DHL Week In Review - Week 5
Feb 22, 2021 9:50:05 GMT -5
Moscow Red Army, St. Roch Hawks, and 4 more like this
Post by Morweena Reimnoceri on Feb 22, 2021 9:50:05 GMT -5
DHL Weekly Review - Week 5
Matchups:
Morweena (0-4-0) v. Moscow (4-0-0) - Moscow wins 8 - 4
Minnesota (0-4-0) v. Vegas (1-3-0) - Vegas wins 10.5 - 1.5
St. Roch (3-1-0) v. Nebraska (3-1-0) - Nebraska wins 7 - 5
Haukiputaan (1-3-0) v. Tampa Bay (2-2-0) - Tampa wins 7.5 - 4.5
Melbourne (3-1-0) v. Portland (0-4-0) - Melbourne wins 11 - 1
Oslo (3-1-0) v. Simi Valley (4-0-0) - Simi Valley wins 7.5 - 4.5
Matchup of the Week: Oslo v. Simi Valley
Finally one of those super close, a few things here or there would have changed the fate of the world, kind of matchups! It’s only been 5 weeks...This one was close, both in score and in the things which could have swayed the outcome. Firstly, they were tied in shots at 146, so there’s that, but if Oslo had just 1 more shot, 7-4. Two more STP, 6-5. 0:06 more seconds of ice-time, 6-6. Boom. Tie. And we all know how much we love ties. But alas, Simi had to go and stay undefeated like the juggernaut that they are. Worst. WORST. But good match though, congrats to both teams.
Performance of the Week (Skaters): Melbourne Bushrangers (15 goals, 31 assists, +4, 146 SOG, 20 STP, 70 hits, 53 blocks, 19:12 TOI)
This week was hard to determine the best overall team (hence splitting into skaters and goalies). But it was even harder to determine the best team of skaters this week overall. There wasn’t a team that really put it all together and was consistently in the top three for the week (ooooh a peek behind the curtain of my brain - spoilers, it’s less of a curtain and more of a bead wall) so this is why I settled on Melbourne. The Bushranger offence had the highest point total and most STP, which was good enough for me since the NHL loves offence so much. That said, I understand the value of well rounded numbers, but sometimes it’s just nice to appreciate the sexy stats.
Performance of the Week (Goaltenders): St. Roch Hawks (3 wins, 1.51 GAA, 88 saves, .936 SV%)
This one was much easier. The Hawks were first (or tied for first) in 3 of 4 goalie categories. While there were teams who had significantly more saves, I tend to favour quality over quantity. Plus, with 3 wins, you can’t blame a goalie for teams not shooting on them. What’s unfortunate here is that a clean sweep of the goalie categories wasn’t enough to help St. Roch to a week 5 victory. Better like next time I suppose.
Player of the Week: Auston Matthews (7 goals, 5 assists, +2, 15 shots, 6 STP, 1 hit, 3 blocks, 20:51 TOI)
My favourite thing to do this past week is anytime somebody at work asks me how many I think Matthews is going to score this season is answer a more and more outlandish number than the last time (for those that don’t know, I work in sports broadcasting, I put all 4 Leaf games to air last week - the question was asked a lot). I think by the time Saturday was done I was saying somewhere in the low 70s for goal totals this year, which is ridiculous. But then I thought...is it? Is it so ridiculous…? YES. Obviously it is. But….is it? Matthews had a hell of a week for a rebuilding DHL team. Perhaps if they were to truly want to rebuild and have a “down year” they should consider trading Matthews.
3 Stars:
1) Connor McDavid (3 goals, 6 assists, +6, 17 shots, 4 STP, 3 hits, 22:34 TOI)
2) Ryan Nugent-Hokpins (4 goals, 3 assists, +4, 14 shots, 4 STP, 3 hits, 3 blocks, 21:08 TOI)
3) Jonathan Quick (2 GP, 2 wins, 0.96 GAA, 48 saves, .960 SV%
Other Notes:
This Week's Schedules - Has anyone peeked at how many games teams are playing this week? The Sabres play 6 times. Six. Six games in seven days. Their lone off-day is Wednesday. THEY PLAY 4 DAYS IN A ROW. This blows my mind. Whoever has Sabres players are in for a good week.
Simi Valley Makes Up Player, Tries To Sign Him - This so called NHLer Mario Ferraro apparently plays for the Sharks and is not related to television broadcaster Ray. I guess he hits a lot? I dunno. This one came out of left field, but I suppose I'm not in a position to judge others negatively.
Morweena’s Mailbag:
Q: Is Moscow’s ‘this year will be a rebuild’, and then quietly smashing everyone this side of Gorky Park, the biggest alpha move the league has ever seen? The only comparable I can think of, but with much more overt silverback behaviour, was St Roch’s (or a previous location of the same franchise?) self proclaimed and much publicized ‘BEAT DOWN TOUR!!!’ a few seasons ago. I can’t remember how that worked out.
A: Firstly, I absolutely remember the Beat Down Tour but don't remember how it went. I don't think we'll though. Perhaps GM Doug can add some clarity, but I believe that season was met with a lot of injuries and the BDT turned into more of a walk of shame.
Now, to Big Red and their "down year". I feel like GM Adam said that, then his team was like:
...and have just done it out of spite.
It's like GM Adam decided to bury his team prematurely, and they're going full Undertaker on him (and the league).
Talk about bulletin board material. Jeez.
Now, without doing a deep dive into every match Moscow has had this year I don't think that a) they've had the strongest opponents or b) have completely and utterly blown people out of the water. So, while yeah, Red Army is 5-0-0, perhaps it's less about having a great team and more about circumstance? But then, in the same vein, isn't that fantasy sports in a nutshell? The best teams don't always have the best records and the teams with the best records aren't always the best. Having said that, the Red Army is a very VERY strong team so I really don’t know why or what or how the powers that be decided to make that claim.
Also, shoutout to me for this hot take in the Moscow Red Army season preview:
Hot Take:
This ‘down year’ that the Moscow management has proclaimed, will not go to plan. His team is just too good still. So, as per usual, the Red Army will cruise into a top 4 spot in the league and probably win a round or two. Must be nice to have a team akin to the 00’s Red Wings.