Season 73 VSN Top 25: #15 - #11

[Doomsday 4,120]

@Pengu will probably make you a sick graphic for some fish.

 

#15 - #11

 

Although the new season just began yesterday, our journey to rank the Top 25 players in the VHL is reaching the halfway point today! Today's group features five veterans of the VHL, some who are still getting even better, and some who are looking to cement their legacies as their careers come to an end. Two players that were unranked in Season 72, one player dramatically returning to peak form and another player establishing that they're not just a ride-along on a top team. We'll get started with a player that announced that Season 73 will be his last...

 

15. C - Ambrose Stark

Season 72: 9

 

Sunday night, Seattle centre Ambrose Stark announced his retirement from the VHL. He is playing in S73 for one last crack at the Cup, which would become his fourth in his seven-season career. Stark has been an integral part of the Bears’ team since its cup window began but has really come into his own in the past two seasons. In S71, the Canadian teenager put up a stunning 88 points in 72 regular-season games and followed it up with an 18 point playoff performance en route to a Continental Cup. That season would bring a Mike Szatkowski Trophy along with it as well, shared with Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The S72 season was Stark’s opportunity to cement himself among the very top players in the VHL, and he delivered. He would post career-highs in goals and points, accompanied by a 2 P/GP showing in the postseason. This is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished players in the entire league right now, and he will surely be going out in style this season.

- Patrik Tallinder

 

14. D - Vladimir Pavlov

Season 72: 12

 

Remaining steady in our rankings, albeit two spots lower than last season, we have the Moscow Menace’s star defenseman, Vladimir Pavlov. This Russian stud has been a terror in the European Conference since he was drafted by the team in Season 67. While Pavlov has never had a single career-defining season, with his best coming in the Menace’s fantastic Season 70 cup run, his consistency brings a great deal of comfort to his organization. Now in his twilight years, Pavlov’s leadership will prove vital to a young Menace team, as a mentor and star player. Pavlov has an innate scoring ability, having reached 10 goals as a defenseman in all but his rookie season, and in the past three seasons has reached at least 40 assists, with his high coming in the aforementioned Season 70 where he reached a career-high 74 points. Defensively Pavlov is rock solid, with over 100 shots blocked in every season after his rookie season. He can be a physical presence as well, having reached a career-high 227 hits this past season, proving he can be a dominant player on both sides of the puck. Although Pavlov as of yet has not found individual success in his trophy cabinet, with two seasons left, this veteran can make a late push in that department, to be considered a top player in his generation. 

- Hatter

 

13. D - Berocka Sundqvist

Season 72: Unranked

 

So far in his career, Berocka Sundqvist has been known more for being on the right team at the right time and building up his cup cabinet than any major contributions in his own right. Season 72 broke that trend in a big way. A career-high of 92 points, in a league where 100 is a rarely seen milestone, is a spectacular accomplishment. That accomplishment is even more noteworthy when taking into consideration that it beats a prior career-high of only 60. That’s a 153% increase and the type of season even Sundqvist himself couldn’t have expected, especially from the defensive end of the ice. Had it not been for the performance of one Condor Adrienne, Sundqvist surely would have been in the reckoning for more trophies this season, but if he continues to perform at this level then they will certainly come for him in the future.

- diamond_ace

 

12. G - Raymond Bernard

Season 72: Unranked

 

A player that wasn’t even ranked by us last season, Bernard seems to have taken it personally and produced a truly magnificent season, worthy of not only an Aidan Shaw Trophy for the best goaltender but a Scotty Campbell Trophy as well after being voted as the league MVP. This fantastic season by Bernard has earned him 12th spot on the VSN rankings and rightfully so, after proving to be one of the best netminders in the league right now. He helped an offensively struggling Moscow Menace reach the Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the eventual Cup winners, the Riga Reign. Bernard has great mechanics, the 6’2” goalie has incredible reaction time and rebound control. He is seemingly able to see pucks right through players, as a screen barely affects his ability to make a save. Good luck getting a puck past him up high, his hand speed is incredible and he is able to tempt players to shoot where he wants by opening a gap, but closing it in an instant. Bernard also has a great sense of angles and rarely finds himself out of position which allows him to make things look easy. He isn’t one of the flashiest goalies we’ve seen, but he remains in complete control at nearly all times and isn’t scrambling to make saves. 

- hylands

 

11. D - Lance Flowers

Season 72: 20

 

Although he's long been regarded as one of the VHL's best defensive defensemen, Lance Flowers backed up the hype in a big way in Season 72. Setting a career-high with 70 points, he also set a career-high in goals with 16, coming up on assist shy of tying his career-best with 54. On top of this, Flowers' defensive numbers remained elite. Along with 255 hits, he blocked 46 more shots than he did in Season 72, with 154 in total, his best since his rookie season in Season 68. In a season in which Condor Adrienne dominated Defenseman Awards, it was Flowers who won the Jake Wylde Trophy as the league's top Defensive Defenseman, the first award for him since winning the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy and the Jake Wylde Trophy as a rookie. With his two-way game catching the attention of VSN's pollsters, Lance Flowers took the biggest jump ahead so far for a previously-ranked player, from 20th all the way to the fringe of the Top Ten at #11. Although Flowers had to experience the dreaded regression for the first time this off-season, he remains among the VHL's best at his position as he looks to cement his status as one of the game's greats as he enters the back nine of his career. 

- Doomsday

 

Well, folks, we've reached the Top Ten Players in the VHL! Our Scotty Campbell Trophy winner, Raymond Bernard, and the Jake Wylde Trophy winner, Lance Flowers, highlighted our list today, but we've got plenty more in store for you. Another big riser will be revealed tomorrow, along with the single biggest jump in the entire Top 25 from a previously ranked player. Who made the Top Ten this year? That question will be answered in our next instalment!

 

Players Mentioned: @Banackock, @Beaviss, @Victor, @Berocka, @OrbitingDeath, @Mr_Hatter, @CowboyinAmerica

[CowboyinAmerica 2,840]

For a guy I made to be a bruiser and not put up as many pretty stats, I'll sure take #11

[JeffD 648]

Oh no

[Victor 10,830]

14th for that scrub, dayum, pass me some of whatever you guys are smoking.

[Mr_Hatter 1,608]

5 hours ago, Victor said:

14th for that scrub, dayum, pass me some of whatever you guys are smoking.

ngl I did the write up and was a little curious as to the rankings that got you there  

[DoktorFunk 810]

Getting down to the wire