Claimed:CLEGANEBOWL - The Story So Far [Reviewed]

[Victor 10,536]

 

Joined the league at the S43 trade deadline, drafted in S45, set to retire in S52. Goaltenders Greg and Sandro Clegane, united by their mutual hatred of one another, are just past the halfway mark of their careers. The VHL is getting increasingly hype after an exceptional performance at the S48 World Cup and the thawing rivalry between the Seattle Bears and Quebec City Meute, with the next four seasons promising some legendary match-ups. Before we reach peak CLEGANEBOWL, let's take a step back and look at the story so far.

 

The VHLM

 

Upon creation at the trade deadline in S43, Greg Clegane joined the Ottawa Lynx, while Sandro played 10 games for the Brampton Blades. The two playoff-bound teams met once in that end-of-season stretch, with the younger Sandro getting the better of his old rival in the very first CLEGANEBOWL.

 

S43 (numbers in brackets are saves/shots faced):

Game 262: Ottawa 2-3 Brampton (Greg 37/40, Sandro 23/25)

 

Greg went 10-2-0 in his regular season stint with Ottawa, but one of the two losses was to Sandro, which was not a good start for the big man. Revenge was sought in the playoffs, but Sandro opted to sit out in favour of Coca Cola, denying the VHL the first ever CLEGANEBOWL. Perhaps this was for the best as nearly missing on the event had very George RR Martin-esque levels of building the hype.

 

In Season 44, Greg was drafted back to Ottawa, while Sandro moved on to the Oslo Storm, meaning a playoff matchup was unlikely. Greg moved to a better team early in the season in Yukon, but couldn't get past the Saskatoon Wild in the playoffs. It was a surreal season in general, with Sandro having 21 shutouts to Greg's 17. Yet both were outperformed by Saskatoon's Ariel Weinstein's 24 shutouts, who went on to claim the Founder's Cup. Nonetheless, VHLM fans were entertained with eight high quality CLEGANEBOWLS.

 

S44:

Game 1: Oslo 4-2 Ottawa (Sandro 23/25, Greg 36/40)

Game 38: Yukon 2-3 Oslo (SO) (Greg 10/12, Sandro 22/24)

Game 87: Yukon 3-1 Oslo (Greg 5/6, Sandro 18/21)

Game 110: Yukon 1-3 Oslo (Greg 12/15, Sandro 10/11)

Game 118: Yukon 2-1 Oslo (SO) (Greg 19/20, Sandro 19/20)

Game 191: Oslo 1-2 Yukon (Sandro 22/24, Greg 13/14)

Game 239: Oslo 2-1 Yukon (Sandro 8/9, Greg 21/23)

Game 260: Yukon 2-1 Oslo (Greg 12/13, Sandro 16/18)

 

With the scores tied for S44 and a slender VHLM advantage from S43, Sandro clearly feared for his life and opted to sit out Oslo's final three games against Yukon in favour of Roland Rengel. This provided a barely conclusive final result but a sign of great CLEGANEBOWLS to come.

 

VHLM Final Score: Sandro 5-4 Greg

 

 

The Early Days

 

Sandro Clegane chose to pursue dreams of winning a team trophy by staying in the VHLM for Season 45 and succeeded in this. However, Greg Clegane was crowned VHL's top rookie and won the Continental Cup in Helsinki. This meant that Sandro had some catching up to do in his rookie season with Cologne.

 

Despite Cologne finishing outside the playoffs while Helsinki won another set of Victory and Continental Cups, Sandro performed remarkably well in head-to-head matches with Greg. He faced more shots on most occasions yet came away with another CLEGANEBOWL tie with four wins apiece, although one of Sandro's win was in the shootout, while Greg had two shutouts.

 

S46:

Game 14: Cologne 1-2 Helsinki (Sandro 28/30, Greg 31/32)

Game 125: Cologne 3-2 Helsinki (Sandro 48/50, Greg 24/27)

Game 132: Cologne 2-5 Helsinki (Sandro 31/36, Greg 15/17)

Game 139: Helsinki 3-4 Cologne (SO) (Greg 22/25, Sandro 28/31)

Game 214: Cologne 0-3 Helsinki (Sandro 43/46, Greg 26/26)

Game 222: Helsinki 2-3 Cologne (Greg 32/36, Sandro 25/27)

Game 281: Helsinki 3-0 Cologne (Greg 17/17, Sandro 25/28)

Game 297: Helsinki 2-3 Cologne (Greg 21/24, Sandro 35/37)

 

S46 Score: Greg 4-4 Sandro

 

With Cologne going nowhere, Sandro moved to the young Seattle Bears, meaning that again a playoff CLEGANEBOWL was unlikely in the foreseeable future. This looked like the right choice early on in Season 47 but a late surge by Greg meant that once again the two goaltending behemoths were tied at four wins apiece. Once more one of Sandro's wins came in a shootout, while Greg added a third shutout to his collection, but neither tasted team success.

 

S47:

Game 10: Seattle 3-2 Helsinki (Sandro 24/26, Greg 24/27)

Game 54: Helsinki 4-1 Seattle (Greg 28/29, Sandro 20/24)

Game 144: Helsinki 2-5 Seattle (Greg 24/29, Sandro 31/33)

Game 215: Seattle 1-2 Helsinki (Sandro 28/30, Greg 21/22)

Game 229: Helsinki 1-2 Seattle (Greg 17/19, Sandro 38/39)

Game 234: Seattle 4-3 Helsinki (SO) (Sandro 33/36, Greg 23/26)

Game 351: Helsinki 4-3 Seattle (Greg 17/20, Sandro 37/41)

Game 359: Seattle 0-4 Helsinki (Sandro 29/33, Greg 14/14)

 

S47 Score: Greg 4-4 Sandro

 

The Hype Intensifies

 

Last season was the first in which Sandro Clegane rose to the top echelon of VHL netminders and immediately he won the Aidan Shaw Trophy on an improving Seattle team. Helsinki returned to the finals but lost, with a final CLEGANEBOWL denied by the champions from Toronto. In the all-important head-to-head count, it was yet another 4-4 tie: another shootout win for Sandro, another shutout for Greg, but also Sandro's first shutout! This came in possibly the greatest CLEGANEBOWL to date, Game 206, with only one goal conceded (the second was an empty-net goal by Seattle) and the Cleganes earning first- and second-star performances. Certainly a reason to truly GET HYPE.

 

S48:

Game 32: Seattle 3-1 Helsinki (Sandro 24/25, Greg 20/22)

Game 61: Helsinki 5-2 Seattle (Greg 22/24, Sandro 32/37)

Game 128: Seattle 3-1 Helsinki (Sandro 25/26, Greg 32/35)

Game 172: Helsinki 3-1 Seattle (Greg 23/24, Sandro 24/27)

Game 206: Helsinki 0-2 Seattle (Greg 24/25, Sandro 22/22)

Game 253: Helsinki 2-3 Seattle (SO) (Greg 26/28, Sandro 26/28)

Game 312: Seattle 1-3 Helsinki (Sandro 21/24, Greg 29/30)

Game 321: Seattle 0-3 Helsinki (Sandro 24/27, Greg 33/33)

 

S47 Score: Greg 4-4 Sandro

 

VHL Score To Date: Greg 12-12 Sandro

 

Then, at the World Cup, Greg Clegane made his first appearances at the tournament, having previously backed up Hans Wingate. One of his four games was against Sandro Clegane, who was considered third-best by Team Europe. The result – an instant classic with Greg winning to create an absolute deadlock in CLEGANEBOWLS to date (including the VHLM).

 

S48 WORLD CUP

Game 30: Team Mercenaries 1-2 Team Europe (Sandro 23/25, Greg 16/17)

 

Total Score To Date: Greg 17-17 Sandro

 

We are now in Season 49 and shit looks about to hit the fan. Seattle and Quebec have been at each others' throats since the off-season, after the Meute's first big statement trade for Greg Clegane and Aleksi Koponen. The team rivalry from S43 has been rekindled, and the personal rivalry between the Cleganes may reach an epic climax in the playoffs. Both teams need to get there first though and that means each regular season CLEGANEBOWL will be more important than ever before. The first one is Game 57, likely to take place on Wednesday. Has Sandro completed his journey from younger brother to superior one or is Greg immortal? Will the deadlock be broken or will we not have a conclusive answer until S52? Most importantly....

 

@JardyB10

[eaglesfan036 4,583]

you are small men

[JardyB10 4,834]

1 hour ago, eaglesfan036 said:

you are small men

FUCK YOU

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

[Victor 10,536]

I'm just so happy it's been tied all the way through. It would not be appropriate otherwise.

[FacePuncher 1,343]

Review:

Great article, thats really cool that you did all this work, I know you were talking about doing this a bit for a while. Tied matchup is really cool, that's going to be a lot of serious hype! Especially since the VHL total is tied too. I'll be looking forward to the next cleganebowl!

 

1278 words  

 

@evrydayimbyfuglien

Edited May 23, 2016 by ADwyer87

[Kendrick 4,724]

Claimed