sterling

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LOL I have no idea. It's set up as a donation button. Beyond that, I don't know.

@sterling $15 for a month of forum hosting, please 

@sterling

Thrash94gaming@outlook.com

$50 USD

Last one

How much do you want from me to change Victor's name for a month? ?

How much do you want from me to change Victor's name for a month? ?

How much do you want from me to change Victor's name for a month? ?

I'd say $500 for the donation and $500 for giveaways would be fair.

How much do you want from me to change Victor's name for a month? ?

After the above payment, we are 2 dollars shy of $4700 Canadian

@sterling

Thrash94gaming@outlook.com

$50 USD

Please

Barring None

Back in the Season 7 VHL Entry Draft, a winger by the name of Nick Barretta was drafted by the Toronto Legion in the second round. He was a first-generation member who during his brief VHL stay proposed and even enacted some innovations and also seemed to be a fairly promising player. However, the key point here is that his stay was brief and after a few bad seasons to start, Barretta retired, failed to produce quality re-creates and in the eyes of the VHL community fell off the face off the earth by Season 10 and was quickly forgotten soon after. It seems in real life Barretta spent the time off living in Japan, among doing other exciting things, and he suddenly came back just at the end of Season 19 to enter the S21 entry draft with a new winger Evgeni Fyodorov. He was very much an unknown quantity for the league, but would go on to leave a lasting mark on the league's third decade and its future.

Nick was undoubtedly an interesting character here in the VHL, quite passionate to improve the league and his player and perhaps overly passionate in the eyes of some. Nevertheless, there are plenty of positives to take from his what would become four-and-a-bit-season stay as an active in the league and laying this out like a bit of an essay, that's the side of the argument I'll start with.

On the surface, we have Barretta's player, Russian sniper Evgeni Fyodorov, who was drafted fourth overall by the Calgary Wranglers in S21 and after an extra VHLM season with the Ottawa Ice Dogs became a VHL mainstay from S22 to auto-retirement in S28. He was a bit of an off-the-board pick, perhaps, for the Wranglers, and ended up staying just the length of his entry-level contract in Calgary, but in two VHL seasons he was crowned top rookie, then hit the 100-point mark and helped the team to a Continental Cup in S23, as well as being a positive locker room presence. After signing a free agent contract with the Riga Reign, he became their short-lived face of the franchise and GM, but was off to Davos to help them win a second straight cup in S25, before spending his depreciated seasons with Seattle and Riga again (in his first season with the Bears, he co-won the Joe Malone Memorial Trophy as the league's leading scorer). He finished his career with 346 goals and 705 points in 504 games, very impressive totals, 26th in points and 14th in goals (as of S30), and top three among his generation (roughly S19-S24). Nick was always a promoter of his player and his player build, which clearly was effective, and had a quick start, setting still-standing offensive records in his second VHLM season and almost single-handedly leading Ottawa to a Founder's Cup championship.


Evgeni Fyodorov: one of the most prolific forwards of his generation

Of course, there was much more to Nick Barretta than just a good player. Though his ideas back in Season 8 or sometime equally as long ago were long forgotten by the time he returned, he did essentially pick up from he left off. In his pre-draft season he helped significantly improve the league's portal at vhlsim.net thanks to which I just looked up Fyodorov's stats. It added a new professional look to the VHL to put it above rival leagues but Nick Barr didn't stop there. He was an advocate of many reforming ideas of the third decade, including the change of the finance system proposed by a man he was on very good terms with, former commissioner Scotty Campbell. And last, but definitely not least, he promoted and created the new league website to which the league moved late in Season 23. It was well timed with some severe problems (since fixed) on the old site and it was just in general a considerable improvement and huge step forward for the VHL. There have been some mishaps every now and then since, but nothing too damaging and looking at the old website every now and then, I for one am definitely glad the move took place.

"He did many great things in his boom years here.  He managed Evgeni Fyodorov, who was one of the brightest up and coming players of that time.  He wrecked the VHLM after being drafted, which was underrated because the people on that Ottawa team had a lot of fun that season, and their successes that season may have played a part in the future successes of the players on that team, and Fyo was a huge part of that success.  Then of course he had an outstanding rookie season, and he played a huge role in Calgary's Continental Cup victory in S23.  And of course, Nick Barr's greatest achievement was building a new home for the VHL, and spearheading the portal project." - Jardy Bunclewirth

"Well in terms of his actual player, his VHLM performance with Fyodorov was certainly something to remember. But when he won the Continental Cup with the Wranglers he was also excellent and Fyodorov was a great player. But overall, I would definitely say his establishment of the forum we're currently on. To think he barely spent a month on this, if he was still with us I can only imagine where the boards would be in terms of development. It's really a shame, I hope one day he can come back. Nick was a great member." - Kyle Dowd


Nick catalysed the biggest move in VHL history

However, as you may have guessed or likely know if you know about the events of Season 24, not everything is nice and fluffy about Nick Barretta's impact on the VHL. In the first weeks of Season 24, shortly after the move to the new site and the subsequent off-season, which saw Evgeni Fyodorov be a highly sought-after free agent that surprisingly signed with the struggling Riga Reign to become their GM, Barretta unexpectedly disappeared from the VHL and has yet to return. It was abrupt and one of the strangest disappearing acts in league history, adding greatly to the arsenal of his naysayers and severely depleting the ranks of his supporters. Every now and then, notably at times of need with the new site, the league commissioners have been able to contract Nick, but apart from that he left for good, leaving us with large and barely known systems like the portal and the new website.

For some, his departure was a great positive. Nick Barr was known for his outspokenness and numerous arguments and though it undoubtedly added to overall league activity and helped push through many ideas, it turned away other members. He also wasn't the best diplomat for sure and often didn't handle matters in a civilised manner at all, including quickly dropping down to insults or large rants aimed to gain popular support. He often succeeded but often didn't help his image and could also be seen targeting various members, including long-time VHLer Joey Kendrick. Like all arguments, those between the two never really had any winners or losers and neither was really right or wrong for anyone except themselves and their closest supporters. Had Barretta handled his ways of communication better he would have been missed more than just a valuable technician for the league, as otherwise he has again been lost in the VHL's endless history. There were always two sides to Nick and that further secured his position as one of the league's most interesting members, ever.

"Well he talked a lot of trash, not that I really cared but he definitely was a love or hate member. So I suppose I can see why people wouldn't really like him much around the boards. But I definitely have to say him leaving almost like 2 weeks after he accepted the GM role in Riga without giving anyone a heads up was the worst. If he would've told us it wouldn't have been much of a big deal. I just wish that he could've helped Jardy, David, and Sterling a little bit more in terms of how to add to the boards more." - Kyle Dowd

"He was certainly a controversial figure at times, especially when it came to Joey Kendrick (by the way, have you ever typed "kendrick" in between two colons?).  But that wasn't so much a low point, because the VHL will always have its controversial members.  I guess his lowest point is just when he just completely disappeared without notice or reason, leaving us with a brand new website that no one else has much knowledge of.  He was extremely difficult to contact after the fact too, though he did pull through in one or two of the scarier moments.  I flirt with inactivity all the time, but I would never abandon and harm the VHL in the process, and he kind of did a little bit." - Jardy Bunclewirth


Barr wasn't one to avoid a good fight

Continuing with the string of Barretta's cons, there's of course his tenure as Riga's GM to note as well. For all the hype of this highly active member becoming the first GM since the franchise's relocation to Riga to not be Dustin Funk or one of his proteges, Nick put forth a very underwhelming performance and didn't deliver much to the Reign cause at all. His only transaction was trading a useless third-round pick for the equally useless Cameron Davidson and that was it up until the moment he picked up his things and left without any notice. The struggles of the Reign to make the playoffs before and after Barr (their lone appearance since S21 coming in S27), as well as their revolving door of General Managers and poor drafting will be discussed at much greater length in a soon-to-come episode of 30 in 30, but it will always be up for debate how much Nick's time there affected the team's condition. He definitely didn't help, but did he particularly hinder? It's a strange question and it would really be better for everyone if it didn't have to be asked, but when mentioned, it's always another item on the list of Barretta's low points.

"You could probably make an argument that Barr is largely responsible for the extended failures of Riga since his departure.  He took over the team that was just beginning a rebuild, and needed stability more than anything else.  His sudden departure left the team scrambling to find a new replacement, thus beginning a domino effect of instability related failures.  However, his tenure was so short that you could also perhaps argue that he simply extended the inevitable by just one season.  When I started answering this question, I thought the latter, but now that I've laid it out as it happened, I'd be more inclined to believe the former to be true." - Jardy Bunclewirth

"I really don't think it was too bad, I think it gave Riga more of a bad look than anything. InstantRockstar stepped in after a while and then the rotating door that is Riga happened, it was unfortunate but I don't think it's the reason behind any of the trouble Riga is in today. That's my fault. And for that I'm likely never going to GM again." - Kyle Dowd


Rare image of Barretta as Riga's GM

Lastly, there's his player Fyodorov. I discussed his achievements among Barretta's positives, but there was potential to do so much more. Fyodorov hit 100+ points in three of his seven seasons and came very close in his other ones, as well as winning two Continental Cups and being a key piece of playoff contenders for all of his career; that with just over 500 TPE. For as much as Nick Barr was involved in arguments related to VHL teams' and players' performances, he did always manage to have his player's performance to back him up and clearly, his player build worked. It's indeed scary to think of what a Fyodorov that would be active for a full career (that would be 1,000+ TPE) would achieve, as my lovely helpers Jardy and Kyle agree on, again.

"Hall of Famer, definitely. People don't realize that Fyodorov finished 200 points OVER a point per game, those are Hall of Fame numbers in itself. It's honestly unbelievable at that stage and parity in our league he still managed to put up those numbers after updating for only 4 seasons. If he would've updated throughout his career I think we'd be discussing one of the best forwards of all-time right now." - Kyle Dowd

"He would have been a top player in the league for sure, probably even a Hall of Famer.  He had a number of successful seasons after Barr was already gone, and that alone may have been the only reason he didn't win any major hardware after S23.  Sort of a like a forward version of Emerson Hrynyk, only maybe not quite as good." - Jardy Bunclewirth

All in all, Nick Barretta was a strange character. I don't think anyone knows why he left except himself and now looking back at his departure five seasons later, it still makes no sense. There was a pretty large good side to Barr and most of his bad points are caused by the fact he so abruptly left. However because he did, his reputation has been tarnished considerably in the eyes of those who still remember him. The VHL has moved on without him as it's moved on without so many prominent members, be it Scotty Campbell and Kevin Brooks, Alex McNeil, Matt Bailey or Detective Zero, or any other, less notable member. Nick Barretta created an interesting story and was a large part of what happened in the league's third decade and we can thank him for having the site that we have now. His player was a good one and the comparison to Emerson Hrynyk is a fairly accurate one that I like (though Slobo, the member behind him, has remained an active part of our community). Now though, with one last reminiscing, it's definitely time to move on though without a doubt, most of the league including myself, would welcome Nick back is he ever decided to join us again.

End of Part 25
Special thanks to Jardy Bunclewirth and Kyle Dowd. Go fuck yourself David Knight.  

Good to see you’re still alive, friend. 
 
I don’t think we were too upset at the time as what we had was working until the host shut us down. We were able to move on pretty successfully from that as you can see now.
 
And don’t feel any guilt, I’ve been retired for about 3 years now and the league has continued on without me, Jardy or Knight. The VHL is and always has been bigger than one person. Most of the members here don’t even know who I am ?
 
I’m also glad you came with me to see Halladay pitch, especially now in retrospect.

Barring None

Back in the Season 7 VHL Entry Draft, a winger by the name of Nick Barretta was drafted by the Toronto Legion in the second round. He was a first-generation member who during his brief VHL stay proposed and even enacted some innovations and also seemed to be a fairly promising player. However, the key point here is that his stay was brief and after a few bad seasons to start, Barretta retired, failed to produce quality re-creates and in the eyes of the VHL community fell off the face off the earth by Season 10 and was quickly forgotten soon after. It seems in real life Barretta spent the time off living in Japan, among doing other exciting things, and he suddenly came back just at the end of Season 19 to enter the S21 entry draft with a new winger Evgeni Fyodorov. He was very much an unknown quantity for the league, but would go on to leave a lasting mark on the league's third decade and its future.

Nick was undoubtedly an interesting character here in the VHL, quite passionate to improve the league and his player and perhaps overly passionate in the eyes of some. Nevertheless, there are plenty of positives to take from his what would become four-and-a-bit-season stay as an active in the league and laying this out like a bit of an essay, that's the side of the argument I'll start with.

On the surface, we have Barretta's player, Russian sniper Evgeni Fyodorov, who was drafted fourth overall by the Calgary Wranglers in S21 and after an extra VHLM season with the Ottawa Ice Dogs became a VHL mainstay from S22 to auto-retirement in S28. He was a bit of an off-the-board pick, perhaps, for the Wranglers, and ended up staying just the length of his entry-level contract in Calgary, but in two VHL seasons he was crowned top rookie, then hit the 100-point mark and helped the team to a Continental Cup in S23, as well as being a positive locker room presence. After signing a free agent contract with the Riga Reign, he became their short-lived face of the franchise and GM, but was off to Davos to help them win a second straight cup in S25, before spending his depreciated seasons with Seattle and Riga again (in his first season with the Bears, he co-won the Joe Malone Memorial Trophy as the league's leading scorer). He finished his career with 346 goals and 705 points in 504 games, very impressive totals, 26th in points and 14th in goals (as of S30), and top three among his generation (roughly S19-S24). Nick was always a promoter of his player and his player build, which clearly was effective, and had a quick start, setting still-standing offensive records in his second VHLM season and almost single-handedly leading Ottawa to a Founder's Cup championship.


Evgeni Fyodorov: one of the most prolific forwards of his generation

Of course, there was much more to Nick Barretta than just a good player. Though his ideas back in Season 8 or sometime equally as long ago were long forgotten by the time he returned, he did essentially pick up from he left off. In his pre-draft season he helped significantly improve the league's portal at vhlsim.net thanks to which I just looked up Fyodorov's stats. It added a new professional look to the VHL to put it above rival leagues but Nick Barr didn't stop there. He was an advocate of many reforming ideas of the third decade, including the change of the finance system proposed by a man he was on very good terms with, former commissioner Scotty Campbell. And last, but definitely not least, he promoted and created the new league website to which the league moved late in Season 23. It was well timed with some severe problems (since fixed) on the old site and it was just in general a considerable improvement and huge step forward for the VHL. There have been some mishaps every now and then since, but nothing too damaging and looking at the old website every now and then, I for one am definitely glad the move took place.

"He did many great things in his boom years here.  He managed Evgeni Fyodorov, who was one of the brightest up and coming players of that time.  He wrecked the VHLM after being drafted, which was underrated because the people on that Ottawa team had a lot of fun that season, and their successes that season may have played a part in the future successes of the players on that team, and Fyo was a huge part of that success.  Then of course he had an outstanding rookie season, and he played a huge role in Calgary's Continental Cup victory in S23.  And of course, Nick Barr's greatest achievement was building a new home for the VHL, and spearheading the portal project." - Jardy Bunclewirth

"Well in terms of his actual player, his VHLM performance with Fyodorov was certainly something to remember. But when he won the Continental Cup with the Wranglers he was also excellent and Fyodorov was a great player. But overall, I would definitely say his establishment of the forum we're currently on. To think he barely spent a month on this, if he was still with us I can only imagine where the boards would be in terms of development. It's really a shame, I hope one day he can come back. Nick was a great member." - Kyle Dowd


Nick catalysed the biggest move in VHL history

However, as you may have guessed or likely know if you know about the events of Season 24, not everything is nice and fluffy about Nick Barretta's impact on the VHL. In the first weeks of Season 24, shortly after the move to the new site and the subsequent off-season, which saw Evgeni Fyodorov be a highly sought-after free agent that surprisingly signed with the struggling Riga Reign to become their GM, Barretta unexpectedly disappeared from the VHL and has yet to return. It was abrupt and one of the strangest disappearing acts in league history, adding greatly to the arsenal of his naysayers and severely depleting the ranks of his supporters. Every now and then, notably at times of need with the new site, the league commissioners have been able to contract Nick, but apart from that he left for good, leaving us with large and barely known systems like the portal and the new website.

For some, his departure was a great positive. Nick Barr was known for his outspokenness and numerous arguments and though it undoubtedly added to overall league activity and helped push through many ideas, it turned away other members. He also wasn't the best diplomat for sure and often didn't handle matters in a civilised manner at all, including quickly dropping down to insults or large rants aimed to gain popular support. He often succeeded but often didn't help his image and could also be seen targeting various members, including long-time VHLer Joey Kendrick. Like all arguments, those between the two never really had any winners or losers and neither was really right or wrong for anyone except themselves and their closest supporters. Had Barretta handled his ways of communication better he would have been missed more than just a valuable technician for the league, as otherwise he has again been lost in the VHL's endless history. There were always two sides to Nick and that further secured his position as one of the league's most interesting members, ever.

"Well he talked a lot of trash, not that I really cared but he definitely was a love or hate member. So I suppose I can see why people wouldn't really like him much around the boards. But I definitely have to say him leaving almost like 2 weeks after he accepted the GM role in Riga without giving anyone a heads up was the worst. If he would've told us it wouldn't have been much of a big deal. I just wish that he could've helped Jardy, David, and Sterling a little bit more in terms of how to add to the boards more." - Kyle Dowd

"He was certainly a controversial figure at times, especially when it came to Joey Kendrick (by the way, have you ever typed "kendrick" in between two colons?).  But that wasn't so much a low point, because the VHL will always have its controversial members.  I guess his lowest point is just when he just completely disappeared without notice or reason, leaving us with a brand new website that no one else has much knowledge of.  He was extremely difficult to contact after the fact too, though he did pull through in one or two of the scarier moments.  I flirt with inactivity all the time, but I would never abandon and harm the VHL in the process, and he kind of did a little bit." - Jardy Bunclewirth


Barr wasn't one to avoid a good fight

Continuing with the string of Barretta's cons, there's of course his tenure as Riga's GM to note as well. For all the hype of this highly active member becoming the first GM since the franchise's relocation to Riga to not be Dustin Funk or one of his proteges, Nick put forth a very underwhelming performance and didn't deliver much to the Reign cause at all. His only transaction was trading a useless third-round pick for the equally useless Cameron Davidson and that was it up until the moment he picked up his things and left without any notice. The struggles of the Reign to make the playoffs before and after Barr (their lone appearance since S21 coming in S27), as well as their revolving door of General Managers and poor drafting will be discussed at much greater length in a soon-to-come episode of 30 in 30, but it will always be up for debate how much Nick's time there affected the team's condition. He definitely didn't help, but did he particularly hinder? It's a strange question and it would really be better for everyone if it didn't have to be asked, but when mentioned, it's always another item on the list of Barretta's low points.

"You could probably make an argument that Barr is largely responsible for the extended failures of Riga since his departure.  He took over the team that was just beginning a rebuild, and needed stability more than anything else.  His sudden departure left the team scrambling to find a new replacement, thus beginning a domino effect of instability related failures.  However, his tenure was so short that you could also perhaps argue that he simply extended the inevitable by just one season.  When I started answering this question, I thought the latter, but now that I've laid it out as it happened, I'd be more inclined to believe the former to be true." - Jardy Bunclewirth

"I really don't think it was too bad, I think it gave Riga more of a bad look than anything. InstantRockstar stepped in after a while and then the rotating door that is Riga happened, it was unfortunate but I don't think it's the reason behind any of the trouble Riga is in today. That's my fault. And for that I'm likely never going to GM again." - Kyle Dowd


Rare image of Barretta as Riga's GM

Lastly, there's his player Fyodorov. I discussed his achievements among Barretta's positives, but there was potential to do so much more. Fyodorov hit 100+ points in three of his seven seasons and came very close in his other ones, as well as winning two Continental Cups and being a key piece of playoff contenders for all of his career; that with just over 500 TPE. For as much as Nick Barr was involved in arguments related to VHL teams' and players' performances, he did always manage to have his player's performance to back him up and clearly, his player build worked. It's indeed scary to think of what a Fyodorov that would be active for a full career (that would be 1,000+ TPE) would achieve, as my lovely helpers Jardy and Kyle agree on, again.

"Hall of Famer, definitely. People don't realize that Fyodorov finished 200 points OVER a point per game, those are Hall of Fame numbers in itself. It's honestly unbelievable at that stage and parity in our league he still managed to put up those numbers after updating for only 4 seasons. If he would've updated throughout his career I think we'd be discussing one of the best forwards of all-time right now." - Kyle Dowd

"He would have been a top player in the league for sure, probably even a Hall of Famer.  He had a number of successful seasons after Barr was already gone, and that alone may have been the only reason he didn't win any major hardware after S23.  Sort of a like a forward version of Emerson Hrynyk, only maybe not quite as good." - Jardy Bunclewirth

All in all, Nick Barretta was a strange character. I don't think anyone knows why he left except himself and now looking back at his departure five seasons later, it still makes no sense. There was a pretty large good side to Barr and most of his bad points are caused by the fact he so abruptly left. However because he did, his reputation has been tarnished considerably in the eyes of those who still remember him. The VHL has moved on without him as it's moved on without so many prominent members, be it Scotty Campbell and Kevin Brooks, Alex McNeil, Matt Bailey or Detective Zero, or any other, less notable member. Nick Barretta created an interesting story and was a large part of what happened in the league's third decade and we can thank him for having the site that we have now. His player was a good one and the comparison to Emerson Hrynyk is a fairly accurate one that I like (though Slobo, the member behind him, has remained an active part of our community). Now though, with one last reminiscing, it's definitely time to move on though without a doubt, most of the league including myself, would welcome Nick back is he ever decided to join us again.

End of Part 25
Special thanks to Jardy Bunclewirth and Kyle Dowd. Go fuck yourself David Knight.  

Graphic Credit: @Zetterberg
 
Game 7 Stories: S33 Riga Reign & New York Americans
 
Welcome to the first installment of a new series called Game 7 Stories where we take a deeper look at the players involved in and the stories surrounding the many Game 7s that have occurred in the VHL’s Continental Cup Playoffs.
 
Make sure to check out other series VSN has to offer, such as our weekly reviews, podcasts, and scouting reports
VSN Radio | VSN Season Preview | VSN Scouting | Under 250 | BOG Update
 
 
Introduction
 
Game 7.
As many sportscasters have mused over the years: Is there a more thrilling statement in all of sports? Not every league has best-of-seven playoff series which makes them that much more enjoyable and exciting. Almost every young athlete grows up dreaming of hitting a home run, throwing up a desperation three or blasting the puck into the net in a Game 7. They are not exactly rare but they are uncommon enough to never lose their reverence.  
 
As one might expect, with over 70 seasons in its vaunted history, the VHL has seen its share of Game 7s. The Continental Cup has been won after going the distance a total of 26 times with the latest instance occurring when the Toronto Legion defeated the high-octane Helsinki Titans in the S65 Finals. In fact, the current streak of eight consecutive seasons (S66-S73) without a Game 7 in the Cup Finals is the longest in league history. Will S74 bring us the next Game 7 Cup? We will see. But we won’t just look at the Finals as there have been many dramatic series where Game 7 has provided both elation and heartbreak with many a tale to tell.  Here is one such tale…
 
 
S33
 
The Season 33 Playoffs featured three Game 7s and ten future Hall of Famers with their skills on full display on route to a grudge match between the Riga Reign who had lost the S32 Continental Cup in seven games to the New York Americans. It would be the first time since S20-21 that two teams would meet in consecutive seasons in the Cup Finals when HC Davos Dynamo would beat the Toronto Legion in seven games in S20 only to have Toronto win the rematch the next year beating HC Davos in five games.  To make matters even more interesting, S32’s best goalie and league MVP, Alexander Labatte, left the Reign after losing the in Continental Cup Finals and went to the defending champion Americans where a collision course with fate awaited.
 

Alexander Labatte
 
New York Americans
 
The Americans had the second-best record in the regular season leading the North American Conference with 53 wins and 113 points. Led by 116-point center Connor Evans, perennial All-Star Alexander Chershenko and arguably the best goalie (Alexander Labatte) and best defenseman (Ryan Sullivan) of the day, the defending champs were gunning for consecutive titles after winning the franchise’s second Cup the year before. They were without noted playoff hero Tukka Reikkinen though, who retired after ending a HOF career with a Daisuke Kanou Trophy in S31 in spite of losing in seven games to HC Davos and then scoring two goals in Game 7 in S32 including the Cup-winning goal.
 
After gaining a bye for the first round, the Americans faced off against the Calgary Wranglers (Ryan Sullivan’s former team), who dispatched of future HOF goalie Remy LeBeau and his Toronto Legion in six games. The Wranglers were led by the league’s leading goal scorer, 68-goal man Jarvis Baldwin, and the Americans former goalie, Skylar Rift, who won the S32 Cup with the Americans and had been traded for Sullivan.
 
The Americans would win the first game 2-1 and then Calgary would rattle off three straight wins including a 4-3 Game 4 overtime win on rookie Frank Zamora’s third goal of the series. New York were stunned but not hopeless. They had faced this situation before. As each game so far had only been a one-goal game, the Americans just needed some momentum and they gained that with a Game 5 overtime win in which a couple of late penalties hurt the Wranglers and Ryan Sullivan burned his old team with his first goal of the post season on the power play. Alexander Chershenko assisted on all four New York goals in the 4-3 win and some much needed life. The Americans then took Game 6 by a score of 4-1 helped by Guido Schwarz Esq.’s 3rd period hat trick to set up Game 7.
 

Guido Schwarz Esq. celebrating his Game 6 hat trick.
 
With New York up 2-1 after two periods, Calgary’s Volodymyr Rybak tied it up on the power play at 9:50 in the 3rd. The Americans outshot the Wranglers 10-5 after that goal but both goalies stood their ground and the game would go to overtime for the third time in the series. Again, Ryan Sullivan would burn his old team. After Sullivan crunched a streaking Chico Salmon who was entering the American zone, Sullivan’s defense partner Austin Gow retrieved the puck and passed it back to Sullivan who was racing through the neutral zone. Sullivan crossed the Calgary blue line and then the Americans’ top line put on a passing clinic. They cycled around the confused Wranglers passing the puck fifteen times before Nikolai Chershenko finally roofed the puck over Rift’s left shoulder to give the Americans the series victory and a date once again with the Reign in the Cup Finals. Labatte had his best game of the series stopping 42 of 44 shots.
 
 
Riga Reign
 
After Labatte left for the bluer ice of New York, Riga handed the reigns to the aptly named netminder, Jehovah. The Reign were hoping he and S32 defenseman of the year, Elijah Incognito, could lead them to the promised land. Riga had a strong season and was 2nd in the European Conference with 42 wins and 89 points behind the historic season of the Helsinki Titans who at the time set a league record with 127 points and a second-best ever 61 wins.
 

Riga's Jehovah vs. Davos' Satan
 
Riga’s route back to the Continental Cup Finals began with a date with HC Davos Dynamo and a goaltending match-up for the ages: Jehovah (Riga) vs. Satan (Davos). In spite of 45 saves from Jehovah in Game 1, Davos’ future HOFer Phil Rafter scored early in overtime to give his team a 1-0 edge. Riga won Game 2 but the lost Games 3 and 4 and were looking at the end of a 3-1 barrel again. Their leaders wouldn’t give up though, and continued to play their game and expected results. Game 5 saw them win 4-1 on the strength of Incognito’s three special teams assists. Then the future HOF defenseman put on a show in Game 6, scoring his second goal and fourth point of the game in double overtime on Riga’s 63rd shot to tie the series.
 
Riga and Davos traded goals twice through the first two periods of Game 7 and then future HOFer David Smalling gave Davos the 3-2 lead early in the third. Less than five minutes later, Riga’s Polish pivot, Michal Wozniak, scored at 7:00 to tie it. Wozniak would score again on the power play with 2:20 left to play and Jehovah would stop the next three Davos shots including a couple of in-tight chances by David Smalling in the dying seconds to complete the comeback.
 
Next up were the Helsinki Titans, the best team ever in league history. The Titans were backed by four 100-point scorers including future HOF center Ethan Osborne and future HOF goalie Tuomas Tukio. In a familiar narrative, Riga fell into a 3-1 deficit at the Titan’s hands including a Game 2 loss in overtime that featured a brouhaha early into overtime after a squeaky clean 3rd period. Once again, the Reign were clinging to life and they flipped the overtime script in Game 5 as an unusual suspect stepped up. 10-goal man Felix Leiter got just enough on the one-timer from an Incognito cross-ice pass to beat a sprawling Tukio and give the Reign one more day and take the air out of Helsinki’s sails. After that goal, Tukio looked ordinary as he allowed nine goals in 49 shots over the next two games as Riga would win them 5-4 and 4-2. Who else but Elijah Incognito would score the eventual series winner in Game 7 with his seventh goal of the playoffs and sent the Reign back to the Finals to meet the Americans.
 
 
The Finals
 

Riga's Elijah Incognito and New York's Nikolai Chershenko
 
This was the time these two teams had been waiting for. The Americans were looking to cement a dynasty with their second straight Cup in three consecutive Finals appearances in which they had lost and then won a Game 7 in the previous two Finals. For Alexander Labatte, it was a chance for redemption and for a second Continental Cup. For Riga, it was the thought of revenge and retribution that fueled them through two seven-game series thus far.
 
Game 1 – NYA 2-1: The Chershenkos would star as both Alexander and Nikolai had a goal and an assist with Nikolai’s marker in the 3rd period being the game-winner. Labatte would turn in a vintage performance stopping 29 of 30 shots. Michal Wozniak would score his league-leading 10th playoff goal in the losing cause. While Alexander had only scored one goal in the series against the Wranglers, he turned it on in the Finals.
 
Game 2 – RIG 5-2: Tensions were high right off the puck drop especially after Elijah Incognito set up Wozniak’s 11th goal of the playoffs only a 1:33 into the first. Then Wozniak won the ensuing face-off from Alexander Chershenko which set him off and he started chirping at Incognito in less than thirty seconds, the two future HOFers dropped the mitts and went at it. The Ukrainian forward had a distinct height advantage over the Reign defenseman and won the tilt but Riga won the momentum. Incognito would score the next goal on the power play later in the period and Riga would add one more before the close of the period for a 3-0 lead outshooting the Americans 14-6. Early in the second, Wozniak would score his second of the game and fourth point of the night and New York never recovered. They scored a couple midway thought the second frame to make it closer but Josef Heiss Jr. scored a power play marker in the third to put it away.
 

Michal Wozniak battling in front of Labatte.
 
Game 3 – NYA 3-1: Great teams rebound after bad games and that’s exactly what New York did after Game 2’s clunker. Alexander Chershenko went into beast mode and potted all three of his team’s goals doubling his goal output in the playoffs. Labatte stopped 32 of 33 shots to put the Americans two wins away from the Cup.
 

New York's Alexander Chershenko shooting on Jehovah with Al Wilson in pursuit.
 
Game 4 – RIG 4-0: Great teams rebound after bad games and that’s exactly what Riga did after Game 3’s clunker. Oh, we already went there, didn’t we? Well, Riga was a great team too and they rebounded as well. And while Jehovah had been playing well enough, they needed him to steal a game and so he did. The VHL’s leader with 10 shutouts during the regular season, Jehovah stopped all 25 American shots for the only shutout posted the entire playoffs. Riga’s stars were their best players again as Josef Heiss Jr. scored two third period goals to seal the deal and Michal Wozniak and Elijah Incognito had two points each.
 
Game 5 – RIG 5-4: Neither goalie played well in Game 5 but Riga outshot New York by a 44-21 margin and they scored the most goals. The Reign jumped out to a 5-2 lead after two periods by throwing 35 shots Labatte’s way and getting two goals from Miles Larsson and others by Incognito, Wozniak, and Heiss Jr. Conversely, the Americans only mustered 10 on Jehovah who let in two. The Chershenkos made it interesting in the third period as both Nikolai and Alexander scored midway in the frame but in spite of pulling Labatte for the extra attacker, the Reign swarmed the Americans who barely even made it into Riga’s zone let alone get a shot. Riga was now in control of the series.
 
Game 6 – RIG 3-2 OT: During a scoreless first period, where both goalies were sharp with Labatte stopping 13 shots and Jehovah stopping six, tempers flared again near the end of the period and three players on each team were assessed fighting majors. What a way to start! Although Riga got on the board by a goal from Al Wilson 44 seconds into the second period, Alexander Chershenko responded 18 seconds later to tie it up with his seventh goal of the Finals. Then Austin Gow scored on the power play at 14:22 to take the lead 2-1. In the third period, unheralded Felix Leiter gave Riga the equalizer with his third goal of the playoffs. That was the only goal in the final frame that saw Riga again outshoot New York 16-14. They were headed to overtime – the fourth overtime game in the playoffs for the Americans and the fifth for the Reign. Both goalies were playing brilliantly but it was all Riga in the extra frame. They had eight shots on Labatte while the Americans didn’t even get one on Jehovah. At 5:07 after Thomas Corcoran won a face-off against Alexander Chershenko in the Americans’ zone and scooped the puck to Miles Larsson, Larsson passed it to a waiting Josef Heiss Jr. who ripped the puck past Labatte for his fifth of the series and fourth in three games to queue the celebration and complete Riga’s route to revenge through two Game 7s and five overtime games to claim the franchise’s third Continental Cup and first Cup since S16. Defenseman Elijah Incognito would win the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as he was an anchor for the Reign the entire playoffs and led the league in assists and points and was second in goals in one of the finest playoff performances the VHL has ever seen. Ironically, the two rivals would meet again in back-to-back finals in S40-41.
 

The Riga Reign win the S33 Continental Cup
 
I hope you enjoyed the first installment in the Game 7 Stories series. Thanks for reading!
 
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@sterling $40 USD to renew IPB license pleaaase

@sterling can you send me $46.80?
 
bought new theme for $34.99 USD 

You’re banned 

You’re banned 

@sterling $30 for another 3 months hosting please

Awesome @sterling a lot of that is usable.

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