Part 6 before and since: S64 & S65 Toronto Legion

[ROOKIE745 614]

Oh my god we've done it!! We've reached the last part of this series! I don't know if I'll ever do back to back cup winners ever again, in this kind of format at least, think I'd like to break it up next time. Anyway for the finale we have my favorite position in hockey, the goalie, or goalies in this case. We actually have three to talk about, yes three. To spoil it a little bit Norris in season 64 was playing in his last year, and JB Rift played one lone game in the season 65 playoffs, and all it takes is one game to get covered here. So without any further waiting lets finish this series.

 

S64 Goalie

Norris Stopko

VHLM: ???

So if you read the defensemen posts you'll know for quite a few of them I couldn't find there VHLM stats and that goes for Stopko to. I couldn't find his draft position either and since there's VHLM awards of his page either I really have no info on his time in the M.

 

VHL: Stockholm Vikings-Calgary Wranglers-Toronto Legion

This might as well be the true start here, drafted 18th overall by Stockholm his first season he was actually a starter, however he was in for a tough season, just 3 wins, 57 losses and 4 overtime losses, he also had 1 shutout in there. His save percentage was good though, .915 but his goals against average was high as you'd expect, 3.9, 242 goals scored on 2862 shots he faced in his rookie season. He played 3718 minutes in total. No surprise that there was no playoffs for him or the team. I presume in the offseason he was traded as next season he was in Calgary, he had a record of 23-34-8 with 3 shutouts and played in 65 games. Like last season he had a save percentage of .915 but a much better goals against average of 2.43. He played 3950 minutes in his second season and faced 1872 shots. Entering the last season of the 50's Calgary continued to improve, a record of 29-31-4 with 6 shutouts in 64 appearances. His save percentage was great at .924 and his GAA was almost the same as last season at 2.44. He played 3883 minutes and faced 2089 shots. 

 

Entering the S60's Calgary was looking to make there mark, and that would start with Stopko leading them to 35 wins, a full record of 35-28-1 with 6 shutouts again and 65 games played in. Save percentage was .923 and GAA was 2.29. 3818 minutes and 1888 shots were faced his way. For the first time in his career he would get to play in the playoffs, a record of 4-3-2 in 9 games played he had a .934 save percentage and a GAA of 1.97 from the 301 shots he faced, he had 1 shutout as well. Season 61 would be a big career year for him, a record of 49-14-1 with 14 shutouts in 65 games. Career high save percentage of .932 and career low GAA of 1.64. 3888 minutes played and 1569 shots faced. Only 106 pucks got past him that season. In the playoffs they would go far, 14 games played and a record of 7-6-1, save percentage of .926 and GAA of 2.47. While they didn't win the cup in the playoffs they did win the victory cup as the best regular season team, Stopko also won the Aidan Shaw Trophy, Dustin Funk Trophy, Greg Clegane trophy, and the Brett Slobodzian trophy. Season 62 would be another season to remember, with an outstanding record of 55-6-3 in 64 games and 9 shutouts. He didn't even loose 10 games!! .928 save percentage and GAA of 1.83. 3859 minutes played 1644 shots faced. In the playoffs it took them 13 games to win the cup, 8-5-0 record for Stopko, .923 save percentage, 2.83 GAA and 1 shutout. On top of both the Victory and Continental cups, Stopko won the Aidan Shaw and Greg Clegane trophies.

 

At this point Stopko is a sure fire lock for the hall of fame but he's still got two more seasons left to play. His last season in Calgary saw the team take a bit of a dive, although not out of the playoffs, and the played Stopko hard that season. Playing in 67 games and having 4009 minutes on ice while also facing 1834 shots, he had a record of 46-16-4 with 7 shutouts. He had a .915 save percentage for the third time in his career and GAA of 2.32. In the playoffs Stopko played hard and the team was no pushover, 12 games played with a record of 6-4-2 and 1 shutout. .938 save percentage and 2.5 GAA. Stopko did win one trophy this season, that being the Daisuke Kanou for playoff MVP. I can only guess that Calgary was on a downward trend or was going ti tear it all apart soon and wanted to give Norris Stopko one more chance at a cup so they sent him to a fellow Canadian team, the Toronto Legion. In his final season he played 58 games and posted a record of 29-21-7 with 3 shutouts. He faced 2095 shots and had a save percentage of .930 and a GAA of 2.52. In his last post season he went out with a bang, 12 games played, 10 wins, 2 looses both in regulation, and 1 shutout. A crazy good save percentage of .940 and a GAA of 2.51, he got to skate with the cup one more time while being named playoff MVP for a second time in a row and got the Aidan Shaw trophy as well. With 512 games played Stopko had a final record of 269-207-32 and 49 shutouts, career save percentage of .922 and goals against average of 2.41. In the playoffs he played a total of 60 games and had a record of 35-20-2 with 4 shutouts. Playoff save percentage .932 and GAA of 2.48. He had one hell of a career.

S65 Goalies Johnny Havenk Carison VHLM: Yukon Rush Carison was drafted 12th overall in season 61 by the Yukon Rush. He would play 38 games and gain a crazy good record of 31-6-1, a save percentage of .902 and GAA of 2.02. Despite only playing a little more than half the games, splitting the net with fellow net minder Greg Santos, who by the way also had 30 plus wins that season. Carison would win the Benoit Devereux trophy but despite this we would never play a post season game that season, with the Rush trusting Santos instead.   VHL: Toronto Legion-Malmo Nighthawks Toronto was in need of a goaltender for season 62 and with them drafting Carison third overall that season there was high expectations for the young net minder. He would play 63 games and get a record of 22-33-6 with 2 shutouts. .913 save percentage and GAA of 3.1, no playoffs that season. I'm guessing Carison was progressing as much as they would hope as he would find himself in a backup role next season. Playing just 11 games and a record of 8-1-0 with 2 shutouts. .929 save percentage and 1.72 GAA, again no playoff action for Carison. Season 64 roles around and Carison is still a backup. Playing 16 games this time he got a record of 9-5-1 with 2 shutouts again. .915 save percentage and GAA of 2.47. As we know Toronto did win the cup this season, I didn't have Carison on the S64 roster because I go by who played in the playoffs, but Carison did get the S64 cup as well. Season 65 would finally see Carison return to being a starter since as mentioned before Stopko had to retire from the VHL. 64 games played, 41-17-6 record with 4 shutouts, .919 save percentage and 2.6 GAA. For the first time in his VHL career he got to play in the VHL post season. 12 games played, 8-3-1 record, .931 save percentage and 2.53 GAA. A second cup for him and he won the Daisuke Kanou trophy. Despite things looking up for him he would move to a different team, joining Malmo for the final season that he would play he played 65 games gaining a record of 27-35-2 with 5 shutouts. .917 save percentage and 2.86 GAA. Carison was unsigned after and was never picked up by another team thus ending his career with just five seasons played.   JB Rift VHLM: Ottawa Lynx Well if it wasn't for that one game Rift played I wouldn't be talking about him here and now. Drafted 22nd overall in season 63 by the Ottawa Lynx, Rift would play 38 games and post a record of 10-27-1, numbers of .862 and 3.88. No playoffs. Taking over as starter in season 64 Rift played 62 games and recorded 41 wins, 15 looses and 6 overtime looses. .901 save percentage and 2.35 GAA. In the playoffs 6 games played, 2-4-0, .865 save % and 4.97 GAA. He won the Benoit Devereux trophy that season and would make his way to the big leagues next season.   VHL: For the last time I have to say this in this series, I was unable to find his VHL draft position, I think it's safe to assume Toronto did draft him though as it was the team he was joining. Being a backup he only played 8 games, winning 6 of them with one shutout in tehre and getting 2 looses, one of them in overtime. .914 save % and 2.23 GAA. He made one appearance in the playoffs in S65 where he came in in a game that was already lost, so the loss is not on his record, .875 save % and 2.66 GAA. Of course that season they won the cup so a happy ending. Next season Rift took over as the new starter in Toronto, with a record of 30-30-5 in 65 games and securing 3 shutouts. .907 save % and 3.13 GAA, the Legion missed the playoffs that year. Season 67 was a big one for Toronto, Rift played 64 games and posted a record of 47-10-7 with 4 shutouts and a save percentage of .927 and 2.3 GAA. In the post season 5 games played and 1 win and 4 looses, 1 in extra time. .880 save % and 3.98 GAA, so not a great showing after such an incredible regular season. Despite the poor performance in the playoffs there was tons of awards for him and the team, the Victory cup for the team, Dustin Funk, Greg Clegane, and Aidan Shaw trophies for Rift.   Season 68 was a huge drop off for the team and signal that things were changing in Toronto. Another 64 games played with a record of 26-24-14, yes 14 overtime or shootout looses. Two shutouts that season with a .912 save percentage and 2.83 GAA. They did make the playoffs and played 6 games, Rift only winning 2 of them, one was a shutout, while loosing one in extra time and the rest in regulation. .923 save % and 2.66 GAA. Finishing up the S60's with the Toronto Legion, it would also be in last in blue. Another 64 games played, 28-31-5 with 5 shutouts. In the post season Toronto made a better effort than the last two seasons, going 7 games deep with Rift playing off 7, 3-3-1 with a .905 save percentage and 2.98 GAA. While Toronto was seeming to do better in the post season the team was still seeming to be on a downward trend and Rift near the end of his career, the choice was made trade him.   Landing in Calgary for season 70 Rift's record saw a big jump, 35-23-6 with 6 shutouts in 64 games. .916 save % and 2.38 GAA. Calgary went on a very deep run in season 70, Rift playing all 18 games and winning 10 of them with 3 shutouts to boot, loosing 2 of the other 8 games in extra time. His best numbers in the playoffs yet he had a .926 save percentage and 2.2 GAA. Despite the amazing season and post season in Calgary Rift wouldn't stay, instead signing as a free agent with the DC Dragons for his final season. 34-19-9 with 5 shuouts was his record in his final 64 games played in the regular season. A .910 save % and 2.55 GAA to go along with that. In the post season a tough seven game series saw him loose for one final time in the playoffs. 3 wins and 4 looses, none in OT. .916 save percentage and 2.71 GAA. That was it for Rifts career, he's probably one of youngest players that was apart of one of the cup wins, and I mean that in terms of career, pretty sure he's only one of a handful that played games in the S70's. Great goaltender with a great name.   (word count 2167)

Edited November 2, 2021 by ROOKIE745

[ROOKIE745 614]

second claim for Nov. 7th.

[ROOKIE745 614]

third claim Nov. 14th