VSN Presents: VHL's All-Decade Team: S11-S20

[animal74 1,855]

Credit: @v.2

 

While you’re here be sure to check out some of the other recent VSN articles:

VHL's All-Decade Team: S1-S10 | S80 VHL Playoff Preview | S80 Trade Deadline Recap | The Seattle Bears Dynasty | Top 10 VHL Prospects| S80 Under 200 Power Rankings

 

 

Welcome back to Part 2 of our presentation of the VHL’s All-Decade Teams where we are naming the most impactful players in each of the league’s eight 10-season periods. We’ve tried to glean a player’s overall mark on the league in that particular decade. Slight preference has been given to careers played in the majority of said decade but others may have left an indelible mark on their comrades and the history books in just a few seasons. This was a wild decade, with much of the history lost, but with enough retained to get a glimpse of the ups and downs, mini-dynasties birthed and deceased, and one of the most offensively potent seasons in S20 in league history. An interesting tidbit: 11 of the Top 25 single-season point totals by a defenseman occurred in this decade. Indeed, S11-S20 is the only decade in league history in which every Labatte Trophy winner scored 100 or more points.

 

VSN’s thanks to the long-time members of the league that voted on the fringe inclusions: @Victor @sterling @tfong @Beketov @JardyB10 @.sniffuM @Mr_Hatter 

 

 

VSN Presents: The VHL’s All-Decade Teams:

S11-S20

 

Forwards

 

Grimm Jonsson, F, S11-S17 @sterling

GP: 504 PTS: 756, HOF

Perhaps one of the fiercest competitors in league history, Jonsson was a true warrior and also supremely skilled. He won three MVPs and three Top Leader awards (named after him later on), led the league in goals and points twice and led both the Americans and Bears each to a Continental Cup.

 

Carl Jacobs, F, S11-S18 @bobbylu

GP: 576 PTS: 798, HOF

Carl Jacobs was actually the highest scorer in the second decade with almost 800 points over his eight-year career. Despite having six consecutive 100-point seasons and being named an All-Star each of those six seasons, the only trophy Jacobs would get his name on was the Continental Cup with Helsinki in S15.

 

Mikka Virkkunen, F, S14-S20 @Matt

GP: 504 PTS: 777, HOF

The Finnish wunderkind’s finesse was a stark contrast to many of the physical stars of the decade. After a decent rookie campaign, he would go on to score 40 or more goals and be named an All-Star in each of his next seven seasons, scoring 100+ points six consecutive times (one outside of the decade). He led the league in goals and points in S18 while also being named MVP and MOP. He also won the Cup with Calgary that season and the next in addition to three Most Gentlemanly Player awards, an award which was renamed from the Francis Trophy to bear his name and promote his legacy. He still sits 10^th all-time with 881 points.

 

Matt Bailey, F, S12-S19 @Quik

GP: 576 PTS: 742, HOF

Possibly the most accomplished versatile star in VHL history, Bailey had equal success at forward and defense but we have him listed as a forward for this team due to three Boulet Trophies, the co-lead in goals in S14 and a Cup in S15. He was almost as dynamic as a defenseman, putting up one of his best seasons during his last campaign leading the league in assists, winning the Labatte Trophy as the best defenseman and winning his second Cup.

 

Leander Kaelin, F, S11-S16 @RawEnergy

GP: 427 PTS: 553, HOF

Blessed with an enviable combination of skill, grit, and leadership, Leander Kaelin started his career by winning the Rookie of the Year with an 82-point campaign in S11. He would go on to score no less than 30 goals in each of his six seasons, leading the league in goals twice while winning a Cup with Davos in S13 and a Boulet Trophy in his final season.

 

Marek Schultz, F, S15-S20 @TMP

GP: 432 PTS: 595

The 6^th Overall pick in S14 won Rookie of the Year in his S15 debut with Vasteras with an 85-point campaign. The German power forward was a constant threat to score as well as hit during his career. His best season was in S19 when he led the VHL in goals (58) and shared the Boulet Trophy with J.D. Stormwall. His final season in S20 finally saw him win the previously elusive Continental Cup with Davos.

 

J.D. Stormwall, F, S14-S20 @Zero

GP: 461 PTS: 587, HOF

Known as a gritty player throughout his career, Stormwall exemplified that best as the leading hitter of the decade. He was a force at both ends of the ice and in the latter half of his career he won two Cups, a playoff MVP and three Boulet Trophies. He would retire as the VHL’s All-Time leading hitter.

 

Zach Arce, F, S11-S14 @Arce

GP: 288 PTS: 433, HOF

One of only two players to win three Continental Cups in this decade, Arce was one of the league’s best players during his five-year career. He won consecutive scoring titles, MVPs, and MOPs in S12-S13 and threw in an assists title for good measure.

 

Jardy Bunclewirth, F, S18-S20 @JardyB10

GP: 216 PTS: 382, HOF

Despite only playing the last three seasons of the decade, Bunclewirth was by far the most prolific with a 1.77 points/game and an average of over 127 points in those three campaigns. Needless to say, he won some hardware: Rookie of the Year in S18 with the third-best freshman point total of all-time (132), led the VHL in scoring while winning MVP and MOP in S19 and won consecutive Cups with Calgary those two seasons.

 

Max Kroenenburg, F, S15-S20 @Patrick19

GP: 432 PTS: 578

The Austrian All-Star was a dynamic force whenever he was on the ice and won a Cup in S16 but had his best season in S20 with 70 goals and 157 points. It didn’t garner him any awards as teammate Tarik Saeijs equaled the total but had one more goal. He finished the decade with a fantastic 1.34 points per game average.

 

Jonathan Matthias, F, S10-S13 @Nucker

GP: 290 PTS: 420 (S10 stats couldn’t be parsed)

Surprisingly not a HOFer, all Matthias did was win the first three Cups of the decade (S11-S13) with Davos and Seattle along with winning the inaugural Slobodzian Trophy (MOP), the first MVP, scoring and goal title of the decade (S11). He also captured the playoff MVP in S12 even though he scored the Cup-winning goals for both the S11 and S13 Cups.

 

Sandro Desaulniers, F, S12-S17 @Sandro

GP: 432 PTS: 520

A fringe inclusion on this list, Desaulniers may not have had the best stats or any awards but he did win World Cup Gold in S16 with Team Canada and bookended his career with two Cups with his only team, the Seattle Bears (S12 & S17). He was a solid contributor and beloved teammate.

 

Defensemen

 

Alexander Sauve, D, S13-S19 @Sauvé89/WHEELsavePARTY

GP: 506 PTS: 607, HOF

Even with his consistent if less spectacular production in comparison to his peers of the era, Sauve is possibly one of the more underappreciated talents in the league. Usually good for 20+ goals, 70+ points, 100+ PIM, Hits and Shot blocks, Sauve was a five-time All-Star and produced two 100+ point seasons including the 6^th-best by a defenseman in league history with 130 in S18. He won the Labatte Trophy in S15 and two straight Continental Cups with Calgary in S18-S19.

 

David Henman, D, S12-S18 @Knight

GP: 504 PTS: 650, HOF

Despite spending much of his career on a rebuilding Toronto team, Henman developed into one of the most underrated two-way defensemen ever. He never won a Cup but garnered plenty of accolades including leading the league in assists twice and being named an All-Star in each of his seven seasons. In his final season he produced what is still the 5^th best season by a defenseman with 133 points for which he won the Labatte Trophy. He produced the most assists of the decade and remains 16^th in assists all-time.

 

Tomas Jenskovic, D, S11-S15 @scotty

GP: 360 PTS: 473, HOF

Jenskovic accumulated one of the largest trophy hauls of any defenseman in his truncated career. The first blueliner to lead the league in scoring in S14 also led the VHL in assists twice, won the Labatte three seasons in a row (S12-S14), an MVP, an MOP, and a playoff MVP as well as two Continental Cups. He reached 100+ points three times and finished his career with an impressive 1.19 points/game average.

 

Patrick Bergqvist, D, S15-S20 @Squinty

GP: 432 PTS: 489

A solid defenseman throughout his seven-year career, Bergqvist is nevertheless most known for his record-breaking S20 campaign where he set the league record for assists (114), points for a defenseman (144, broken six seasons later by David Walcott) and became only the third blueliner to win MVP. He also won the Beketov, MOP, and Labatte Trophies and helped Davos capture the Continental Cup in seven games.

 

Emerson Hrynyk, D, S14-S17 @slobodzian_18

GP: 288 PTS: 369

Short and sweet describes Hrynyk’s four-year stay in the VHL. Drafted 2^nd overall by Seattle in S14, Hrynyk proceeded to win Rookie of the Year honors with a 76-point season. He then had seasons of 100 and 116 points in S15 and S16, winning the Labatte Trophy both years. He also was named the Top Leader in S15 and led the league in assists in S16 while also winning World Cup Gold with Team Canada. In S17, he captained the Bears to their fourth championship. His 1.28 points/game average remains 6^th all-time among pure defensemen.

 

Ginzou Fujiwara, D, S11-S16 @tfong

GP: 432 PTS: 466

A talented defender with silky hands, S11 1^st overall pick Ginzou Fujiwara never put up the points many expected he would. He still averaged over a point/game in his career though and captained the S15 Helsinki Titans to the Continental Cup.

 

Goaltenders

 

Benoit Devereux, G, S11-S16 @Cowboy

W: 229 SV%: 0.927, HOF

Even without including his rookie season in S10 when he was named Top Rookie and Top Goalie, Devereux was the top goalie of the decade. He would be named Top Goalie twice more, lead Davos to two Championships in S11 and S13 and win the Playoff MVP in S11. He is a member of the Triple Gold Club and the Hall of Fame.

 

Steve LaFramboise, G, S11-14 @Tremblay

(Unable to parse stats for this decade)

Seattle selected LaFramboise with the 1^st overall pick in S8 hoping he would become their goalie of the future and lead them to victory. It would take a while but it was worth the wait as he led the Bears to consecutive Cup finals in S11 and S12, losing to Devereux in S11 but winning the Cup in S12. LaFramboise was named Top Goalie for his ridiculous season in S11 when he posted 52-10-2, 1.65 GAA,  0.938 SV% and 12 shutouts.

 

Thanks for reading! Check out the S21-S30 team!

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by animal74
Tagging @Arce

[JardyB10 4,868]

This is great stuff! A trip down memory lane for sure, this was my first decade in the VHL :’)

[animal74 1,855]

Claim 2/2 (1700+ words)