07-18-2024, 04:31 PM(This post was last modified: 07-27-2024, 12:07 PM by CptSquall. Edited 1 time in total.)
The past few seasons, Vancouver had been demonstrably overshadowed by an overly dominant QCC. This is most definitely shown last season with Quebec finally claiming the cup after three previous seasons of oppressive play and clever tactics. Vancouver simply was unable to break through such a truly strong team. It took Quebec losing 90% of the team roster for the Northern Conference to regain the dynamics necessary for Vancouver to pull ahead, especially with the new, strong core it developed while Quebec was dominant.
Recently, Vancouver’s General Manager traded a couple top picks for Olafur Atlason and MattyJ. This lines them up with nine players at the 350 TPE cap or above. Five of which are at the 425 TPE cap, and this isn’t including the 425 TPE goalie that helped shore up what the defense failed to catch in the defensive zone. These trades truly helped shore up some of the weaker edges of Vancouver’s lines and held them to be a true contender both in these coming finals and the next season.
You see, I say this as Vancouver is only losing three players this season, the rest building up chemistry, skill, and more. Even saying three is misleading, as the third is a goalie. With how strong Vancouver shall be coming up next season, losing two goalies is nothing as long as they find two decent fill-ins. That also shouldn’t be difficult considering how far goalies drop in drafts, and how cheap they can be to trade for if absolutely necessary. I’ve heard from a few that chemistry can truly make or break a team, and I truly have a reason to believe that considering how strong the Lavoie were this season. As long as Vancouver pulls through either this season, or builds chemistry on our first and second line, there’s no way Vancouver can’t claim a Cup while we’re strong.
Outside of Vancouver’s performance next season, please allow me to look at their performance in this current season of this Deep Dive. Vancouver was second in the Northern Conference, behind the Regina Elks (Now the Thunder Bay Walleyes) and 6th overall in the season. Sitting at a 0.561 Points Percentage, Vancouver held out at times against some of the stronger teams like Nevada, and the Walleyes despite the two teams pulling ahead overall in the season. Everyone always says the season and playoffs never correlate, and that can’t be anymore true in this season. The top teams got knocked out; however, my team Vancouver, and the Ottawa Highlanders, number #6 and #5 respectively, are now staring down in the playoffs to see who will rise to claim the Four Star Cup this season.
As of now, from my current limited knowledge, the Finals may be a toss up in how well each team does and how each team can pull out overall. Vancouver currently on paper has a strong track record in the playoffs with Vancouver sweeping the competition to get there. Ottawa currently has incredibly strong synergy in their team with several top level players waiting in the wings for these upcoming finals. I’m personally (biased of course) of the opinion that Vancouver has a genuine shot to win this current final and shouldn’t be counted out of the fight. However, it would be foolish to underestimate Ottawa as well due to their own track record. Overall, in my humble opinion. I feel like this season’s final will be a toss up, and we will see who the winner is standing in the end.
ConjureBones
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