Victor

So all-time franchise statistics have been discussed recently, in particular by current goaltenders Alexander Pepper and Finn Davison who wanted to understand where they stood in the long and varied histories of Helsinki and Davos, respectively. That and my insatiable desire to make sense of the mess that is 66 seasons of sim league hockey has resulted in this – a ranking of 10 VHL franchises based on the success of their goaltenders. The franchise goaltender is an important, often essential, component of a successful franchise, and I've tried to take into account both the talent level of the goalie (e.g. were they a Hall of Famer) and their impact to the specific team (i.e. cups and awards). Malmo and Moscow are excluded from the ranking as they've had 5 starting goalies in 5 cumulative seasons of existence. However, I will be including Vasteras and Cologne in here given they were around for longer than most members. So starting with number 10, let's jump into this countdown. 10. Cologne Express S33-S37 – Evgeni Chekhov S38-S41 – Blaine Olynick S42-S43 – Martin Brookside S42 | Shaw x2 S44-S45 – Brock Waldron S46 – Sandro Clegane HOF S48 – Callum Sinclair S49-S50 – Artom Zhumbayev S51 – Atticus von Braxton S52 – Dmitri Dadonov S53 – Ilya Kopralkov S54 – Markus King HOF S55 – Vernon Von Axelberry S57 – Shawn Brodeur There are a number of reasons for why Cologne ended up on the chopping block when contraction came around in S57, but a failure to ever get a real franchise goaltender in 27 seasons certainly didn't help. By some distance Cologne's most successful goaltender was Martin Brookside, the playoff MVP in their only cup win in S42, but he was only there for the final two seasons of his career. The Express only ever had two Hall of Famers appear in net for them and both Clegane and King departed after their rookie seasons. Ultimately there is little else to write here other than this was possibly the easiest team to place in the ranking. 9. Calgary Wranglers S1 – Drew Barclay S2 – Joseph Baker S2 S3-S4 – Robert Sharpe S3 S7 – Adrian McCreath HOF | Tretiak S8-S9 – Max Weinstein S8 S10 – Raul Thundercat S11-S15 – Jonas Markstrom S16-S18 – Demetrjusz Dudek S18 S19 – Zach Voss S19 | Tretiak S22-S24 – Joey Clarence S23 S28-S32 – Marius Henchoz S30 | Shaw S33 – Skylar Rift S34 – Satan S35 – Alexander Labatte HOF S37-S41 – Martin Brookside S43-S46 – Hans Wingate HOF | S44 | Shaw x2 S46-S47 – Bernie Gow S50-S52 – Ariel Weinstein S54-S57 – Jacob S58-S63 – Norris Stopko HOF | S62 | Shaw x2 S64-present – Brick Wahl II Calgary long had a legitimate claim for being the most successful franchise in VHL history, a claim that has weakened in the last few decades, especially after being effectively contracted along with Cologne. However, that success had little to do with the quality of the Wranglers' goalies. In their first 40 seasons of existence, Wranglers fans only saw two Hall of Famers don their goalie masks for them – Adrian McCreath for half a season in S7 and then Alexander Labatte for one year 28 seasons later. That's not say that cups were won in spite of their goaltenders as most of Calgary's long-term starters were still among the best in their generation, but they certainly weren't the stars of the team. As the championships dried up in more recent years, there has been a slight shift in the importance of the goalie to Calgary. The S44 cup is almost synonymous with Hans “WinGod” Wingate, and likewise the recent trips to three straight finals wouldn't have been possible without Norris Stopko, fittingly a goaltender the Wranglers picked up along with the rest of Stockholm's assets. That's not quite enough to move them up this list though. 8. Seattle Bears S3-S6 – Adrian McCreath HOF | S4, S5 | Tretiak x2 S9-S12 – Steve LaFramboise S12 | Tretiak S14-S16 – Greg Harbinson S17 – Alex Young S17 S19-S21 – Joey Clarence S26-S30 – CAL G HOF | S28 | Tretiak S35-S39 – Steven Smyl S41-S43 – Niklaus Mikaelson S43 S47-S49 – Sandro Clegane HOF | Shaw S49-S53 – Jakab Holik Shaw S57-S59 – Vernon Von Axelberry S59 S60 – Markus King HOF S61-S65 – Roger Sterling S67-present – Rayz Funk Similarly to Calgary, the Bears that most current VHL members are familiar with are a far cry from their initial success. Also similarly to Calgary, Seattle's goaltenders were solid but often not the star attraction on their best teams. However, probably the Bears' two best eras featured two of the better goalies the VHL has seen with McCreath backstopping the generation led by Scotty Campbell and then CAL G being a core component of the “Seattle Six”. Since then though it has been an odd journey, with a few very fallow periods mixed in with some top goaltending displays (in particular by Clegane and Holik). The Bears' two championships in modern times have come with Mikaelson, a young goaltender not quite in his prime then, and Von Axelberry, whose career-best spell came in the S59 playoffs. 7. Vasteras Iron Eagles (including Madrid Thunder and Stockholm Vikings) S1-S4 – Matthew Pogge HOF | S1 | Tretiak x2 S5-S10 – Anton Nygard S11-S12 – Alex Gegeny HOF S13-S14 – Steve LaFramboise S15-S18 – Zach Voss Tretiak S21-S26 – Andreas Bjorkman S26 | Tretiak S31-S32 – CAL G HOF S34-S40 – Eggly Bagelface Shaw S43 – Brick Wahl HOF S44-S45 – Blake Campbell S47-S49 – Ariel Weinstein S52-S55 – Rhett DeGrath HOF | Shaw x2 S56 – Vernon Von Axelberry For all of Vasteras' issues over time, which followed them wherever they relocated, finding top goaltending talent was never a problem. Starting with inaugural top goalie and playoff MVP Matthew Pogge, any contending Vasteras/Madrid/Stockholm roster featured one of the best netminders in the league and many, in a recurring theme for the Swedish franchise, were unlucky not to win more team and individual awards in their time there. Many unheralded goaltenders went through Vasteras (single season save % record holder Nygard, top goaltender of his generation Voss, and unlucky to be overshadowed by others Bagelface and Weinstein). They perhaps ended with their finest, with Rhett DeGrath putting up record-breaking regular season stats for the Vikings, but falling short in the playoffs. That was the last straw and ended a long and proud lineage of goaltenders. 6. New York Americans (previously Hamilton Canucks) S1-S5 – Jesus Christ Tretiak S8-S10 – Greg Eagles S12-S15 – Vase Trikamaki S14 | Tretiak S18-S19 – Alex Young S24-S31 – Benjamin Glover HOF | Tretiak x2 S32 – Skylar Rift S32 S33-S34 – Alexander Labatte HOF | Shaw S36-S42 – Brick Wahl HOF | S39, S41 S38 – Tuomas Tukio HOF | Shaw S45 – Niklaus Mikaelson Shaw S46-S47 – Blake Campbell S47 | Shaw S48 – Atticus von Braxton S49 – Ariel Weinstein S52 – Ilya Kopralkov S52 S53 – MT Power S53 S54-S55 – Jakab Holik S58-S59 – Rhett DeGrath HOF | Shaw S60-S61 – Ike Arkander Shaw S62-S66 – Ismond Kingfisher New York as a franchise seems to have come full circle. Initially the team that had to wait longest for its first Continental Cup (even including Quebec and Cologne later on), now the Americans are on the longest cup drought in the VHL. In between they almost became the model franchise and their goaltending history follows a similar pattern. Outside of Benjamin Glover and Brick Wahl, New York has had little in the form of franchise goalies, but those were definitely two good franchise goalies to have. In between, the Americans featured cameos from two all-time greats in Tukio and Labatte, although they did seem to find championship success more often with less heralded players (rookies Rift and Power or journeymen Campbell and Kopralkov). The past 10 seasons have been rough, however, as the Americans have been hit by two GM inactivities, both of whom were also in charge of the team's starting goalie (Arkander and now Kingfisher). Although it's still a long fall to reach the Shortbus era of early days New York, they are now dangerously close to revisiting to those pre-Glover days when they were searching for a second cup and a franchise goaltender. 5. Vancouver Wolves (previously Quebec City Meute) S34-S36 – Skylar Rift S35 | Shaw S37 – Tuomas Tukio HOF | Shaw S39-S43 – Brock Waldron S40 – Lennox Moher Shaw S44 – Niklaus Mikaelson S45-S46 – Ariel Weinstein S49-S50 – Greg Clegane HOF | Shaw S53-S58 – Apollo Skye HOF | S56 | Shaw S61-S65 – Tristan Iseult Shaw S66 – Roger Sterling S67-present – Ismond Kingfisher It's been a rough time since they moved to Vancouver (1 inactive season of Iseult, Sterling and so far Kingfisher performing below expectation), but while in Quebec the Meute got through quite a bit of elite talent in goal. Quebec became proficient at picking up Hall of Fame or near Hall of Fame level goaltenders just as they were entering their prime, starting of course with their infamous free agent signing Rift who propelled them to their first championship. He was soon followed by Tukio, Moher, and Clegane, who all had career seasons in Quebec, before the Meute finally developed their own bonafide superstar in Apollo Skye and reaped the rewards with four straight trips to the finals. Time will tell if that wasn't a purely French Canadian thing or if the Wolves will slowly start slipping down this ranking. 1,600 words so 3 weeks for Cast.

@wcats 3-win sim, 6-point sim for Cast, and stopped the Toronto juggernaught. is here.

Guess this makes up for the other New York game @leafsman

What a defensive performance. GG @Greg_Di @Will @hedgehog337

Sterling’s not exactly lighting the world on fire over here tbh lol.

We're back! 2 correct answers = 2 capped TPE 1 correct answer = 1 capped TPE Uncapped TPE based on season leaderboard handed out at end of season. Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnnUQpnqrUyt_t6n7amJ6zYllHAWf3Cv3M5-vLWvMFCoML0Q/viewform?usp=sf_link Obligatory start of season mass tag. @Members

Come at me. Find my deets in the sig. This league was named after me before I even joined it.

No points on six goals for either of my players but you know what.... very nice.

Yeah, I feel like this happened in S25 or something. Or maybe when we expanded in S30 since there were more teams than goalies. I'm sure every team has the unwritten right to change their CPU goalie's attributes.

Devise on a mad one on the sim this season

Yasss, needed that.

Yeah, there's actually quite a few old farts still floating about tbf. https://vhlforum.com/topic/63686-whos-still-around-from-old-cup-winning-teams-part-2/

They’d have to ban me first.

Fucking hell Funk.

Would we not run into a problem of the most active and creative people going to the same 1 or 2 brands, voting for their own brands, and creating a perpetual cycle of the rich getting richer? Not unlike real life but not necessarily what we want to create here.

Thanks I have been naked when it comes to Pavlov.

Moscow legend, RIP

Welcome back, based on a recent MS I wrote I believe you’re the only survivor of that S27 Titans team at the moment.

As we go into our third season, it's all change at the top, as we're looking to compete in Moscow. Our inaugural captain Mark Gebauer @Sova is currently less involved in the league so will not be part of the leadership group in S67 but we look forward to welcoming him back in the near future. Instead, the captains are: C - Evgeni Komarov @Gooningitup A - Dan Baillie @wcats A - Paolo Nano @leafsman After two seasons as alternate, Komarov has earned the right to wear the "C" in S67, having been a supporter of a Moscow-based franchise since the very beginning. Baillie and Nano have both been alternate captains before, Baillie in S66, Nano in S65, and as original expansion draftees they bleed black and gold. Here's to our best season yet!

I get sent down and then called up again youre never gonna keep me down I get sent down and then called up again youre never gonna keep me down I get sent down and then called up again youre never gonna keep me down I get sent down and then called up again youre never gonna keep me down

Got too much respect for the goalie

Shiet really collapsed in the third

Shame you can only score when no one else is on the ice.

I’d say it was always pretty rare just because that requires competing for 5-6 seasons.

Happy to see New York have a GM again