Victor

First overall is just an avenue to get more picks.

Wow I thought I paid a lot.

Moscow is here boys.

To me I think Stopko in S63 wasn’t that impressive historically but we got excited by a good goaltending performance, and I get a similar impression from Pepper - we’ve kind of lowered our expectations for goalies the last few seasons and I’m not sure if there’s enough evidence to warrant that shift yet. Granted S64 Stopko and last years Carison were very much up to standard but I’d also edge for Thompson here.

Oh yeah and S37 - we went through this somewhere already.

Moscow legend @stevo thank you for your service Damn if the Virkkunen Trophy was still around @Radcow would have a chance at 2 TPE.

Vladimir Pavlov Forward Points Faceoffs won I think it's 5 for both so 10 in total

You asked, I figured it's a pretty easy topic to get my TPE for 2-3 weeks, so here's the third and final instalment of people still around from cup-winning seasons. Let's take a slightly shorter trip down memory lane from S41 to S60 and I won't go any further than that as I think we've retained the vast majority of more recent cup winners. And in case you missed them, parts 1 and 2, which now may need to be updated for the likes of @animal74, @Sebster03, and whoever else has come back in the past few weeks, can be found below: https://vhlforum.com/topic/63670-whos-still-around-from-old-cup-winning-teams/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/63686-whos-still-around-from-old-cup-winning-teams-part-2/ Season 41 New York Americans @sterling @Smarch @Tyler @Advantage @Victor @gorlab @der meister @TheLastOlympian07 We start off with a team pretty similar to the S39 New York squad, still stacked with some of the biggest names of the time, both player- and member-wise like Tom Slaughter, Conner Low, Milos Denis and Brick Wahl. There were some changes though, like me joining the team as Matt Bentley, as well as two fresh faced S40 draftees – gorlab on his first player Jody 3 Moons, and der meister on his second player Christoph Klose. There's also I believe just the second cup for the typically inactive TheLastOlympian who featured as Dimothenis Vlasis. In fact, I believe the only member of this team no longer with us is Boragina's second and last player Mikkel Boomgaarden, a depth defenceman. Season 42 Cologne Express @Green @diamond_ace @Devise @flyersfan1453 @stevo The tenth franchise to win the cup, this would be Cologne's only triumph thanks in large part to securing the top two picks in the much hyped S40 draft – Thomas O'Malley and Mason Richardson. O'Malley is still around following Green's recreation, and will feature heavily in this decade, although he wasn't quite the star of the show yet – that honour goes to diamond_ace's slightly unlucky goalie Martin Brookside, who did come through in the end as Cologne's MVP. Robin Gow was a trade deadline acquisition who made a difference, while Devise was busy trading away picks to get the cup and appeared on the team as Logan Laich. Last but not least, stevo, the Cologne loyalist, got his reward with a cup for Ron World Peace and recently came back under his actual username. Season 43 Seattle Bears @Trifecta @Bushito @Higgins @Molholt @Phil This. Fucking. Team. Somehow stopping Cologne from repeating despite no future Hall of Famers or an active GM for most of S43, this was the Cinderella story to end all Cinderella stories from Seattle. The star was probably Niklaus Mikaelson, one of Trifecta's finest creations, and if not him then one of that season's two GMs – Bushito (Brady Stropko) or Higgins (James Faraday). Molholt made an appearance as AC Savage, not one of his finest creations, and the captain was one Phil Villeneuve – both the latter two have only recently made triumphant returns. Apologies if any of Karlsson, Escabar, or Samuelsson are currently under a different username as I seem to recall one of them was. Season 44 Calgary Wranglers @Positivefan036 @CowboyinAmerica @Beketov @InstantRockstar This would have been the underdog story of its generation if it wasn't for the team immediately before it, but Calgary also played its part in stopping Cologne from winning a second championship. This was eaglesfan's finest moment as GM, with his player at the time being Tim TebowGow. The star of the team was a young Hans Wingate though, as CowboyinAmerica got his first of many cup rings, but quite a few of the other members, despite being quite prolific at the time, are no longer with us. However, there is a bit more active alumni in Jackson Miller (Beketov) and Teuvo Ruutu (instantrockstar). Season 45 Helsinki Titans @Will @Phil @Victor @Green @der meister @Bushito @Kylrad Pretty much textbook VHL GMing in the 2-line era. Draper aka Will added three TPE whoring rookies in himself (Aleksi Koponen), myself (Greg Clegane), and Phil (Phil Hamilton) and pulled off a trade for two big stars of the time in O'Malley and Klose, already cup winners in their entry-level years. There was also an inactive appearance for Stropko and the first of many cups for Marcel Faux – just a shout-out here for Tylar, now inactive but a big Helsinki loyalist both here with this and other players. Finally Souryuu Kaminogi was an underrated defenceman maintained by Kylrad, now another underrated defenceman in Davos. Season 46 Helsinki Titans - same as above less Bushito add @Beketov Not much changed here from S45 other than Stropko out and Jackson Miller in – this would be Beketov's last cup until he returned to Helsinki in S66, maybe that was the problem all along? Season 47 New York Americans @Green @Tagger @tfong @street @jRuutu @Banackock @.sniffuM Helsinki probably should have given the threepeat a better shot here, but the cup went where O'Malley went in this era and that was to New York for his final season. Before O'Malley joined this was already a strong team, with Tagger on his finest player in Edwin Reencarnacion, while tfong and streetlight featured as Biggu Kyanon and Lloyd Light. Devise was around with another squad player in Thaddeus Humbert, while we also had two first championships – captain Jorma Ruutu and goalie Blake Campbell were jRuutu's and Banackock's first players respectively. Finally, giving this some old school New York vibes was Damien with E'Twaun Delicious. Season 48 Toronto Legion @CowboyinAmerica @Molholt @DollarAndADream @stevo @Higgins @hedgehog337 @Positivefan036 Right, here we go. It didn't feel like it would be a threepeat at the time was the core was in place once Hans Wingate joined in free agency. He joined forwards Max Molholt and Zach Parechkin (DollarAndADream seeking his first ever cup), LeAndre St. Pierre, World B. Free (stevo), and first overall pick Black Velvet (Higgins). TebowGow from earlier was providing some veteran blood, as was Benjamin Zeptenbergs, although this was the future eternal Riga GM's first ever championship. Season 49 Toronto Legion - same as above except Positivefan A few minor tweaks here as TebowGow retired and was replaced by Marcel Faux. The core and Zeptenbergs remained however. Season 50 Toronto Legion - same as above except hedgehog replaced by @Tagger and @diamond_ace The salary cap continued to decrease the roster size and Zeptenbergs retired, but Molholt went for quality over quantity and added Reencarnacion and Hyvarinen on their final season seeking their second championship each. That was enough for possibly the most impressive of the three cup victories, even if it did go to seven games in the final. Season 51 Riga Reign @JardyB10 @sterling @TheLastOlympian07 @BluObieZ @Green @Trifecta Toronto was a goal away from pulling off a fourpeat, but were denied by Riga in Game 7 of Cleganebowl, with Sandro (Jardy) defeating Greg (me) after Toronto lost Wingate to retirement and Velvet to free agency. Riga on the other hand profited quite a bit from free agency, signing Jeff Hamilton (sterling), Shawn Muller (TLO), and Sir William Covington III (Robbie). That was quite for them as their core before that featured not much more than a young Pietro Maximoff (Green), while their acquired Kai Roberts (Trifecta) alongside the younger Clegane in the off-season. Pretty good result for a hastily built team. Season 52 and 53 New York Americans @Devise @street @gorlab @Phil @BluObieZ @gregreg We're hitting the peak back-to-back territory of the 50s and while I split out Helsinki and Toronto, let's save space and time here. Devise managed to get three top forwards together in Diana Maxwell, Tom Lincoln, and Unassisted, although only one of them, streetlight, is still with us. The key players elsewhere were Bobby Digital, gorlab's second player, and Phil Shankly, Phil's umpteenth player, while M.T. Power did in S53 what J.B. Rift couldn't in S66, and that's defend the crown as a rookie goalie. The guest visiting star was Covington in S52 and then Joel Jarvi (Greg) in S53, who swapped record-chasing with Cologne for a cup in New York. Season 54 and 55 Helsinki Titans @BluObieZ @Higgins @solas @flyersfan1453 @Bushito @Trifecta Covington was controversially traded from New York to Helsinki via Cologne (for some reason I was dragged back from inactivity to make a ruling on that trade deadline debacle) and got his third cup anyway in S54 before retiring. Apart from him and Higgins' Black Velvet, of threepeat fame, this was pretty much a homegrown team, featuring Theo Axelsson (solas), Shayne Gow (flyersfan), Hudson Abbott (Bushito), and Astrid Moon (Trifecta). The two key members who would actually stick around until the S60 cup wouldn't stick around in the league until today though, for very different reasons, being Franchise Cornerstone (boubabi) and Rudoplh Schmeckeldorf (Corco). Season 56 Quebec City Meute @Will @solas @Green @jRuutu @Velevra @tfong @Bushito Eight players but what an eight players. Other than the GM, Frank, whose player was Pierre Gaudette, every member of this Quebec team is still around, with 5 Hall of Famers – John Locke (Will), Lukas Muller (solas), Pietro Maximoff (Green), Fabio Jokinen (jRuutu), and Apollo Skye (Velevra), as well as Fook Yu (tfong), and Hudson Abbott (Bushito), who promptly retired with three cups in three seasons. Season 57 and 58 Riga Reign @hedgehog337 @Will @solas @der meister @Phil @Smarch @Tyler @Jonessee27 @Positivefan036 Locke would then move to Riga to form a legendary duo with Fredinamijs Krigars (hedgehog), with Muller joining them in S58 after the role of veteran center was played by Essian Ravenwing (der meister) in S57. Those were the star players but the other team roles were also filled out by big names like Phil Shankly, Rusty Trombone (Smarch), Niko Bogdanovic (Jonessee), and Slava Aleksei (Tyler). There was also a cameo appearance from eaglesfan when The Process moved to Riga for S58. Season 59 Seattle Bears @Banackock @CowboyinAmerica @BluObieZ @TheLastOlympian07 @Quik @Advantage As we neared the end of the dark days of project player two and having recently contracted, Bana also brought Seattle out of the darkness with two of his players on the team. The co-playoff MVPs were Gabriel McAllister (CowboyinAmerica) and Vernon von Axelberry (Robbie), but most of the team is in fact still around, including Shawn Gretzky (TLO), Mats Johnsson (Quik), Peter Quill (Green), and Dexter Lane (Advantage). Season 60 Helsinki Titans @Higgins @Will @solas @Pandar And finally, peak Project Player Two – two final players for Higgins, two players from his newly banned assistant GM boubabi, and two players picked up from previously successful Riga and Quebec teams in Locke and Muller. The only new username here was Pandar, getting a late but deserved cup with Marc-Alexandre Leblanc, as the shitshow which was the VHL's sixth decade came to an end. 1,668 words so 3 weeks for Pavlov.

King Czar III was definitely a legend in some team.

Oh so Helsinki matched S19 Calgary’s record. Boo.

Davos is confusing to me.

Haha brought some of that Riga luck with me.

2 things stuck out for this man which is always odd considering we spent about 2 seasons in the league together and probably never spoke. - He said he'd come back one day, back in 2009. - He was always annoyed people would write Gunnar Rune-Rorvik instead of Gunnar-Rune Rorvik. Or did I get that the wrong way around?

2 TPE for VHL GM 2 TPE for trivia

Raul Thundercat 4eva

2 correct answers = 2 capped TPE 1 correct answer = 1 capped TPE This will be the last one for the season. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbRohMQAn5WGZkF1Ssh-3ZMC-jJ5eAjhMVqfjZr4JOoEr6JQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Yeah blame @Will

Yeee more answers. 1. Which of these franchises was the last to win their first Victory Cup? Maybe I should have made this the other way around and made it relative to the franchise start. Cuz I'm pretty sure I made this question to point out how long it took Helsinki to win their first Victory Cup despite many Continental Cups. But oh well, Quebec is the right answer, just, winning their first in S35 compared to Helsinki in S33. 2. Who holds the record for most penalty minutes in a single season? It came to my attention this season that Evgeni Komarov was on the verge of the PIM record, which didn't sound right. And indeed it's not. Komarov may have the portal record which goes back to S40 or something at 310 PIM but still some way off Da'Brickashaw O'Neal's record of 356 back in S11. 2 capped TPE goes to: Beketov @Beketov street @street GustavMattias @GustavMattias Cran @Cran Rayzor_7 @Rayzor_7 Matmenzinger @Matmenzinger Facebookfighter @FacebookFighter DoktorFunk @DoktorFunk Cornholio @Cornholio xsjack @xsjack Midnite @Midnite Gaudette @Gaudette Acydburn @Acydburn Steve @Steve Hughjas_ @HughJas_ aCrypticPancake @aCrypticPancake metaltoday @MetalToday CowboyinAmerica @CowboyinAmerica GRZ @GRZ bluesfan55 @bluesfan55 berocka @berocka Beaviss @Beaviss jack @jack Dominus89 @Dominus89 fonziGG @fonziGG Nykonax @Nykonax Big Mac @Big Mac Esso2264 @Esso2264 Big Mac @Big Mac Jtv123 @Jtv123 Enorama @Enorama MexicanCow123 @MexicanCow123 philliefan @Philliefan Ace @Ace HenrikZoiderberg @HenrikZoiderberg Walter Fizz @Walter Fizz PenKnight @PenKnight Zeno @Zeno TheFlash @TheFlash Renomitsu @Renomitsu littleboi @littleboi K1NG LINUS @K1NG LINUS BladeMaiden @BladeMaiden FerdaJets @FerdaJets ahawk2191 @ahawk2191 FakeJenton @FakeJenton Jubo07 @Jubo07 11 Eleven @11 Eleven Xdpark @xDParK Thranduil @Thranduil Sharkstrong @Sharkstrong DilIsPickle @DilIsPickle - thanks bae, love you too x hedgehog337 @hedgehog337 Grape @Grape gorlab @gorlab Gabella19 @Gabella19 rjfryman @rjfryman Green @Green okocha5 @okocha5 Greg_Di @Greg_Di Josh. @Josh. TacticalHammer @TacticalHammer ItsFinnishDaniel @ItsFinnishDaniel nethi99 @nethi99 Phil @Phil Anthony Matthews @Anthony Matthews Joubo @Joubo leafsman @leafsman DMaximus @DMaximus stevo @stevo Velevra @Velevra Sova @Sova Sixersfan549 @Sixersfan549 jruutu @jRuutu Smarch @Smarch diamond_ace @diamond_ace wcats @wcats DollarAndADream @DollarAndADream Zepheter @zepheter Sonnet @Sonnet okocha5 @okocha5 SidTheKid87 @SidTheKid87 Dilly Dilly @Dilly Dilly chillzone @chillzone VanCanWin @VanCanWin Kylrad @Kylrad Joeyboucher1 @joeyboucher1 1 capped TPE goes to: Matt_O @Matt_O Esso2264 @Esso2264 Snussu @Snussu flyersfan1453 @flyersfan1453 majesiu @majesiu positivefan036 @Positivefan036

Here's a weird thought experiment I decided to conduct: how popular would VHL GMs be with their teams' fans if that was something they had to take into account as they might in the NHL and elsewhere in the real world? The thought came about when I was updating the spreadsheet in this thread which neatly puts all GMs' records stacked up against their predecessors and also serves as a guide to VHL franchises' high and low points. So, when considering things like franchise history, the GM's own history, their recent success (or lack thereof), how do the league's current head honchos stack up? Malmo and Moscow - @Advantage and @Victor Let's just get this out of the way straight away – Malmo and Moscow are just happy to be here for the time being. Not only did their respective GMs, Chris Miller and Victor Alfredsson, bring VHL hockey to their cities for the first time, but they are also by some distance the biggest names currently involved with either organisation, both looking at previous tenures as GMs and the success of their player agencies. It will take a while for expansion team fans to turn on their founders and 1-2 seasons in is far too early for that to even be on the table. Verdict: Completely accepted and adored omnipotence Calgary - @Bushito The tenure of Tyler Barabash in Calgary has been one of redemption for both GM and franchise. Calgary is a team with one of the richest past's in the league, but there were fewer bright sparks than rough patches after the early 30s, and the very real threat of contraction will have brought Wranglers fans firmly down the ground. The team survived and got Barabash instead from Stockholm, but there will have been serious doubts – this was after all the GM who twice disappeared during cup runs, both in Davos in S31 and Seattle in S43. Slowly, those demons have been banished and after going through three finals together, winning one, the fans will have been won over and Barabash + Calgary is a successful match which might well continue for the foreseeable future. Verdict: A happy marriage between GM and franchise New York - @Spade18 The Americans are going through a rough patch at the moment, with the current longest cup drought in the league and fans having been spoiled by a period of continued success from S32 to S53. It's not an easy environment to be in for a relative rookie GM, although Colton Rayne does have years of service as a player on his side. Nonetheless, he was part of the Americans team which came closest to winning it all most recently, the S60 losing finalists, so exactly how much goodwill that affords is anyone's guess. Overall, as New York stumbles through the season as a fringe playoff team having already taken steps to become a main contender in the last two off-seasons, patience will be running worryingly thin. Verdict: Teetering on the edge of fan revolt Editor's note: Written before the GM change in New York although reasonably relevant still. @Esso2264 Seattle - @Banackock No GM has been in charge of the same team for as long as Blake Campbell and through 3 strong generations he has built up a lot of goodwill with the Seattle public. The near-misses without making the finals in S53 and S63/64 will continue to hurt but at least the Bears have consistently been in the mix for the cup for most of Campbell's reign. Plus of course there was the underdog cup victory in S59. Realistically, there won't be many Bears fans who remember their glory days while most will have lived through the painful years from S30 to S50 (S43 cup aside), therefore expectations are lower than in other franchises and have been exceeded for most of Campbell's time. The key will be how long does he decide to carry on as there is a small, if remote, risk of overstaying as GM in search of the perfect send-off. Verdict: Enough goodwill has been built up to last to retirement most likely Toronto - @Devise This is the very type of team+GM combo which inspired this article. It is very likely that in a real world scenario, GM Ryan Power would be a highly divisive figure and there would be Toronto fans (especially those more inclined to hype up draft picks and their team's prospects) who would be looking to take him down from the day he was appointed in S63. Of course, Power's results talk for themselves and at this point most Legion fans will be happy to have ended the league's longest cup drought and gotten a new taste of the heyday of the threepeat. However, Power's is a high risk approach and it will be interesting to see what happens next – will he stick around for his first ever rebuild and potentially have fans turn on him if things go south or will he resign and leave his successor with little to work with? The latter approach is not dissimilar to Power's stepping down from the Cologne job back in S45 and you wonder if German fans, now without a VHL team, put some of the blame on Power for laying the path for the Express to be contracted despite him delivering their only Continental Cup. Verdict: It's all good for now, but who knows for how much longer Vancouver - @Beaviss Keaton Louth would probably be best advised to not set foot in Quebec City for a few more years and any remaining Meute fans who followed their team across the country won't be forgiving him any time soon. On the other hand, Vancouverites who finally got a VHL franchise are more likely to give Louth a free pass for little while longer. For everyone in between, and objectively speaking, Louth's GM reign so far is hard to judge. While the Meute/Wolves franchise has not won a lot, they were in the contender conversation much more frequently in the past than they have been recently, with just a S62 trip to the finals to show. Yet Louth has kept the team in the playoff picture for his whole tenure in an increasingly competitive VHL and has never sacrificed the future to do so, adapting to deeper draft classes and prospect pools quicker than most. Results will need to start to come but the right intentions can be seen. Verdict: He'll never be universally loved but still has time to win over some sceptics Davos - @ShawnGlade Things could have been getting tetchy if S66 continued the way it started for Davos, closer to last place than a playoff spot. The Dynamo have turned it around and the next few seasons will make or break Shawn Glade's young GM career, which started in a rebuild after the S61 cup-winning team was blown up. VHL fans are accustomed to rough rebuilds as long as there are tangible results at the end, while Davos fans are significantly less demanding now than they used to be when they seemed to be able to win whenever they wanted to (S11-S38). As a result, Glade has a bit of time but as someone with no prior GM reputation nor a history with the Swiss franchise, he needs to make sure to deliver sooner rather than later. Verdict: Could still go either way Helsinki - @Quik Matt Bailey returning to GM Helsinki after 45 seasons is a highly underrated storyline. On the one hand, the VHL has changed completely since then so how much weight does that really gold? On the other, Bailey is a VHL Hall of Famer, a Titans legend, and the fact there won't be many fans who remember the S15 Continental Cup only adds to the mythos. Despite that, Bailey couldn't have picked a more challenging team to come back to as Helsinki is THE spoiled team of the modern VHL. Back-to-back champions on two separate occasions in the past 20 seasons and coming off the reign of arguably the league's most successful GM in Mitch Higgins, the demand for instant success is higher in Helsinki than probably anywhere else at the moment. Therefore, despite as good a start as can be reasonably expected, even two finals appearances won't last Bailey too long if he can't get that coveted Continental Cup. Verdict: Safe for now, but under more scrutiny than in most other teams Riga - @hedgehog337 As a local and one of Latvia's finest VHL exports, Benjamin Zeptenbergs always would have a hardcore level of support regardless of results you would think. Fortunately for him, he doesn't need to worry about that because he's also had results to back him up. Zeptenbergs is now on 14 seasons of managing Riga, more than any GM in the franchise's past, and with 3 Continental Cups is also more successful than anyone before him. It would be a stretch to say he's put Riga on the map – the Reign kicked off their existence in S8 with four finals in five seasons and have won championships at regular intervals ever since – but Zeptenbergs probably elevated them from a good team to arguably the VHL's most successful. Perhaps some feathers will have been ruffled in the last 3 seasons, as the Riga GM has been very publically vocal about the team's disappointing playoff results and the underperformance of goalie Kallis Kriketers, but you feel fans will side with him on that. After his busiest off-season yet, Zeptenbergs is now building his third main core of his tenure and can probably retire as a hero at any point. Verdict: Guaranteed (local) legend status whatever happens from now on

So the VHLM playoffs are happening. Well not for me anymore as the Wild got eliminated by the Reapers in Game 5 today - RIP. That's a shame as Vladimir Pavlov was having a pretty great playoffs, with 10 goals and 18 points both top of the league. It looks like he found good chemistry with Lucas Nygren, the Malmo GM player, which is also a shame. Pavlov's success in the playoffs has made me doubt my plans of moving him to defence this off-season to better match the needs of Moscow, although I still reckon I'll go that route. Probably. As for the rest of the VHLM playoffs, I don't have much to say about either Ottawa or Philadelphia other than it's good to see an expansion franchise be quite dominant in the VHLM. There's been good activity generated around the playoffs and the VHLM as a whole - 2,137 posts so far is pretty much an unheard of number in the VHLM, although no doubt aided by the currently lottery system (#FixTheLottery I believe is what the kids say these days?). The VHLM has also continued its growth in activity, although not quite matching its peak of the mid-40s.

Damn, I was having a really good playoffs too.

So I need to write about the playoffs for some extra TPE this week but that's pretty hard since I stopped paying attention after my two teams' cumulative four playoff games came to end (RIP). I could write a bit about Pavlov's VHLM adventure in the playoffs which was actually going quite well last I checked but I think I'll save that for Pavlov's equivalent article. So VHL playoffs.... Helsinki is off to a third straight final and there's no Toronto to stop them from winning a deserved cup which from memory will put them 1 clear of Davos for the most championships by any VHL franchise. Yup, just double checked and that is in fact correct - Davos and Helsinki are both currently on 10. Calgary can get to 10 too but they need to beat Vancouver first. This is Vancouver's first ever playoff experience as they missed the playoffs last season in the first year post relocation so it will be interesting to see if they can make it first ever finals trip as well. Helsinki vs Calgary is a final that's happened a few times, most recently in S45 and S46 when Helsinki won both times - the good ol' days as I like to call them. Helsinki vs Quebec is a final that happened twice, in S54 and S55 and Helsinki won both times - so both NA franchises are underdogs and have some beef with the Titans. So that's cool I guess.

Obsessed

I tried

Chronological, I can’t even get my brain around the other option.