CowboyinAmerica

Minot, ND -- While many VHL fans were enthralled by the wheeling and dealing that took place directly after the season, there was one potential VHL player that was not as enthralled. Former Minot Gladiators goaltender Hans Wingate was at home when he received a text from his agent: The New York Americans had traded up to the first overall pick. “Of course I had good feelings about New York,” Wingate says. “It would mean I get to stay in the country, and I’d be doing it with a fresh new team built for the long-haul.” But then, he got a look at the actual details of the deal. Along with the selection, S42 goaltender Jax Barnstormer will also be traveling to New York. Coupled with GM Chris Miller’s proclamation in the trade that he had found his “goalie of the future,” Wingate’s chances of going number one now look extraordinarily bleak. “I’m going to be honest—going number one was never my goal,” Wingate says. “I’d much rather be in a good situation for me at pick five than on a team where my role is iffy at number one. I know what I bring to the table, and somebody, somewhere is going to benefit.” But where could that be? The team with the second selection, the Riga Reign, already have a goaltender of the future lined up in Bernie Gow. The team with the third selection, the Calgary Wranglers, were enamored with prospect Coca Cola during the season, although his practicing seems to have somewhat fallen off. And then, of course, there is always the potential of a trade. With the draft still five days away, nerves haven’t hit Wingate quite yet, but he’s still anxious to see where he’ll be calling home. “It’s exciting; I’m excited,” he says, “but I kind of just want it to get here already.”

I'm mostly curious to see if there are more big trades. I'm skeptical that all the remaining teams are gonna play it completely straight.

I propose that all retirements must come with one mandatory reference to ancient Greek warfare. (Congrats on the great/continuing career!)

GET HYPE.

I had not even noticed that because I don't really check the Graphics forum. Thanks for the heads up!

Nice! I like it lots.

Good points, probably should have thrown that in there. But yeah, I was expecting championships, plural, when I got drafted to Seattle, and especially after we picked up Smyl.

The VHL's Longest Current Title Droughts With an incredible playoff run, the Cologne Express franchise recently won its first championship, beating the Quebec City Meute in five games. Both pre-Season 31 expansion teams now have a championship trophy in each franchise’s first dozen years, which seems like a notable accomplishment. However, improbably, the Express actually held the European Conference’s second-longest championship drought entering the playoffs, and the fourth-longest among all VHL teams. Championship droughts are a common topic of conversation in sports—just ask Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Knicks, or Chicago Cubs fans. But which VHL fan bases have been waiting the longest for another title? I decided to take a look. 3. Calgary Wranglers Last championship: Season 30 Total championships: 7 Playoff appearances since last championship: 8 Finals appearances since last championship: 1 The season before Quebec and Cologne entered the VHL, the Calgary Wranglers seemed to be on the verge of something big. Having made the playoffs for only the second time in the past seven seasons, Calgary rode a number of stars just entering their primes, including Alexander Chershenko, Clark Marcellin, Volodymyr Rybak, and Ryan Sullivan. Each of those players were in the first three years of their careers, and after sweeping Davos and beating Seattle in seven games, it seemed that a dynasty was in the making. Well, a playoff dynasty did occur, as Calgary made the playoffs for each of the next five seasons afterward. However, the team just never seemed to be able to overcome the new rising force: the New York Americans. New York beat the Wranglers in the North American Conference finals in each of the next three seasons, taking them down in five, five and seven games, respectively. And even when Calgary broke through in Season 34, in what was really its final chance, a peaking Helsinki squad was waiting from the European Conference. Now, with Calgary in the middle of a rebuild, it will realistically be a few seasons before the team can try and break the streak. 2. Seattle Bears Last championship: Season 28 Total championships: 5 Playoff appearances since last championship: 7 Finals appearances since last championship: 1 All hail the Seattle Six. A little further in its progression than Calgary during its championship run, the Season 28 championship represented a culmination of a strictly-adhered-to rebuilding plan. Felix Peters, Jarvis Baldwin, Mitch Higgins, CAL G, and others (along with the team-hopping Leeroy Jenkins) built upon years of building to take down Calgary in seven games, followed by New York in six games. Jenkins left for New York after the season, but it was assumed that the good times would continue for the next couple of years. Indeed, the Season 29 and 30 Seattle squads were strong, as the team lost in Game 7 of a playoff series in each year (to Davos in Season 29, to Calgary in the Finals in Season 30). However, they simply couldn’t get over that hump, and before Season 31, the Bears decided to rebuild for a mid-30’s dynasty. The rebuild went decent, and players such as James Lefevre, Sebastian Ball and Steven Smyl certainly made their mark. But facing an onslaught of tough goalies, such as the Toronto-led LeBeau squad, Rift-led Quebec squad, and Wahl-led New York squad, Seattle consistently stayed one step behind in North American Conference, and the team simply couldn’t break through to the Finals. 1. Stockholm Vikings Last championship: Season 26 Total championships: 2 Playoff appearances since last championship: 5 Finals appearances since last championship: 0 Even if you just have a cursory idea of VHL history, you probably knew that this one was coming. The Vasteras/Madrid/Stockholm franchise won the first ever VHL championship, and then it proceeded to win exactly one in the league’s next 41 seasons. That championship win came in Season 26, and in retrospect, it remains one of the oddest blips in VHL history. Madrid/Vasteras only made the playoffs an outrageous three times in 18 seasons between Season 19 and Season 36, with back-to-back trips in Season 25 and 26, and a one season stay in Season 32. And out of those, in only Season 26 did Vasteras have the best record in their conference. With a mix of younger (Tukka Reikkinen, Phil Gerrard) and older (Lasse Milo, James Bencharski, RJ Stafford) players, it all came together for Vasteras in steamrolling both Helsinki and New York in five games in dominating fashion. Since then, however, the team hasn’t even really come close. Seasons 37 through 39 brought three straight Vasteras playoff appearances – the first time the franchise accomplished that feat through Seasons 1 through 4! However, they ran into a Davos team that won four straight European Conference championships during the same time. Maybe they’ll have more success now that the team has moved to Stockholm? With recent trades, it sure seems like the team is certainly going for it all.

Yeah, and do you have something against Austria and wanting to emulate them?

For this next season, the European Conference is going to be Battle Royale. I love it.

Since Eagles beat me to it before I could post, the reference trade.

If you're going to do it in the future for the playoffs, perhaps make it averages (goals per game, assists per game, etc.) instead of whole numbers? Otherwise, it's basically just guessing who made it furthest (see: Bushito winning with three Cologne guys).

Oh. Things go over my head easily.

One of my roommates is a film director. The good: She's currently working in our main room with a pretty prominent local rapper on a music video, which means she may be able to pay rent next month. The bad: If I don't get to use the TV for either Game of Thrones or NBA/NHL playoffs tonight, I'm not gonna be happy.

Is that a thing? I didn't know Brovy wrote things about his player other than dubiously edited Mag articles.

Props then, although I still like the idea of a Native American hockey player arc.

Next player name: Robin Big Snake.

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I mean, I got a chuckle. It's all good, thanks to you commissioners for being on the ball and doing offseason stuff so quickly.

Yeah, congrats!