Under 250: The VHLM Review (S72 #3)

[Mr_Hatter 1,603]

 

 

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!

 

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! 

 

Ringless | VHL Weekly Review | Early Standouts | Deep Rewind

 

The Review

Past the halfway mark of the season now, and things are starting to shape up for the playoff picture. Two teams have already clinched their berths in the postseason; how many will join them in the next few days, or weeks? Today in Under 250 we will be looking at games 199-276. Let’s dive into the standings now to see where things lie. 

 

 

First up, the Western Conference. Since the last edition of Under 250, the top two teams in the West of the Saskatoon Wild and the Las Vegas Aces have clinched a playoff berth. The Wild maintain their lead on the Aces, but only by three points. This trend continues, as no team has managed to displace anyone ahead. The Mexico City Kings still are in third place and are looking to clinch playoffs any moment now, as they are only seven points off the Aces with 62 points. Following the Kings, we have the Yukon Rush, with 32 points. While they may be far away from technically clinching their spot in the postseason, it does seem likely they will manage it, as they have about triple the points of the San Diego Marlins and the Houston Bulls, who bring up the rear of the conference with 11 and 8 points, respectively. 

 

While the Western Conference may be more or less decided, things are far from over in the East. Despite the Minnesota Storm holding the top spot overall in the league with 81 points, nine greater than the Wild in the West, they still have not managed to clinch a playoff berth. Now, it is almost certain they will, but that just highlights the disparity in the conferences. Following the Storm is the Philadelphia Reapers in the second position with 62 points, having managed to leapfrog the Mississauga Hounds who they lead by just two points. After the Hounds, we have the Ottawa Lynx in fourth place, in the final playoff spot, with 55 points. 

 

The final two teams in the East are each tied with 33 points, with the Miami Marauders narrowly edging out the Halifax 21st on tiebreakers. Both these teams would be in the playoffs in the West, one point ahead of the Rush, but thanks to a stronger conference will likely have to sit out the playoffs. Although the Lynx certainly aren’t out of reach (stranger things have happened), a 22 point gap with only 26 games to play would require nothing short of a miracle. The Marauders have made significant headway since our last post, however, having closed the eight-point gap on Halifax; we’ll see if that winning form continues. 

 

There’s not much to say this time around about our ELO charts. The majority of teams experienced little to no shifts in performance, with a few teams vaguely trending positively or negatively. The Houston Bulls and San Diego Marlins maintain their gap with the rest of the pack and with each other but have mostly levelled off in their decline. To be fair, there isn’t much lower to go, as any win does give them a significant boost. 

 

The biggest shift alluded to in the standings post, is the Miami Marauders flirting with and eventually overtaking the 21st. Unfortunately, it may be too little too late, as they don’t look likely to overtake Ottawa any time soon, considering the Lynx themselves are trending up as well. 

 

The Mexico City Kings experienced an uptick at the end of our games, in part thanks to a few large wins against the 21st, despite a shootout loss to the Reapers in Game 263, which is well worth a viewing for the curious among you. 

The Highlights

 

Over the past week of games, there have been some individual and team trends worth mentioning. First, the Minnesota Storm continue their run of good form and currently sit on an 11 game winning streak, with just one overtime loss in their last 13 games. Despite such winning ways, their team shines as a group more than as individuals. Liam Flaten is their highest scorer over this period, with 24 points in 13 games played, which ranks him 8th over those games. He is followed by their top right-winger in Mickey Dickson whose 21 points in 13 is 12th overall. Of course, these individual statistics are still very impressive in a vacuum, but considering the performances of others soon to be mentioned, and that context shifts somewhat. 

 

The team who has most impressed recently in terms of individual performances, as well as deviation from the mean, has to be the Ottawa Lynx. Considering their record prior to this string of games was a hair over .500 at 17-16-0, their 10-2-1 run over the last 13 games is nothing short of incredible. Adam Syreck has 35 points over that span, including 14 goals. The Lynx star is showcasing the kind of talent that was so instrumental in their cup run last season and currently leads the overall season point totals, as the first player to eclipse 100 points, having scored 109. He is closely followed by fellow Lynx member and blue-line stud DeFenz Mann whose 11 goals and 22 assists puts him at second over the span of games. The two Ottawa players are the only players to have more than 30 points and have carried their team to the second-best record over the last 13 games at 10-2-1. Good work boys!

 

Our final individual performance to highlight from this span of games is the Mississauga Hound’s right-winger, Michael Mac. Mac has the third most points in this run of games with 28. Mac has been scoring at a fantastic rate throughout the season so far, with 98 points in 46, good enough for second in the league behind the aforementioned Syreck. Who will end the season on top! We know we will be watching with bated breath. 

 

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!

 

GM's: @InstantRockstar, @Dil, @Rayzor_7, @Motzaburger, @DoktorFunk, @McWolf, @DMaximus, @ColeMrtz, @Ricer13, @Sonnet, @Spartan, @MexicanCow123
 

Players Mentioned: @flatl99, @Brewins15, @Spade18, @Mike, @LastOneUp

 

 

VSN Writer Mr_Hatter

 

[Mike 708]

Elo should change next update Lynx big trade with Reapers today.