Matt_O

1. Lowkey excited to see how my player performs and trying to build up some draft stock for my player.
2. 4-2 W lock
3. I sit in my locker, turtling inside my jersey
4. Playing on an empty stomach and one C4 energy drink gives me peak performance.
5. Believe or it not, Full Player Name wants to legally change his name to literally anything else.
6. Yes but it falls under a different category compared to a traditional sandwich since it's long.

1. Lowkey excited to see how my player performs and trying to build up some draft stock for my player.
2. 4-2 W lock
3. I sit in my locker, turtling inside my jersey
4. Playing on an empty stomach and one C4 energy drink gives me peak performance.
5. Believe or it not, Full Player Name wants to legally change his name to literally anything else.
6. Yes but it falls under a different category compared to a traditional sandwich since it's long.

Hey all,
 
I never thought I’d be here… I never thought I’d make a month, 3 months, a year.. like I did.. I knew I could.. but I would have bet on me failing.  It was a super good feeling to go through this and see all of my words and all of the updates over the last while! I’m so proud I made it to another cool milestone.. thanks for being part of the journey. The words in here have of course helped too!  

It seems like just yesterday I was making the decision to quit smoking.. I remember on day 365 I teared up pretty damn good because I was so proud and at the same time so surprised. I knew I could but it’s one of the harder thing I’ve done and you always hear and read how hard it is and how many people fail… I still have moments where it feels like I just quit..  and I’ve had a couple moments where I’ve REALLY wanted one - most recently on my 9 day mountain trip while having drinks around the fire.. BUT I DIDNT!!
 
600!!!

1. I'm pretty excited to play for the Marlins, I feel like we have a pretty decent team.
2. Like I said before, I'm excited. I've pretty much exclusively played for Las Vegas with my previous players so it's cool to get a fresh team.
3. Definitely planning on pumping up on my poke checking abilities as well as my skating
4. I can't really answer either since I'm returning but wasn't around last season lol. But I will say I really like the new TPE system compared to the old one.
5. Niklas Kronwall. Big hits, solid D, and can put up a decent amount of points.
6. I like pepperoni but I also like myself a buffalo slice every once in a while.

1. I'm pretty excited to play for the Marlins, I feel like we have a pretty decent team.
2. Like I said before, I'm excited. I've pretty much exclusively played for Las Vegas with my previous players so it's cool to get a fresh team.
3. Definitely planning on pumping up on my poke checking abilities as well as my skating
4. I can't really answer either since I'm returning but wasn't around last season lol. But I will say I really like the new TPE system compared to the old one.
5. Niklas Kronwall. Big hits, solid D, and can put up a decent amount of points.
6. I like pepperoni but I also like myself a buffalo slice every once in a while.

Excited to have you! Appreciate the sacrifice of making NPC articles for the cause.

I wish I could change my players name because this is just so dumb. What was I thinking? I thought I would be smart enough to not do something dumb like this by now. Anyways, I was just drafted by the Marlins, and I'm hoping I can be a solid defenseman for them. My goal with this player is to be similar to my last player, which was a hard hitting defenseman that can also get points. Just from looking at the Marlins, we look like we have a solid team. We aren't going to blow anyone away but we are put together well, and we will only improve as the season goes on. I'm hoping my consistent TPE earning will be enough to solidify me as the third dman on the team. As of now I'm fourth in terms of TPE, but the grind starts now. 
 
I hate writing articles like this because I feel like such an NPC but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for the TPE. 

San Diego Draft Recap! I’ll keep it short since it is a .com. (spoiler alert I didn’t)
 
2nd Overall – Kronchy Kardashian @Garsh
Garsh is a known fun guy, brings good energy to the chat. I knew I wanted to take top D off the board right away and get some teams to panic a bit leaving me better players down the stretch, so this acted as a sort of bluff pick, and also brought in a player I really wanted.

3rd Overall – David Jokinen @Ahma
Ahma came off a great career in Davos and builds strong, reliable defensemen. Earns well, and comes by to chat regularly enough that I knew him by username before the new player. Continues my bluff as well.
 
4th Overall – Justin Lion @Emperor_Fun
Taking the only active goaltender off the board was one of our biggest wins this draft. I simply couldn’t afford to be losing games out the gate by having no goaltender.
 
12th Overall – Oreo McFleury @JB123
Because I started the defensemen train, I got my hands on an amazing forward. Why JB over the other options? Well JB was once a San Diego GM himself, and has been making a name for himself as Oslo GM. Always good to ride the momentum.
 
13th Overall – Full Player Name @Matt_O
I wanted to take a chance on a veteran returning member who has been earning well so far. I knew how to contact him as he was a member of the Delhi Pickles which I have been AGMing this offseason.
 
14th Overall – Jack Jeckler @Uncommon
A user I am incredibly familiar with, and I know the potential here with this pick. We’ve been chatting recently, and life got busy, but I know Uncommon is a max earner on a regular week. Perhaps a bit of a risk, but one I’m very familiar with and very excited to bring back on board.
 
31st Overall – Leonard Triller @Triller
This must have been a gift from Simon himself. The top TPE forward in the draft, falling to me at 31st overall. There must have been some confusion about his eligibility because this guy is a graphics machine, a great LR guy, great earner and a dominant player.
 
32nd Overall – Jacob Bryla @Jakebryla10
Another Pickles player, and a super strong 2C right out the gate. I chose a welfare+ player here with higher TPE to start, over similar earnings on a lower TPE player. Safe bet, should be a great component to the offense here.
 
34th Overall – Michael Williams @son_of_moose
This was a bit of a panic pick, as I was out with friends at this point, and found a name I recognized at D, who wouldn’t be dropped from the team IMMEDIATELY. Hopefully thye can make a return and be a solid member of our blue line.
 
43rd  Overall – Keita Kourou @woog
I knew woog’s name from the SBA, and want to bank on a rising member there being able to claim affiliate here, and maybe bring some LR presence as well. Hopefully the earnings should speak for themselves. Could be a bit of a steal here.
 
62nd and 64th Overall – Josh Lo Giudice Jr @NightLegend and yorrit Van Loo @yorrit
 These were BPA picks whoops. I thought the draft was supposed to be over after the 5th, so I left and this is who we got! Reached out to both of them and hopefully we get a response!

This roster already looks insanely stacked, and we're all so excited to see what we can do this season!
 
 

🥒
 
And so the 36-game round robin portion of the Junior Showcase Tournament has concluded and the Dehli Pickles managed to hold on to the top seed with a record of 21-9-6 for 48 points, two more points than Team Clue. Aiding the Pickles to the top was the tournament’s best offense as they scored 122 goals or 3.39 goals a game slightly better than the Brigade’s 119 goals (3.31 goals/game). The Pickles also have the best goal differential (+24) and best home record (14-2-2) while leading the JST in 1st period goals (51), 2nd period goals (32), shots against (782), power play goals (46) and percentage (23.1%) and tied for shorthanded goals scored (3).
 
Having the tournament’s best offense led to some of the Pickles’ players topping a few statistical categories:
 
Winger Left Alone @okochastar led the JST round robin in goals (20), points (47), points/20 (1.12) and hat tricks (3). Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt was tops for centers with 44 points. Mac Atlas @v.2 tied for the lead with 8 power play goals while manning the point on the Pickles top unit and was the only player to score 2 shootout goals. Joel Castle @animal74 led all goalies with 10 or more starts with a 2.24 GAA and 19 penalty shots faced.
 
Left Alone also led the team in plus/minus (+13) and power play points (19). Other team leaders were as follows:
Antoine Barksdale:  game-winning goals (5), faceoffs taken (1163), fights (4)
Randy Bobandy @AJW assists (29), power play assists (15) shots (134)
Elias Lampi @Pifferfish: defenseman scoring (37), penalty minutes (54), blocked shots (60), minutes played (1039)
Frank Forsberg @QcjetsQc: hits (91)
Lampi, Forsberg and Sigmund Freud @CODENAMEJIMMY all contributed 10 goals from the blueline.
 
The Pickles also received valuable contributions from Tim Stuzle @NineIQ v2, Zlatan Ibrahimovic @Markusbg, Thor Odinson @GoalPlays, Jacob Bryla @Jakebryla10, Full Player Name @Matt_O, Steve Latimer @pugsood, Shadow Thompson @Kelsey and mid-tournament additions James Chilzer @eraserfrog, Logan Foley @WildfireMicro, and Big B @Bigb33.
 
GM @animal74 and AGM @jacobcarson877 are proud of what the Pickles have accomplished so far and now look to continue their success in the JST playoffs.
 

1. I think I have in the past with one of my previous players, but I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I was in the WJC and World Cup but I think those may have been in season tournaments. (I know WJC was midseason)
 
2. I was signed as an FA and not drafted, but the decision to join the pickles was an easy one. The name is beautiful, and I felt like I could earn the most minutes here compared to other teams.
 
3. I want to be a big body defenseman, so hopefully I throw some hits in the showcase.
 
4. Cbat by Hudson Mohawke
 
5. I do like pickles, but for whatever reason the pickles that come with cole slaw at diners is not it.
 
6. The Philadelphia Cheesesteaks

I am super excited to announce the Pickles' roster for the S85 Junior Showcase Tournament. First of all, I would like to thank @Alex and @Shindigs for giving me this opportunity to GM this team and a huge thanks to my AGM @jacobcarson877 who has been most helpful and supportive! It's great to have an AGM with the same perspective that I do. I think we have a very competitive group who can do very well in this tournament.
 
Without further ado, here are your S85 Pickles!
 
🥒 FORWARDS:
C Antoine Barksdale  🇮🇹  @CrookedAnt
C Mac Atlas  🇺🇸  @v.2
C Randy Bobandy  🇨🇦  @AJW
C Jacob Bryla  🇨🇦  @Jakebryla10
C Zlatan Ibrahimovic  🇸🇪  @Markusbg
 
LW Left Alone  🇨🇿  @okochastar
LW Steve Lattimer  🇬🇧  @pugsood
 
RW Thor Odinson  🇺🇸  @GoalPlays
RW Tim Stuzle  🇦🇶  @NineIQ v2
 
🥒 DEFENSE:
D Elias Lampi  🇫🇮  @Pifferfish
D Sigma Freud  🇨🇦  @CODENAMEJIMMY
D Frank Forsberg  🇸🇪  @QcjetsQc
D Full Player Name  🇺🇸  @Matt_O
 
🥒 GOALIES:
G Joel Castle  🇨🇦  @animal74
G Shadow Thompson  🇨🇦  @Kelsey

#SlicedToWin
 
Thanks for the offers, but playing on a team called the Pickles is too hard to pass up

#SlicedToWin
 
Thanks for the offers, but playing on a team called the Pickles is too hard to pass up

Player Information
Username: Matt_O
Player Name: Full Player Name
Recruited From: Returning
Age: 18
Position: D
Height: 73 in.
Weight: 200 lbs.
Birthplace: United States of America

Player Page
@VHLM GM

Welcome to the sixth and final edition of Ringless. In this series we look at the best teams throughout VHL history to never win the cup.
 
 
Make sure to check out other series VSN has to offer, such as our weekly reviews, podcasts, and scouting reports
VSN Radio | VSN Scouting | Under 250 | BOG Update
 
The Meute have been the victims of some unfortunate sim luck throughout VHL history. Their S49 and S50 woes are well documented, and they suffered a similar fate only a handful of seasons earlier, in S43 and S44. They had three future Hall of Famers, as well as an elite goaltender and solid supporting pieces. What could go wrong for this team? How could a team that good win only two playoff games over the course of two playoff runs? 
 
Heading into S43, the Meute had been good for quite some time. They made the playoffs the prior three seasons, including a finals run in S42. The Meute’s success was largely due to making trades for young players. Aksel Thomassen was an exception, however, as he was drafted in S39 due to the GM rule, and he would help lead the Meute to some great success during his hall of fame career. They also traded for Bruno Wolf, another hall of fame forward, from the Bears early in his career. This set the Meute up with two future superstar forwards to build their team around. They selected goaltender Brock Waldron sixth overall in the S38 draft, and these three alongside other supporting players helped the Meute finish second in the North American Conference in S40, in what was a very successful year for Quebec City. They were just starting to revamp their team, and they had already found some success. They didn’t do much in the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Wranglers, but it was a good season. 
 
In the offseason after S40, the Meute wanted to continue their growth, and made some moves. They traded for Travis Boychuk, a young forward, that could secure their second line. They also traded for rookie Rami Jakobssen, who was the final piece of the first line that consisted of Thomassen, Wolf, and now Jakobssen. With these moves in place, the Meute went from 99 points to S40 all the way to 111 in S41. Thomassen and Wolf had monster years, with 136 and 123 points respectively,  while Boychuk's 103 points was a huge boost from the second line. Thomassen and Wolf finished with the first and second-most points in the league that year, while Boychuk finished eleventh. Thomassen won multiple awards, including the Brett Slobodzian Trophy for most outstanding player, Dustin Funk Trophy for most improved, and the Beketov and Szatkowski Trophies for most assists and points, while Wolf won the Scott Boulet as best two way forward, and finally the Kevin Brooks Trophy for most goals. The Meute owned the second-best offense in the league, and looked like they had many great years ahead of them.
 
The Meute dominated the Wranglers in Round One, easily dispatching them in a quick five games. The offense looked deadly, scoring five or more goals three times in the series. In the Conference Finals, they would go on to face the Americans. New York proved they were simply too much for the Meute. They were able to shut down the offense, with one shutout and two games only allowing one goal. They took down the Meute in five games, and it was clear they needed to shore up the defense at some point to seriously contend. They would only get better from here, as Thomassen, Boychuk, Jakobssen, Wolf, and goaltender Waldron all were young players. 
 
During the offseason, the Meute surprisingly decided not to go after any defensemen, but instead picked up forward Milos Denis. This would prove to be a good move, since Denis would have multiple successful seasons in Quebec City, but there wasn’t much of a need for another forward. With Denis’ arrival, Jakobssen got moved down to the second line, and the new first line of Aksel Thomassen, Bruno Wolf, and Milos Denis would be the most deadly lineup in the league. Thomassen and Wolf yet again finished first and second in the league in points, with 141 and 137 respectively. Wolf won the Boulet and Brooks Trophies again, but added the Slobodzian Trophy to his collection, while Thomassen won the Beketov and Szatkowski Trophies for the second consecutive year. Waldron had a great year in net, with a 2.10 GAA and a .920 save percentage, and the Meute finished first place in the league with 54 wins. They had the best offense and third best defense in the league, and many had them as the favorite to make it to the finals, and perhaps win it all.
 
They had a bye into the Conference Finals, and they would face the Americans for the second year in a row. These Americans weren’t the same as last year's team, but they still put up a great fight. They brought it all the way to seven games against the Meute, but Quebec City held on to win Game Seven thanks to Waldron's 40 saves. The Meute won the series, and they were heading to the Continental Cup Finals to face the Cologne Express. 
 
Games One and Two both went to the Express, and the Meute only had three goals in those two games. Game Three went Quebec’s way, but after a Game Four loss, the writing was on the wall. Robin Gow’s overtime winner in Game Five won the Continental Cup for the Express, and the Meute’s run was over. While it certainly was a rough way to go out, the Meute had multiple years of success ahead of them. All of their players were young and still growing, but they just needed one thing to perhaps push them over the edge: a sturdy defenseman.
 
During the offseason, they got their priorities straight and set out to acquire the best defenseman that was actively being shopped around: Jake Wylde. Many know his name because he has the award for best defensive defenseman. After a bit of discussion, Quebec City was able to trade for Wylde to finally secure their blue line, and truly solidify themselves as the best team in the league. However, the move for Wylde wasn’t as big of a splash as it may have seemed. They still finished first place in the North American Conference, but the offensive totals went down from the previous year, going from the league's best offense to third best, while the defense still ranked third. However, goalie Brock Waldron massively improved, with a 1.85 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The Meute, once again, were the favorite to go to the finals.
 
The Seattle Bears were the Meute's opponent in the Conference finals after they took down the Legion in the first round in a sweep. No one gave the Bears a real chance at taking down the Meute. The roster wasn’t even that great, the GM was inactive, and the Meute were just that much better. The Meute won Game One 4-3, but after that, things started to go Seattle’s way. They won the next three games and took a 3-1 series lead. How could this happen? The Bears were not good, yet found themselves a win away from the finals. The Meute's offense had been lackluster, and the Bears had taken advantage. The Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in Game Five, but the Meute tied the game and forced overtime. In overtime, the Bears would score and win the game and the series, sending a shock to the Quebec City fans in attendance. A few seasons ago, this team was young and had tons of promise. When they lost in the playoffs, it wasn’t the end of the world, as they could always say that there is always next year. This was a reality check. There wouldn’t always be a next year, and this team was starting to get older. S44 was a must win season for the Meute.
 
In what was clearly the Meute's final chance at a ring, they went all-in. They acquired goaltender Niklaus Mikaelson, who had just beaten them as a member of the Bears, and Brady Stropko, a forward that also was a part of the Bears team that had taken them down. This was perhaps the most impressive team that the Meute had put together. They had the second-best offense, finishing with just one less goal than the first-placed Express, as well as the third-best defense, with only five more goals against than the first-placed Stockholm Vikings. Thomassen had 108 points, Stropko had 105, Wolf had 102, Boychuk had 101, Denis had 96, and Wylde had 92. This team was loaded with elite talent, and they had six players in the top 20 for points in S44. This was likely the team's best and final chance at a cup. They finished first in the league again, their second Victory Cup in three seasons, and got a bye in round one. They would face the Wranglers in the Conference Finals, who they had a very intense rivalry with.
 
The Wranglers had a very solid team in S44, as goaltender Hans Wingate, who would eventually be inducted to the Hall of Fame, helped lead the team to finishing second in the North American Conference. They didn’t have any stand out names though, the complete opposite of Quebec City. If the Meute wanted to win, they needed their big names to shine. In Game One, Bruno Wolf was the one who stepped up, with three points in a 4-2 win. The Meute would need more of that if they wanted to keep winning. Unfortunately for them, they did not get much of anything in Game Two, losing 3-0 with only 18 shots on net. It would be a similar story in Game Three, losing 1-0. This was looking very similar to what happened the season prior. Game Four was clearly a must win.
 
The Wranglers scored first, as Rami Jakobssen, who once was a member of the Meute, gave the Wranglers the lead late in the first period. Brady Stropko would answer back in the second period with two consecutive goals to give the Meute the lead headed to the third. In the third, the Wranglers would tie the game, and then score again just fifteen seconds later to take the lead, and that was all she wrote. The Wranglers won Game Four, and had the Meute on the brink of elimination. It was a demoralizing loss for the Meute, it seemed as though the series was already over, and the Wranglers did not let up in Game Five. After a four goal first period, the Wranglers cruised to a 6-0 Game Five win, defeating their much hated rivals in Quebec City. The S40 and S41 Meute had championship aspirations, and it looked like they were set up very nicely to win one, if not multiple cups in the future. The closest this team ever got was a five game finals loss. It was clearly over for the Meute.
 
Thomassen and Milos Denis were both shipped to Riga, Bruno Wolf was traded to New York, Wylde was moved to Calgary. They made the playoffs in S45 thanks to a weak North American Conference, but got swept by none other than Calgary in the first round. The Meute began a rebuild, which led to them forming perhaps the best team in franchise history in S49 and S50. Neither of those teams would win anything either, suffering a fate that the S43-S44 Meute also suffered. 
 
This will be the final edition of Ringless. There simply aren't enough elite teams that never won a cup, and many of those really good teams that didn’t win a cup happened before S20, which is where the VHL archives end. Thanks to @Victor for his list of the best teams to never win a cup, which was used plenty of times to help find teams for this series. Next on VSN, we will be launching a series called,  “Hall of Very Good,” which will talk about the best players that aren’t in the Hall of Fame. 
 
@Frank @philthethrill81 @STZ @DollarAndADream  @Hybrid1486


 

Part 1 of a 3 part series
 
Part 2
Part 3 coming Thursday, April 16th
 
While I am sure people that have been around for most of VHL history will disagree with me on this, they would at least agree that the 20th season in our leagues history was one of the wildest. The incredible talent gap between the leagues worst and the leagues best was on full display this year. The sudden increase in scoring. The beginning of the Shaw vs Kanou rivalry that remains as one of the VHLs best player rivalries to date. Today, we will be looking into this season as deep as someone who wasn't around to witness it can.
 
First,  lets make this clear. This season shattered the record book in ways no other season has. S62 can give it a fight, but S20 wreaked havoc on the record books and many of the records held by teams from S20 still stand, 50 seasons in the future. This is because the good teams in the league were elite, while the bad teams were terrible. This allowed for the good teams to beat up on the bad teams and score tons and tons of goals, which led to inflated scoring. There also could have been a change in the version used in STHS, but I am not sure if that's true. The Riga Reign perhaps put the biggest dent in the record books. They had Tarik Saeijs and Max Kroenenburg that year, who both scored 157 points. Keep in mind, when we show stats, anything prior to season 20 may not be counted because of the fact that their are no indexes for them, so we can't get a fully accurate number. We are simply using the VHL Hall of Fame's record books, and any archives I can use.
 
For some reason, Saeijs and Kroenenburg don't appear in the VHL's record book. Why? Perhaps the VHL is trying to hide this season away, ashamed of the chaos that was created. Anyhow, both Saeijs and Kroenenburg had 157 points that year. That would place them tied for third all time in the record books. If we included the early VHL, with Campbell and Slobodzian, they likely would barely crack the top 10. But it's incredible that two teammates would both be that high up. They would also be in fourth and fifth place for goals, as Saeijs had 71 goals and Kroenenburg had 70. But it's not only those two that put up points that year. In S20, the sixth placed scorer was Markus Strauss, with 139 points. That total would be enough to be the leagues leading scorer in 50 of leagues 70 seasons, (two of them would have been ties). That's either as good or better than 71% of the leagues top scorers in history, yet he finished sixth that year. But that's not it. Judging solely by the VHLs record book from the Hall of Fame, Strauss's 139 points that year would put him tied for tenth all time. The fact that SIX players in S20 had seasons that were good enough to be in the top 10 most points in a single season shows just how crazy this year was. But it's not over yet. Not even close.
 
Remember Saeijs and Kroenenburg? Well, they helped engineer an offense that was the best in the league that season. They scored 371 goals that season. Where does that rank all time? Oh it's first place. Well, who could be in second, probably another elite offensive team. It happens to be the HC Davos Dynamo. What season? S20, of course. The two greatest offenses in the history of the league, and both of them played in the same season. But that Riga team, the greatest offense of all time? They scored 47 more goals than the Dynamo. The Reign not only had the greatest offense of all time that year, it wasn't even remotely close. Now, what does the rest of the top 10 look like? Probably a good combination of other seasons and teams, right? Well, if you said that, you would be half right. Actually, less than half right, because SIX teams from S20 are on the top 10 list for most goals scored in a single season in VHL history. That is absurd! That should not be possible, yet it happened. But even then, we still have just scraped the surface.
 
We looked at most goals in one season, what about most goals in one game? Believe it or not, an S20 team isn't at the top. Or second, third, or even fourth. Four teams in history have scored 12 goals in one game, and none of them did it in S20. What a breath of fresh air. We can breathe easy,  S20 finally isn't dominating a top 10 list for offense. Actually, I may have spoke too soon. The next six of the top 10 all scored 11 goals in one game. All of them happened in S20. The offensive surge in S20 is off the charts. But there's more, don't worry.
 
Has anyone ever heard of the stat game points? I didn't until I searched through the archive, and I've come to the conclusion that it's the total of all your players point totals. I'm sure you can see where this is going. The Riga Reign are the only team to ever reach 1000. The Dynamo from S20 and the Reign are the only teams to ever reach 900. Six of the top ten teams for total game points in a season belong to S20. 
 
Remember the Reign? Lets talk about them again. Saeijs and Kroenenburg scored six goals in one game on separate occasions. Six goals from one player has happened eight times in VHL history. These two both did it in the same season. This Riga team was simply unreal.
 
Now, my final point. S20 rewrote the record book like no other season, but it's possible this is the most remarkable achievement from that year. Plus minus is a controversial stat, some say it's poorly represents players. That may be true, but take a look at this. The top 10 list for best plus minus by a player in VHL history is the most jaw dropping stat of this season. Take a guess how many S20 players are on the top 10. Three? A little too low, bump it up. Five? Seven? Eight? You would be wrong with all of those. On the top 10 list for best plus minus in a season, nine spots are from players in S20. Five players finished with a plus minus above 100, all of which played on the Reign. No one has ever had a plus minus of over 100, before or after this season. In fact, the Reign have seven spots on this list. The only player not from S20 to make this list is Matt Thompson from S68, with a plus minus of +52. Naturally he ruins our perfect list of all S20s, but lets think about this. That was in S68. Before S68, I have a very strong feeling that Patrick Bergqvist's +46 that season would have finished 10th all time. S20 completely rewrote the top 10 list for best plus minus, and it stayed like that for nearly 50 seasons.
 
S20 is the most incredible season in VHL history. Today we only looked at the way it shaped the record books. Next week, we will look into other stuff. What is that other stuff? I truly have no idea. But I will find stuff for y'all. And until next time, I hope you enjoyed.
 
Also, I'm well aware that S1 Calgary Wranglers are the best team ever and better than the Reign. But they weren't in the HOF record books or the index, so they didn't count for this. I also am aware that I switched between the HOF record book and index record book, but I'm not gonna go back and fix it now.
 
1,300ish words

The off-season is upon us and with it, this season's Hall of Fame induction. In S79, we decided to honour a few men who have been waiting in the wings for a while (some longer than others).
 
C - Wesley Kellinger, S33-S40 
RS: 576 GP, 275 G, 453 A, 728 P, +306, 532 PIM, 1,138 HIT, 221 SB, 56 GW
PO: 67 GP, 27 G, 37 A, 64 P, +18, 70 PIM, 151 HIT, 39 SB, 7 GW
 
S40 Scotty Campbell Trophy (Most Valuable)
Two Continental Cups (S35, S39)
 
First we have a blast from the past in a similar vein to Mathias Chouinard or just a couple of season ago, Mike Szatkowski Jr. (a goalie Kellinger played against for most of his career). The recreate of Daniel Braxton, one of the VHL's most famous first-gens and one of the greatest defencemen ever, Kellinger got a lot of hype going into a deep S33 draft and went 1st overall. There were two forwards who would get into the HOF as first ballot members, Odin Tordahl and Niklas Lindberg, but Kellinger may have had to wait significantly longer, but he was always there, available for selection when the right time came. The right time is now. Drafted by Davos but making his name when Quebec traded two drafts worth of picks for him in S34, creating a mercenary team for whom he was then the offensive star as they won their first cup in S35, five seasons after expansion. Kellinger then stayed among the top 5 or so forwards for the rest of his career, teaming up with Tordahl to great effect for the NY dynasty and closing off his career as the veteran leader and MVP of another expansion team in Cologne. Never quite the best but always among the contenders, regular season or playoffs, Wesley Kellinger is finally in, hope it was worth the wait @Jericho
 
 
D - Hulk Hogan, S67-S74  
RS: 576 GP, 105 G, 444 A, 549 P, +84, 1,025 PIM, 1,212 HIT, 984 SB, 22 GW
PO: 90 GP, 9 G, 64 A, 73 P, +12, 149 PIM, 170 HIT, 155 SB, 2 GW
 
S71 Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists)
Four Continental Cups (S68, S69, S71, S73)
 
Lincoln Tate went in, then Condor Adrienne and then Jeff Downey, and still Hogan waited. We even inducted a S36 goalie before him but it was all about doing our due diligence. Hogan is a very interesting addition to the Hall of Fame, as his stats don't quite show his consistency and are hurt by his peak being in the VHL's dead puck era in the late 60s/early 70s. But consistent he was, almost like a Kellinger of defence. Similarly, he also didn't accumulate many awards but he did get quite a few championships as a lifer of the Seattle dynasty. Most of the credit for that Bears team went to the GM and then of course to the goalie, but Hogan was ever-present and if you had to think of the face of the franchise outside of Funk then it would be him. The team evolved but Hogan stayed consistent, putting up the numbers and biding his time - recognition finally arrives for @TXC
 
 
VOTING RESULTS
Wesley Kellinger - 8/11
Hulk Hogan - 8/11
-----------
Jakab Holik - 3/11
Alexander Pepper - 1/11
Roque Davis - 1/11
Tyson Kohler, Erik Killinger, Ola Vikingstad, Kyl Oferson - 0/11
 
 
And we're back to making a Builder induction this season. This is a man who was there for both Kellinger and Hogan's careers and then some - he actually joined the VHL at around the same time as me and around the same age, and we then took very different paths to end up in the same retirement home. Famous for his beard, to some most famous for being snubbed, Damien Walec @.sniffuM has been around the block for eons. Like many of us he dipped out for a bit but he's had a lot more highs - 1 Hall of Famer in the great Tukka Reikkinen, busting both Vasteras' and New York's curses, 1 GM tenure with Vasteras best described as a learning experience, 1 GM tenure with Warsaw where that experience was put to very good use with a very good expansion team, a VHLM Commissioner stint at some point in the last decade that I genuinely can't remember when but on the bright side I can vividly remember him being green which means he stood out in trying to make the VHLM (the old version) a better and more welcoming place. And of course years of contributing to league discussions and at times the BOG, and since his comeback (again, pretty much at the same time as me - are you following me Damien?) a staple of the VHL's Discord community - I don't think it would be the same without him.
 
 
Congrats to Jericho, Hogan, and Muff!

#JoinTheBattle
 
Joe Mama is proud to be a warrior

@Laine THe discord link expired btw

Welcome back!