Alternate reality, what if?

[jRuutu 2,426]

 

Seasons 61 and 62 are important in the history of Vancouver Wolves. Beau Louth and Rauno Palo were drafted during those seasons. In the eyes of many, Louth was always the number one center as he was ready to play at a high level right after getting drafted. However, despite a slower start, Palo developed into a more than a serviceable player.

 

Over the years, Louth and Palo formed one of the best center duos in the recent history of VHL. Louth played his whole career in Quebec/Vancouver, 504 games with 554 points. Palo played the majority of his career with Louth in Quebec/Vancouver. However, last two seasons of his career Palo played in Riga. Palo scored 569 points in 577 career games.

 

What if Palo did not get drafted by Quebec in the season 62 draft?

 

As mentioned, Louth was always going to be a star. Louth had the potential and talent. Louth was drafted a year earlier, which allows us to speculate whether teams, in general, would consider targeting another center in the upcoming draft. Quebec saw enough in Palo and picked him fourth overall, so they did not just draft another center some point in the draft, they drafted one with their first pick in the draft.

 

To throw few names out there. Dan Montgomery was drafted 6th overall. Dan was a skilled two-way defender, he had 460 points in 575 career games. Jake Davis was picked 10th overall. Perhaps the biggest steal of the draft, Davis went on to score 681 points in 576 games. If you had a crystal ball then, quite a few more than likely would have taken Davis over Palo as an elite offensive winger like Davis could have used in the same line with Louth.

 

Want to know something interesting? Davis was traded to Quebec/Vancouver at some point. Davis played three seasons there between S64 and 66.

 

 

In retrospect, fans who followed Quebec/Vancouver during those years are perhaps happy that Louth and Palo ended up playing together. The championship in season 67 ended an 11 season-long wait as Quebec's previous championship at that point came in season 56.

 

Palo and Louth were the team's top scorers that year. Palo had 110 points, Louth 98. Hall of Famer Julius Freeman was third with 78, which further shows the level of chemistry and talent Palo and Louth had during their absolute prime seasons. Despite rarely playing together on 5v5, during the powerplay Louth and Palo caused havoc. Palo had 50 points in the powerplay alone, Louth had 48. Numbers that I don't think we have seen too many times since.

 

In the playoffs, Beau Louth was the one who dominated. Louth had 28 points in 18 games, which was 10 points more than defender Glade had.  Freeman had 17 points, and Palo 16.  What makes Louth's dominance even more impressive is the fact that he was the only player in the whole playoffs who managed to score more than 20 points.

 

Vancouver won the championship by beating Helsinki 4-2. After the season was over, Louth announced his retirement, and Palo was traded to Riga during the season, the duo was broken, great chapter of Wolves history was over.

 

 

Would the season 67 championship be a possibility without Palo? It would have been, Louth was on fire and the team had players like Freeman, Glade, and Wolfe who were more than capable of getting things done offensively.  The mentioned Davis was not in the team anymore during season 67, but if he was and it was Davis who was picked fourth overall in S62, Vancouver would have been a dangerous team.

 

If Louth was playing on a high level right away after getting drafted, so was Davis. 70 points during the rookie season, two 80+ point seasons after that, and two 100+ seasons in seasons 65 and 66.  The point I'm trying to make is that if the Wolves had Davis in the team early, that would have meant roughly 40 points more per season as Palo was still figuring things out after he was drafted. Someone like Davis could have pushed Wolves even further in the playoffs in the early '60s, which could have translated into few more championships.

 

The impact of Palo was not only about points. When we analyze his career deeper, he was one of the best faceoff takers in the league year after year. If we go back to season 67, center Gary Scott was recently drafted. Scott more than likely would have not played as high level behind Louth then. The depth in the middle that Palo provided was something you might not be able to measure.

 

In the end, despite clear positives that came with having Palo in the team, Palo was a luxury player. Someone who had the potential to tilt the scale, unfortunately for many Wolves fans, Palo took a lot longer to reach his prime than players such as Davis did. It's fair to suggest that there were at least one or two better players for different positions drafted after Palo. Those players could have done more for Vancouver on the ice, especially early on.

 

 

Only very few have access to crystal ball, the rest of us have to look back and see what happened. When you take that into consideration, Louth and Palo playing together was an option that was safe and exciting at the same time. Louth was already on the team and making steady progress. Palo was seen as a two-way center who might never reach his potential in VHL. Palo was a center that you could see in the second or third line someday. He was still a reach of a pick at 4th overall.

 

When we look back to the careers Louth and Palo ended up having, when we think about VHL now, how often we see two skilled centers play together in the same team, players who can run their lines and also play together?

 

The versatility, the skill, and the dedication - all ingredients for a memorable story. A story that would have not been written if Palo never made it to Quebec.

 

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[jRuutu 2,426]

 

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