KESLER UNFILTERED

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 268

Up – Thank you Riga and Calgary for coming together and making a trade worth talking about. Both of these teams find themselves second in their respective conferences so many asked, well why would they both be making a trade? Well both Riga and Calgary were in the same predicament, both Bernie Gow and Hans Wingate found themselves with only one year left on their contracts and both made it clear that they wanted to test the free agent market. As goaltenders their prices are worth much more than players to a team and a General Manager so losing one of them was not an option for either team. Calgary made it clear they wanted to get younger in the past off-season and after failing to do so Hans Wingate also made it clear he didn’t really like the direction in which Calgary was headed so he wanted to test free agency. So the teams came to terms that sent Hans Wingate to the Riga Reign for a return of Bernie Gow, a Season 48 first round pick and depth center-men Griffon Simmons. Certainly a good haul for Calgary who got two real good pieces, but Riga acquired the best player in the trade.

Up – The deadline is right around the corner (as in two days away) and it seems there will be at least a couple of deals to go down. The Helsinki Titans have 3 million dollars in cap space, we will probably see them try and bolster their depth up front. Although they already have four defensemen and six forwards upgrading Giovanni Reuel up front or Theo Matsikas on the back end would be a good idea to try and attempt the back to back cups. Also note Helsinki sits on top of the league in points right now so they will be even scarier after the deadline. The New York Americans could maybe in line for a minor deal, they have just over a million dollars in cap space to maybe add a cheap depth player, or maybe there interested in something more and would be willing to move a roster player for one of the big names on the market. Perhaps the team that has been waiting the most for the deadline has been the Calgary Wranglers, after just pulling off that massive trade with Riga they will more than likely be making another big one at the deadline. Calgary has almost 6 million dollars in cap space and clearly will need to fill out there roster a bit for another cup run. Calgary has 6 forwards but no real superstars in the lineup, also all but 1 of them are either in there last season or in their second last. The Wranglers defensive core right now is questionable with only two defensemen and neither of them are truly elite. So the Wranglers will most likely be interested in acquiring a pair of defensemen and maybe an upgrade up front. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 269

Up – Tim TebowGow. It seems over the past few season the amount of star power in the VHL has been slowly diminishing. There are still elite talents in the league like Hans Wingate, Thomas O’Malley and the likes of Bismarck Koenig. But due to the weaker drafts in the past few seasons there are less elite players entering the VHL and making an impact. Tim TebowGow has certainly been an elite trainer since joining the league in season 44. Though he is only second in his draft class in training hours TebowGow is certainly ready to become an elite player in the VHL. His season 44 rival is Edwin Reencarnacion who is also having a similar season o TebowGow and is also close to entering the peak of his career. Reencarnacion may have more training hours but TebowGow is keeping up with him in points this season only being one point behind him and having an arguably harder position at center. TebowGow is tied for eighth in the league with 87 points (28 goals and 59 points) with arguably one of the best players in the league, Bismarck Koenig. It is fair to say Koenig is not having a lights out season like he used to but credit should be given to TebowGow.

Down – Settle Bears. To be good, you must be bad. To have your high points you must have your low points. This could probably sum up the Bears motto right now. Seattle in 63 games only has 3 wins, yes only 3 wins. To finish off their record they have 54 losses and 12 overtime losses, the Bears have allowed the most goals in the league and have scored the least amount in the league. Both are not things the Bears are proud of, but there is a light at the end of this terrible tunnel the Bears are in right now. Along with Seattle owning all there picks in the coming drafts they have already been drafting strong, especially on the back end. Bubba Nuck was a former first round pick, he was drafted 8^th overall in the season 45 draft and he looks like we will become a good defensemen that will maybe fit in as a nice number 2 type guy. Due to the General Manager rule Arcturus Mengsk became property of the Seattle Bears in season 45, Mengsk looks like he could become an elite defender with his training hours so far and how well he has performed at the VHL level. Adding to their strong defensive future the Bears drafted Jeff Hamilton in the most recent draft with the second overall pick. Hamilton’s agent is very well known throughout the VHL community and is known for making truly amazing players. Seattle is looking good on the defensive side of the puck but without a goaltender it may be tough for them in the future.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 270

 

Up – The Stockholm Vikings. After some very serious seasons of competing Stockholm this season found themselves at the bottom of the European conference. Although the team had some elite talents such as Lloyd Light, Lord Karnage and Jody 3 Moons the team was missing some major components. Blake Campbell dipped off in free agency and headed to the New York Americans, this was a huge loss to the Vikings as he was a former first round pick by the Vikings and was their much needed goaltender. They also were missing some depth up front and without having a goalie there really was no point in trying to fill the holes. So Stockholm had a bit of an interesting season 46 campaign, they certainly were not as bad as the Muete or Bears (as a matter of fact they would have made the playoffs if not for being in the European conference). Stockholm was trying to sell of a lot of their older assets like 3 Moons and Light. After only finding a trading partner for Lloyd Light, Stockholm still had an alright team that was not going to make the playoffs. Heading into the draft lottery Stockholm had the fourth overall pick but still had a 25% chance at acquiring the first overall pick. Luck was in there favour and they ended up securing first overall. This puts Stockholm in an interesting position, they can take the obvious first overall pick in John Sleeman or try and move it for a piece that could maybe help them now because they still do have players that could win a cup.

Down – The Toronto Legion. At the beginning of the season 46 campaign most people would not have expected the Toronto Legion to make the playoffs. Well they did and this will hurt Toronto in the long run for sure. Because of the play of players like Max Molholt, Zach Perechkin and when they had Joseph Row III they were able to pass Quebec in the standings and make the playoffs only to lose in four straight to the Wranglers. The season 46 draft was a huge one for the Legion, having 6 picks in the first 13 (11 because of the picks that were voided). The Legion clearly made the right picks on the majority but also had some busts that have seriously dropped off since the draft. Third overall pick Sean Blacker built up a lot of hype come draft time and really worked his way up the rankings due to have an experienced agent backing him. This was one of the reasons why he was drafted so high, well since the draft Blacker and his agent have almost disappeared. Players that were drafted later in the draft have already surpassed Blacker in training hours and unless he straightens his stuff out this pick will look like a bust on Toronto’s side. Another pick that has been very underwhelming for the Legion was Saul Hackett who was selected seventh overall. Hackett was looking like a promising first generation player come draft time, he slipped down the ranking just a bit but since being drafted has not earned any training hours. Toronto clearly has their future offense set with players like Molholt, Perechkin and Stockton but their defensive core is looking quite weak especially with Hackett disappearing.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 271

 

Up – The Quebec City Meute. A team that just barely missed the playoffs last season that had some god young talent and some picks in the most recent S47 draft you would think they would have continued to run course and improve their team and maybe make the playoffs in S47 right? Well this is not the case for the Meute and was not the case for General Manager of the Meute, Mr. Chevy. On day one of the off-season Quebec sent out prized franchise defensemen Francis York Morgan with a 2nd round selection for a first round pick in S48. This was the indicator that Quebec gave to the rest of the league they were going into a full on rebuild. After not attempting so sign any big name free agents and only stick to some depth players when the draft came around Quebec held picks 3 and 8 in the first round. Right before the draft Quebec, Stockholm and New York pulled off a crazy three way deal which Quebec sent out Ariel Weinstein and 8th overall for 1st overall and some depth pieces that helped them get to the cap floor. Quebec then went on to select John Sleeman who was the clear number one pick in the draft and at third they selected another defenseman in Felipe Rodriguez. Quebec also acquired franchise center men Tom Lincoln via the General Manager rule. These three pieces they acquired on draft day are a good start to a core group and it looks like Quebec is in the run for first overall this season so they are looking good for their future.

Down – HC Davos Dynamo. General Manager Jack Reilly had been criticized last season for not showing up and watching the Dynamo play and not completing General Manager duties. The Dynamo had a great team that consisted of stars such as Mason Richardson, Callum Sinclair and Bismarck Koenig that carried the Dynamo all the way to the European conference finals where they were defeated by the soon to be back to back Continental cup champions. Mr. Reilly was nowhere to be found at this point and as the off-season opened up he had his star players such as Koenig and Richardson who were without contracts and had not been offered extensions. When free agency came around the Dynamo lost out on these two elite talent players. Bismarck Koenig headed to the conference rival Helsinki Titans to maybe win them their third cup in as many seasons. Mason Richardson also headed to a conference rival of the Dynamo, just not the Titans, instead he went to help out the Riga Reign who had a tough break last season. Only bright spot of the Dynamos off-season was that they had three first round picks in the draft, too bad it may be the weakest draft the VHL has ever seen. They ended up with Sir William Covington who was a top 2 talent in the draft but refused to play for certain teams so fell down to Davos’ pick at number 4. At 7 Davos selected maybe one of the biggest steals in the draft in Vincent Adultman. With the final pick in the first round of the draft they selected Mikhail Gribov who is far from a sure fire prospect but may turn into something. All in all Davos lost big time in this off-season mainly because of the disappearance of GM Jack Reilly.
 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Nunber 272

 

 

Down – The Calgary Wranglers. What has happened to the Calgary Wranglers? It seems like old age has finally caught up to the Wranglers. The Wranglers over the past few seasons seemed to have been on a downward spiral. Along the way they have collected older and older players as the seasons went on and now find themselves with a very conflicted roster of players that are good but maybe not quite good enough to make up a cup roster. They still have a relatively young core in Tim TebowGow, Bernie Gow and Francis York Morgan but also have some older add-ons like Marcus Hurley and Jaimie Hill. The team only has 13 wins in just over 30 games, they are below 500 and are in a similar position to Stockholm where there really are no players available that they can go trade for to make their team better. Only one player on the Wranglers is above a point per game and that is the face of the franchise in TebowGow. Calgary is not in a very good position right now with the likes of them making the playoffs with this very average roster and also having the inability to improve.

Up – The New York Americans. After a very eventful off-season the New York Americans are leading the VHL in points almost half way through the season 47 campaign. New York kept the same core of guys like Delicious, Ruutu, Kyanon and Reencarnacion but added some pieces big and small through free agency and trade. One of the biggest names in the VHL Thomas O’Malley decided to move on from Helsinki fresh after winning back to back cups with them and took his services to the big apple. After Nicolas Caprivi not panning out New York was in desperate need of an elite first line center and O’Malley fell right into their laps for a short term fix down the middle. New York was also criticized for not having any real star talents other than Reencarnacion so they went and got another big name in free agency and Lloyd Light. New York has had a young defensive core over the seasons so bringing in a super star talent like Light who is a veteran that can eat big minutes while the kids grow was a perfect fit for the team.  New York has an astounding record with 24 wins and only 5 regulation losses and 2 overtime losses this season in 31 games. New York has scored almost double the amount of goals they have let in, they are outscoring their opponents by almost a goal and a half. New York is looking like a real good team this season that will be more than likely be heading to the finals.

Down – The Stockholm Vikings. It seems like the Stockholm Vikings are either trending up or trending down. They are almost up to something. Stockholm hasn’t really done a whole lot other than the massive trade they pulled off where they dealt first overall for goaltender Ariel Weinstein. Stockholm was expecting to be in a playoff spot and be in a much better position especially with their current roster. Notable players such as Jody 3 Moons, Severin Von Karma and Lord Karnage are all the regulars who have been a big part of some of the winning seasons the team has had. But it seems like these guys cannot get it done any more. Stockholm is struggling in the weaker of the two conferences, yet still above 500 the team is sitting on the outside looking in. They are only 5 points out but it is going to be tough to make those points up with the strong play of the star players on the Dynamo. Stockholm has the cap space to bring in some true talents to fill out the roster but it seems as if there are really no players like so available. With the strong draft upcoming some may wonder if the Stockholm Vikings will just take the loss on the season and maybe do something similar to what they did last off-season and move the lottery pick for something that can help them now.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 273

 

Up – Bismarck Koenig. Koenig has arguably been of the best players of this current generation. Koenig has won so many awards (team and individual) it is unbelievable and with 2 more seasons to go after one we are in right now Koenig has a chance of adding more to long list of accomplishments. This past off-season Bismarck took his services to the Helsinki Titans who has just came off winning their second cup in as many seasons.  Since joining the team he has shown he has what it takes to be a Titan, he has fit in with the team on and off the ice. Bismarck is leading the league in points and has a 13 point gap between him and Thomas O’Malley who is in second in scoring. In 49 games this season Bismarck has scored the second most goals at 36 and is leading the league in assists with 54. He is having an incredible season that could possibly see him get as many as 120 to a 130 points.

Down – The leagues activity. Over the last few seasons it has been clear the activity in the VHL has been slowly declining. For a number of different reasons, older members are getting bored, new members not really sticking around, etc. Right now the league may be at the lowest activity level. It is in the middle of the season where usually the activity is low but right now it’s really low. Game threads aren’t getting as much interest as they used to, not many people are reading the mag anymore and just stuff like this is really bringing the activity down. It is a sad thing to see for sure. Another thing that has hurt with the activity as of late was he fact the site has been inconsistent lately and has gone through times where it has not been accessible. Obviously this is not going to help with activity, it is hurting in both the short and long term of the league. With this the chat has also been down and without the old chat system the new one has really been utilised by more active members and without it members are finding difficulties staying on the site which again brings down the activity.

Up – All-star Game. In an attempt to counter the low league activity the Board of Governors came up with an all new All-star Game concept. Instead of having the game in the off-season where usually not too many people check it out, it has been moved to around the deadline to allow for more activity around the game. Instead of players voted in by fans there will be two captains selected from each conference and players will be put into a draft, the players will be chosen by the BOG. The captains will then go back and forth and draft there respected team. Obviously rookies will be seriously missing out on these events as well as VHLM players so a young stars game has also been set up in conjunction with the big boys game. The young stars game will consist of VHL rookies and VHLM top prospects. This is an interesting concept that the league came up with and should do well. We will see how the first ever  ASG not in the off-season goes in the next little bit with the deadline approaching.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 274

 

 

Down – Riga Reign. Riga had a huge off-season and was predicted as a team that could potentially challenge Helsinki as the leader in Europe and maybe in the whole league. In the off-season it was clear which direction they were going with their team, building from the backend out. Only a little while earlier they acquired the best goaltender in the league in Hans Wingate and in the off-season they added Mason Richardson and Jerrick Poole. Both defenders are veterans who have had success in the league and wanted to win in there last season so signed on what looked like the best team in the off-season. Riga’s roster consists of an elite tender with four very good defensemen with high training hours, but where there problems start and end is with their forward group. In recent seasons Riga has had the likes of James Faraday, Aksel Thomassen and so forth up front but this season they are seriously lacking the star power. Bronson Faux is carrying the load as their best forward and number one centermen, due the load he has been carrying his stats have trailed off to below a point per game. His supporting cast is almost non-existent. A rookie, a sophomore and a couple of depth players make up the rest of the forward lines.  Unless Riga steps up and plays a much stronger defensive game there is no way they are going to be able to win games in the playoffs. Because there is not much of a chance they are going to outscore an opponent especially going up against either Stockholm or Helsinki who are built offensively.

Up – Rookie race. Most rookies that hit the VHL usually don’t make an impact right away. But it seems every season there is at least one that excels above the rest and wins the rookie of the year award. This season this is not the case, the race in rookie scoring is so tight that between number 1 and number 6 in scoring there is only a difference of 7 points. After that there is a serious gap and with no rookie goaltenders it will more than likely be decided off of points. The leading goal scorer and point man is LeAndre St. Pierre, he has an impressive stat line of 28 goals, 24 assists for a total of 52 points in 61 games. Niels Skovgaard is only one point back of St.Pierre but has 2 less goals (26G, 25A, 51P) in 2 less games so possibly the games in hand for Skovgaard could play a role in him catching St.Pierre. Tom Lincoln is also in the race being only a couple of points back but has more assists then goals (19G, 31A, 50P) but has already taken over the job of a number one centermen on the Quebec City Meute and has carried much of the load offensively on the team. Although these guys are having impressive seasons as rookies Joel Jarvi may have the best shot at winning the award. He has as many points as Lincoln, is leading rookies in assists and is doing this all as a defensemen on one of the worst teams in the league.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 275

 

 

Up – The Quebec City Meute. Quebec has officially locked up the last place in the VHL. Yes, it may not be something to be proud of but it is certainly something Quebec needs in the stage of their development. Quebec is in the dead center of a rebuild, they have some nice pieces going forward (Tom Lincoln, John Sleeman and Felipe Rodriguez) but will need to add to this core. Doing so they will need to through the draft, Quebec has certified a top 2 selection in the season forty eight draft. Quebec can either win the lottery and stay at number 1 or lose the lottery and fall down 1 spot. So Quebec certainly has decisions to make, they can either go one of a couple directions. Black Velvet is an excellent selection at first overall but Quebec already has their future top pairing. Unassisted is another great option but Lincoln is a center and is expected to be the future number one. If Quebec went this route almost certainly one would have to slide to the wing. Either way this third option would be a little off the board to say the least, Jakab Holik fits Quebec’s needs the best. Holik is the most outstanding goaltender in this draft class and will no doubt be a lottery pick. But does Quebec want to take a player that could be seen at maybe 3 or 4 at 1 or 2? Quebec also has Riga’s first so there is the possibility of maybe taking Dadorov at that selection.

Down – The Toronto Legion. Man what is up with this team? General Manager Max Molholt has been rebuilding since season 45, season 45. It is safe to say Toronto has had a real tough time rebuilding. High end draft picks such as David Hamilton, Saul Hackett and Sean Blacker have not panned out the way Toronto has wanted. They are now left with a core that consists of Max Molholt, Zach Pereckin, World B Free and LeAndre St. Pierre. They also have Pete Stockton and Chuck Goody mixed in there but they are more depth players and will not greatly impact the franchise. Toronto is most definitely missing a key piece in net and will be hungry for a goaltender this off-season. It should be interesting to see what route Toronto takes in their current situation. They can either stick course and draft a goalie in the draft with their lottery pick and look to the future. Or possibly acquire an older aged goaltender in maybe Callum Sinclair or Hans Wingate and push a team like Calgary out of the playoffs. Toronto will most definitely trying to improve their roster and compete sooner than later because competing with franchise players like Molholt and Pereckin in their primes is very diffifult. Toronto will need to act fast to not run into cap problems down the road competing.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 276

Up – Bernie Gow. The starting goaltender of the Calgary Wranglers looks like he has come to win in these playoffs. Bernie is playing unreal right now for the Calgary squad. Gow has 6 wins in his 9 starts so far into the playoffs (4 came in the first round as Calgary beat Seattle 4-1) and has a save percentage of a .933 and a goals against average of a 2.07. Bernie has the second best save percentage and second best goals against average only behind league leader in both categories Ariel Weinstein of the Stockholm Vikings. Even though Seattle wasn’t the toughest competition the Wranglers could have faced in the first round Gow played well behind his team who really has not had any players jump out like he has. Now that the Wranglers are facing off against arguably the better team Gow is still handling his own in net. In the first 3 games he let in 1 goal in back-to-back games and then only let in 2 in game 3. This was before he let in 5 in game 4, Gow and Campbell have allowed the same amount of goals in the series and it really is showing how close it is. 
Down – The Riga Reign. It was a very difficult season for the Reign who had a tough season where they didn’t do as well as they would have hoped going into season 47. But they can honestly say their season was better than their playoffs. The Reign were matched up against the Stockholm Vikings who had a pretty good season once acquiring some key players near the deadline. This series was nothing but close, Riga only managed to squeak out 6 goals in the short 4 game series. There were multiple factors starting with Riga’s weak offensive core and the superb goalkeeping of Weinstein. Riga who had been built from the back end out and was seriously in need of a strong defensive game could not get it done. They allowed 11 goals in 4 games, this was way too many goals for the offense to handle so nothing came up from it. The series may have been a sweep but that doesn’t tell the whole story. 3 out of the 4 games were 1 goal games and 2 went into overtime, it could have easily been a longer series but Riga could not clutch up when they had to.
Up – Ariel Weinstein. After some disappointing seasons on the Quebec City Meute Weinstein was shipped to the European conference in a huge 3 way trade. Some knew Weinstein had the potential to become an elite goaltender in the VHL but it was not really known until now. It was questionable how Stockholm was going to do this season with their mismatched roster of older veterans and depth players. With the outstanding play of Ariel Weinstein the Vikings only sit 2 games away from going to the finals, also they could be the ones to put a stop to the Helsinki Titans chance of winning a 3rd cup in as many seasons. Weinsteins goals against average is sitting at a stellar 1.65 and his save percentage is almost as impressive sitting at a .935. Also what was impressive was how Weinstein outplayed Hans Wingate who may have played his last game as a Riga Reign.
 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 276 (idk if that last one was used but its prolly old now anyways)

 

Down – Draft Controversy. Usually drafts go by very well without little to no controversy, maybe there are a few trades to shake up the draft rankings like what happened last season where Quebec City made a blockbuster trade and acquired the first overall selected. There is nothing wrong with this and the league did not have anything to do with it. Now what happened at the most recent season 48 draft, the league played a very heavy hand in what happened on draft day. The HC Davos Dynamo were left without a General Manager after Ahma stepped down. Leading into the draft (a very important one for Davos because of the state of their franchise) they desperately needed a new General Manager. They also owned two first round selections (3 and 7) and a high second rounder. Just hours before the draft Vladamir Komarov was named General Manager of the HC Davos Dynamo. The only problem with this was Mr. Komarov who was a former player in the VHL was (and still is) the player agent for Pavel Komarov. So somehow Pavel had to be given to the Dynamo, we have seen this in the past and normally a team has to forfeit a second round pick in which they own and is theirs. The Dynamo had this but the league did not see it this way so made Davos give up 7th overall in exchange for Pavel Komarovs services. 
Up – Toronto Legion. Talk about making an impact. Toronto’s luck start turning when they won the draft lottery and acquired the first overall pick in the season 48 entry draft. There would be some uncertainty whether or not they were going to keep the pick or not but they ended up holding onto the pick and selecting the clear number one pick in Black Velvet. Velvet will no doubt be there best defensemen for a long time to come and is also a big name which is maybe something Toronto has been missing for a while now. Velvet adds to their core of Molholt, Perechkin and St.Pierre. Toronto has also added some depth pieces like Francis York Morgan who used to be a top prospect but has fallen off since his days back in Stockholm and they also brought in Jack Kowalski who will provide a much needed veteran presence up front for the Legion. Now bringing in depth players was all just a set up for free agency. Toronto has two very clear holes in their roster, they are missing a number one center men and a goaltender. It just so happens to be that Hans Wingate, the best goaltender in the VHL hit the open market this off-season. But not before his rights were dealt to the Stockholm Vikings which was certainly not expected as the Vikings already had a number one tender. Wingate still tested free agency and within minutes of getting an offer from Toronto he signed with the team. Since the days of Remy Lebeau Toronto has only had mediocre at best goaltenders with a few rentals here and there to provide their goalkeeping. Hans Wingate comes in and will provide at least two seasons (maybe three but he has a player option) of elite goaltending and this makes Toronto a cup contender till he leaves or retires. 
 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number ???

 

Up – Arcturus Mengsk and Francis York Morgan. Both of these defensemen are in the primes of their careers and are taking advantage of the league and its state. It’s fair to say star players are hard to come by these days and with the league being so young players are becoming more elite earlier in their careers. This is evident in both Mengsk and Morgan. Arcturus Mengsk is having a Labatte like season, scoring 24 goals so far this season, which is a league leading. Not very often do we ever see defensemen lead the league in goals. To add to his very impressive goal totals, he leads all defensemen in points, is a plus 19 and has a team leading 84 hits. Along with an almost guaranteed Labatte trophy finalist if he keeps up his play he may be a finalist for MVP. Mengsk looks like he has finally broke out in the game and it will be interesting to see how high he goes. Francis York Morgan has certainly seen the majority of his career already but he may not have seen his best play yet. Morgan will certainly be a Labatte finalist if he keeps up his pace. Morgan is currently leading the league in assists with 33 which is an astounding accomplishment for both Morgan and Mengsk as these stats are usually dominated by forwards. Morgan is leading his team in points and is on the best team in the league, the Toronto Legion so he is certainly been a huge part of the success of their backend as well as their overall team success. 

 

Down – No downs this week in the VHL that were worth the mention, so be happy VHL!

 

Up – Hans Wingate. When Calgary selected Hans third overall in the season 43 VHL entry draft they knew on that day that Hans was going to be a truly elite talent. Since being drafted he has accomplished what others can only dream about. He has 1 continental cup (in which he won as a sophomore goaltender), has appeared in the playoffs every seasons since season 44, has won the Aidan Shaw trophy twice (best goaltender and in back to back seasons) and also has won the Daisuke Kanou trophy (playoff MVP). All that he has accomplished and Wingate still has 2 more seasons to prepare for the hall of fame after this one. Wingate is certainly not slowing down with age, after signing with the Toronto Legion in free agency it was clear which direction the team was heading. Toronto is sitting atop of the VHL and Hans has been a huge part of this. Though he has so far been sat for 7 games to let the backup get his games in Hans is leading in both major categories. Hans has a .944 save percentage which would make it his career best but we can expect this crazy number to go down as the season goes on. His save percentage may be crazy but his goals against average is just as stellar if not more, Hans’s GAA is sitting at a 1.38 which means he is letting in just under a goal and a half per game. Once again it’s not expected for these numbers to stay this high of the course of the season but Hans is certainly off to an amazing start to the season and coming to a new team in the off-season has not affected him at all.
 

[Tagger 2,722]

Up –  Goalies Finding Their Form

This season has really been a big one in regards to mid-season switches and nothing is more indicative of that than the amount of trades involving goalies, with four playing for different teams than where they played at the start of the season. Luckily for the teams that traded for these goalies, all four of them have displayed strong performances since their moves with Sandro Clegane showcasing the most significant mid-season improvement. Clegane failed to showcase the form that saw him win the Aidan Shaw trophy last season in his thirty games with the Bears, managing only a .914 save percentage, but since his move to Davos he’s seen his save percentage for the season rise thanks to his .932% save percentage over the last eleven games. Perhaps most impressive for Clegane is that in-spite of facing on average an extra eight shots a game since moving to Davos, his goals against average with Davos is only .04 behind his average with the Bears. Jakub Holik, the goalie that moved the other way in the Davos-Seattle trade, has also improved his save percentage since the trade and has helped a now rebuilding Bears team to six wins in ten games with the team. Ariel Weinstein wasn’t even playing for Stockholm at the start of the season after electing to hold out, but since he’s moved to New York he’s had an impressive .929% save percentage along with a 1.37 GAA with the Americans. Surprisingly, considering the criticism some levied at his performances in the Season 48 playoffs, Atticus Von Braxton IV had been by far the strongest performer of these four before the trades. Luckily for Stockholm, the move hasn’t affected his performance and he still holds on to the third highest save percentage in the VHL, which could make him a strong candidate for the Dustin Funk Trophy this season.

 

Down – Americans Goal Totals Dry Up

It’s just as well that Seattle went into full rebuild mode because the New York Americans have been struggling these past few games. While the Americans have been solid defensively with only 15 goals conceded in the last ten games, it’s offensively where the bulk of their recent struggles have been, especially against the bigger teams. The team hadn’t been shutout once in their first 33 games of the season, but since then they’ve been shut out five times in the last 13 games (tied with Wranglers for the most times shut out in that timeframe), with two of those coming against the Meute, and one each against the Legion, Express and the Vikings. The latter of these was especially embarrassing for the team as it came courtesy of a terrific performance from Atticus von Braxton IV, who until recently was a member of the New York Americans. This doesn’t look like it will be the beginning of a long stretch of shutouts though; Freedom McJustice and Jorma Ruutu are still leading the league in goals scored and with the Americans having enough salary cap to bring in a big-name player, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Americans back in the scoring form that had them leading the league in goals at one stage of the season in the near future.

 

Up – The Meute and Legion Continue Great Form

While their winning streak may have finally come to an end with an overtime loss to the Cologne Express, the Meute are very much still in contention for the top spot in the North American Conference thanks to their 27 straight wins. The Meute have made a lot of smart moves during this season, bringing in solid depth players such as Severin von Karma and Wolfgang Strauss without breaking the bank for them, which allowed them to retain the assets that they eventually used to bring in Jeff Hamilton, who is set to play a huge part on this team. Perhaps the most impressive individual achievement the Meute have recorded so far is the 14 shutouts that Greg Clegane has had to this point of the season. Only one player in league history has recorded more shutouts in a single season (CAL G with 19) and Clegane still has 20 games to play this season.

 

But the fact that the Meute have gone on such an impressive run and still aren’t in first place in the North American Conference is a testament to how well the Legion have also been playing during that run. Hans Wingate has improved upon what was a great performance in Season 48 and will be involved in a fierce battle with Greg Clegane for this year’s Shaw Award while Max Molholt continues to lead the VHL in points thanks to his terrific assist tally, somewhat surprising considering Molholt’s record as a strong goal scorer.

Edited June 12, 2016 by YEAH!stlemania

[BOOM 8,435]

Please spell check this. Not enough errors.

[Tagger 2,722]

Up – All the All-Star Games

It took a public vote to get him there, but Lord Karnage has managed to squeeze his way into the S49 All-Star Game after garnering votes from 13 of the 29 members who participated in the voting to select the final two All-Star forwards, three more than his closest rival Severin von Karma. Those votes meant that Karnage joins some esteemed company in becoming the eighth player in VHL history to make eight All-Star games in what will surely be a career that will see Karnage enshrined in the Hall of Fame. What will be interesting though is how the VHL will view his status as an All-Star starter in VHL history. If Karnage were to be classed as an All-Star starter (which GM Bogdan Podarok has him slotted in at), then Karnage will have the second most All-Star starts in VHL history behind only the legendary Scotty Campbell. However, usually the All-Star games use number of votes to determine who is classed as the All-Star starters, so to see the player who only just about made it onto the All-Star roster itself referred to as an “All-Star Starter” is something that may have to be looked at with this still relatively new format for the All-Star game.

 

Down – All-Star Selection Certainly Not Riga’d

For the fourth time in the last seven seasons, we won’t be seeing a representative of the Riga Reign suiting up for the All-Star Game. While they did have an opportunity to get some of their players into the game with both Bronson Faux and Ilya Kopralkov being made voting options in the public polls, realistically they were never going to find enough votes to make it into the All-Star game as evidenced by Faux finishing fifth in the public votes while Kopralkov received only one of the twenty-nine public votes. This means that Riga have only had seven representatives in the last seven seasons in the VHL, four less than the team with the second-least representatives in that time frame (Seattle) and less than a third of the amount of All-Star participants that three VHL teams have had in that same period (Toronto have had 23, Stockholm have had 25, New York have had 27).

 

Up – Surprise Entrants

For these All-Star games there always seems to be one player that, at the start of the season, you really have no reason to believe based on their past history that they’d have any chance on making it to an All-Star Game but yet they manage to overcome the odds and do it anyway. This season’s biggest surprise is Sooryuu Kaminogi, a former second round draft selection (one of only two in this All-Star game along with World B. Free) who had never made an All-Star game in his previous six seasons in the league. Despite having faced two season’s worth of regression and starting the season on a rebuilding Helsinki team before being traded to the Express, he managed to put up solid numbers with both teams which was enough to see him into his first All-Star Game.

Edited June 19, 2016 by YEAH!stlemania

[Tagger 2,722]

Up – Competitive Quarter Finals

Quite frequently in this first phase of the playoffs, we usually see matchups where one of the teams are woefully outmatched which leads to ridiculous blowouts. This season we’re unlikely to see this; many consider Toronto the favourite to beat New York having finished above them in the regular season standings and coming off a ridiculous 7-0 victory in their penultimate game of the season, but it’s worth pointing out that since Lord Karnage was traded to the Americans, that was the Legion’s only win against the Americans and Toronto lost to New York in the other four games that they played after game 250. Then there’s the matchup in the European Conference which will see Davos come up against a Riga side that is hoping to win its first playoff game since Season 41. Despite Riga having the lowest point tally out of the playoff teams, they come into this game knowing that they’ve beaten Davos in their last 3 attempts and actually posted up a winning record over both Davos and Cologne over the course of the regular season. Don’t be surprised if we see a couple of seven game series right out of the gate!

 

Down – At The Same Time…

…state of your conference Europe! Not one winning record was posted in the entire conference! Cologne looked like a dead cert to at least equal this mark, but for whatever reason they decided to play their computer goalie for four more games than they had to. The Dynamo at least have a valid excuse, they’ve won ten of their last twelve games and only have a sub .500 record through their slow start to the season which was erased after acquiring Sandro Clegane, Biggu Kyanon and New York’s #1 Fan Shawn Muller. The Reign also have the excuse of not exactly going out of their way to compete, pretty much making the playoffs by virtue of everyone else in the conference not wanting to win, but at the same time, THEY LOST FOUR TIMES TO THE WRANGLERS AND THEY’RE PLAYOFF BOUND?!

 

Up– New Record!

Hey, a new record was broken guys! It’s always nice to see someone’s hard work lead to a long standing record getting broken, right? Well, yeah, I mean I guess it is. Simon Valmount is now the new record holder for hits in a season, dethroning Tukka Reikkinen’s from his nineteen-season reign at the top. While credit should go to Valmount for the work that he put in earlier in his career, there was a lot of “right place, right time” about the season he had. While he’s not maxed at checking or strength thanks to regression, he was really the only physically built player on the roster, even when the Bears were at full strength (in fact he was probably helped by Kyanon and Jeff Hamilton’s lack of physicality more than anything). Regardless, congratulations to Ahma on making a record breaking player, how strange that the last two record breaking skaters in the VHL (Jorma Ruutu broke the GWG record in S47) are both of Finnish descent!  

[STZ 5,288]

Instead of Up and Down... It really should be YEAH! and NO!... AMIRITE?

[Tagger 2,722]

YEAH! – RIGA WINS! RIGA WINS!

 

After seven seasons without recording a single victory in the playoffs, not only did the Riga Reign end up snapping their winless streak, but they ended up winning their playoff series against HC Davos Dynamo 4-3 to set up a European Conference Final matchup with the Cologne Express. It’s fairly obvious that the Reign weren’t planning on making a significant playoff push this season with Bronson Faux being the only Reign player over 70 overall, but since the team does not have possession of their own first rounder in the upcoming draft (that now belongs to Seattle as Riga traded the pick to Cologne straight up for Pietro Maximoff, a trade that doesn’t look all that great for the Express in hindsight) they were hardly going to argue with a lengthy playoff run if they could get it. As a matter of fact, the Reign have set a post-expansion record for a playoff series winning team for lowest points tally in the regular season. Given their recent record over the Express (which was admittedly helped by playing Cologne’s backup goalie), maybe this run can continue a little longer?

 

NO! – Big Name Players Retiring Without a Cup

 

With the New York Americans falling 4-2 to the Toronto Legion, it signalled the end of the line for two of the VHL’s best forwards in Lord Karnage and Freedom McJustice, however unfortunately they will both be retiring without a Continental Cup to their name. Lord Karnage will not need the Continental Cup to make the Hall of Fame at the first time of asking, but it would have been a fitting end to an impressive career which saw the Somalian end up third in all-time hits and second in game-winning goals along with a record-tying four Boulet trophies. While McJustice was slow to get going and likely won’t make the Hall of Fame with his all-time statistics, he will find some consolation in the fact that his last season in the VHL was easily his best and also led him to win his first individual trophy (Top Goalscorer).

 

YEAH! – The Real Winners of the Playoffs

 

When you trade away players to teams expecting to compete in exchange for first round selections, you typically aren’t going to expect those first rounders to be terrific, but the Stockholm Vikings couldn’t have asked for a better playoff outcome as of the three first rounders they possess in the Season 50 Draft, two of them are lottery selections and their latest first rounder is sixth overall. Even though they weren’t expecting to give up a lottery pick when they gave their first to Stockholm, Seattle won’t be too upset that they aren’t in possession of their first as the player they acquired for that first (AK47) has been making solid progress and isn’t going to be retiring any time soon (which is more than can be said for who they traded their Season 51 first rounder for) and New York knew the risk that they were taking giving up their first considering the overwhelming strength of the North American Conference, but this a great opportunity for Stockholm to start building a young talented team, especially if that Seattle pick wins the lotto.

Edited July 4, 2016 by YEAH!stlemania

[Tagger 2,722]

Bit busy today so won't be able to have an article up, got a couple of Free Weeks from Donation I have to use anyway.

[BOOM 8,435]

26 minutes ago, YEAH!stlemania said:

Bit bizzy 2day so won't be abel 2 hav en artickel up, got a cuppel of Free Weeks from Donashin I have to use ennyway.

 

I still expect this when I read this section.