Around the VHL: December 7th, 2020

[tcookie 927]

Welcome to Around the VHL - S75 Episode 2 - December 7th, 2020

Note: stats are as of Dec. 6th, 2020 sims -- at time of posting they'll be one set of sims old

 

The VHL season is cruising along, now just past the halfway point and just over a week from the trade deadline! While some separation has been created on the North American side of the draw, it’s still anybody’s game in a very tightly-packed European Conference race. There are just 2 points between 2nd and 6th place in the EU, and even conference-leading Helsinki and 7th-place Davos are in the hunt.

 

The Titans have come around nicely since our last edition of Around the VHL. At that time they were struggling around .500, but they’re not 23-10-6 and are getting big-time play from Ola Vikingstad and Valtteri Vaakanainen up front, especially Vikingstad who’s threatening to break into the top-10 in league scoring with his 51 points. And they just picked up Emi Rune from the Vancouver Wolves after her trade request earlier in the week. With 4 goals and 41 points, Rune’s production offers an upgrade on that of the outgoing Gabriel Akerstrom, and she’s also blocked 90 shots.

 

A couple of other European teams with slower-than-expected starts are also beginning to find their games. The Moscow Menace are up to 2nd in the EU now, with Vin Calia’s high-end production (22 goals, 47 points) offering a secondary threat to superstar Mikko Lahtinen (21 goals, 53 points, 231 hits). Meanwhile, on the back end, we’ve seen Roque Davis and Alex Letang proving to be effective defensive and dangerous threats in transition as well. And the HC Davos Dynamo recently had an 8-game winning streak snapped, but are 9-2 in their last 11 and trying to climb back into contention. What was once an underachieving offense has finally started to find some life, and young forward SS Hornet has averaged close to 2 PPG during that 11-game run, finally looking like the impact player Davos needs him to be. If this squad can keep up their recent play, they might make this European Conference playoff race even more interesting.

 

In the NA, Seattle remains near the top, though they’ve been joined by a red-hot Vancouver team, who are 8-2-0 in their last 10 themselves. Jimmy Spyro is riding a 0.925 save percentage while Andrew Su leads a deep forward group (that has five PPG-or-better players) with 57 points, good enough for a 3rd-place tie league-wide. Calgary has surged to the top spot in the league, in large part due to league-leading netminder Jacques Lafontaine. The Chicago Phoenix are in the midst of their best season since joining the league. Off-season pickup Jeff Downey is paying dividends as one of the highest-scoring blueliners in the league, while L is a rookie sensation who has fit into the league seamlessly after being taken #4 overall, though his running mate and #6 overall pick R hasn’t had the same success.

 

From there, it’s a long way down to where an interesting battle is forming for the 5th playoff spot. The DC Dragons and Toronto Legion sit well back of Chicago but are within two points of each other. DC’s an interesting case with Xavier leFlamant and Groovy Dood both tied for the league lead in scoring at 58 points, and Guy Lesieur isn’t far behind with 51, but from there, the drop off offensively has been steep to Benny Graves (33) and several other players who haven’t broken 30. As a result, despite having the two leading scorers, DC’s only scored 113 goals, 13th most in the VHL. Meanwhile, Toronto is hanging around thanks to strong offensive contributions from John Merrick and Joseph Gainer (52 points each), while Ziaire Anigbogu is surprisingly third in the VHL in defenseman scoring at 45 points, and Oh Sens and Nicholas Sunderbruch, at 41 points a piece, have provided some secondary scoring.

 

At the bottom of the league, the three cellar-dwellers have started to fall off the pace, with Riga nine points out of the playoffs in the EU, while the New York Americans and Los Angeles Stars are both well back of the DC/Toronto battle for 5th in the NA. New York does possess promising breakout 2nd-year defenseman Markus Schauer (second among defenseman with 46 points; 115 shots blocked) and Rookie of the Year candidate Rhynex Entertainment (46 points to lead rookie scoring). The sun has likely set on the playoff hopes for these three teams (meaning the likely end of Riga’s 13-season playoff run), though anything can happen with almost half the season left to play.

While it doesn’t look like anyone will challenge the big scoring numbers we saw from Mikko Lahtinen and Patrik Tallinder last season, this might be the year for goaltending, with three netminders ahead of the pace set by last season’s leader Raymond Bernard. Jacques Lafontaine is again among the best of the best, and joined by sophomore sensation Ajay Krishna, will be the focus of this week’s feature story.

 

 

How do you value a truly elite goaltender?

 

For some, the player between the pipes is playing the most important position in hockey. When they’re on, they can give you a chance to win a game they have no business winning, even if the rest of the team is having an off night. For others, the goaltender position is often a product of their team; an average talent with a quality squad in front of him can do just fine, and building that supporting cast should come first.

 

The VHL’s 75th season has offered up the first half dominance of Jacques Lafontaine and Ajay Krishna as Exhibit A in favour of the former. They are two netminders in contrasting situations: on one hand, a veteran netminder on a veteran squad; an original VHL team with a history of success. On the other hand, a sophomore stepping his game up on a young, expansion team looking for its first post-season berth.

 

The Calgary Wranglers sit at 25-9-6; their 56 points puts them atop the entire VHL. Offensively, though, the Wranglers have not been one of the league’s top teams. In fact, they sit 12th in the league in goals scored, and 13th in goals per game. But they’ve allowed 13 goals fewer than the next closest team in the league, and at the heart of that defense is 2-time Clegane Trophy winner Jacques Lafontaine. “We have a ton of confidence in our group to succeed, and I think that all starts with who is in the crease,” says Wranglers forward Patrik Tallinder, a star scorer acquired by the team in a massive off-season deal with Riga.

 

“Lafontaine has provided so much stability in net, and has stolen us more than a few games. Without him, I find it extremely unlikely that we sit so high in the standings,” Tallinder continues. “He’s also a great locker room presence and is truly an irreplaceable asset to our team.”

 

Despite two previous Clegane Trophy wins, this year has been his best yet. Boasting a 21-9-5 record and a sparking 0.933 save percentage in 35 starts so far, Lafontaine leads the league in save percentage, GAA, and shutouts, while ranking third in wins “I guess I’d say that experience is a big factor, you learn a lot about the game… our D core is also relatively experienced,” he says.

 

Reflecting on his hot first half, though, Lafontaine is quick to compliment the team around him. “Well, I can’t give myself too much credit. While I do like how I’ve played I owe a lot of love to my teammates and my defense. I believe our defense is the best in the league. I mean, the saying is, ‘the best offense is a good defense’... oh. Wait.” Nevertheless, few would argue that Lafontaine has been the best netminder in the VHL this season.

 

But if there’s a Clegane Trophy race to be had in the season’s final half, the veteran’s toughest competition might come from across the pond, in Warsaw’s second-year netminder Ajay Krishna. Following up an unspectacular rookie season, Krishna’s play has taken a massive step up across the board, and with it, the Warsaw Predators are on the hunt for the first playoff spot in franchise history. “The season is going really well for me, I know this is gonna be a turning point for my career,” says a confident Krishna, who sits second to Lafontaine with his 0.928 save percentage, a stark contrast to the 0.908 from his rookie year. “Last season, I wasn’t ready for the league being a rookie. I was not able to convert from VHLM to VHL, unlike (Dakota) Lamb. But this season, we got it all together. Being only my second season, I know I will have a lot more to show in the future. We have a great young group. My companion, Dakota Lamb, last year’s Rookie of the Year is also having a great year and GM Damien Walec is motivating me to do great stuff.”

 

Warsaw has spent their first two seasons near the bottom of the EU, but they look well-equipped to take a step forward this season. Lamb and Krishna are two prominent pieces of a really good young core - also featuring Latrell Mitchell, Victor Grachev, and Aloe Dear among many others - that have the Predators just a few wins away from matching a franchise record with 32 more games on the schedule.

 

In a European Conference where the difference between 2nd and 6th place is 2 points right now, every goal - and every save - can make a difference in not just the game, but the season. It’s safe to say Warsaw probably wouldn’t be where they are without Krishna. “He’s without a doubt been our MVP so far,” says Lamb, the team’s leading scorer. “Throughout our sort of up and down season, the constant has been one thing - the dominance of Ajay. It gives the entire team a sense of relief that even on the nights some of us don’t show up, Ajay will. Not a doubt in my mind he’ll be taking home some awards at the end of the season, and hopefully one of those will be the Contintental Cup.”

 

“The ice seems to change when Ajay steps on the ice,” agrees Dear. “We definitely play differently when he’s in the net, and he really enables us to take some aggressive chances offensively. Take a look at how he stacks up in terms of efficiency with guys that are 2, 3, 4 seasons ahead of him - I think he compares favourably to most, if not all of them. I’m not sure any team with this amount of youth has as much confidence in their keeper as Warsaw does.”

 

And as we pass the halfway point of the season, both netminders have aspirations of backstopping their team to a title. When we asked Krishna about what it would mean to get that first playoff berth for the franchise, he made it known the Predators were after more. “It’s ring season baby! We’ve got the perfect squad and staff to make this into reality. The veterans, Willie Dredge, Dagmar Havlova, and Richard Penisson have all given the confidence to bring out our potential.”

 

Lafontaine shared similar sentiments - perhaps a little bit more measured, but unfailingly confident in his team. “I feel like we have a really good chance at going all the way. I trust in ourselves. We’ve shown that we can make it to the top and we know that we can do it again this season.”

 

 

Welcome back to Fantasy Corner! Just past the halfway point of the season, we’ve got some great competition across our 21 VHFL groups. Let’s give a shout out to the overall leader, Tape-to-Tape, who’s racked up 774.90 points in Group 10.

 

Who’s leading you to your fantasy title? In today’s edition of Fantasy Corner, we’ll take a look at the top performing players at each position and at which players feature on the most group-leading lineups. But first, let’s take a look at the leaders in each group so far.

 

 

 

With all those numbers behind us, what - or who - makes a fantasy champion?

 

Well, so far this year, the answer to that appears to be Timothy Brown. Fantasy’s #1 ranked forward with 141.6 points and 3.54 fantasy points per game, Brown features on an impressive 57% of group leading rosters (12 out of 21). He was only drafted in 17 groups, so he’s actually on the leading team in 70% of the groups that he’s owned in. Brown was coming off the board as the 11th-highest forward with an ADP of 23.62, so he’s proven to be huge value - especially given that there’s a significant drop off in fantasy production from the top-three forwards in Brown, Mikko Lahtinen, and Groovy Dood.

 

Condor Adrienne is the most popular name on the back end of winning rosters, appearing on 38% (8 of 21) such teams. He’s a VHL legend at this point so we shouldn’t be too surprised at this, nor his D#1 ranking. Putting up 3.90 fantasy points per game. You had to use a high pick to get Adrienne, as the first defenseman taken and along with Mikko Lahtinen the two real contenders for the #1 overall pick, but if you got him, you’re in good shape.

Behind Brown and Adrienne, it’s Lahtinen and Jim Bob tying for third-place in the Fantasy MVP race, each appearing on 29% (6 of 21) of group leaders so far, while the most common netminder has been Jacques Lafontaine on 19% (4 of 21) of them.

 

And as far as draft position goes, according to this season’s data, it definitely does matter: 43% (9 of 21) teams that held the first overall pick are currently leading their groups. Interestingly, the second most successful draft position is the #3 hole, but that’s partly influenced by drafts in which Condor Adrienne fell - four of the five teams that are currently leading their groups from the 3rd draft position were able to land Adrienne there.

 

Note: While I think everything presented in Fantasy Corner is accurate, this is not to be considered official in the event of any discrepancy between my work and results/updates posted by anyone in charge of the VHFL.

 

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Players Mentioned: @Dil @Jubo07 @Emi @VinCal @Beketov @Spartan @Josh @McWolf @SlapshotDragon @Da_Berr @Mason @DarkSpyro @JeffD @gorlab @Kylrad @bigAL @KC15 @BarzalGoat @STZ  @ngine4 @joeg @Steve @NickSunderbruch @osens @Rhynex Entertainment @Plate @Renomitsu  @dlamb @dasboot @KaleebtheMighty @Hooperorama @Patrik Tallinder  @Tape-to-Tape @a_Ferk @OrbitingDeath  @jRuutu

 

Extra thank you to @dlamb @Renomitsu  @Patrik Tallinder @SlapshotDragon @Hooperorama for answering some questions to provide quotes for the article!

[hylands 850]

wtf malmo FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY?!

[fromtheinside 1,290]

more straight fire from the VSN writing staff!! Great article Mr. McLaren,  you always produce top shelf content.  Loved the player quotes in your featured story, and the fantasy is legit one of my favourite features that anyone does on the site. Great job man!

[McWolf 3,116]

2ppg over 11 games? yes please

[fromtheinside 1,290]

7 minutes ago, McWolf said:

2ppg over 11 games? yes please

 KEEP IT UP MCWOLF I NEED YOU FOR VHFL

[Jubis 1,350]

[fishy 1,757]

this is dope! It's really cool to see some new faces taking on fantasy stats & tracking - and with some cool concepts that I hadn't thought of before! Nicely done!

[Hooperorama 126]

 :fire: article   

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

This article is extremely well done! Also, thanks for the coverage

[McWolf 3,116]

20 hours ago, fromtheinside said:

 KEEP IT UP MCWOLF I NEED YOU FOR VHFL

I need me to score to keep me sane. Having 900+ TPA and being hot white garbage is rough for morale lmao

[BOOM 8,810]

Great way to keep track of what's happening in the VHL, without wading through the box scores. 

 

Well done.