VHLE Theme Week S78

[Seabass 593]

Well it appears that the VHLE is a go, it's going to happen. Come Season 80 the VHL community will be introducing a unique third league with 6 exciting new teams, all based out Europe as the 'E' in VHLE stands for Europe as the community looks to expand their European presence. Many possible locations have been thrown about. Some cities that used to host past VHL teams like Stockholm, Vasteras and Cologne have been mentioned as early favorites to be selected. Other cities such as Oslo, St. Petersburg, Paris, Berlin and Rome have also all been featured in a recent league poll and have had their names officially thrown on the table by the VHL BoG. There's also been mention that locations like Madrid, Milan , Bratislava and Turku are also outliers as a possible team location.

 

Now the VHLE is expected to be a non-developmental league. That means the primary goal of this league is for all teams to be as competitive as possible and try and win at all cost instead of simply primarily focusing on player development like the VHLM. The VHL Commissioner have confirmed that stance in a announcement two weeks ago stating that the VHLE's purpose "is not to recruit and retain members " but "be competitive in their bracket". 

 

The VHLE will host players between the 200 and 400 TPE mark and the announcement from the league two weeks ago mentioned that teams "may use their assets as they please to get the most out of their teams and win". To me that seems like the use of inactives will also be fair game in what appears to be more of a free for all kind of league. Almost like a KHL of sorts which is what I feel like the league is trying to imitate by creating the VHLE. 

 

Below I will list my personal top six candidates for cities to host a VHLE Team.

 

1.  Vasteras

 

I feel like Vasteras is a shoe in for a VHLE franchise and is #1 in the VHL membership's hearts. Vasteras has a storied history in the VHL and they hosted a VHL team previous on two separate occasions. Once as the Vasteras IK between Season 1 and 15,  and the second time as the Vasteras Iron Eagles between Season 21 to 40.  As the Vasteras IK the city was host to one of the original/founder VHL franchises so Vasteras' history in the VHL goes as far back as the VHL birth itself. It has 3 of it's former players inducted in the VHL Hall of Fame, headlined by the legend and the undisputed G.O.A.T. of the VHL, Scotty Campbell himself. One of the other past Vasteras Hall of Famers is Mike Szatkowski who the Szakowski Trophy for the VHL's Top Point Getter is conveniently named after. There's a boat load of history in Vasteras and it's only fitting for them to once again host a team, even if it's isn't a VHL franchise this time around.  

 

2. Cologne

 

Like Vasteras, I feel like Cologne is almost guaranteed a spot in the VHLE. Cologne has some VHL history as well by hosting a team in the city for over 25 seasons as the Cologne Express between the Season 31 and 57. The Cologne Express peaked in S42 when they won their only championship and even has had a player inducted into the hall of fame in Kameron Taylor who was inducted back in Season 40. The location has drum up a ton of support and I hope they go back in time and revive the express brand as their logo with the iconic green steam engine at the front was actually pretty dope. 

 

3. Oslo

 

From the information I've heard is that Oslo used to host a VHLM team as they previously were home to the Storm before a relocation brought them over to Minnesota back in Season 65. I don't know if that's true or not since it happened while I wasn't in the VHL at the time, so if I'm wrong here please correct me. The name "Oslo Storm" is even listed on the Founder's Cup four times after the VHLM team won the championship in S28, S32, S57 and S61. Obviously Oslo will have to create themselves a new brand as the Storm is still being used by Minnesota to this day but that's all part of the fun with new franchises. Norway is in no way represented in the VHL currently and I feel like the northern nation has enough hockey love to support a VHLE franchise

 

4. Bratislava

 

Bratislava is another city that used to host a VHLM franchise in the past and it had a ton of success winning the Founder's Cup a total of 7 times (S52, S47, S41, S40, S36 and S33)in their 22 seasons as the Bratislava Watchmen peaking during their back to back championships in S40 and S41. Still, 7 championships in 22 seasons make the Watchmen one of the most successful franchises as they won a cup in 31% of their seasons played. The league has not been back to Slovakia since and the country is desperate to get themselves another team to host to be able to produce even more success. If they would return as the Watchmen I would look into creating a new logo from scratch however as I find their past logos were kinda bad. They're earlier logo featured some random dudes face and there wasn't much too him, the logo was legit just a human head/face sporting some sort of scorn, very boring and plain. They're most recent logo featured a lighthouse, while it looked more polished it was still kind of boring so I hope is Bratislava is selected as a location that they look into creating a new logo for the team. 

 

5 Minsk

 

Now here's one name that hasn't been mentioned and if it has it's barely been whispers. I left St. Petersburg off the list for a reason. I opted for more representation in some of the former soviet nations like the country of Belarus over Russia as the Russians are already being well represented by the Moscow Menace. Minsk would effectively put Belarus on the VHL map and the area has enough passion for the sport of hockey to be able to support a VHLE team, plus this would naturally give Bratislava a team to form a natural rivalry with. 

 

6. Stockholm

 

With the last team I was stuck picking between 3 contenders, another team in Russia (St. Petersburg), another team Sweden (Stockholm) or another swiss franchise (Bern). I wanted to spread teams to nations which weren't represented by any of the VHL or VHLM teams. I still ended up selected Stockholm for a VHLE location due to a few reasons. One of the reasons being that Stockholm used to host a VHL franchise on two separate occasions. Stockholm is better known for being the former home of the Stockholm Vikings which was in existence for 16 seasons between S41 and S57 but the main reason why Stockholm has my support is that i'm biased as a former member of the Stockholm Ram which moved on to become the Riga Reign early on in the league's history.  If a franchise does happen to make Stockholm their home I suggest that they abandon the Viking name and leave it perhaps to the Oslo team, which I find the use of Viking more fitting for.

 

Notable Teams left out:

 

1. Madrid, left out due to lack of real life hockey presence

2. Rome again lack of real life hockey presence

3. Paris once again lack of real life hockey presence

4. St Petersburg, due to Russia already having a VHL team

5. Bern, due to Switzerland already having a VHL team

 

1300 words plus, good for 2 PT

 

[Beketov 9,140]

5 minutes ago, Seabass said:

One of the other past Vasteras Hall of Famers is Mike Szatkowski who the Szakowski Trophy for the VHL's Top Point Getter is conveniently named after.

Beketov also played there with Szat so Vasteras history has at least 3 players with awards named after them.

[Seabass 593]

3 minutes ago, Beketov said:

Beketov also played there with Szat so Vasteras history has at least 3 players with awards named after them.

 Holy shit that's right, my bad dude

 

[Beketov 9,140]

10 minutes ago, Seabass said:

 Holy shit that's right, my bad dude

 

Oh I’m not remotely blaming you for forgetting, I think Bek was only there that one season, two at the most, so it’s not super memorable for most. Just found it interesting that at least 3 of our awards are named after former IK players.

[Baby Boomer 765]

9/10

It is a really good text for a lot of reason, but mostly because you are giving exemple on which cities should be in the VHLE. Also it is really easy to read, great paragraphs and well written. 

[Seabass 593]

Claiming the other half of this PT.

 

2/2