Note: This was originally ment as a VSN article last season that never got finished in time. While the information on this article is outdated, the interesting topic and effort put in on my part merits publishing this article even in a state never ment to be seen. Enjoy!
I believe that I mentioned in a pervious article a common quote amoung us scouts. "It doesn't matter where a prospect comes from.If they love hockey, they will have a home in the VHL." Indeed a simple search through the record of active VHL players is enought to see many players who stand alone as the only representative of their nation. They range from grizzled vets approaching retirement to prospects who are trying to break into the league. It is time to tell the stories of players who carry a nation.
What better place to start than with the centers. Starting out for the first these young guns is a obvious player for an article. This member of the S90 draft class is famous for being the first hockey player from his country to sign up for VHL play. That player is Xiver Zilla. The Maltese-American,while born on the Mediterranean island,was raised in just as unlikely hockey market that is Atlanta, Georgia. All joking aside, it was in Atlanta that he fell in love with the game that would lead to playing college hockey for Northeastern University and eventually join the San Diego Marlins.Currently Xiver is amoung the point leaders for Vasteras Iron Eagles while waiting for his promotion to the New York Americans. Malta has a bright young star who should carry the flag for many years to come.
The other young center who is carrying their country comes from a little country.This is Phillip Rave. His mother is one the 40,000 individuals that call Lichtenstein home. He would be raised in the micro European nation where he developed a love for skiing. Failing to qualify for the Olympic in that event would be a major turning point. He would get back to skating, join an Austrian semi-pro hockey league, and eventually follow Xiver Zilla example and play for the Marlins where he is today. He may have missed his chance at Olympic glory but he can still make his nation proud as he carries the flag into the VHL.
Moving in to left wing, there is a good mix of experience and youth at this position. Bringing that experience is a grizzled veteran on his way to retirement. This player is Hockley Mann. He claims to be from Tuvalu, alought exactly how one of the around 11,000 people that call the South Pacific Island home ended up playing ice hockey is a mystery. Perhaps the archive is incomplete or this random place is a joke at my expense. What is recorded is that Hockley started play with Miami Marauders where he would win the Ethan Osborne Trophy in S83. The member of the S82 draft class would would spend two seasons in the VHLE for Bratislava and Cologne. Hockley Mann would make his VHL debut with New York for one season before spending another lone season with Helsinki before speeding two seasons in Malmo. Currently, Hockley is spending his final season with the Vancouver Wolves looking to leave the game on top. We will have to wait and see if Hockley can carry his nation to a championship.
The other left winger is a much younger, comes from a part of the world about as opposite from the South Pacific as can be, and is a bit monstrous. Grimgor Ironhide is a black orc straight out the Warhamner 40K universe who ended up on Heard Island and McDonald Islands, a remote and uninhabited Anartic Islands belonging to Australia. How he got to civilization and why he decided to play VHL hockey is a complete mystery. What is clearly known is that Grimgor is currently having a fantastic season for the Mississauga Hounds. With over one hundred points just over halfway into s90, Grimgor is looking like a top prospect going into the S91 VHL Draft. He caries his flag well even if he is carrying it alone.
Sliding across to right winger and there is another young S91 prospect looking to carry their nation with aplomb. Ant R Sap comes from Guadeloupe, a French controlled archipelago of just under 400,000 inhabitants. Again I have no information on how or why a random person from a Caribbean island decided to play VHL hockey. Perhaps I am not ment to know. Perhaps chasing the mystery is better that solving the mystery. but Back to Ant because he has been solid as a member of Philadelphia Reapers. Ant isn't that last ice hockey player on this article to come from tropical Caribbean. Perhaps the story of the invasive snowbird settling in the Caribbean are true.
Speaking of the Caribbean, that is where the next right winger comes from. Macdonalds BigMac was born in Trinidad and Tobago the most southern of the Caribbean Islands. His family was poor but watching some kids play street hockey got him interested in the sport. That interest turned into playing for various rec and traveling teams with a move to Florida helping out his development. He would join the local VHLM team, the Miami Marauders, for a solid S87. He has spent his last three seasons in the VHLE, two with Istanbul then moved with the team to Stockholm for the current season.The Toronto Legion prospect has been steady and consistent with his development and will are him nation proud when he makes the VHL.
On to the blueliners where the last of the Caribbean crew can be found. Deron Nesbitt is listed as hailing from Saint Kitts a small island with just under 35,000 people. Yet again I have no information on Deron's live per VHL.There is a substantial career to review. He started his career in Mexico City in S81 Was draft to Ottawa in the S82 VHLM Draft. His VHL Draft came in S83 and that season was spent in the VHLE with Cologne. He would be called up to Helsinki were he would stay for two seasons before being shipped to six different teams in seven seasons. In that stretch he has played for,Davos, Seattle, Toronto, Prague, Moscow and London, where he is today. The tragic thing is the Deron has been on the the last two Victory Cup winning teams but has not tasted the Continental Cup. Hopefully he can get that championship before he is forced to retire from carrying his nation everywhere next season.
The other defender on this article is significantly younger from the pervious player and hails from Europe. Admir Bala was born in Bern,Switzerland to a pair of Albanian athletes. Having the athletic abilities of his parents and loving SC Bern, it was only a matter of time before he was playing for the Swiss National League side. But the VHLM came calling and Admir would join the Halifax 21st on waivers in S85.He would be drafted in the VHLM draft by Saskatoon the next season before being traded to San Diego where he would spend the rest of that season, winning the Founder's Cup, and all of the next season. S88 would see promoted to the VHLE and the Oslo Storm. He would win the Renaissance Cup that season and would spend one more season with the Storm in the E. S90, the current season, see Admir in his first VHL season with the Prague Phantoms. Can he win the Continental Cup this season and complete the rare achievement of winning championships at every level of play two years apart from each other. It is an successful way to carry a nation, I suppose.
Time to round out this article with a look at every teams favorite player, the goaltenders. Clueless Wallob's home is listed as Bhutan, a mountainous South Asian country between India and China. Yet again I am clueless as to how this wallob got to the VHLM in the first place. Starting with what is known, Wallob joined the San Diego Marlins during on waivers during S82 and would stick with them after being selected by the Marlins 2nd overall in the VHLM draft. His VHL Draft season would see him spend his only season in the VHLE with the Geneva Rush. The next season would see Wallob called up to the Prague Phantoms where he would spend the next four seasons.Trades in S89 and S90 would see him traded to Moscow and Seattle, respectively. Much like Deron Nesbitt, Wallob has been on the last two Victory Cup winning teams with no Continental Cup. He is even the most recent recipient of the Aidan Shaw Trophy and the Greg Clegane Trophy with no championship to his name. He still has some time left to carry his nation to the top of the mountain.
Finally on to the last player featured on this article. Henry Tucker Jr claims Cocos Islands, a small archipelago in the Indian Ocean controlled by Australia. Unlike Grimgor's home there is a settlement of under 600 people living on these islands. For a final time, the lack of any pre VHL records vexes me. What is on record is that Henry would join Halifax of waivers in S83 before being selected 1st overall by Mexico City in the S84 VHLM Draft. His VHL Draft season would Henry up in the VHLE for the Oslo Storm. in his most successful season to date,He would help lead the Storm to a Renaissance Cup championship and He would receive the Florida Man Trophy for his efforts. Afterwards he was called up to Riga where he remains five seasons later. Henry has been a consistent goaltender and has carved out a good career for himself. He has indeed carried his country well.
And the long road finally reached it's endpoint. What has been learned a cross this journey. Top talent can come from anywhere in the world. Even places where humans are rare or nonexistent can produce iconic hockey players. While many of the stores of how these players are lost to time, what they have achieved and where they have tread should be remembered, so that children of the locations can continue to carry their county into the future. For VSN
Scouting this is Will3 signing off
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