Menace Turn It Around

[Telkster 550]

Intro

The Menace have made a big push to finally get over the hump into a legit cup contention team. After a lackluster start to the season of 10-8, Moscow flipped the switch into a higher setting not seen since the Jet and Gritty era. 14-4 in the second quarter will grab the attention of the league, as their isn't one team you can really put your finger on and say 'those guys should win the cup this year'. Each conference seems to have a triple threat of teams that have their eyes set for the cup. In the EU its Moscow, Malmo, and Riga, who have also been historically on top in the last 5-10 years or so. In the NA you have Vancouver, D.C., and Seattle. Lets dive into the stats and see why the Menace got to where they are now.

Forwards

Lahtinen is the name they've been chanting most in Moscow, and its no wonder, he's on pace for 120 points, and indefinitely leads the charge up front. On the second line it seems like 2 very similar players at different stages of their career have found a spark together. Those players are Telker and Calia, who have combined for 82 points in 74 games played between the 2 of them. With multi point nights almost always looking like a possibility for them, it almost seems Gritty and Telker esc. "Calia's story is very similar to mine, but ramp that up even 10 fold. There's almost no doubt in my mind that he will be the number 1 center in Moscow one day." said Telker. Newhook and Angellini are off to promising rookie campaigns with both players on pace for around 40 points, they may be near the back of the depth chart for now, but the potential on both of these young forwards could mean they are the part of the future core in Moscow. 

Defense

Pavlov may be old, I mean, like hanging out with your grandpa's younger brother old. But turn's out he can still produce well over a PPG in the VHL. Pavlov's scoring is on pace for around 115 points, which would shatter his previous season high of 74 points. Letang is slowly turning into a stud in his sophomore season with 39 points in just 37 games, while last season, he finished with 53 points total. Lagesson is trudging along just fine with a near PPG pace as this is probably the first time he finds himself in the core of a team with big chances at the cup. Stansson may be the #4 D man on Moscow, but he's also the youngest and in his rookie season. To get to a 30+ point season pace on a stacked defense as a rookie, only shows great signs of a core that can last on the backend, and that's exactly what Stansson can do in the future. 

Goalies

Well if anyone were to pull a locker prank about 18 games ago on Bernard, he'd probably have your head cooked in the oven with an apple in your mouth. But now, Bernard is feeling much better about the team and his gameplay. His SV% sat below .900 at times, right around the 15-20 game mark. Now Bernard now sits at a comfortable .914. This means he would have had to be playing .930+ average hockey in the last 15 games or so, which is an incredible stretch of play to come back so big for. 

 

This was a fun one to write, and it looks like Moscow is back on the cup track! All players mentioned @GrittyIsKing09 @VinCal @Beketov @okifenoki @ahockeyguy @Spartan @fever95 @Victor @Mr_Hatter

 

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW!!!

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Telkster
grammer and flow corrections

[Mr_Hatter 1,603]

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW

 

"Well, if anyone were to pull a locker prank about 18 games ago on Bernard, he'd probably have your head cooked in the oven with an apple in your mouth"

 

In other news that is probably the funniest turns of phrase I've heard in a while lol ❤