Ansgar Snijider is an interesting case among VHL lore. Playing in an era dominated by forwards that provided both crushing hits and demoralizing goals, Snijider was one of the best in the league in both regards during his run as a player. In most other eras, he would be a shoe-in to make the Hall of Fame on the strength of his numbers, yet it took Snijider six seasons before finally receiving the long-deserved honor. Many focused on the fact that Snijider, although one of the best forwards the VHL has ever seen, was edged out just slightly by his constituents while playing in the league, which isn’t fair. No, today we pay respect to a man whose induction into the VHL Valhalla has been long overdue.
Career Awards:
S26 Dustin Funk Trophy (Most Improved Player)
S28 Terence Fong Trophy (Davos)
S29 Terence Fong Trophy (Davos)
S29 Grimm Jonsson Trophy (Top Leader)
S30 Terence Fong Trophy (Davos)
S30 Victory Cup (Davos)
S30 Grimm Jonsson Trophy (Top Leader)
S32 Victory Cup (Riga)
S32 Terence Fong Trophy (Riga)
Season 24 Statistics:
Regular Season (VHLM):
S24 (KOL) – 72GP / 36G / 46A / 82P / -6 / 68PIM / 149H / 329SH / 4GWG
Playoffs (VHLM):
S24 (KOL) – 6GP / 5G / 5A / 10P / +3 / 10PIM / 12H / 30SH / 0GWG
After being drafted seventh overall in the Season 24 Dispersal Draft by Kolari, Snijider instantly made a name for himself as a VHL prospect. He was over a point per game, while adding solid production with his physicality. He played to a minus, but was able to help Kolari make it to the playoffs nonetheless. It was in the postseason where Snijider showed his progress, netting ten points in six games while shooting 20%. He was able to parlay this success into being the first of Season 25’s “big four” of prospects to be selected come draft day, creating an instant rivalry with Kasey Braun, Jason White and Tukka Reikkinen. Snijider’s agent, Kyle Dowd, was named General Manager of the Riga Reign team that drafted him shortly thereafter.
Season 25 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S25 (RIG) – 72GP / 17G / 18A / 35P / +0 / 108PIM / 236H / 194SH / 1GWG
As most players that go straight to the VHL after being drafted learn, adjusting to the speed of the pro game is tough. Snijider’s Reign played their way to 70 points, third lowest in the league, but their young forward showed some legitimate promise in his first season. Ansgar tied with Kevin Hesje for the best plus/minus on the team, and although he was only able to score at a rate of about half a point per game, logging 236 hits in his first season was a huge success for the Dutch winger. Snijider wasn’t great, but he showed that he was on his way to being a contributing player in the VHL.
Season 26 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S26 (RIG) – 72GP / 53G / 54A / 107P / +11 / 81PIM / 243H / 495SH / 4GWG
Ansgar Snijider burst onto the scene in Season 26. His 53 goals and 107 points helped him to earn the Dustin Funk trophy as the league’s most improved player, While Riga improved to a solid 85 points in the standings. This wasn’t enough for the team to make the playoffs in the highly competitive European Conference, but it still showed that Snijider was capable of carrying a team and also that his agent Kyle Dowd knew what he was doing as a General Manager. Most importantly, however, this improvement gave Snijider the edge over his rivals as he was the first of the “big four” to win an individual award.
Season 27 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S27 (RIG) – 72GP / 54G / 58A / 112P / +39 / 118PIM / 331H / 461SH / 11GWG
Playoffs:
S27 (RIG) – 6GP / 4G / 2A / 6P / -5 / 14PIM / 28H / 28SH / 0GWG
No matter how you look at it, Ansgar Snijider had a sensational Season 27. He added onto his successful offensive performance of a year ago by scoring all over the league again, while also netting one more goal in 34 more shots. He was one of the best power forwards in the league as well with his 331 hits, and his superb 11 game winning goals helped lead Riga to their first postseason berth in the Snijider era. Unfortunately, Riga lost in the first round to the eventual champions in Helsinki. It was at this point where Snijider began to get lost in the mix; although he was coming off a second successful season, rival Tukka Reikkinen, who had already won a cup with Vasteras the year before, had a monster year, notching 152 points and winning every major award a forward can win. Snijider knew he had a lot to compete with, and decided that the best move would be to step down as GM while trading himself to the HC Davos Dynamo.
Season 28 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S28 (DAV) – 72GP / 43G / 46A / 89P / +41 / 130PIM / 272H / 450SH / 11GWG
Playoffs:
S28 (DAV) – 6GP / 1G / 3A / 4P / -1 / 4PIM / 10H / 36SH / 0GWG
Playing on a team that was ready to push for a Cup, Snijider saw his stats regress slightly. He saw his shot percentage dip to the wrong side of 10%, while also posting less hits. Still, it’s no question that Snijider had another strong season, finishing tied for second in the league with 11 game winning goals. Davos won the Terence Fong Trophy that season as the best team in the European Conference, but Snijider was once again done in in the first round after the advent of playoff crossover saw his team matching up against the New York Americans. Snijider played poorly in the postseason, and it seemed as if he was becoming lost in the mix against names like Nikolai Lebedev, Leeroy Jenkins and Tukka Reikkinen.
Season 29 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S29 (DAV) – 72GP / 41G / 59A / 100P / -4 / 94PIM / 256H / 557SH / 7GWG
Playoffs:
S29 (DAV) – 13GP / 7G / 4A / 11P / +2 / 30PIM / 55H / 74SH / 0GWG
In what was a down year for Davos, Ansgar Snijider established himself as the undisputed leader of this team. After three players posted 100+ point seasons on the Dynamo in Season 28, Snijider was the only player on the roster to reach the benchmark in the following season, as the team scored 75 goals less in Season 29 than they did the year before. Snijider’s shooting percentage may not have been great, but he tied for the team lead in goals and led the team in assists. Despite Snijider’s best efforts, which saw him win the Grimm Jonsson Trophy as the league’s best leader, Davos entered the postseason as the fourth seed. It was at this point that Snijider and Ying Qin came alive, as Davos won their opening series against the defending champions in Seattle on the legs of the two dynamite wingers. The magic ended when Davos lost to Toronto in six games, but that doesn’t change the fact that Snijider established himself as one of the best veteran leaders in the game.
Season 30 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S30 (DAV) – 72GP / 45G / 55A / 100P / +58 / 89PIM / 179H / 448SH / 10GWG
Playoffs:
S30 (DAV) – 4GP / 3G / 2A / 5P / +2 / 10PIM / 10H / 17SH / 0GWG
For the third straight year, Davos won the Terence Fong Trophy as the European Conference’s best team. For the second straight year, Ansgar Snijider finished with exactly 100 points. Thanks to improved contributions from his teammates, however, Davos was able to move up to the best record in the VHL, winning the Victory Cup for their troubles. Snijider was a much more efficient player on offense in Season 30, and although his physicality seemed to be leaving him, Davos players raved about his locker room demeanor, leading to a second consecutive Grimm Jonsson Trophy win. Unfortunately, Davos took a step back once the postseason rolled around, as the team was swept in the first round by Calgary. Snijider was getting older and, still without a Cup win, was growing desperate to taste VHL glory.
Season 31 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S31 (RIG) – 72GP / 51G / 49A / 100P / +45 / 103PIM / 327H / 523SH / 11GWG
Playoffs:
S31 (RIG) – 11GP / 6G / 4A / 10P / -2 / 21PIM / 50H / 84SH / 0GWG
After a few failed cup runs in Davos, Snijider decided to head back to where it all started when he signed with Riga in free agency. A model of consistency, Snijider managed to reach 100 points exactly for the third consecutive season. Playing on one of the most aggressive forechecks in the VHL, Snijider found his penchant for hitting again, finishing sixth in the league in hits. He led Riga to 111 points in the standings, tying Davos for the best record in Europe and setting up a scathing battle against his former team after an easy five game win over Helsinki in the first round. In one of the most painful defeats of Snijider’s career, Riga lost in six games to Davos; to make things worse, the Dynamo won the Cup in seven games over the New York Americans. Ansgar Snijider was forced to go into the last year of his career still without a Cup win.
Season 32 Statistics:
Regular Season:
S32 (RIG) – 72GP / 45G / 67A / 112P / +63 / 54PIM / 135H / 561SH / 9GWG
Playoffs:
S32 (RIG) – 11GP / 8G / 5A / 13P / -4 / 17PIM / 21H / 66SH / 2GWG
Going into his final season, Snijider decided to adjust his game. Rather than using his great skating ability to launch at other players, he began taking care of his body and making more plays on the open ice, resulting in him finally passing 100 points again. Riga finished the year as the best team in the VHL, logging 119 points despite playing in a conference that saw three different teams top 100 in the standings. With the best record, the Reign earned a first round bye, and easily took care of the Helsinki Titans in four games to set up what could finally be Ansgar Snijider’s Cup moment. Instead, New York was able to pull out the series in seven games, giving Tukka Reikkinen his second Cup while ending a long drought that would leave Riga with the longest cup-less spell in the league. Once again, Ansgar Snijider was that close, but just couldn’t grasp the glory.
Career Totals:
Regular Season:
576GP / 349G / 406A / 755P / +253 / 777PIM / 1959H / 3689SH / 64GWG
Playoffs:
51GP / 29G / 20A / 49P / -8 / 96PIM / 174H / 305SH / 2GWG
Despite being unheralded as a player during his career, there was never a time between Season 26 and Season 32 where Snijider’s name wouldn’t come up on the shortlist of best forwards in the VHL. He combined fantastic athleticism with a screamer of a shot and was able to succeed in the physical part of the game as well despite playing against some of the best checkers in the league’s history. Snijider may have been overlooked for awards during his career, but as the VHL’s newest Hall of Famer, there’s an honor that will help his name live in infamy.
So I have bad news, good news, bad news and good news. The bad news is, my internet problems should continue into this week. But the good news is that after I finish writing Kyle's HOF article, I'll get Episodes 9 and 10 up. But the bad news is that you lovelies would then have to wait a week for more episodes. But the good news is I organized all the episodes (each with titles now!) in the OP, so if you missed an episode, just stumbled upon Jurdy and Friends now or just wanted to look back at the past adventures of our heroes, go to the OP and have fun!
Graphics tournaments in the VHL have usually worked basically like that though and it's always the same thing. The last one I was in I made the best sig I'd ever made to that point for the second round and my reward was losing to Koradek by 15 instead of 25.
I really like the idea of putting the sigs in a poll each week and having people vote for the 2 worst or 4 worst of the week or whatever and doing the elimination that way. Maybe do them one by one once you get to like the top 6 or something. It also allows us to have less or more than 16 people.
Happy birthday VHL! It's hard to believe that, seven years ago today as Brooks hit "create forum" or whatever, Kesler was still just a baby at his mother's breast.
I'm actually gonna make a poll after Season 1's done for people to vote for new characters and Snedro is one of the characters I'm thinking of for that.
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