10 Retired Players Who Would Have DESTROYED the VHLE (You Won't Believe #4!)

[Gustav 6,097]

*Theme week noises*

 

I suppose it's a relief that this theme week actually fell on a week where I'd need to do a PT anyway, and it's the first such week in a while where I didn't already have my stuff written up and posted before the announcement came out. So...let's talk about the VHLE! We can get into the technicalities all we want, we can argue our cases or whatever, we can do articles on teams (in fact, I got up to this sentence intending to write a far more boring article about team names in which I advocated for teams like the Hammerfest Hammerheads, and, of course, everyone's favorite, the NUUK NUKES), but I decided to dig into the portal a bit and even take a walk down memory lane as I bring up a list of players who I believe would have been great in the VHLE had it existed earlier.

 

There aren't any defining criteria for this list; I'll just be taking past players who ended up at or near 400 TPE in their time and writing about them. Bonus points if these players are from now-inactive members who may have stuck around with the E league, and bonus points if their players did particularly well in either the minors or on the big level, but neither of those things is a requirement here. Also, this isn't in any particular order, because I'm too lazy to rank these and it would be too subjective anyway. Also because I'm too lazy, this list only involves players off the portal.

 

 

10. Thorvald Gunnarson | S67 | G | @Saelven88

 

Gunnarson looked like a steal fairly early on when he was picked 34th overall in the entry draft by New York. He was a decent earner, not maximum but doing well enough that he could have ended up as a starter on an OK team at some point. He dropped into inactivity a couple times, with the last time being...well, I guess, obviously the last time, as he peaked at 408 TPE. Because of the reasonably-OK TPE level and the inactive bit, Gunnarson actually managed to carve out a decent career as a backup for 6 seasons, barely scraping together the starts he legally had to make but in the end posting an overall record of 30-26-8 with a .907 SV% and a 2.91 GAA. Furthermore, a nice thing to point to when talking about VHLE potential is his performance in the minors, where he went 70-28-11 with Halifax over two seasons.

 

 

9. Keith Krestanovich | S72 | RW | @Boragina

 

Krestanovich marked the return of a longtime VHL member who had thrown together some decent careers in the past. While a welfare player from the start, he was consistent enough to make it up to the big leagues, putting together a 55-point season with London in S74 but otherwise filling minor roles. As the type of earner he was, Krestanovich would likely have spent a couple seasons in the E league, and as a consistent player over three seasons with Saskatoon in the minors, a Euro team could realistically expect similar performance.

 

 

8. Basaraba Moose | S64 | D | @Toasty

 

I have not-so-fond memories of Moose from my days in the VHLM, where I sat around trying to make Jerry Garcia good while watching Moose beat me in everything imaginable. Going 28th overall in S64, Moose lived up to the hot prospect hype by putting together a show in the VHLM in S65, where he came away with 34 goals, 91 points, and almost 250 hits. It was no surprise that Malmo was happy to bring him up the following season, where he started a largely consistent 4-season VHL career that he walked away from with 150 points and fairly respectable defensive numbers. His career ended at 385 TPE, putting him in prime territory for the E league, and after his show of development league mastery in S65, makes him a good case of what could have been.

 

 

7. Zeno Miniti | S67 | C | @Zeno

 

If I went through all the trouble of making this a ranked list, Miniti would probably be up a bit higher. Though he never cracked 400 TPE in his career, he put up one absolutely dominant season in the VHLM (a 134-point effort in S67) and went on to play five seasons up in the bigs--three of which were actually pretty decent. He put up 67 points in his rookie year with Prague, and after a couple with a step back from that point, finished up his career with 58 in Toronto and 72 points in Warsaw's inaugural season. This was a player who managed to do well in the big league at an E-league TPE level, so why wouldn't he have done well in the E league?

 

 

6. Scotty BigShotty | S67 | C | @FerdaJets

 

From one S67 center to another we go here. This is a name I remember from way back in my VHLM scouting days, and I want to say there's some specific reason why I remember this player or member in particular, but I can't think of what that is given that they never played for me. BigShotty is a slightly less statistically impressive Miniti, though one whose career followed just about the same path. Starting with a solid VHLM season in S67, he came into the league with 52 points for Prague in S68 and ended his career on the S73 Warsaw squad, where he also had his best season with 64. Because of the fact that he played in similar situations (and often the same ones entirely) to Miniti and produced comparably, it is only fair that he gets a mention in this article as well.

 

 

5. Bobby Wyman | S72 | D | @Lefty_S

 

And here we have it, the first player on our list with an agent who's still active. Wyman is an interesting case because, unlike many players here who fizzled out and were used for some time after, he managed to maintain some level of activity through most of his career. Originally signed by (and drafted to) Saskatoon in the minors, he would go on to be a valuable three-season asset for the Wild and by S73 was putting up great numbers on both ends of the ice. Once his rights there had expired, Wyman would play S74 with Yukon, breaking the VHLM cap there but going inactive long enough that he was never extended by Riga. Fortunately, he was dragged back into the league before S75, and spent the next two seasons playing up for Davos. While never an offensive player, Wyman impressed physically, piling up close to 600 hits in just two seasons in the big league, and the fact that he stuck around for a good while as an active player suggests that he'd have a guilt-free large role on any E roster.

 

 

4. Will Clarke | S69 | D | @Will

 

I tried to make #4 on our list not disappoint, and I hope Clarke lives up to that expectation. Unlike many VHLM players, he never needed a season to develop to an elite level--his S68 campaign with San Diego ended with 97 points, and upon being traded to Mississauga, he put up 108 with a squad that would make the final round of the playoffs. Though his big-league numbers weren't super impressive, he did manage to be a member of the cup-winning team in each season from S70 to S72, starting with Moscow, making a stop in Seattle, and then finishing out with Riga for three straight. Despite having the means to earn a good bit more, Clarke suffered from some degree of inconsistency and finished his career with 401 TPE--which would make most of his career prime VHLE material. And given his minors performance, there's reason to believe that he'd be quite good there.

 

 

3. Nate Wright | S68 | C | @73MPL4R

 

Wright spent seven seasons between the minors and the big show, and though his TPE peaked out a bit lower than the rest at 340, he put up some solid performances and would likely have spent a good while in the E league had it existed during his tenure. Starting out with Yukon, Wright spent two seasons in the minors before heading out to Mississauga and exploding for 102 points for that season's second-place team. Upon making it up, he spent three seasons in Malmo before moving out to join the Stars in S73, totaling 108 points in mostly lesser roles. Could his minor-league performance have continued had he been able to play in the E league? Quite possibly.

 

 

2. Bert Meyers | S66 | C | @RunnerBert11

 

Meyers is a very extreme example of a bright spot in the league's past who could have been a very bright spot of its future had he stuck around...but the problem there is that he didn't exactly stick around. Coming into the league in S65, right around the time I did, Meyers was pretty much just about as active as I was at the start--and I lived here. He'd max out his earning every week and went 15th overall in a historically deep draft in which 12-a-week players could be found far beyond the first round. And then one week, he disappeared out of nowhere at 395 TPE and was never seen again. His player, however, had developed to a point where he could be used in depth roles, and as such he was present on big-league rosters for a full six seasons, starting off in Helsinki and making his way around the league for five different teams. Though aside from a 55-point rookie season, he was not very noticeable on the stat sheet, he did exist for quite a while at a level which would have made him one of the E league's top players, year in and year out.

 

 

1. Nicolas Fomba | S69 | G | @efiug

 

Fomba is one of the more recognizable names on this list, and that's because he's the rare lower-tier goalie who worked his way into a starting role at some point, spending S73 as the main man in Warsaw. Though his career ended at 406 TPE, efiug has never been one to go completely inactive, sticking around and earning enough that he could be started guilt-free on an E league team. Though his big-league career ended at 33-46-8, it's important to note that he played for bad teams (with Warsaw's inaugural season making up the majority of his starts) and that he managed to put on a 150-77-13 show in the minors. So, would the E league have been Fomba's sweet spot? It's quite possible considering that he was kicked around somewhat in the VHL. 

 

 

That's it for this one, I suppose. Hope it's enjoyable!

1,783 words | 3 weeks pls

[Lefty_S 91]

"Active"

 

 

Also wow, I think this is the first time I've been mentioned in a VHL article lol

[a_Ferk 760]

Honorable mention: Aleelee Kiak. Finished his career at 494 TPE and spent much of it in that 300-400 range. Won a cup with Seattle. Pretty shocking to see Will of all people on this list, and I agree with Lefty that's it's pretty funny you called him active. Love the title reference, another solid article Gustav. 10/10. Also what would theme week noises sound like? 

[Gustav 6,097]

18 hours ago, a_Ferk said:

Also what would theme week noises sound like? 

 

Use your imagination because I don't know either.

 

(week 2 claim btw)

[Gustav 6,097]

Week 3