Western Conference Focus: San Diego Marlins

[Mason 81]

 

 

Western Conference Focus: San Diego Marlins

 

Last week I wrote a media spot in which I set out to take a bit of an individual look at some of the teams that make up the western conference of the VHLM and the way in which they've performed this season. With this in mind, I thought it even more interesting given how close we are to the start of the postseason. This time around, the focus will be on the team that stands closest in the standings to the league leading Houston Bulls with an impressive 102 points. The Marlins will certainly not be ruling out their ability to challenge Houston in the playoffs and make a run at the Founders Cup, so lets take a look at what it is that they've been able to do this season to get themselves into such a strong position at the end of the regular season. 

 

It's fair to say that a lot of San Diego's success can be traced back to one player; star forward Pietro Angellini. The third season player is having his first run with the Marlins this season, but has put up some astounding numbers and really helped push his team forward to a higher level of success. Currently sitting with 121 points and 45 goals accumulated in the 70 games that he's played. The fact that Angellini currently has almost 16 points more than the next best scorer on his team really speaks to the value that he's added to the team and the level of individual success that he's been able to achieve. A lot of the team's hopes and expectations going into the playoffs will rest on his shoulders, and it'll be interesting to see the way in which he's able to deal with that level of expectation when it all comes down to it and everything is on the line.

 

The Marlins have also had a very strong showing this season from the man in net. Doug Dimmadome currently sports a 50-18-2 record with a 0.896% save percentage (good for third in the league), 2.27 GAA and 9 shutouts. This easily ranks him among the top 3 goaltenders in the league and has certainly been a big factor in the level of success that the team has been able to achieve. Dimmadome will need to keep this momentum going into the postseason as there will be some big games for the Marlins to come, and I'm sure they'll be looking to their goaltender to help lead them through their opponents. 

 

Finally, the Marlins have also been able to rely on some strong secondary scoring from some of their other big names. John Merrick has also broken the 100 point mark this season and has given a very good account of himself, and additionally, their star defenseman Lucifer Olivier Leveque has been an offensive dynamo and has really helped elevate the team to the level that we've seen them perform at.

 

I'm personally very interested to see the way that their playoff series play out. They may not be the top team in the standings, but I believe that there'll be a lot of expectation on them to beat out Houston and make it to the cup finals; I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the way that this one plays out!

 

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[animal74 1,606]

Nice look at the Marlins. Really well written. Keep it up!

[Crstats23 327]

I think Vegas/Minnesota winner get Houston first can’t assume Houston will win that series