DHL Week In Review - Week 8
Mar 15, 2021 9:11:22 GMT -5
St. Roch Hawks, Simi Valley Kings, and 3 more like this
Post by Morweena Reimnoceri on Mar 15, 2021 9:11:22 GMT -5
DHL Weekly Review - Week 8
Matchups:
Haukiputaan (2-5-0) v. Morweena (1-6-0) - Morweena wins 10 - 2
Minnesota (0-7-0) v. Simi Valley (7-0-0) - Simi Valley wins 11 - 1
Nebraska (5-2-0) v. Moscow (6-1-0) - Nebraska wins 8 - 4
St. Roch (4-3-0) v. Oslo (4-3-0) - Tie 6 - 6
Tampa Bay (4-3-0) v. Portland (0-7-0) - Tampa Bay wins 9 - 3
Vegas (3-4-0) v. Melbourne (6-1-0) - Vegas wins 10 - 2
Matchup of the Week: St. Roch v. Oslo
We had our first tie of the season! But, good lord was this possibly the most lop-sided tie I’ve ever seen. In almost every category that was won by each team it wasn’t close. The only close call was goals which the Mastodon won by 2, but aside from that, it was blowout city. St. Roch continued his goaltending clinic while Olso’s offence came out blazing. A week that each team would have felt much better about winning to help get closer to the playoffs, they put up a great battle but each remains very close to the wrong side of the line. Also, with Vegas making a push, the race for the post-season is heating up.
Performance of the Week (skaters): Oslo Mastodon (20 goals, 36 assists, +23, 172 shots, 15 STP, 51 hits, 55 blocks, 20:14 TOI)
Okay, this week is turning into a Oslo / St. Roch love fest, but whatever. The numbers don’t lie. Unless they’ve had a couple then don’t believe anything they say. I’ve been hurt before…ANYWAYS, great week here from Oslo, and after the battle that the Mastodon matchup was, it makes sense. Led by Leon Draisaitl (shocker) Oslo managed to be tops in 4 skating categories for the week and 2nd in two others. Now, what remains to be seen is if the goaltending can catch up to the offence here as the wooly warriors make their case to be included in the playoff party.
Performance of the Week (goalies): St. Roch Hawks (5 wins, 1.98 GAA, 171 saves, .934 SV%)
This is the second time that the Hawks have dropped 5 wins in a week, which is good. For context (and I don’t mean to kick them when they’re down here, so sorry) Nebraska has now recorded 6 wins on the season and Haukiputaan 5. Led this week by Cam Talbot of all people (who thought the Wild were going to be more like the Sabres this year, raise your hand) with two wins over Arizona the Hawks goalies showed that you can have both quality and quantity. Should St. Roch make it into the postseason they are going to be a tough out with goaltending like this.
Honourable mention to Vegas this week who had slightly better numbers but 2 less wins and about 100 less saves.
Player of the Week: Connor McDavid (4 GP, 2 goals, 7 assists, +5, 18 shots, 4 STP, 5 hits, 2 blocks, 23:33 TOI)
I don’t remember if I said this here, or in real life to someone else, but remember when the Leaf shut down McDaddy for two or three games? I said he was going to hurt whoever had to deal with him next, and boy has he ever. Let’s check: February 27th to March 3rd - 3 games, 0 points. March 6th to March 10th - 4 games, 12 points. If I were the rest of the teams in the Scotiabank North Division I’d be curing the Leafs for unleashing this pents up motherfucker on them. It’s actually hilarious how good he is.
3 Stars:
1) Leon Draisaitl (4 GP, 6 goals, 3 assists, +4, 16 shots, 4 STP, 4 hits, 22:60 TOI*)
2) Ondrej Palat (3 GP, 1 goal , 5 assists, +3, 8 shots, 3 STP, 6 hits, 2 blocks, 17:46 TOI)
3) Cam Talbot (2 GP, 2 wins, .50 GAA, 46 saves, .979 SV%)
Other Notes:
Slow Week - Carter Verhaeghe was signed this week by the Thunder. That’s what happened in the DHL this week. Yikes.
Playoff Primer:
With 5 of 6 spots more or less spoken for, the race for the 6th spot in the Wuest Memorial Playoffs is going to be a great one. Oslo (4-3-1), St. Roch (4-3-1), and Vegas (4-4-0) are all legitimately in the hunt for that final seed. With Oslo currently holding the spot (no idea what the tie-breaker is) let’s take a look at the remaining matchups for each team. I’m actually going to throw Tampa in the mix here just because:
Tampa Bay: Nebraska, St. Roch, Melbourne
Oslo: Melbourne, Vegas, Moscow
St. Roch: Moscow, Tampa Bay, Minnesota
Vegas: Morweena, Oslo, Simi Valley
This isn’t a great final stretch for any of these teams, though, St. Roch having their final matchup against Minnesota has to look pretty juicy for them right now (no offense Minny, just calling it by the stats). Aside from Vegas with a plum match against Morweena this week, each of these four teams aren’t going to have anything handed to them. Buckle up everyone, it’s going to get nutty.
Trade Deadline Primer:
Well, with three weeks left before playoffs, I expect that the trades will start to pick up here in the DHL, and with that I’ve done some sleuthing and am coming back with my list of players I think are most likely to be on the move before the cutoff.
Andrew Copp, C/LW, Portland - signed for $1/1 Copp does a little bit of everything and has positional flexibility
Joel Edmundson, D, Portland - he ain’t pretty, but he does the nitty gritty and sometimes that’s all you need to put you over the top. At the very least, solid depth option for when all your players get hurt.
Drew Doughty, D, Minnesota - a big cap hit at $35 could be a deterrent, but if a team can find a way to make it happen, Doughty is having himself a throwback season for the Kings.
Bryan Rust, LW/RW, Minnesota - a bargain at $3 Rust should definitely be a target for any team looking to add offense.
Pavel Buchnevich, RW, Morweena - after a slower start to the year, Buchnevich has been heating up of late and with Panarin back in the mix you’ve gotta like what he could bring.
Steven Stamkos - C/LW/RW, Morweena - Okay, yes he’s got a $38 cap hit, but it’s Stamkos. You know what you’re getting and he plays all three positions. If you’re not sure about why you should be adding Stammer then I can’t help you.
Ryan O’Reilly, C, Haukiputaan - Another solid offensive add here on a great team. The Blues captain should definitely be able to help your team moving forward especially with Tarasenko back in business.
Morweena’s Mailbag:
Q: With only 3 weeks in the regular season to go, which team has far exceeded your expectations and which has underachieved, and who will lose to Simi in the final?
A: Love this question, let’s dive right in:
Who has exceeded my expectations - Melbourne. It’s nothing against the team, I think it’s a great team every year, but I’ve been hurt before and just expected more of the same. I’m very pleasantly surprised by the Bushrangers this year and hope more of this from them moving forward.
Who has underachieved - Haukiputaan. Much like the Bushrangers have been perennially on the wrong side of the playoff cutoff, the Ahmat have been on the right one. Each year they’re a scrappy match and usually find themselves in a great spot. Not this year though. And that’s fine, everyone has a bad one. I just expected them to continue to roll.
Who will lose to Simi in the Final - Nebraska. Again. Because what’s worse than losing in the final once? Doing it twice. To the same team. In the same year. Now, this isn’t meant to be malicious (none if this ever is - I hope it never comes across that way) I just think that it would make for a crazy stat/story down the road when someone eventually turns our little league’s story into a Disney+ exclusive documentary.