VSN Presents - Alpha Wolf: The Rise of Jerome Reinhart and the Fall of Postseason Records

[animal74 1,809]

Credit: @v.2

The Rise of Jerome Reinhart and the Fall of Postseason Records

 

What a season S81 turned out to be!

 

League offense, which had been on an upswing in recent seasons due to expansion and the retirement of much goaltending talent, perhaps hit the peak of the pendulum swing as the VHL saw Seattle’s Justin Lose post the first 70-goal, 140-point season since Podrick Cast’s historic campaign in the scoring explosion of S62 and Moscow’s blueliner Aurelien Moreau became only the sixth player in league history to dish out 100 assists - for the first time since Joel Jarvi did it in S53! The Vancouver Wolves played red-light roulette with the rest of the league as their historic offense produced the most goals (381), assists (668), points (1049) and shots (4146) since S20. The Malmo Nighthawks’ power play (33.3%) was the most efficient since S21. And, in an unsurprising correlation, London goalie Tater Tot faced the most shots (3992) of any netminder since S20.

 

However, the regular season was just an appetizer to the onslaught that the Wolves generated in the playoffs on route to their second-consecutive Continental Cup, both times at the expense of the also dangerous Moscow Menace.  

 

But before delving into this most recent postseason, a little history to set the stage:

 

During the three-season span of S32-S34, the VHL postseason record book was rewritten by a few stellar performers that set the new gold standard for playoff brilliance and that standard has stood the test of time for close to 50 seasons. Over the years, some have come close but the records have stood relatively unmatched and unbeaten.

 

Despite leading the VHL in offense, the S32 New York Americans ended up 5th in league standings causing them to start in the play-in round. The Americans’ offense stayed red hot as their stars outshone everyone else and set numerous playoff records after defeating Riga in seven games for the franchise’s second Continental Cup. New York right winger Troy Athera tied Scotty Campbell’s 27-season record for assists in a postseason with 20. Teammate Connor Evans led all playoff scores with 31 points which was one more than Campbell’s record of 30 also set in S5. Future Hall-of-Famer Tukka Reikkinen also broke a Campbell record as his 16 goals bested Campbell’s 13 set in S4. Perhaps the most impressive feat though came from New York’s Radislav Mjers who also tied Campbell’s 30 points as a defenseman which garnered him the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as playoff MVP. He broke the record of 25 that had been set the season before by former American Damon Wolfe, who had bested Alexander Sauve’s S18 record of 20 and set the new league mark of 6 power play goals. Mjers also set the record for goals by a defenseman in the postseason with 12 – a record that still stands today.

 

In S33, more records were meant to fall. After losing a heartbreaking Game 7 in the Finals the season before, the Riga Reign entered S33 hungry to avenge their loss although they did it the hard way. And no one was hungrier than Riga captain Elijah Incognito, the reigning Labatte Trophy winner. He was unstoppable in the playoffs, dishing out a VHL record 24 assists and 34 points. He also set new league marks scoring 9 of his 10 goals on the power play and garnering 16 power play points. Incognito won the Kanou Trophy for his brilliant performance. Teammate Thomas Corcoran also broke the previous VHL playoff assist record with the second-most in history with 22.

 

Elijah Incognito fends off a New York American

 

 

S34 was the year of Alexander Chershenko. Thought by many to be on the decline in his final season, Ukrainian center Chershenko cemented his place in the VHL archives by leading the league in goals and points in the regular season in spite of being traded twice. He then put on an offensive display for the ages in the playoffs. In the first two games against New York, he scored consecutive hat tricks, including the overtime goal in Game 1 and the game winner in Game 2 and had a total of 8 goals in the seven game series win. He willed Calgary through another seven-game series win against Quebec only to lose the Continental Cup in Game 7, 2-1 in overtime, to the Helsinki Titans, a game in which he scored the Wranglers only goal. He would finish his career setting new league postseason records with 18 goals and 36 points and tying Incognito’s 16 power play points. He added his second Kanou Trophy to his collection but missed out on a third Cup.

 

Now back to the present day…

 

In Vancouver’s first series against the Toronto Legion, the Wolves averaged an insane 7 goals per game and demolished the Legion 4-1 in five games. Third-year left winger, Jerome Reinhart, who led Vancouver in goals in the regular season with 61, good for fourth in the VHL, went ballistic and averaged 4 points-per-game in the series scoring two hat tricks including a four-goal game (and the series-winning goal) in Game 5. Reinhart was named one of the 3 Stars every game and was the 1st Star three times. He also had two game-winning goals to make his stat line of 13 goals and 20 points in five games absolutely incredible.

 

The Wolves would face a much tougher opponent in the second round in the Calgary Wranglers, who were the VHL’s hottest team heading into the playoffs riding an 11-game winning streak. The Wranglers would indeed slow down the Wolves, taking them to a full seven games, including three overtime thrillers, but Vancouver would prevail behind Reinhart’s second 5-point game and second series-winning goal of the playoffs. And that is just where the history begins.  

 

In Game 7, Reinhart opened the scoring at 10:03 with tying Chershenko with his 18th of the playoffs. Just over five minutes later, Reinhart scored again, this time on the power play to set the new VHL record at 19 goals – and he did it in nine fewer games than Chershenko. Then at 17:25 in the third period with the game well in hand, Reinhart chalked up an assist on Corey Kitson’s power play goal, his third helper and fifth point of the night to tie Chershenko for points with 36 – again in nine fewer games! And now Vancouver still had another wholes series to play. How far could Reinhart and the Wolves go?

 

Waiting for the Wolves were the menacing Moscow Menace who were led by defenseman Hard Markinson who was also playing at a historic pace and would end the playoffs with a couple of records of his own with 27 assists and 37 points to break Incognito’s marks of assists by a skater and points by a defenseman.

 

Game 1 saw Vancouver edge the Menace 5-3 in a back and forth battle. At 11:55 in the first period, Jerome garnered an assist when his brother, Tyler Reinhart, ripped a power play marker past Moscow goalie Papa Emeritus. That assist (his first of three on the night) earned Jerome Reinhart the record for points in a postseason with 37. And he was not done with the VHL record books yet. In Game 5, Rienhart would account for all of Vancouver’s offense as he scored his record third hat trick and add an assist in a 4-2 win to put the Wolves up 3-2 in the series. He would score two goals and an assist in the final game for his third straight multi-goal game to help Vancouver defeat Moscow for the Continental Cup for the second year in a row. It would be Vancouver’s fourth cup since becoming the Wolves and third in eight seasons. 

 

Jerome Reinhart scored 28 goals (10 more than the previous record) and 52 points (16 points more than the previous record) in three less games then Chershenko and set more records as well. His 13 power play assists were more than Chershenko’s 10 and his 21 power play points were more than the 16 shared by Chershenko and Incognito. Also, his 2.88 points-per-game bested Campbell’s previous mark of 2.73. Now Reinhart had a lot of help and many of his teammates also bettered some of the aforementioned records during the course of the Wolves’ Cup run – but none could better Reinhart.

 

Vancouver Wolves' GM @Nykonax had this to say about his star's performance: "Jerome specifically has really grown as a player during his time on the Wolves and was an integral piece in our second cup run. The coaching staff was definitely surprised by his offensive output, scoring almost a 3rd of our team's goals this playoffs is certainly impressive, as well as smashing playoff records that have stood for more than 40 seasons. He's a massive part of this team, both on and off the ice, and we are ecstatic to have him locked up for the prime years of his career."

 

When it was all said and done, Jerome Reinhart won his second consecutive Continental Cup, scored a point in every one of Vancouver’s 18 games and multiple points in 15 of those games on his way to setting no less than six VHL playoff records and treated the VHL faithful to a legendary performance that may never be duplicated. Reinhart received what most record-setters in the VHL playoffs earn – the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as postseason MVP. But he showed the VHL that he was much more than just the Most Valuable.

 

 

He was the Alpha Wolf.  

 

 

 

 

Mentions: @MexicanCow123 @STZ @Victor @Zetterberg @Nykonax @Frank @Strummer @scotty @youloser1337 @Trunkxolotl @gregreg @WHEELsnipePARTY @.sniffuM @Beketov @Corco @8Ovechkin8 @Tyler @InstantRockstar

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by animal74

[Frank 5,209]

@MexicanCow123

 

[fromtheinside 1,290]

all my homies hate Cow

[animal74 1,809]

Claim #2 (1450 words)

[JardyB10 4,865]

On 1/31/2022 at 2:28 AM, Frank said:

@MexicanCow123

 

More like “Mooo!!” amirite??