CowboyinAmerica

Ouch. But hey, a goal for Laflamme! That's awesome.

Seattle - We're only 14 games into the current VHL season, but it's safe to say that the biggest surprise in the league thus far might just be the Seattle Bears. Certainly, nobody expected the upstarts to take games from teams like Quebec, and really nobody expected the team to be sitting in playoff position ahead of Calgary this far into the season. It's been a hot, unexpected start. And few people have had a hotter start on the team than its number one draft pick. A common pick for Rookie of the Year, left winger Gabriel McAllister has lived up to the moniker, tallying 11 goals and 8 assists through 14 games. Those 11 goals places him first among Bears players and in a tie for sixth league-wide, and his 19 points are already fourth among left wingers. Among rookies alone, those points and goal totals are 5 more than his next closest competitors in each category. "I wasn't joking when I told y'all I'm here to play," McAllister told reporters after a recent win against Cologne. "I wanted to come in with a bang, and I've certainly done that. We'll see where I go from here, but it's absolutely a promising start."

Given how many good teams the franchise has had since the Kellinger/Rift teams, it's a bit surprising that Quebec actually has the longest non-Stockholm title drought in the league. S35 is it for Quebec titles.

Since I'm the only one without a goalie and I'm gone this weekend, going to take Torstein Ironside out of turn. Still @jRuutu

That's a nice win though. Goal #3!

Christ, 55 saves on 56 shots? Not much we can do about that.

Having lived in Minnesota for a year now, waiting for them to passive-aggressive you away...

Upvoted all - have a 4 year old account but I lurk, so figure it's best if I lay off.

F John Locke and F Gabriel McAllister (because why the hell not?) @Tagger

Just a thank you to whoever already updated the VHL button on the top bar to be Season 56. Much easier.

If Perought can keep playing like this, totally cool with everything else.

Lolol. Now that's one way to start a VHL career. Makes it three straight OT winners dating back to the VHLM Finals too.

Sigh. Even made your damn VHL player from Alabama, eh?

So no doubling a donation Free Week? Because that's exactly what I was planning on doing while out of town next week.

3-2 Dynamo

31 Legion vs Vikings 32 Bears vs Reign 33 Americans vs Express - Yeesh, this matchup 34 Titans vs Meute

Well that is certainly a depth chart

Seattle -- The draft is over, free agency is completed, and training camp is done. For Seattle Bears rookie Gabriel McAllister, it’s time for the next step: His first VHL game. “This is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I certainly enjoyed my time in Saskatoon and my teammates and the success there, but I’m ready for this new chapter,” McAllister told reporters after a recent practice in Seattle. “It might be a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m ready.” Those nerves may be because of the prospects of the team this season. Outside of McAllister, Seattle largely held firm during the offseason - and especially considering Calgary’s push for new talent, it’s not expected that the Bears will be a playoff team this season. And to hear McAllister tell it, that’s perfectly fine by him. “We’re building something for the long-term here; I don’t need to win right away,” McAllister said. “I’m happy with the trajectory that we’re on, and I imagine we’re going to be turning some heads here before too long.” With his performance in the VHLM, though, McAllister has already been turning heads. In addition to the Wild’s Founders Cup win, McAllister was named Playoff MVP for the second straight year. Those accolades have led to a lot of Rookie of the Year buzz, but McAllister won’t let that get to him. “The awards are nice, but that’s not what I’m after. It’s to grow and to play to the best of my ability this year. If I do that, I expect the rest will fall nicely in line.”

The Hall of Fame in Recent Years by Team Waiting for the draft, I began to wonder – what exactly did I want Gabriel McAllister’s career to be? I could try and aim for the Hall of Fame, but Hans Wingate already summited that mountain. I could go for as many titles as possible, but Wingate’s four would be hard to pass there too. I could get my number retired by some franchise – but despite only being in Toronto three seasons, Wingate managed that also. Eventually I landed on the following: I wanted McAllister to be the face of a franchise. One career I think hasn’t held up over history but was extremely impressive was that of Brennan McQueen – not just because of the high hit and TPE totals, but also being the king (queen?) of Riga for all eight seasons. I thought that’d be fun to do with McAllister, and I hope to do so in Seattle over the next eight seasons. But that got me thinking – who are the faces of the franchise for each player in recent memory? Or to ask the question a different way, which teams have the most recent Hall of Famers attached to them? I decided to take a look using Baseball Hall of Fame rules, guessing which team’s “hat” each player would select upon induction. What I found is that, well, nobody’s really had a dry spell like I expected, including my own Seattle Bears. Helsinki Titans – S55, D Phil Hamilton The most recent inductee frontloaded his career, winning two cups in his first two seasons and two Labattes by his fifth year. A well-deserved entry, Hamilton was one of many Titans enshrined during recent years, including goalie Greg Clegane that came two seasons before him. And given the back-to-back, there will likely be more in future seasons as well. Toronto Legion – S54, LW Zach Parechkin It’s not particularly surprising, given the success that Toronto had at the end of the ‘40s, that a few of their players have been enshrined recently. He was part of a core that included fellow Hall of Famers Max Molholt and Hans Wingate, and future Hall of Famer Black Velvet. Riga Reign - S54, G Sandro Clegane Sandro Clegane was my first real judgment call, given that he experienced a large amount of success in Seattle and Davos as well. But it was in Riga where Sandro won his only title, his MVP award and two of his three Top Goalie honors despite only playing there two seasons. If not Sandro, the most recent Riga Hall of Famer would be the aforementioned McQueen in Season 43. Seattle Bears – S52, C Felix Peters I partially cheated on Sandro to make Seattle last longer without a Hall of Famer, but that only actually lasted two more seasons. The Bears have had some down years since VHL expansion, but Peters represents the glory days when the franchise was dominating in the late ‘20s. It took him a while to make the Hall of Fame, but he was certainly worth the wait. Calgary Wranglers – S51, G Hans Wingate Yeah, Wingate may be more known for the three-peat, the first of its kind in VHL history. But he would go into the Hall in a Calgary uniform, where he won his first title, Shaw award, and Playoff MVP. Toronto has enough other representatives from that run, anyway. If not Wingate, Calgary easily has the longest Hall of Famer drought in the league, going back to Volodymyr Rybak in Season 37. New York Americans – S51, C Edwin Reencarnacion The Americans have had so much success in the past 25 seasons of the VHL, and so many top players, that it almost surprises me to see they’ve gone four seasons without a Hall of Fame entrant. Reencarnacion was easily the standout player of that Season 47 championship team, though, and many others on the team like Biggu Kyanon, Lloyd Light and Blake Campbell were good, but not quite there. HC Davos Dynamo – S50, D Mason Richardson Richardson may have won his only Continental Cup in Cologne, but given some animosity on the way out and his longer tenure in Davos, I believe the Dynamo get the nod here. Similar to New York, I’m somewhat surprised there haven’t been more Davos Hall of Famers in recent years, but fans of their past dominance may be surprised to hear they’ve only made one Finals since Season 39. Stockholm Vikings – S50, LW Lord Karnage I mentioned McQueen above, but Karnage would also be a good model for what I’m looking to do with McAllister, even though he was originally a GM Player. With TPE like crazy, Karnage didn’t see as much team success over his career, but he was loyal to a fault and put up some franchise records in Stockholm that will likely never be touched. Easily the best recent player for a franchise that hasn’t won it all in 30 seasons. Cologne Express – S49, C Bismarck Koenig What the hell franchise would Koenig want to represent him in the Hall of Fame? He hopped around to different cities like he was worried the ASIO was on his ass. Ultimately, I’m putting him in Cologne because it’s where he asked for a trade before Season 43, went to two straight finals, and began his eye-popping statistical career. If not Koenig, Cologne’s most entrant would be Thomas O’Malley one season earlier. Quebec City Meute – S47, C Aksel Thomassen It’s odd to me that Quebec has had the longest draught since having a Hall of Fame entrant, especially given the franchise’s success in recent years. It’s also odd to me that every single team has had at least one star in the Hall of Fame in the past 10 seasons. But despite a few championship back-to-backs, it has been an era of relative parity in the VHL in recent years, and this trend proves it. Here’s to hoping for more parity and strong teams moving forward into the future.

D Aleksei Federov and D Hudson Abbott @Tagger

Eww first pick. Don't like that. I'll go F Theo Axelsson. Tagging @Tagger

Let's do it

False.

Wooo! Only the second two-time VHLM Playoff MVP (damn you Atticus von Braxton). Also Corco robbed for Top Executive, even if you're not taking Playoffs into account.