@GustavMattias @Esso2264 @Peace look away now
There's few things people like more than a bit of schadenfreude so laughing at the misery of some VHL franchises is bound to get someone's attention. As the VHL has grown exponentially in the past 10 or so seasons, it has obviously become more difficult to win the Continental Cup and even break through the glass ceiling of the conference finals if you happen to compete at a time of multiple contenders within your conference. Even with this caveat, some current VHL cup and finals droughts are setting new levels of mediocrity, giving even the infamous Vasteras a serious run for their money. So without further ado let's dive into some of the worst cup droughts of the present day.
New York Americans
23 seasons since last Continental Cup (S53)
16 seasons since last finals appearance (S60)
It's been a rough couple decades for fans in the Big Apple, even taking into account that this franchise already owns the probably untouchable record (don't try it LA) of a 7-season playoff drought from S5 to S11. The Americans thought they'd moved past those days (so bad that they warranted their own 20 in 20 article) as despite a 17-season cup drought from S15 to S31, they ended it in a run of 7 finals in 9 seasons and then the floodgates opened. With New York's championship in S53, they moved into a 3-way tie for 3rd with seven Continental Cups, and only two off the overall league lead. This newly-formed winning machine seemed unstoppable.
Except it did stop abruptly and now apparently irreversibly. GM Ryan Power, who orchestrated three of those seven cups across two stints, stepped down at the end of S55 and 3 GMs since have been unable to come close to Power or Chris Miller's (who won two of the other seven and set up the team for a third) success. Two of Power's successors went inactive on the job, while the descent of Esso into insanity has played out in front of our eyes. However good the Americans look on paper, this hasn't been reflected on the ice for over 20 seasons now and by missing the playoffs in S76, New York has moved into 3rd place in all-time cup droughts and 2nd place as far as their streak without a finals appearance is concerned. Vasteras' records of 31 and 20 seasons, respectively, are now increasingly within reach.
HC Davos Dynamo
15 seasons since last Continental Cup and last finals appearance (S61)
Despite being the VHL's favourite punching bag, the Dynamo, who last tasted success a season after the Americans were last relevant, are not quite as high (low?) on the all-time rankings. The finals drought is pretty close to the top, but the cup drought isn't actually the franchise's longest – that mark of 22 which was stopped by the S61 championship is the one New York has just overtaken. Possibly what makes the current drought more tragic is the total lack of hope the franchise seems to generate as even in that 22-season dry run Davos came within a win of the cup on two occasions, S50 and S56.
But we need to start earlier. To understand how far the Dynamo fell, you have to understand where they started from. A personal project of league commissioner and then-GM Scotty Campbell, the franchise moved to Switzerland in S11 and promptly won the Continental Cup in their first season there. Another cup followed in S13, then they lost their way a bit, but rebounded very impressively in the “Kanou era” - 7 consecutive playoff appearances, 3 championships from S19 to S25. Six more finals appearances followed, including a league record-tying four straight from S36 to S39, winning three, which meant the first 30 seasons of VHL hockey in Davos closed with 8 cups, an average of one every four seasons. If the Dynamo were contending, you could bet they were winning something along the line.
For me, that's the main reason why Davos' fall hits harder (that and the fact I was their GM during that last truly good run from S36 to S39). Yes the Americans' peak was also extremely high, but they started from a low point so have just come back to where they were. The Dynamo were relentless and that makes the last 30+ seasons especially jarring (they're still one of just 3 franchises with 10 or more Continental Cups, Seattle and Helsinki leading the way with 11). When it comes down to who's had a more miserable run in the last 15 seasons though, I think we'd be splitting hairs between New York and Davos.
Calgary Wranglers
14 seasons since last Continental Cup (S62)
Out of the darkness and into a little bit of hope now. The last two teams to feature in this article don't have it quite as bad, but a slightly vicious cycle does appear to be starting out. Calgary's story is not too dissimilar to Davos, being the dominant team of the league's first 30 seasons (so the Dynamo but 10 seasons older). Big victories dried up after that, but the Wranglers continued to be involved amongst the contenders and the general goodwill towards the team is evidenced by them taking Stockholm's roster but keeping the name during contraction in S57. Like Davos also, Calgary's longest drought isn't their current one (that one ended in S62) but there's a concerning streak of bad luck since.
The immediate successors to the S62 cup winners were not a particularly legendary core (Brick Wahl, Diljodh Starload, Roll Fizzlebeef, etc), peaking with a conference final in S68. But the quick retool after that paid dividends and the Lafontaine/Encarnacion/Lahtinen/Jubis/Rice era probably deserved better. Their best came in the finals appearance in S72 and then they were unlucky to drop a 3-1 lead to Seattle in an epic conference final in S73. Although it looks like a rebuild/retool is in the works now, the Wranglers were Victory Cup winners as recently as S75 – this is clearly not yet the streak of playoff misses and first-round exits that New York and Davos have gone through in the same period. But the clock is ticking and expectations for Calgary's new GM @Ricer13 will be to stop the rot before they too become the laughing stock of the league.
Toronto Legion
11 seasons since last Continental Cup and last finals appearance (S65)
The last team to feature in this article probably has the least cause for concern. Unlike the extremely high highs and the extremely low lows experienced by the other franchises, the Legion have been here before. In fact, they seem to cherish the opportunity to go from a superb season to a really bad season (just check the records for the best and worst season of all time) on the regular.
The current 11-season drought is Toronto's 4th entry on the cup drought list - they've gone through slumps of 10, 11, and 13 seasons before, which would suggest a breakthrough is around the corner. In fact, the last two droughts ended in the threepeat (S48-S50) and then the next one in back-to-back wins in S64 and S65. Current management has spent most of their time dealing with the fallout of trying to repeat that most recent success, but it appears that there is light at the end of the tunnel, this season's drama and trading of John Merrick and Leo Strauss notwithstanding. The Legion have been here before... now if we come back to this list in 10 seasons and they still haven't won the cup, there might be cause for concern.
.png.ed69a7260a477fcf4feead7a0e4b7506.png)
