KESLER UNFILTERED

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 222

 

Up – The New York Americans, the Americans have started the season off with a stellar eight and two record. With fourteen points this puts them top in the VHL right now, they are currently on a four game winning streak. Last season after losing in the finals to the Riga Reign in a short series, the Americans made some off-season moves after losing their star player Odin Tordahl. Since moving to forward Connor Low has scored nine goals and has added thirteen assists for a total of twenty-two points in ten games. The connection between him and Slaughter on New York first line has been a game changer and these guys have been a big part of New York’s success. The new acquisition of Matt Bentley has also paid diligence, Bentley leads all defensemen in points right now with seventeen. The next in line for defensemen points is his old line mate, Koji Yamazaki. The Americans look like a sure fire pick to win the cup this season and this great start only back that further.

 

Down – The Pajodcast just broke a very impressive milestone for podcasts, the crew of Jericho, Device and Advantage have put out very good content in the past years for VHLers to listen too. Although edition one zero five was very different from their other editions. This episode Device did a podcast like usual with his companions but due to technical difficulties the VHL listeners could not hear the other two members of the podcast. So all the podcast was, was Device talking to Chris and Kyle but the listeners could not hear them. Due to time problems the podcast could not be re-scheduled.  

 

Up – Rami Jacobsen this off-season was in one of the biggest trades in VHL history. Him and his teammate on the Stockholm Viking were traded for a combined four first round picks. So logically each player was traded for two first rounders. Throughout pre-season and to start the season Jacobsen has played with Aksel Thomassen and Bruno Wolf on Quebecs top line. Jacobsen right now leads the team and rookie scoring in points with a very impressive nineteen points in ten games. If Jacobsen keeps this pace up he could have a record breaking rookie campaign and go on to break even more records throughout his career. This is a very small sample size of what Jacobsen can do but right now he is on fire and you cannot take away from him that he as a rookie is doing better than some stars in the VHL right now.

 

Down – The VHL and the VHLs star power, in recent seasons players like Odin Tordahl, Karsten Olsen, Wesley Kellinger andmany many more have retired and this has left the VHL without many star players. Yes there are players like Connor low, Matt Bentley, Naomi Young but the VHL is missing players like Chershenko, Tordahl and Sullivan type players. Though there may not be many superstars in the VHL right now, the amount of young talent is astonishing right now. Guys like Richardson, Cote, Jacobsen and many others are jumping into the VHL and outplaying seasoned veterans. The VHL needs more star power players right now but in a few seasons it may be tough to be a decent player with the amount of amazing talent that will be hitting the ice rinks.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Brovy

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 223

 

Up – The New York Americans have started the season off with a bang. In twenty-three games, New York has an astounding twenty wins and only two regular losses with one overtime loss. The Americans have had all cylinders firing to start the season, after losing arguably the best player in the VHL in some time, Odin Tordahl. Tthe Americans made a couple of trades and acquired Matt Bentley as well as moving the best defenseman in the league, Conner Low to forward. Low now could possibly move on to be a Boulet winning power forward and remarkably leads the team in points and is also second in the VHL. Brick Wahl has also been having an amazing season and has started every game for the Americans so far and has a .920 save percentage and has a GAA of just over two. Rookie Jody 3 Moons has started off his career with an amazing first part of a season. In twenty-three games 3 Moons has been a rock on the Americans second line, he has thirty-five points which is good enough for third on the Americans in points and could maybe be a finalist for the top rookie of the year.

 

Down – In their very first ever season, the Stockholm Vikings have had a rough start to their franchise. In just a small sample size of twenty-three games, the Stockholm Vikings currently have one win and nineteen losses. The only one win came in their very first game against the Toronto Legion and since then they have lost nineteen straight games. This cannot be called surprising though, as the Vikings are deep into a rebuild and will more than likely get the first overall pick in the season 42 draft. Tyrone Williams has not been doing as well as his amazing rookie campaign now that Niklas Lindberg has hung up his skates. Edwin Encarnacion who was brought in as a free agent pickup to fulfill the goon role has not been doing as well as the Vikings hoped. Encarnacion only has had two fights this season and amassed only sixty-eight penalty minutes which is not what Encarnacion was hoping for. The Vikings have started their franchise off on a very low point but over the seasons of building will one day have a great team.

 

Up – Combinations in the VHL are very few and far between, especially having one that sticks together for a whole career. Enter Bruno Wolf and Aksel Thomassen.This season they are showing that they are going to be elite talents in the VHL as they have a combined seventy-four points in twenty-three games. They both have a solid fourteen goals and Thomassen is proving he can clearly be a playmaker with almost thirty assists so far this season. Wolf has fewer points but is certainly clearing the way for Thomassen to produce. Wolf has a hundred and fifteen hits and almost two hundred shots and if he continues playing at this pace, he could catch up to the league leaders and be a candidate for the Boulet trophy. Thomassen was acquired via the GM rule so Quebec did not have to trade for him and Wolf was acquired via trade two off-seasons ago for a couple of good picks but was well worth it for the Meute. Wolf and Thomassen are both going to be franchise players and this only puts the Meute in a greater position in coming seasons. This combination of a silky playmaker and a brute of a power forward could be a pair that play together until their days in the VHL are done.

Edited December 23, 2014 by BOOM

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 224

 

 

Up – This season has been a weird one, due to the lack of star power players and star goaltending. New star players are being born and with this comes new surprises. You would think guys like Tom Slaughter, Connor Low, Brennan Mcqueen and such would be leading in hits, points, goals etc. But this season ti has not been like that. The emergence of the dynamic duo in Quebec and others on Calgary and Seattle have been leading on goals, hits etc. Bruno Wolf and Aksel Thomassen are having a season to remember, Thomassen leading in assists and Wolf leading in goals. Both in talks for the MVP award and Wolf almost a sure fire win for the Boulet which would be his first. Thomassen is more than likely going to get a trophy or two for leading in points and being a gentlemen on the ice. As well as Seattle Bears rookie sensation Brady Stropko is among the best when it comes to scoring goals, he is currently in third with forty-four in almost sixty games. Stropko should be a finalist for the rookie of the year and is a great piece to build around on Seattle. 

 

Down – The Helsinki Titans, yes the team that once had a very quick and glorious rebuild. Last season Helsinki tried going for it by acquiring guys like Tyrael and Janssen who were having an amazing offensive season as the Titans duo. Tyrael retired and Helsinki replaced him with Naomi Young. Their leading scorer is below a point per game and their veterans are really letting them down. Their top two defensive pairing of Draper and Wylde are no wear near where they should be in development. They should both be further along and be amongst the best defensemen in the league. They are both falling behind players that are younger such as Quebec’s Koji Yamazaki and Colognes Mason Richardson. The Helsinki Titans as a whole are going to need to break out of their defensive shells and start becoming more offensive. With a weaker goaltender it may be tough but the Titans will have a shot in the playoffs so they have until then to make their offense become what people know it can be.

 

Up – Martin “Mother F******” Brookside may be the only reason why Toronto is not going to make the playoffs. Martin Brookside is putting up a clinic after Calgary recently decided to go into a rebuild and deal away almost all the players that had any value besides Brookside. Brookside along with some “washed up” players if you want to call them that have been having tremendous seasons on Calgary. Brookside is second in save percentage with a .923% and his goals against average is a 2.83 which is not the best but he is better most nights than others. Brookside and Calgarys limp offense have been stealing games against teams that are better and have complete rosters unlike Calgary. Many expected Calgary to finish in fourth behind Toronto who is slowly building and is almost ready for the playoffs. Toronto does not have their own first round pick this season so making the playoffs is essential for them but due to Brookside winning games for Calgary Toronto may miss the playoffs and lose out on a good pick.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 225

 

Up – I remember in the VHL when GM changes were something that did not happen often, and when it did it was a huge shakeup to the team and the league. In the past few seasons it has been something that has been happening with more regularity. Instead of a five or six season tenure as GM, they seem to be only lasting three to four seasons and then stepping down and letting someone else on the team take the reins. The past seasons we have seen this in Seattle, Davos, Quebec and now just in the past week Helsinki and Cologne have followed. Vincent Wong decided to step down as GM of the Helsinki Titans. His reasoning was he could no longer handle the work load with having a child in his life. Taking over for the Titans is William Shaw who has shown great interest in the league since joining and has made a great player in Don Draper. Mr. Shaw was the leading candidate for the next GM to take over in the VHL and many wanted him to take over their team. Only time will tell if he can be the GM everybody wanted him to me. The next GM change was for the Express, David Trippler decided to step down due to a similar problem as Wong. Taking over was the Express Assistant GM Ryan Power, Ryan Power has some experience unlike Shaw. Ryan Power was GM of the New York Americans for three seasons before resigning and allowing Chris Miller to take over. 

 

Down – Jardy and the VHL.

 

Simming in the VHL usually equals activity and when there is a lack of regular sims like we have experienced recently, the activity in the VHL takes a dive. Jardy has been absent lately and has missed the scheduled sims for unknown reasons. Others such as Sterling and Higgins have tried to pick it up for Jardy but they are the backup simmers and ultimately it is Jardy's job to sim daily. Since this disruption to the schedule, the VHL as a whole has gone dramatically down in activity. Even for myself it has not been the same without the daily games to look at. With the holidays ending (a time when it is usually a low period of activity) it has been even lower than usual.

 

Up – There is hope! For the Toronto Legion that is.

 

The Legion were supposed to be a team that was going to beat Calgary for the third place spot in the Western conference. But due to Calgary’s surprising offence and incredible goaltending they have placed themselves ahead of Toronto in the standings. But with only eight games left the Legion are eight points down. Toronto has a fairy easy schedule for the rest of the season. They have four possible games they could win against Davos (twice), Stockholm and Seattle. They could also steal a game against the Express or the Reign but it is certainly going to be tough for the Legion. Also not owning their first round pick could really hurt them if that pick does turn into a lotto pick. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 226

 

Up – The Helsinki Titans like other teams in the league went through a rebuild in the past few seasons. Like other teams they had some good picks and some bad picks, while adding some veteran star talent the Titans were looking to do some damage this season in the playoffs. The first round just wrapped up and the Helsinki Titans did just that. The Titans were going up against the Cologne Express in the first round, a team in similar shoes as the Titans. Both teams coming out of strong rebuilds looking to make in impact and be an elite team in the VHL in the next few seasons. Both teams having similar younger goaltenders it would make for an interesting series. Helsinki would go up three to zero to start the playoffs, the Titans outscored the Express by five goals in the first three games. Cologne would go on to win a nail-biting fourth game only winning by one goal. I am sure going into game five Helsinki did not want to let Cologne get a grip and have them make the infamous three to one comeback in the series. Helsinki showed up in game five which was a very tough loss for the Express, but now the Titans have to take an ever bigger task, the Riga Reign.

 

Down – The Cologne Express cannot catch a break. Last season the Express had amazing rookie seasons from their two studs, Thomas O’Malley and Mason Richardson and ended up having the best regular season in the European conference. But due to getting a pass in the quarter finals they would still have to slay the dragon in the Riga Reign. Cologne clearly could not find any diamond or iron swords, instead they brought wooden ones and got slayed by the Reign. The Reign beat them in an easy four game series, Riga would score fifteen goals in the four games. While Cologne could only muster up six, so this season Cologne was looking to have a tough competitive series with the Titans. But this would not happen because they would end up losing in just five games. For a team that has such talent as Cologne does, winning only one playoff game in the last two seasons is really a letdown for the team and management. But maybe this season was just not theirs, they do have a very bright future so they will have plenty of opportunities to turn the ship, although the change of GM leaves Cologne vulnerable to continued disappointments.

 

Up – The Stockholm Vikings. Yes the Stockholm Vikings as an up? You may ask, well yes the Vikings are going to be on rise once this off-season is over and done with. The Vikings had the worst season in their incredibly brief history, finishing with a laughable ten wins in their seventy two game schedule. Adding to that they had an impressive thirty four game losing streak, which would probably the longest in VHL history but it is not a stat that the record books keep track of. But looking forward to the off-season the Vikings have five first round picks, they ended up losing the lottery and getting the second overall selection in the draft lottery. The other four picks are going to be anywhere from picks five to ten but this draft is looking like a good one so future stars will still be available. They also have a pair of second round picks to add to their depth on Stockholm. This off-season will be a good one for Stockholm and I guarantee you that they have nowhere to go but up.

[Ball 453]

Pretty sure Stockholm lost the lottery bud

[Kesler 1,514]

Pretty sure Stockholm lost the lottery bud

wut i missed it

 

whoops fixed it

Edited January 27, 2015 by Brovy

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Article 227

 

Up – Wolfgang Strauss was once a middle tier prospect but is now proving that he deserves much more credit than that. In the most recent mock drafts scouts have him going as high as fifth overall and over the course of the season he has slowly been climbing up the mock drafts. Before the draft he may even get as high as third overall. He is currently fourth in training hours with a hundred and seventy eight. Strauss’s agent has been repping Wolfgang wherever he goes and is really giving Wolfgang a good reputation in the VHL. 

 

Down – Only a season ago Tyrone Williams was one of the best rookies the VHL had seen in decades. He led all rookies in scoring and in points, and was amongst the top in goals and points for the entire league. This past season Williams did not have his line mate Niklas Lindberg and the result of this was Williams did not even register a point per game. He only scored a total of seventy points in the seventy two game schedule. Tyrone Williams will now likely test free agency due to his poor performance this season.

 

Up – This free agency could be the best in seasons, with young stars like Milos Denis, Devin Sundberg and James Faraday all having not resigned and potentially making it to the open market as young stars about to enter their primes. Some may ask why these players may test free agency. Some might not care. Denis has struggled on the Americans and with New York being so close to the cap it may be a good time to jump ship. James Faraday may want something bigger and better than the current Helsinki Titans so he could be seeking a new team. 

 

Down –The Quebec City Meute after making an incredible amount of trades last season. Trading away all picks (including five first round picks) then losing to the New York Americans in a short five game series in the North American semifinals. Usually when a team trades away picks it is because they know they are going to do well and most times are going to win the championship. Well Quebec certainly was not going to win a championship this past season and now there are questions as to what Quebec will do going forward. With teams like Riga and Calgary dismantling and teams like Cologne and Helsinki going into cap problems; Quebec may be one of the only teams that can take on free agents with the tonnes of cap space they do have.

 

Up – The New York Americans and the Riga Reign have both made it to the finals for the third straight season in a row. The first season the New York Americans won with a star studded lineup including Odin Tordahl, Wesley Kellinger, Tom Slaughter and many more players. In the rematch one season later the Riga Reign had the star studded lineup with a bunch of rentals and retiring players in it they beat the Americans in an easy five game series. This season (the season that decides the best of three) it looks like it may go the entirety of the seven game series, with both teams not really having too many depth players it puts all the work load on the star players and that could be a problem.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 228

 

Up – Trading is a good thing! During the season forty-one season only two trades were made, one of them was the second part of a two part trade and the other was a small trade were a pick and depth players were swapped. Since the playoffs have ended a total of eight trades have been made, with the Riga Reign rebuilding you would have expected quite a bit of trades to come. But Riga has only sold of two of their players and still holds almost a full line of players yet to be traded. Most of the trades have been made by teams coming out of rebuilds who are trying to get bargains by moving up and down in the draft. Davos and Stockholm (two teams in similar phases of their rebuilds) made a block buster trade that gave the Davos Dynamo second overall for a nice package. Stockholm received in the package  fifth overall, thirteenth overall , a first round pick from Davos in season forty three, Coca Cola and Mario De Rossi a young talented prospect. Calgary started their rebuild last off-season and still had one of their biggest chips, Martin Brookside. Cologne gave up a first round pick as well as a second round pick for the star goaltender, both picks are probably not going to be top picks but may turn into something. One of Rigas biggest piece was dealt to Toronto, that being Slaeter Fjorsstrom for a solid first round pick, Fjorstrom was the best defensemen on the market and having three seasons left, that was a good payment for a top tier defensemen. Another star goaltender was moved, this one being from Riga, Riga sent Mike Szatkowski Jr. to Helsinki for Kimmo Salo and a first round pick. Salo was added for cap reasons as Helsinki could not handle the salaries of both goaltenders. This was a good trade for both teams as Helsinki tinally gets an elite goalie and Riga gets a pick for their rebuild as well as a goalie who may catch another pick.

 

Down – Salary Cap. Salary Cap or #CapHell as some refers to it as. It is a problem for every single team who is not rebuilding, this off-season teams like New York, Cologne, Helsinki and Quebec have had to deal with. New York is a team that is on the tail end of their reign as the best team in the VHL, they have not been able to add depth pieces for a couple seasons now due to being just up against the salary cap. Cologne this off-season made some trades to upgrade their team activity and maybe the hopes of making a cup run. After they made their trades, they found out by the VHL budget manager that they were quite a few million over the cap, so they had to move some key depth pieces for a pick in order to stay under the cap. Quebec last season had a bunch of cap space due to being in a sort of rebuild faze, well this season due to players growing Quebec has had no cap space to make any trades (something GM Chevy has liked doing) . Although Quebec is has a full roster and may need to move some depth guys who are taking up key cap space, they are dealing with the #CapHell. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 229

 

 

Down – Powerhouse by definition is a thing or person of great power, energy or strength. In the VHL powerhouses come and go and right now the power houses of the "thirties" are starting to fall. The Toronto Legion, a team that had a great stint in the season thirties was very good because of their star goaltender Remy Lebeau. Toronto was forced into a rebuild due to players retiring, a team that Toronto was competing with for their season was the Davos Dynamo. A team that went through a very fast and rapid rebuild that was propelled by free agents and bringing in players via trade. The Dynamo started their rebuild a couple seasons ago and that was the end of another powerhouse. Riga the most recent powerhouse to rebuild decided to do so due to aging players and cap problems. The Reign had a stint that lasted quite a few seasons, but did not make it as long as the Americans have. New York started their rebuild back in season thirty-six and have been at the top of the VHL for the past few seasons. They are the last powerhouse standing from the season thirties. So that leaves, who is the next team to be the next VHL powerhouse? Well a team like the Cologne Express, Quebec City Meute, or the Helsinki Titans could all get there.

 

Up – Rivalry is a great thing in the VHL, leading up to this season the rivalry really has not been there. But this season it is, in the European conference you have the Cologne Express and the Helsinki Titans (teams who are very similar) fighting for the number one spot in the conference. The below them fighting for the third and final spot for the playoffs, is the Stockholm Vikings and the HC Davos Dynamo. Davos recently made a big move to acquire the second overall pick in the draft so they ended up dealing their own pick in the next draft. So Stockholm will guarantee themselves a lotto pick so if they cannot take down Davos they will still be looking good. Both Stockholm and Davos acquired some players that were very questionable in their state. Davos acquired a pair of depth older guys from the Cologne Express while Stockholm acquired Blaine Olynick, a goalie that was replaced by Martin Brookside and was without a job until Stockholm decided to take him on.

 

Down – The super cup! Yes the super cup… the first two times it came around in the seasonally cycle it was a great success. Well this season many players are not enjoying the super cup due to a couple different factors. Many members have found themselves not really checking the game threads and just not having a good time, but some do enjoy the different locker room members. Another problem was the draftees never got updated before the super cup so they were not selected as high due to their TPE not being as high. As well as not being updated in the sim means for less chance to as good as others in the super cup.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 230

 

 

Up – Free agency is a huge part of the off-season for GMs, if you can make a good pitch you could be acquiring a superstar for nothing. This off-season had some good talent in free agency, probably one of the better ones in the recent seasons. The notables being Devin Sundberg, Bennett Wahl, Milos Denis and many more depth pieces for teams to choose from. Devin Sundberg was pitched by a few teams , but settled on the Davos Dynamo, a team just coming out of a rebuild. Milos Denis decided to rest free agency right after winning a cup with New York, after getting a couple good offers he decided to settle in Quebec for at least a season with a possibility of a second season due to a player option. Bennett Wahl decided to return to the team that he was recently on, the Toronto Legion, he will be there for a season. Since joining Sundberg has taken over as the first line center on the Dynamo, in five games he has four goals, three assists and a total of seven points. Milos Denis has also come in to Quebec and has been a first liner, Denis has one goal but has seven assists for a total of eight points. Quebec’s top line has been one,two and three in the league in the short season so far. 

 

Down – The first overall pick Bismarck Koenig was drafted that knowingly he is going to be a franchise player. Koenig has some high training hours for rookies and will be a huge part of how well Davos does. Davos did not play Koenig in pre-season due to unknown reasons, that’s fine though because who pays attention to pre-season? Going into the season Koenig could easily be a rookie of the year candidate, with his young talented linemates, high training hours and a chance at unlimited opportunities. Well in the first four games of the season forty two schedule, first overall pick Bismarck Koenig did not play. Some say it was was because the GM did not want to play him, or maybe the coach did not want to. But no matter what the reason, BOOM (Koenigs agent) was not feeling that his player has sat out in the first four games of his rookie season. Koenig has already fallen down by up to five points in rookie scoring, definitely not the way he wanted to start his career. But I am sure he will bounce back once Davos gets their lines straightened out.

 

Up – This duo combined brought home six trophies, two of which are very prestigious trophies and the others are for leading goals and points. Yes I am talking about them once again, best duo in the VHL, Bruno Wolf and Aksel Thomassen. Some said that last season was just a fluke and there’s no way they could repeat what they did last season… Well I just four games they have combined twenty six points, twelve of which are goals. Thomassen is the perfect playmaker who can take faceoffs, not take penalties and play big minutes. Wolf is almost the complete opposite, he is an absolute bull on the ice, hitting guys left right and center, he plays a very gritty game along the wing and with his big frame and excellent goal touch he is the benchmark for all power forwards. From what they have shown last season and in the short four games this season, they are going to go on to break records together. Some may say they are the next Rafter and Smalling combo that Davos had during their successful seasons. If this regular season success turns into playoff success they could easily be a dynasty in the coming season, being led by these two stars.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 231

 

 

Up – The Quebec City Muete may finally be better than the New York Americans! In twenty one games this season the Meute are sixteen and five and are first place in the North American conference and first place in the VHL. The Meute are leading the league in goals due to having the two leading point getters in the VHL, Bruno Wolf and Aksel Thomassen. They also have the lowest goals against which are very surprising for their questionable defensive core but goalie Brock Waldron has stepped up his game this season. He is number one in save percentage with a .931% and is second in goals against average with a 2.11. Quebec has the more goals for than the Americans, as well as they have let in less goals. It seems the Meute are outplaying the Americans in every statistic as well as the Meute have the better goaltending and the scorers who are playing better. It certainly seems that the Quebec team has found a perfect combination of goal scoring and having its mediocre defensive core mixed with an elite goaltender.

 

Down – The New York Americans were once the team that everybody afraid to play, after a cup run last season that would give them their second cup since season thirty nine. In between those cup runs was a trip to the finals where they lost to the stacked Riga Reign team. This season in twenty games they are just two games above five hundred (including over time losses as losses) with a eleven, seven and two record. They have had some tougher competition then the Meute have had this season, the majority of their games have been against the Legion, Express and the Titans. All of which have good teams but shouldn’t New York be able to beat those teams? Slaighter, Triple X and Connor Low have all been doing solid on the Americans top line so what could it be. It may be a combination of things but the Americans have allowed more goals then some teams that have weaker rosters, and they are far from scoring the most goals in the league. Brick Wahl will need to pick up his game in time for the playoffs to turn this season around.

 

Down – Some may say the Toronto Legion have a pretty solid roster with only a questionable goaltender. Well the Legion are no wear near where they should be in the standings, in the off-season they lost one of their better players Devin Sundberg due to Davos ultimately giving a better pitch. The Legion tried to counter by trading for aging superstar defensemen Slaetar Fjorstrom, dealing a first round pick for him may have been a mistake but the Legion are going to have to live with it. They are currently eight, eleven and one with seventeen points in twenty games. They are outside of a playoff spot and are looking as bad as the Wranglers. The Wranglers have almost no roster players but are somehow finding a way to win with the guys they do have. The Legion are not scoring as many goals as they need to win, with the second lowest in the league it is just not good enough. They may be in trouble right now but guys like Zoidberg, Wahl, Cote and Rathod Jr. are going to need to pick their game up to compete with Seattle for the last playoff spot in the North American conference. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 234

 

 

Up - Matt Bentley has been under the shadow of Connor Low for most of his career, up until Low decided to become a forward Bentley was always the number two or number three defensemen in the league. Well Bentleys time has finally come to take over the role that is the highest earning TPE defensemen and the defensemen that is having the most sim success. Bentley has played on three different teams throughout his career, he has made the playoffs every single season. He truly is a leader and certainly has the leadership to help his current New York Americans team win another cup. In Bentleys last season in fifty one games Bentley has eighteen goals, fifty eight assists for a total seventy six points. Bentley has enough points to put him atop of every other defensemen in the league, a Labatte may be prominent for the veteran defensemen. As well leading in points for a defensemen Bentley is putting up an unreal amount of assists, his fifty eight puts him only behind Meute superstar center Aksel Thomassen. Bentley is certainly going to finish his last regular season with a bang.

 

Down -  The VHL always has periods of super high activity and periods of very low activity. Right now the VHL is in a period of low activity like it usually is during the season. During the season the only thing that is really going on is games being simmed and posted. Though the trade deadline happened no moves were made that were unexpected and the trades that did happen were already done in the off-season and had to wait till now due to cap reasons. The periods of high activity are always during the playoffs and the off-season and all that comes with it. Many members will just sign on in the off-seasons and claim all the off-season pts and then leave for another season. The draft is always an exciting time for young draftees and for GMs to improve their teams through the draft. Free agency is another exciting time in the off-season for GMs and anybody involved. The season is coming to an end and the playoffs are right around the corner, hopefully the activity picks up by then.

 

Up – Entering the season thirty six draft was the Robin Gow and his brother Robert Gow lll, Robin was drafted second overall and his brother Robert was drafted fifth overall. The brothers were drafted by the team that owned the first round, the Riga Reign. They would spend the majority of their careers together on the Reign, Robins agent became GM of the Reign just a couple seasons ago and Roberts agent became GM of the wranglers just last season. Robert left in free agency last season to go join his agents rebuilding team and Robin was forced to stay on the rebuilding Reign due to a ruling. Well at the deadline both brothers were moved from their teams. Robert Gow lll will now be likely playing his brother in the European conference finals. He was dealt for King Czar, a second and a pair of third round picks, not the value that was originally wanted by GM of the wranglers but it was better than just a second rounder. This was a big pickup for the Helsinki Titans as it adds some star power to play with Young and will add to  their success in Helsinki this season. Robin Gow was traded from the Reign to the other European favorite the Express. In the offseason Riga acquired a second round pick for Alistair Graves, Graves being a depth player so this made it the first part of the trade. The second part that just happened was Robin Gow for a first round pick. So Robin got a better return than his brother did, It will be interesting to see these brothers duel it out one last time against each other in the playoffs.

[STZ 5,376]

I'm purposely leaving the misspelling of Conner Low et al. FYI to those who are wondering. This is Unfiltered, and the people have spoken.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag number 235

 

 

Down – The excitement that comes with the end of the season, normally teams are battling it out for playoff positions usually leading up till the last few games are played. Well this season it appears that all six playoff spots are called for except for one. Even the one position that is not claimed by a team it is very clear that the team that is in that position will hold onto it unless they lose the majority of their last six games. In the European conference the Helsinki Titans have clinched the conference title and will hold on to the first place spot till the end of the season. In second place is the Cologne Express who many had predicted to finish way better then what they are on pace on to. In third is the Stockholm Vikings who have played great this season due to great performances from their rookies. The Dynamo still have a mathematical chance to make the playoffs but it is certainly not likely that they can catch the Vikings. Over in North America it is going to be a heated battle between the Meute and Americans on who is going to win the conference and (most likely) finish with the most points in the league. As of right now the Meute have a slight four point lead over the Americans, the Americans have just started to play their backup goalie so they are having troubles beating teams with such a weak goaltender. In third spot is the Toronto Legion, the Legion were out of the playoffs for a good portion of the season but battled back to have more points than the Bears. The Bears certainly looked like they were destined to make the playoffs but could not hold on to the position.

 

Up – The Toronto Legion, after a very shaky start to their season have now clinched a playoff spot. With games to spare as well, the Legion have the remaining seven games of the season to prepare for the playoffs. They will be facing in the first round against the incredible Americans or the Meute who as of right now are leading the league in points and may force the Americans to play against the Legion.  General manager Tyler Edgar has been criticized for his ways over the seasons, but after going through a rebuild has built a team that may be ready to compete as soon as this season.  With many young players on the Legion roster it will be interesting to see how they match up against one of the North American powerhouses, the Meute or the Americans. Many of the young players on the Legion are having some great campaigns, Zoidberg is the Legions top scorer with forty two goals (which is good enough for seventh in the league) and forty seven assists for a total of eighty nine points in sixty six games. The Legions first line center Tyler Cote is having a very solid season as well as his line mate, he has thirty two goals and forty seven assists. Other contributors are the legions top defensive pairing, Jerrick Poole and Slaeter Fjorstrom. The Legions goaltending has been an interesting case this season, they have their young future starter battling against the old veteran for the number one spot. Fedir Okranitz has played forty one out of the sixty siz  games so far but has more losses then wins. While on the other hand Kimmo Salo has only played twenty five games but has more wins than the rookie. It will be interesting to see who Mr. Edgar plays in the playoffs, the rookie or the vet that can win the games?

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag number 236

 

 

Up – The Stockholm Vikings, the Vikings this season have had a pretty solid regular season. They finished in third place in the European conference right behind the Express and right in front of the Dynamo. The Vikings made a trade last season that sent away to the Dynamo second overall and in return they got a huge package and one of those picks just happens to be first overall in this seasons draft because of the lottery turning out in their favour. With the first overall pick it is unclear as to what they are going to do with it. Hans Wingate is the clear number one prospect in the draft but he is a goalie and Stockholm already has two of those plus they had just dealt one at the most recent trade deadline. So the Vikings are in a very very good spot for their future and right now. They have made the playoffs and have first overall. Not too many teams can say they have done this before, though in the playoffs they are facing up against the Express who will probably take them out in five or six games. 

 

Down – Wesley Mathews, a second round selection from the Vasteras Iron Eagle in the season forty draft. Has come out and has announced his retirement, Mathews was traded from the Vikings (Vateras moved to Stockholm) to the Meute in a huge package deal that sent four first round picks to the Vikings for Wesley Mathews and Rami Jacobsen. At the time Mathews was worth the two first round picks but after being traded his growth rapidly declined, he stopped showing up to practices, he has not responding to management and was turning into a radical. At the deadline Mathews was reported to possibly be on the move due to the way he has acted over the past season or two. When the Meute acquired Mathews he was supposed to be their franchise defensemen. For good reason, he was a great prospect who had a lot of hype around him when being drafted. His agent wanted Mathews to become a great player, but all this came to an end yesterday. Mathews and his agent after realizing the Minot Gladiators had been taken out of the VHLM they both decided to walk away from the VHL. Mathews agent 701 was one of the original members to help bring the Minot team into the VHLM. Wesley retiring is going to hurt the Meute quite a bit, Mathews eats up minutes in big times for them, he is probably their best defensemen and next season are going to have to fill this void. Some may ask why did Mathews retire of such a silly thing when he is on the arguably best team in the VHL?

 

Up – After four seasons of the same team winning this trophy, is it not time for a new team to start up a new streak? Well after four seasons of the dominant New York Americans winning the Victory Cup, the Quebec City Meute has taken the crown that is the Victory Cup. This is the second time in the history of the Quebec City Meute that they have won the Victory Cup, the only other time they won it was in season thirty five and that was the first season that they won their Continental Cup.  The Meute had a bit of a scare with around ten games left when the Americans came within just a couple points of the Meute, but the Meute clutched up and won eight straight games before losing their final game of the season.  The Meute will have a good chance at getting back to back Victory Cups so maybe a new streak will be made?

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 238

 

 

Up – The Cologne Express, a team that was part of the two team expansions in the VHL just over twelve seasons ago has now won their very first Continental Cup. They had a very tough time in their first few seasons of after joining the league but after their most recent rebuild, they have built a very good group of players. Just three seasons ago the Express dealt three first round picks to acquire the second overall pick in the season forty VHL entry draft, with this pick and also have number one they selected Thomas O’Malley and Mason Richardson. These two players have been by far the best players from their draft class, and have both been a huge part of the Cologne franchise since being drafted. In the first round of the season forty two playoffs the Express had to play the Vikings, it was clear as to who was going to win this one. Cologne skanked the young Stockholm team like they knew they would, in the semifinals they had to face off against the Helsinki Titans squad, the team that had won the European conference in the regular season. It was a tough series that went the length, Cologne however would pull it out in a seven game series. Brookside at this point was on fire, much like his counterpart Brock Waldron on the Quebec City team that they would face off against in the finals. This is the first time both expansion teams have faced each other in the final, as well as it was the first time for the Cologne team. Many thought this series was going to go to a game six or seven but this was not the case. Cologne came out roaring and got off to a two-zero lead in the series, Quebec would win game three then lose the next two. Cologne won the cup in a very convincing fashion. They will also have a very solid chance at trying to repeat as the Continental Cup Champions.

 

Down – The end of a dynasty. The New York Americans have been the very best team in the league as long as I can remember. Even when they are bad they are still good, mainly due to their amazing General Manager, Christopher Miller. They have now entered another rebuild under Mr.Miller, for the Americans first deal they sent out Christoph Klose and Xin Xie Xiao to the Express for Nicolas Caprivi, Godavari Yumalatopinto, Alistair Graves and a season forty five first round pick. This was an excellent return for the Americans team, they get a young potential player for their future roster, they get a player that they will be able to trade away for something, and a potential lottery pick due to Cologne being forced to rebuild at the end of the upcoming season. New Yorks second trade involved quite a bit more pieces, New York sent away Brick Wahl, Tom Slaughter and Jody 3 Moons to the Vikings for a huge package that consists of Jax Barnstormer, Mario De Rossi, first overall, eleventh overall and a first round pick in next year’s draft that is Stockholms. This was an excellent start to their rebuild for the Americans, they already have some great young talent that they will be adding to over the seasons.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 239

 

 

Up – The season forty two off-season is almost at a wraps, pre-season has started and now we are only days away from the beginning of the forty third season of the VHL. This past off-season has got to be one of the most exciting off-seasons in recent history.  A total of nineteen players were moved, most of them are very good talent in the VHL, a total of twenty one picks were traded, ten of them were first round picks (including first overall in the season forty two draft), ten seconds and a third rounder. It all started off with the expected New York Americans selling, many thought Seattle and Toronto were the buyers this off-season but this was not exactly the case when the off-season started. The Stockholm Vikings sent a huge package including multiple top prospects, multiple picks including first overall for a package of elite talent. Stockholm acquired Tom Slaughter, Brick Wahl and Jody 3 Moons, this was the perfect trade to kick off the exciting off-season. Other star players such as Xin Xie Xiao, Jake Wylde, Bismarck Koenig, James Faraday and many more. 

 

Down – Much like last week’s article that featured the downfall of the New York Americans. This week will be the talk of the downfall of the Helsinki Titans, after a team that was so good in the early to mid-thirties and after a short rebuild they were expected to be back in form like they were when they had their amazing core. But after a string of unsuccessful seasons General Manager William Shaw decided to go into a complete rebuild and start fresh. Most of Helsinkis players were either in their primes or just about to enter them, the main core of Jake Wylde, Don Draper, James Faraday, Jackson Miller and such with rookie defender Patrick Demko it would look to be an easy team to sell. Within hours of making the Titans rebuild public Mr. Shaw pulled the trigger on two deals that would send out Jake Wylde and Patrick Demko to Quebec City for a pair of first rounder’s and a pair of seconds. The second deal was sending James Faraday to the Seattle Bears for a pair of firsts and a second. Already Helsinki has acquired four first round picks for just three players, they would also move out Miller to the Legion making another North American team better.

 

Up – The amount of intensity in the VHL for the season forty three season is going to be the highest in recent seasons. Up until the Helsinki rebuild they were going to be four legitimate teams competing for the cup just in the European conference alone. In the North American conference there would have been the Quebec City team and the two middle of the pack teams, the Toronto Legion and the Seattle Bears. But with the Titans rebuilding this so far has sent all four of the players traded from the Titans to the top three teams in the North American conference. Quebec and Seattle have a newly formed rivalry, Seattle is the young savvy team that think they can dethrone the one time Devon Marlow-Marta winners. Just after the first pre-season game between the two, in the hallway leaving the building the General Managers got into a little scuffle that was broken up by some security guards. Players from each team jumped in and were eventually put to rest. After the huge trade the Stockholm Vikings made, they were instantly cup contenders, the task for the Cologne Express to win back to back became much tougher, even much more work to get back to the finals knowing they would have to play Cologne in the semis. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 240

 

Up – When  the HC Davos Dynamo traded a huge package away to acquire a pick to draft their franchise goalie they knew what they were getting. Callum Sinclair’s agent is well known around the VHL for creating great players who are very loyal and committed to the team they are drafted bye. Callum Sinclair is no different, in his rookie campaign like the rest of Davos they were very young and inexperienced. The Dynamo failed to qualify for the playoffs in season forty two only having seventy one points, they finished six points behind the Vikings. Sinclair was inconsistent in his first season, but his stats weren’t too bad, posting a .903 save percentage and a 2.88 goals against average. Though he was below five hundred nothing much was expected of him. Now on to season forty three, the Dynamo brought in an elite talent in Mason Richardson as a shutdown defenseman. With others growing on the Dynamo roster this team is looking deadly with all their depth. Sinclair has been on fire since the season started. Sinclair has six wins, two losses and an overtime loss, his goals against average and save percentage are both league leaders. Callum is posting a .946 save percentage with a 1.32 goals against average. These numbers are quite a boost over last seasons, with such a small sample size it is going to be tough for him to keep up with these insane numbers.

 

Down – Since we just Upped a goalie why not Down a goalie as well. Brick Wahl probably one of the best goaltenders in the league heading into the season, only behind Martin Brookside in overall. Wahl has had a very very rocky start to the season. His current record has five wins, three losses and an overtime loss, that is barely above five hundred and for an elite goaltender like himself this is not good enough for the Vikings. Wahls save percentage and goals against are both in the bottom four in the league, he is behind some real scrubs. His save percentage is at an awful .867 and his goals against average is at a 2.93, that’s almost sitting at a three. Wahl Wahl was acquired in a blockbuster of a deal that had many pieces involved, Wahl will be just a rental for the season so the Vikings must of thought they were going to win it all this season. Well if Wahl doesn’t start producing this could get ugly for him and the Vikings.

 

Up – Jackson Miller, the man that was overshadowed with star power on the Helsinki Titans, after an off-season trade that sent him to the Toronto Legion he is now one of the go to guys on the team. Just in the first eleven games of the season Miller is on a crazy pace, almost as good as Bruno Wolf has been in the past couple seasons. Miller has twelve goals and nine assists in the eleven games, this pace is better than he has ever done. Miller is leading the league in goals and in points, this is something that the Toronto Legion only could have hoped for when they acquired him in the off-season. Toronto has failed to have an elite talent that has put up points in the past couple seasons. Miller could finally be the superstar or elite talent that could put Legion overtop of Quebec.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 241

 

 

Down – Jake Wylde, yeah the guy that is leading the league in assists right now, the guy that is leading defensemen and the guy that is among the highest point producers in the league. Well Jake Wylde is a down because of one statistic, with all the good that Wylde has done this season you may think what is he bad at? Well Jake Wylde has one of the worst shooting percentages in the league. He is even behind some ham an eggers in the league, guys that only play a couple minutes a game have a better percentage shot then Jake Wylde. His shooting percentage is at an atrocious 1.27, he has one goal on seventy nine shots. He clearly needs to only shoot when he has the perfect shot because if this gets any worse this veteran defensemen could be out of a job.

 

Up – Who says rebuilding teams have to have no players on them? The four teams that are fully engulfed in a rebuild all have some players on them that are going to be their till the teams are ready to compete. With the exception of the Helsinki Titans who are trying to deal some of their older players but have yet to find a price worth selling them for. But the Americans, Wranglers and the Reign all are in a rebuild and are getting better through the drafts and acquiring younger players. The Americans have some young exciting talent in their roster, Jax Barnstormer, Nicolas Caprivi and E'Twaun Delicious just to name a few. The Wranglers have decided second round picks are not worth having any more, they have built a roster just from their recent picks and players brought in using seconds. Jaime Hill, Rami Jacobsen and Marcus Hurley are just a few of their players they have on their current squad with recent top pick Hans Wingate who will be their star goalie of the future.

 

Down – The Toronto Legion, yes the team with the very very questionable General Manager is going to be featured on this week’s ups and downs. Toronto made some moves to free up some cap space to bring in some talent so they could compete this season and not just be average like they have been in the past couple seasons. Well the Legion starting by acquiring goaltender Mike Szatkowski Jr. as the goalie that would hopefully give them an amazing season and maybe bring his playoff experience in to Toronto and help they out tremendously. Thus far the old vet has not been able to play to the level of play that is expected of him, he has three wins, four losses and three overtime losses in his short ten game stint. This is certainly not much better than the scrubby TOR G that they had in net before. I mentioned before that the Americans are in a rebuild and only have a few legitimate players on their roster, well right now the Americans are competing with the Legion for the third playoff spot in the North American conference. 

 

Up – The Stockholm Vikings, yeah the team that everybody thought was going to steam roll everybody and win the cup. Well after a shaky start to the season forty three campaign the Vikings squadron is now finally doing what everybody thought they would. They are currently on a six game winning streak, and no they have not had the hardest competition, they have played the Titans and the Wranglers a total of four times. But in their last two outings have taken down the Cologne Express and the Quebec City Meute, two teams that have been fire this season. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mah Number 242

 

 

Up – For two straight seasons the duo of Aksel Thomassen and Bruno Wolf have dominated the scoring races. Well now that their magical run has come to a halt new players have stepped into the role of a top scorer in the VHL. One player in particular who is having an amazing season so far is Jody 3 Moons. 3 Moons brings a lot of attention to himself mainly through his agent who is a very controversial person, well 3 Moons has moulded into one of the better players in the VHL this season. Since being dealt from the New York Americans that had a team full of stars such as Tom Slaughter, Connor Low, Matt Bentley and more 3 Moons is now one of the go to players for the Vikings. Though he is still centering a second line behind Slaughter, 3 Moons is no longer down in the depth chart. This season 3 Moons has twenty six goals and twenty five assists for a total of fifty one points, those stats are good enough for first in the league in goals and tied for third in points. His faceoff percentage is amongst the best in the VHL, sitting a just over sixty one percent puts him in third.

 

Down – After the incredible Christian Stolzschweiger race last season, and having more rookies in season forty two then in most seasons, this season there is not nearly as many rookies as last season or in the past few seasons. There are only seven rookies in the VHL this season that does not even compare to the amount of sophomores that will over shadow them for the rest of their careers. One of better rookies this season has been E'Twaun Delicious who was a former first overall pick. He is currently a point per game playing on a very young Americans squad. Though he is one of the best rookies he may be one of the couple to not make the playoffs, four of the rookies belong to the Vikings, then Seattle and Quebec each own one. Patrick Demko is a top two pairing defensemen on the Meute, he has twenty one points in thirty five games this season. But is most certainly behind Delicious in the race for the Stolzschweiger trophy.

 

Up – The season forty two Scotty Campbell trophy winner went to Brookside for good reason. The man was an absolute wall last season in net and was one of the big reasons why Cologne won the Continental Cup in season forty two. This season Brookside is continuing his dominance in the league as one of the best goaltenders in the league. Brookside has started all thirty five games so far this season, one of the couple goalies to do this so far. Brookside has a record of twenty six wins, seven losses and two overtime losses. His save percentage is a league leading point nine three six and is second in goals against average with a one point eight. Brookside has been astounding the past couple seasons and will be a huge part of the Express season if they try to go for a repeat.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 243

 

 

Up – Holy Goalies! After the season forty three season three of the best goaltenders in the league will be departing from the VHL. The three season thirty six draftees are Brick Wahl, Martin Brookside and Mike Szatkowski Jr. The three goalkeepers entered the league at the same time and will be exiting at the same time. So who will be taking over as the future of elite goaltenders in the league? Well after these three depart there is not much but there is a lot of young talent. Brock Waldron, Hans Wingate, Niklaus Mikaelson and Callum Sinclair are going to be some of the better goalies in the seasons to come. Right about this time is when players enter for draft classes, well three elite VHL player agencies have announced that all three will agent goaltenders in the season forty five draft. Ariel Weinstein is one of the three keepers, he belongs to the Smarch agency who just agented one of the best players to ever play in the VHL, Connor Low. Greg Clegane is another of the goaltenders, he belongs to the agency of Victor, probably one of the best agencies the VHL has ever seen. The third goaltender is Sandro Clegane, the brother of Greg Sandro also belongs to a legendary agency, Jardys player agency.

 

Down – The HC Davos Dynamo, after a tremendous start in which they were leading the league in points. The young Davos squad has fallen down from first to second to third spot in the European conference. Callum Sinclair was a huge part of their winning ways, he has now come back down to earth, falling from one and two in save percentage and in goals against average to now being top five in both categories. For Davos it has been their defense that has been hurting them, they have the second most allowed goals for any playoff team. They are certainly not a bad defensive team but with inexperienced goaltending and a defensive core that may result in problems for them. In the last seven outings the Dynamo have allowed twenty eight goals including a blowout game against the rivals the Vikings where the Dynamo got shut out while allowing eight goals.

 

Up – Who would have thought the Vikings would be so good defensively? In the last nine games the Vikings have only allowed four goals, and they have also won all nine games. Before that the Vikings were doing what was expected of them, but since going on a defensive tear and winning nine straight they are within two points of the league leading Cologne Express. Stockholm is currently tied in second in the VHL for points, tied with Quebec at seventy who has an identical record with the Vikings and ironically are also on a nine straight winning streak. Stockholm has the lowest goals against in the league, leading for six on the Quebec City Meute. Their goal differential is the best in the league with a hundred and forty eight goals for and only seventy three goals against. After a shaky start to the season for Brick Wahl he is now doing what he does best, stop the puck. Wahl is playing fabulous for the Vikings as well as future starter Blake Campbell. Campbell has a record of fourteen one and one with an excellent save percentage and an excellent goals against average.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 244

 

 

Down – The Stockholm Vikings have been one of the better teams this season, they had a good start and then really got into gear farther into the season. They recently went on a nineteen game winning streak where they only allowed eighteen goals. Both of their goaltenders Brick Wahl and Blake Campbell were both big parts in this impressive winning streak. This winning streak landed them first place in the European conference as well as first place in the VHL. The only team with fewer than ten losses as well as the team with the lowest goals against at ninety eight. Game two seventy eight of the regular season was where the Vikings nineteen game win streak came to an end. A team that they had beat twice during their run, the Quebec City Meute who ironically before the run started beat the Vikings. In this game Wahl and Vikings squad did not show up, falling down three goals in the first period. The rest of the game the Vikings could only come back to score one. Bruno Wolf had an outstanding night scoring four goals and adding an assist, line mate Aksel Thomassen had five helpers. Brick Wahl may have been a huge let down in this game but have the team was either a negative or even in the plus minus column. As well as the Penalty Kill for the Vikings, or I guess you could say the Meute had a killer power play outing. Scoring five times on eleven chances, that is above forty five percent on the powerplay. The Meute were also one hundred percent on the Penalty Kill, clearly special teams ended the streak for the Vikings.

 

Up – Did anybody say duo? Yup duos are something only the only good teams have it seems. A duo is usually two players that play on the ice with each other all the time and are usually the go to guys on the team on the top line. One duo that has emerged this season is the Thomas O’Malley and Xin Xie Xiao duo, a top pairing on the Express top line. These two men are leading the league in points, goals, assists you name it. The playmaking abilities of O’Malley and the goal scoring hitting have that Xiao plays complement each other very well. The next duo is also one that had emerged this season, Tom Slaughter and Lord Karnage. Tom Slaughter one of the better veterans in the league playing aside young in Lord Karnage. Much like the previous duo Slaughter is a playmaking center with a two way winger on his side. They are combined for over a hundred and eighty points which puts them just behind the Express duo. The duo that we have seen for two seasons now, that has terrorised the league is back at it again. Aksel Thomassen and Bruno Wolf are the two players that you think of when duo comes up in the VHL. Though having a down year for their standards, Wolf and Thomassen have a combined hundred and fifty points. Wolf is amongst the leaders in goals and Thomassen is right up there in hits, very much like the past two duos there is a playmaking center with a two way guy in the wing. A two time Boulet winner in Wolf sits him at the top of the standings got hits this season.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 245

 

 

Up – The Seattle Bears management. Yes it has finally happened, Tyler Barabash has been fired or relieved or whatever you call you it, either way he is no longer General Manager of the Seattle Bears. Last season the board of governors tried to do something about this issue but the team stuck behind their General Manager and wanted him to stay. Well now since he is missing in action has been fire and has been replaced by an interim GM named Mitch Higgins who has an excellent reputation around the league. Mitch Higgins has said that he is just stepping in for the remainder of the season forty three campaign and will be there to help pick the new guy. Mitch Higgins is a much more active GM who can commit some short term time that is much needed for the Bears organization. 

 

Down – The HC Davos Dynamo, a team that is sort of in limbo right now. They are not true cup contenders but are certainly not in a rebuild faze, Davos had a tremendous start to the season that was led by their sophomore goaltender Callum Sinclair. But after falling a bit off of their great start they managed to put together a great season. Though they finished in the final playoff spot in the European conference they only finished fourth in the whole VHL. Davos to ensure they would go deep in the playoffs acquired superstar Don Draper as a rental for a pick, Don Draper recently a defenseman switched positions to Center to help out the Dynamo put the puck in the net. With this addition it was looking like Davos would be able to possibly take out Cologne in the first round or even Stockholm in the semis. Well after two games into the playoffs the Dynamo find themselves down by two in the series.

 

Up – Never though the Seattle Bears would be mention twice as a positive in this article. Well they are going to be right now, since taking over on an interim basis Mitch Higgins has done some line work and has helped the Bears. The playoffs have started and Seattle Bears were in a tough position as they had lost home ice advantage to the roaring Legion. The first two games were in Toronto and it was looking like Seattle would be lucky to just take one game on the road. Well the Seattle Bears took the first game in an exciting game that would need a second overtime to solve. The Bears would win three to two, both goaltenders played amazing games but at the end of the second period sophomore Wolfgang Strauss potted one home past Mike Szatkowski Jr. The second game was much of the same as the first, the game went into overtime tied at two. Just over eight minutes into the overtime Wolfgang Strauss got another playoff overtime winner. These were his first two playoff goals and they were both game winners in overtime. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 246

 

 

Up – For the third time in two mags the Seattle Bears are being featured in the Up of the weekly Ups and Downs. The Seattle Bears have been on an absolute tear since the playoffs have begun, the bears have eight wins and only a pair of losses. Heading into the finals they had only lost one game and that was the second game in the Semi-finals where they lost to the Quebec City Meute. They swept the Legion which came as a surprise to the whole league. The bears have not lost a home game even though they did not have home ice advantage in either of the first two series. Even in the finals the bears are at a disadvantage facing the Express in Cologne for the first couple games. The Bears success has been in due part to a few things, Niklaus Mikaelson has been on fire, Stropko is carrying the offensive load and the Bears have amazing depth goal scoring such as Wolfgang Strauss who has five tallies. Another reason why the Bears have made it to the finals is the play of the veteran Phil Villeneuve. It may be his last season but he is still playing like he is in his prime and he certainly is leading the way for the young squad. Villeneuve as a defenseman has three goals and nine points in the ten playoff games. 

 

Down – The two teams that were eliminated in the semi-finals, yes the Quebec City Meute and the Stockholm Vikings. Some predicted these two teams to be in the finals and at least one of them to win the cup. Well both teams were eliminated in relatively short fashion in five games. The Quebec City Meute was the veteran team playing the young Seattle Bears squad. A win was expected after last season having a deep run that sent them to the finals to play the Express. The Stockholm Vikings were a team coming out of a rebuild that made some massive moves to acquire some proven stars. The guys that were supposed to come in and win them a cup wee the retiring Brick Wahl, Tom Slaughter and Jody 3 Moons. Although they both lost in the semi-finals, both teams are likely to return better than ever next season. The core of the Vikings is still young and has many seasons left to compete, it may not be the same for the Meute but they still have something left in the tank.

 

Up – This seems to be a reoccurring theme here in the VHL, when it comes time for the playoffs to talk about the incredible play of Martin Brookside. Last season Brookside one of the most prestigious trophies, the Daisuke Kanou trophy. Awarded to be the player who was most valuable to his team in the playoffs, well this season there is another chance of him winning this award. In twelve games Brookside has nine wins, one loss and two over time losses. He has only been beaten once in regulation in the playoffs, with an average defensive core in front of him Brookside has been putting up amazing numbers. With a goals against average of a one point eight nine and a save percentage of a flat nine thirty he is second to none in both stats in the playoffs. This will be Brooksides last season and he sure is putting himself in the best position to win back to back cups to finish off a potential hall of fame career.