ISSUE III // SEPT. 16, 2018 // SEASON 62
Staff List Editors
the Magazine
1st - Halifax 21st 110 Points
@ColeMrtz21 @BarzalGoat
2nd - Las Vegas Aces 105 Points
Writers @DaftRaincloud @McWolf @OilMandan @Sonnet @bagelbitesisbae @Jose Gonzalez
There is no rush @McWolf Page Three
World Junior Championships against
101 Points 4th - Oslo Storm 55 Points 5th - Saskatoon Wild 6th - Yukon Rush
@SidTheKid87 @Enorama
Team Canada takes home gold at the
3rd - Ottawa Lynx
45 Points
Graphics
On The Cover
Standings
42 Points
Lightning rookie profiles @Jose Gonzalez Page Five
League Leaders Points Karl Von Moltke (HFX) - 124
Team Asia in a nailbiter 6-5 victory.
Goals
Photo illustration by @SidTheKid87.
Shawn Glade (HFX) - 48
Further coverage on page 6 by
Assists
@DaftRaincloud.
WJC Medal Round @DaftRaincloud Page Six
Karl Von Moltke (HFX) - 79
Forward Points Karl Von Moltke (HFX) - 124
Defense Points Shawn Glade (HFX) - 103
Foreword
Rookie Points
This week we brought on three new
Scott Shawinganen (LVA) - 90
writers in @Sonnet, @bagelbitesisbae,
Plus/Minus
and @Jose Gonzalez. They proved
Object of larceny
themselves worthy of the position,
@bagelbitesisbae Page Eight
each going beyond expectations and creating great pieces for our third
Chace Trepanier (OTT) - 54
Shots Blocked Burnt Toast (SSK) - 127
Hits
issue. I believe we have finally
Lukas Novacek (OSL) - 279
established a reliable writing team and
Save Percentage
I'd like to thank the community for
Andreas Bergkvist (OSL) - .920
being so supportive of the magazine
GAA
thus far. We hope to continue to
Alexander Pepper (LVA) - 2.0
provide quality VHLM content for seasons to come. Thank you, @ColeMrtz21
Who's on first? @Sonnet Page Nine
Shutouts Alexander Pepper (LVA) - 10
There is no rush BarzalGoat talks about the team’s bright future, as Yukon rebuilds from Season 61 Founder’s Cup Finals debacle @McWolf By the same time last season, the Yukon Rush were the team to beat. Led by Leph Twinger, Vesto Slipher, Sergei Kovalev, Alvaro Jokinen and Johnny Havenk Carison, the Rush ended the season with a record of 62-8-2, good for 126 points, 33 over the second-place Oslo Storm. Everything pointed towards them lifting their second Founder’s Cup in three seasons, but their hopes were crushed in the finals. They had a fateful encounter with the Storm, who ended up winning the Founder’s Cup after a short 5game series.
Rush players prepare to defend
Photo credit @SidTheKid87
Following this major deception, the Rush fans found themselves having no Cup to celebrate, and nothing to look forward to in the close future. Their better players were all getting promoted to the VHL, and they had traded pretty much all of their high value picks to sellers, having to wait until the third round of the draft to claim prospects of their own. They made this pick count, however, selecting the #1 ranked prospect for the upcoming VHL Draft, defenseman Ryan Kastelic. I met with Rush GM and VHLM Magazine Editor, BarzalGoat and we discussed his multi-year plan to avenge the terrible fate his team faced last season.
McWolf: Thanks for accepting this lastminute interview invitation. What was your mindset coming into this season after the disappointing loss to the Storm in last season's Founder's Cup finals? BarzalGoat: Honestly, seeing what I was left with picks wise, I was never really confident in our ability to put together a contender this year. Luckily, I was able to strike gold on a few players like Kastelic and Crosby, but I knew I had to just part ways with those soon to be VHL guys to get the picks for next season. They were both really OK with doing what's best for the team, and hopefully will perform well in their playoff runs. MW: Did you have a hard time deciding to actually part with both of them? BG: Of course, we kind of developed this bond as the only three players in the locker room, and it was really tough letting them go. I just knew that the time was right, and I was getting more than fair compensation for both of them, so I had to pull the trigger. Luckily, I had guys like Stoffiday become more active, so Yukon hasn't been too lonely. MW: These fair compensations mean Yukon now possesses half of the picks in the Season 63 VHLM Dspersal Draft's first round. Do you know who you are targeting with those three picks already? BG: Well to be honest, no, but I have a good idea of where to start. I obviously can't give away my strategy going into the draft, but I have 3 good guys going into next season whom I plan on building a real contender around, and hopefully the guys I take in the first round will all hit the cap quickly. MW: What are you expecting from the three players coming back next season? BG: I'm expecting Stoffiday specifically to keep working on his game, and really grow into a top goaltender in the VHLM for his sophomore campaign. As far as
Andrianopoulos, I think we've seen glimpses of what he's capable of this season, he's got 50 points in 62 games played. BB Nat might not grow any more as a player, but he's a great offensive defenseman, and we look forward to another year with him. MW: Is it safe to say you are aiming for the nothing less than the Founder's Cup in the next season? BG: Well, Mr. McWolf, wouldn't the objective of every season be the Founder's Cup? Obviously, that's the goal for the season, but overall, I want to maximize the experience for the up and coming VHLMers. MW: What other team do you see the Rush fighting with for Season 63 glory? BG: It's tough to say, I'd imagine Sasky, they have a good few picks, and they'll be good. I know it won't be Halifax, that's for sure.
This season might have been lost from the beginning for the Yukon Rush, but they have the resources to be Cup contenders as soon as next season. BarzalGoat made the best with what little he had, trading Ryan Kastelic and Sidney Crosby away for draft picks and packaging late draft picks for early ones. This leaves the team with three selections in the first round and a total of eight in the first three rounds. If the general manager makes smart selections and brings in good players to complete Rhett Stoffiday and Athanasios Andrianopoulos, the Rush will be in a good position to turn the page on the Season 61 debacle by bringing the Founder’s Cup back to the real great north.
Lightning prospect profiles A quick look at potentially underrated prospects for the upcoming VHL Entry Draft
Burnt Toast Saskatoon Wild Defenseman
@Jose Gonzalez Chance Matthews Ottawa Lynx Center
Vaydar Odinsson Ottawa Lynx Right Wing
TPE 76 Class Rank 30th
TPE 139 Class Rank 12th
TPE 126 Class Rank 15th
Burnt Toast was acquired by the Saskatoon Wild 7th in the S62 VHLM Dispersal Draft. The Saskatoon Wild has had a lot of trouble getting wins, with a record of 15-35-5 and are 12 points behind the Oslo Storm who are currently in 4th place. Burnt Toast, however, has been performing extremely well. In just 55 games he has scored 21 goals and 30 assists adding up to 51 points. A huge downside of him is that he will not stay out of the penalty box. Toast has an average of 1.7 minutes in the penalty box per game. Burnt Toast is unlikely to be picked high up in the draft. However, it is possible that he becomes a star, putting if he keeps putting up such high numbers. Burnt Toast is an amazing skater, and as a defenseman, it isn’t surprising that he is talented in his own zone. He is currently rated 24 overall, and number 7 at his position, but it may be worth picking him up earlier if he can keep putting up these high of numbers.
Chance Matthews was drafted by the Ottawa Lynx 22nd overall in the S62 VHLM Dispersal Draft. The Ottawa Lynx are currently in 3rd place, and have recently has just clinched a playoff berth. They have a record of 38-15-2 and are a contender for the season 62 Founder’s Cup. Matthews has scored 10 goals and an impressive 38 assists in just 55 games. He has proven himself as an amazing playmaking center, and with the current shortage of centers, he has potential to be an important piece of almost any team. Matthews has a powerful pass, can outskate many players in the league, beat many players in the faceoff circle, and is an amazing puck handler. He is currently tied for 12th in the draft rankings, and looks to be a strong center in the VHL for years to come.
Vaydar Odinsson was drafted by the Ottawa Lynx 11th overall, and has rewarded them by scoring 11 goals and 14 assists to this point in the season; however, impressively he has a +/- stat of 24. Odinsson has been playing on Ottawa’s first line with Chance Matthews and Roctorion King since King’s acquisition from Yukon early in the year. He is currently rated number 17 overall, and 3 at his position. Vaydar has decided to spread out his TPE more than many other players, and is strong at all of puck handling, skating, and scoring. He has also put points into strength, passing, and defense. His small effort in defence might be one of the many reason he has such a high +/- stat. Odinsson is the least impressive player on this list, but he does play his position well, and has a lot of promise. I personally believe that Odinsson is underperforming for his capabilities, and I hope to see him do well and in future.
WJC medal round Where did everyone fall? Let's find out. @OilMandan Some would call it thrilling, others might say it was predictable. I’m here to talk facts & stats, and give a play by play breakdown at what went down during the two most important games of the World Juniors Cup tournament, and break down the performances of some of our beloved VHLM players as well, since without them this magazine would not exist. We will start with the bronze medal round of Team World vs. Team United States of America. In the last issue, I covered the two top VHLM players for these two teams in Shawn Glade for the United States of America and Ryan Kastelic for Team world. Unfortunately for Ryan, this game was not his best with his most notable stat being the four minutes he spent in the penalty box. Shawn Glade however was able to rack up four assists in this game, an impressive showing for him with such a big game on the line. The first goal for the United States of America came from Dan Montgomery, who got the assist from Bryce Zhields and Shawn Glade in the first period. Montgomery’s goal would go on to be the only one scored by either team in the opening period. In the second period, The United States of America scored three more goals, leading to an impressive 4-0 lead against Team World. Billy Pilgrim came out eighteen seconds into the period and scored a goal off of the power play. Dan Montgomery would get his second, and Bryce Zhields who set up Dan’s first goal would score himself by the close of the period. Coming into the third period it was do or die for Team World, as they needed to score five goals and be perfect in the net to come out with a medal, unfortunately for them, they simply could not get it done. The
United States of America would go on to score two more goals in the third period, with Anderson LaVey and King Gow both getting their first for the game to give, Team America an insurmountable 6-0 lead and ultimately, the win. This game was a very impressive shutout win for the United States, spurred on by an amazing playmaking performance by Shawn Glade, and goaltending from Ismond Kingfisher. With only 15 shots for Team World, the US defense was absolutely smothering. While on the other side, the United States was allowed 46 shots by the Team World defense, who were a revolving door. Now it’s time for the main event of the evening, ladies and gentleman. The gold medal game between Team Asia and Team Canada. Off the jump let’s get something straight – this game was a nail biter. Canada and Asia are two high octane offenses that get a lot of shots on goal, and can both rack up the goal total, and bury opposing teams under a mountain of shots. Canada came out of the gate firing, as standout Leph Twinger opened up the scoring 2:27 into the game off of an assist from Burnt Toast. Just under three minutes later, and Canada gets their second goal. Thankfully for Team Asia they get a power play and Sergei Kovalev capitalizes on the opportunity and scores, then scores about one minute later to level the score at 2-2. Ryuu Crimson, who I covered last week, gets his sole point in this game from this assist. Leph Twinger, not wanting his strong effort to be for not, sends the puck between the sticks thirty seconds later, giving Canada a one goal lead with ten minutes left in the period. Over the next nine minutes forty-
three seconds the two teams would launch a combined twenty-three shots. Some of these shots miss, some get blocked and deflected, but on the twenty-fourth attempt with only fifty-seven seconds left in the period, Leph Twinger notches his third goal of the night. End of period one. Asia: 2 – Canada: 4. Twenty-four seconds into the second period, and Ryuu Crimson makes a mistake, giving up a holding penalty and gifting the Canadian team another power play. Inevitably, Canada once again capitalizes on the opportunity, with Jake Davis scoring his first goal of the game with just under two minutes left. Asia: 2. Canada: 5. Things are looking dire for Team Asia, and they react with a flurry of shots throughout the rest of the second period. At 16:05 Dylan Nguyen scores a goal off an assist by Gregor Rasputinov, and the puttering Asia team gets a breath of fresh air. End of period two. Asia: 3 – Canada: 5. Third period, do or die time for these two talented teams. The gold medal is in sight for Team Canada, but Team Asia has started to generate some momentum. If they allow Asia to score again they may be in danger of choking up what was once a three goal lead, and collapsing on the international stage. For Team Asia, they need to find an answer for Twinger, and the rest of the star studded Canadian offense. At 3:32 into the third period Canada’s worst fears looked to have been realized, as Tzuyu buries her first goal of the night, and puts Asia within striking distance of the once insurmountable lead. Both teams play aggressively for the third, shooting what will end up being the same amount of shots during the period; however, Canada gets to add some breathing room back to the score board, as ten minutes and eleven seconds after Tzuyu’s goal, Jake Davis scores yet again and Canada gets a two goal advantage with only seven minutes until the end of the match. Smirnov scores again for Asia with 1:25 left on the clock, and Team Asia takes four more shots within that sliver of time, but none of them are able to push the game to overtime and Team Canada wins the gold medal with a score of six to five.
object of larceny How the league's most controversial aquisition birthed an elite forward in Karl Von Moltke @bagelbitesisbae Do we even need to introduce Karl Von Moltke? Karl Von Moltke entered the VHLM as another rookie winger. Nobody can predict where a player will end up because it's their decision as to whether they want to be a star player. KVM joined the Ottawa squad as one of their lower-tier wingers, and was a little bit confused at first as to how the VHL worked. His TPE production was very slow, but consistent and none of us thought he'd stick around with Victory Hockey League. We all thought that he'd be another person to give up on Victory Hockey league because it was "boring" or wasn't "fun enough." His GM let him continue playing for Ottawa despite the uncertainty of his TPE production. He didn't get a large amount of points, but he managed to rake in 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) which is quite decent. He left Ottawa to go to the VHLM draft to see where he would play next, as Free Agent signings do in the VHLM. Karl waited and waited until his name was called and was chosen by the Las Vegas Aces. He joined their team, but he was soon traded to the Halifax 21sts. KVM was quite disappointed about this trade happening, but he knew that he needed to keep his head held high and earn as much TPE as possible to prove Las Vegas wrong. He didn't disappoint, and his TPE production rose to new levels. GM Shawn Glade talked to KVM about how he wanted him to be one of their top, franchise wingers. Glade also told him that he wanted him to share his story with his teammates, so that they may find inspiration from his struggles. He listened to Glade and is doing just that currently. KVM currently has 194 TPE, and is the leading scorer in the VHLM. He has also
showed little flashes of leadership. All of his teammates (and GM Glade) are cheering him on because they're excited to see what his future holds as a top player. We aren't going to lie though, he has been busy recently and hasn't been producing as much TPE. He's still attending practices and being active though which we all are thankful for. Glade has been telling him that he doesn't need to worry about updating as much since he's really close to the cap. Shawn also told him that he can take breaks and just watch himself flourish throughout his time in the VHLM. KVM and his team recently clinched a playoff spot, so he's super hyped for that. KVM told Glade that he doesn't want to just make a statement in the regular season, but also in the playoffs. At the end of the season, KVM knows that he has a very good chance at taking home several awards. KVM doesn't want to get cocky though, he wants to stay focused and keep on presenting leadership in the locker room after every single game. After the awards, KVM will go onto the VHL to be the next big thing. We hope he thrives in a more "professional atmosphere."
KVM poster availible in the Halifax 21st merch store
Graphic by @Enorama
Who's on first? After polling the league we see who's expected to be the first pick of the S63 VHL Draft @Sonnet This week, a player poll was conducted among current VHLM players, asking them who they thought would be taken in the upcoming S63 VHLM draft. The top four players from Tagger's mock draft were chosen as the four options to vote on, with an extra space for any would-be write-in votes. The results revealed an interesting dynamic in the competition for draft positions. The two players highlighted in this article finished first and second in the results of the poll- Ryan Kastelic and Tzuyu, respectively. Kastelic finished just ahead with 42% of the overall votes, while Tzuyu was slightly behind with 31%. The remaining 27% was made up of the other two candidates (Julian Borwinn and Joseph McWolf), as well as the optional write-in vote. If the results of this poll are to be believed, players fully believe that Helsinki is prepared to draft a defenseman with their first overall pick. Kastelic and Tzuyu happen to rank #1 and #2 in TPE earned, not only for their position, but for the VHLM in general. However, the TPE earned doesn’t tell the full story. Looking at the numbers alone, we can see that the blueliners are about even in terms of hits, shooting percentage, and shots blocked. However, Tzuyu has a considerable advantage when it comes to point scoring and plus/minus. A whole 20 points separates the two, which is enough to make Tzuyu the 5th most productive point scorer in the entirety of the VHLM. In addition, the plus/ minus differential of 24 implies that Tzuyu’s presence on the ice has been much more productive; the team is scoring more and being scored on less when he’s on the ice, plain and simple. On the other side of the coin, Kastelic averages out his plus/minus at zero, signifying that his shift puts pucks in the net about as often as they let one in. Plus/minus, admittedly, isn’t necessarily
the best way to judge an individual performance. The skill of the team overall can hurt or help this score; one player alone can’t score and play enough defense to win a game. In this case, however, an argument can be made that this statistic is more telling than you’d think. Over the course of this season, The Halifax 21st (with Tzuyu) have allowed 137 goals. The Ottawa Lynx (with Kastelic) have allowed 139. With a difference of only 2 goals allowed, it’s safe to say that, defensively, these teams are on par. When we look at the goals for, however, the story gets a little more compelling. Halifax has found the back of the net 224 times, as opposed to Ottawa’s 209. This makes for a difference in 15 goals scored. When compared to Tzuyu’s 20 point lead over Kastelic, it could be fair to say that Tzuyu’s offensive contributions are a factor in the team’s ability to score. The validity of this argument is only strengthened when you consider that, of the 20 more points Tzuyu has produced, 15 of them have been goals. It hasn’t been an easy dish to a smooth skating forward for a free point- they’ve mostly been generated by his ability to step up and score himself. In conclusion, it would seem that there’s more to Helsinki’s decision on who to take than just pure TPE earned, alone. When looking closer at their individual performances this season, we can see that their defensive production has been about equal, but Tzuyu’s ability to score just outclasses Kastelic’s. Helsinki’s general manager will have to weigh a proven performance vs the potential to be even better when making their first overall selection. The players, themselves, seem to agree that Tzuyu is an underrated choice for the S63 draft, but only time will tell if their hunch is proven right.
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