Seattle Bears vs. Calgary Wrangles 

In a rematch of one of last week’s featured games, the top two teams in the league found themselves facing off yet again. Seattle would come out on top this time after a fantastic team performance in which all but two of their contracted skaters contributed with at least a point. A fantastic back and forth game where Calgary showed some signs of a fight, but came up short in the end and had fans at the edges of their seats from puck drop to the final buzzer. A fine First Star performance from Ray Sheilds along with help from the usual suspects in Ambrose Stark and Berocka Sundqvist was enough to keep these two amazing teams neck and neck at the top of the standings. Also, let’s not forget leading points getter and goal scorer for the Wranglers, Mikko Lahtinen, notched 2 tallies and his total at the end of the week landed him tied for first in the league with 23 goals.

 

Game 167 - Riga Reign vs. Toronto Legion 

What a dominant performance by the Riga Reign, in all aspects of the game, this was. Phenomenal goaltending, solid and responsible defensive work, along with amazing offensive prowess was on display as Riga brushed aside the Legion. The Reign’s offence was firing on all cylinders and was spearheaded by Season 71’s first overall pick, Kyl Oferson, who scored a tremendous hat trick. Toronto kept the Reign’s goaltender, Greg Eagles, busy all game as they put up 33 shots, but they just weren’t quality enough to really threaten Riga’s strong performance. Kristopher McDagg of the Legion ended the game with 2 assists and logged the most time on the ice in the entire game playing a whopping 32 minutes and 39 seconds.

 

Game 173 HC Davos vs. Helsinki Titans 

In this European Conference battle, we had two teams right in the thick of a playoff race looking to shore up on points and cement their berth in the postseason. Many people expected fireworks in this one but instead, we got more of a chess match. Neither team managed to muster up much of any momentum in this close-fought battle and overtime was needed to decide a winner. Only allowing one goal and coming up with big saves when Helsinki needed them most, Michael Johnson had a great game with 23 saves. However, it was Ben Hafkey who played the role of hero on this night as he scored a wonderful goal just 1:26 into the overtime period to seal a victory for Helsinki. Acyd Burn scored the lone goal for HC Davos.

 

Events of the Week

 

Fights

 

• Game 134 - FULL LINE BRAWL!

  • Wow! This action-packed game between Calgary and Moscow culminated in a huge line brawl shortly after Moscow had brought the game to within one midway through the 3rd period. Jacob Perry and Mikko Lahtinen fought to an inconclusive draw, Sigard Gunnar got the best of Nate Telker and Aleelee Kiak scuffled with RJ Jubis but neither landed any finishing blows.

• Game 172 - BRAWL!

  • Another brawl, but this time in a cross-conference game. Markus Nygren got himself ejected for instigating a fight with Codrick Past and his linemate Randy Marsh got into a shakeup with Pengu with nobody coming out on top in either fight.

• Game 199 - HHH Fights Twice

  • Hunter Hearst Helmsley won’t be extremely proud of these two fights. He got laid out by Sigard Gunnar in the 1st period, and maybe his ego took a bit of a hit because he sought out to gain redemption and this time took up a fight with Tyler Barabash Jr. He will have done himself no good here as the fight resulted in the two grappling awkwardly before the refs broke them up.

 

Hat-Tricks

 

• Game 133 - ACL TEAR

  • This young Davos side sure is an exciting team to watch, but it was one of the old guards that was at the forefront of this game. ACL TEAR put on a show of his own against the D.C. Dragons where he scored a hat trick, including the eventual game-winner, and even added one more for good measure bringing his tally on the night up to four. Also of note, ACL TEAR did not need the power play to help him out as all four goals were scored at even strength.

• Game 165 - Ola Vikingstad

  • In a match between two of the recent powerhouses of the league, it was Ola Vikingstad of the Seattle Bears who had the last laugh. It was a pretty dominant game for the Bears, easily overcoming their opponents, and they have Vikingstad to thank for that. Ola scored a natural hat trick that was split between the 2nd and 3rd period which helped lead his team to a 4-1 win.

• Game 167 - Kyl Oferson

  • This match between two teams right in the middle of an intense playoff battle was one to remember for Kyl Oferson. He scored half of his team's goals with a wonderful hat trick and is showing that he is ready to be a consistent contributor in his sophomore season. Nearly equalling his goal total from last season in 40 fewer games the sky really is the limit for this great young talent.

 

Shutouts

 

• Game 124 - D.C. vs. Riga

  • Earning the first shutout of week 2, we had Stone Wolski of the D.C. Dragons who came up with a 14 save effort, for his second shutout of the season, against Riga Reign in a close game that ended 1-0. Perhaps a fire was lit underneath the Dragons’ bellies after stumbling out of the starting blocks to begin the season.

• Game 141 - Malmo vs. D.C.
  • In what will probably turn out to be the weirdest shutout of the season, D.C. were shutout by the Nighthawks, which seems pretty normal when you look at it on paper. However, this shutout was recorded by Malmo’s emergency backup! Yes, that’s right folks, Malmo does not have a proper backup goaltender and their emergency backup managed eight saves, for a shutout, in a game which was dominated by the Nighthawks.

• Game 144 - Moscow vs. Helsinki
  • I’m not sure what Helsinki did to anger Raymond Bernard so much, because this is now the third time this season that he has shutout the Titans. After a 41 save performance in Week 1, Bernard is back at it again, this time with 37 saves en route to his third shutout of the season, all of which have come against Helsinki. A lone goal in the 3rd period by Mat Tocco was enough to seal the victory.

• Game 150 - Moscow vs. D.C.
  • Back to back shutouts from the goaltending duo in Moscow must have you thinking the Menace are on a tear up the standings! Look for yourself, however, and you will find them anchored at the bottom. A 31 save game from backup Clayton Park and a couple of points from Mat Tocco helped them to a 2-0 win.

• Game 170 - Malmo vs. Toronto
  • Recently acquired Malmo goaltender Solomon Crawford stopped all 34 shots in a tough game against Toronto. His first appearance for the team will be one to remember and General Manager John Frostbeard must be happy with the instant impact.

• Game 180 - Prague vs. Malmo
  • It wasn’t the most eventful shutout of the season, but Virgil Ligriv will be happy nonetheless after making 20 saves in a 2-0 victory against Malmo for his first shutout of the season. Furthermore, Virgil was traded from Malmo earlier this week and will undoubtedly be extremely happy to shut out his former employer in his first game against them.

• Game 198 - Toronto vs. Moscow
  • Picking up his second shutout of the season, Jaxx Hextall had a solid game where he made 23 saves in Toronto’s victory over Moscow. Not the toughest shutout of his career, but one that he will be proud of nonetheless. Toronto walked out as 3-0 winners with Teemu Lehtinen Jr snagging two points.

 

Rookie Spotlight

Vladimir Shaposhnikov

Thank you @Pengu for this awesome banner as well

 

Vladimir Shaposhnikov spent some extra time in the VHLM, bouncing from team to team. He picked up a cup in his first season with the Saskatoon Wild. He was then drafted late in the second round by the Houston Bulls. He proved to be quite the steal for them, scoring fifty-eight points and helping them make it into the second round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, he was drafted by the Helsinki Titans in the VHL. In the offseason that followed, Shaposhnikov was traded by the Bulls to the Las Vegas Aces. There, he became a centrepiece of that team, scoring one hundred and two points and another ten points in the postseason.

 

Entering S72, the Titans were strapped for cap space and Vladimir was due to be called up. They traded his rights away to the Toronto Legion where he joined the squad immediately. Since then, he has had a solid play, with sixteen points in thirty-four games. Arguably, it is the unexpected play from skaters like Vladimir that has allowed the Legion to rise so far above what everyone expected of them this season. After their disappointing recent history, it is exciting to see surprising young players like this be such a big part of their return.

 

Going forward, I would like to see Shaposhnikov get back to what he did best. Given his goal-scoring capabilities in the VHLM, I think his shooting percentage should come up over the course of the season. If the pucks begin to bounce in his favour, Vlad could make a big impact in the weeks to come. I think improvements also need to be made to his defensive game. Shaposhnikov can be invisible at times in his own zone, but that is common with young players. He has the size, I expect we will start seeing him throw his weight around as he becomes more comfortable playing at this level.

 

Spoiler

Players mentioned: @rjfryman, @gorlab, @Tate, @Mr_Hatter, @MMFLEX, @OrbitingDeath, @chillzone, @Banackock, @Berocka, @Beketov, @Zetterberg, @Greg_Di, @Nykonax, @Viperxhawks19, @fonziGG, @McLovin, @Acydburn, @Grant, @Liberty_Cabbage, @Telkster, @Big Mac, @Jubis, @Devise, @oilmandan, @Kylrad, @Pengu, @Beaviss, @Bushito, @Quik, @Dil, @DollarAndADream, @Matmenzinger, @leafssteen, @AW13, @ROOKIE745, @Sixersfan549, @ng1291

 

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