S75 Dream Team

[Ledge 1,131]

             In honour of this group of players playing out their last season, and for most, their last week of TPE earned, I thought I'd make a dream team made up of solely players from this draft class. In an effort to include and honour everyone I can, I'll be expanding the roster to include 2 forward lines, 2 D pairings, and two goalies. We have to assume that due to risk of injury this dream team consists of 4 goalies. It's best not to question it.

 

         Now, onto the lineup:

 

Nathan Perry - Taro Tsujimoto - Justin Lose

Cabe McJake - Linus Zetterstrom

Thadius Sales

 

This is a powerhouse line. Although we have a shortage of franchise left wingers, we can make do. 

 

Nathan Perry has had nothing short of a fantastic first gen career. After winning the S74 Founder's Cup with the Miami Marauders, he went on to have an illustrious VHL career, amassing 223 goals and 478 points over 472 games. Following being drafted by the London United, he was promptly dealt to the Calgary Wranglers, where Perry found chemistry with his new linemates and flourished, collecting his first point per game season in only their second. This season, as the Wranglers gear up for yet another playoff run, Perry is on his normal PPG pace, with 22 goals and 51 points in 40 games. His updating has been solid over the seasons, and he looks to close out in the shadow of 1200 TPE.

 

Taro Tsujimoto has rarely not been the TPE leader of this draft class, from the very beginning. Gustav's second player, almost in the ironic mold of Ryan Kastelic's 'too much TPE', despite having truckloads of the stuff throughout his career, only put up 100+ points once, in his Scotty Campbell-winning S80 season, where he notched an incredible 46 goals and 114 points. Tsujimoto has played just short of 550 games so far, and has amassed 291 goals and 667 points. After a long and somewhat disappointing seven seasons with the HC Davos Dynamo, Taro was dealt to the Seattle Bears, where he looks to chase a cup in his final season. As I'm writing this, he has 1499 TPE, and I can only imagine he solidifies his legend in the coming week by surpassing the landmark total of 1500.

 

Justin Lose actually had a pretty similar career to Tsujimoto, although the trade that lead to his big break came a little earlier. Lose's 5 seasons with the Riga Reign, who bought into the S75 draft class with all of their savings, were, accompanied by all the other S75 Reign draftees, underwhelming. Lose only breached PPG in his third season, but his total of 252 goals and 537 points reveals a big jump in his points recently. That can be attributed to his whirlwind of an S81, where he put the puck in the back of the net 72 times, and also grabbed 70 apples for an insane 142 points, and in the process he captured the Campbell, Szatkowski, Slobodzian, and Brooks awards. All. In. The. Same. Season. That alone could put him into HoF contention, which would be a great reward for Lose, who worked his ass off earning more than 1400 TPE over his career.

 

Cabe McJake is the true definition of a disgraced star. Even as a first gen player, he rivalled Gustav in TPE at his prime earning points. But alas, the member behind the player proved to be the downfall, and Red was banned from the VHL a season or two ago. That doesn't prevent him from making this team, however, since McJake achieved some incredible things throughout his career. After joining the Marauders as a waiver claim, he quickly became the cornerstone of the Waiver Warriors, who would go on to upset the number 1 seed Halifax 21st on the way to capturing maybe the craziest underdog story of a Founder's Cup ever. McJake was awarded the Skylar Rift trophy. After his VHLM stand, he joined the same Reign as Lose, and fell under the spell of mediocrity, never passing 91 points. He is now toiling out the rest of his inactivity in Davos.

 

Linus Zetterstrom has always been a quiet player. As a pass first defencemen, he really had no other choice. He is the only player on this line not to receive a single award (S76 Stolzschweiger is a touchy subject). After a relatively silent minors career with the Las Vegas Aces, he exploded with tons of ice time for the Reign, notching 74 points in his rookie season. His career high in points was 86 in S78, and he never really came close to that again. Ever loyal, he spent his whole career with the Reign, suffering through every single cursed season. Now that the Reign have a brand new core, and Zetterstrom is, for almost the first time in his career, not a number 1 defenceman, he looks to win a Continental Cup in his final season.

 

Thadius Sales is undisputedly the superior goaltender of the S75 draft class. His VHLM stand was underwhelming, and not a proper reflection of what would come for Sales. His career is largely tainted by the eternal tire fire that is the New York Americans, only visiting the playoffs twice in a five year span. Last season, he was dealt to the Vancouver Wolves, where he was able to thrive under a capable defensive core. He helped the Wolves to their second straight cup, gathering the Clegane and Shaw trophies on the way. His 1330 TPE can put most others in the draft class to shame, and his 220 wins (which I think is a lot) and other cool goalie stats (I don't know how to read goalie stats) seem to project a solid, successful career. Sales is chasing after the threepeat with the Wolves this season, and they might just do it.

 

 Second line! I disregarded positions because I was going to do 3 lines but the activity falls off and I wanted to squeeze everyone in (sorry hedge and molholt)

 

Robert Bouchard - Pistil Stamen - Dan Dan

Chicken Wing - Isau DaMoose

Kunibuni UnGuri

 

 

Robert Bouchard is another ultra-loyal player, having stuck with the Prague Phantoms, his OG draft team, for seven seasons of his successful VHL career. After showcasing his torrid scoring ability with the Philadelphia Reapers, Bouchard slowly crept his way up the Prague depth charts until he scored 109 and 105 points respectfully, in seasons 80 and 81. His pace is a little off in his final season, perhaps due to the influx of talent into the Prague system, but the Phantoms are gearing up for another cup run in Bouchard's last lap. He scored 221 goals and 539 points across his progression, which is nothing to sneeze at. He represented Team Canada at both the World Juniors and World Cup, and won the Founder's Cup with the Reapers in S75. There will surely be a hole in the Phantoms locker room with the retirement of 'The Bouch'.

 

It would be rather difficult to guess the first overall pick in S75, as the GM player rule was not yet intact, so GMs could reserve their first rounder for their player. Pistil Stamen was eventually picked first, and he has rewarded the Los Angeles Stars with eight seasons of solid production. However, it was only recently that he developed his scoring touch in the VHL, as he scored 112, 109, and 112 points in that order in the past 3 seasons completed, and he's on pace for another considerable amount again. His VHLM career could be easily overlooked, as well as his first two seasons. But once he gained his form, Stamen was a beast, leading the Stars through a lengthy playoff run in '79, nothing 24 points in 14 games. He will retire likely a smidge above 1400 TPE, a significant accomplishment.

 

Dan Dan is an outlier. Believe it or not, his big season is coming in the current one! The old man is putting on a show, with 34 goals and 87 points in only 40 games with the LA Stars, after never reaching even the 90 point mark with the Helsinki Titans or Calgary Wranglers. His VHLM career was also mediocre, with an exciting 90 point campaign the only real accomplishment. He had bouts with all three teams previously listed, and surprisingly never really found his footing, especially with Helsinki. While he hasn't collected any awards yet, his trophy case is likely about to get a whole lot fuller after this season, especially if the Stars find a way through the Metawolves. Nevertheless, Dan's 503 career points are surely worth something somewhere to someone, and it's certainly a hefty amount.

 

Chicken Wing is the only defenceman on this line, largely due to the leaving of gorlab a few seasons ago. Nonetheless, Wing was able to gather themself an impressive VHL stand. They unfortunately caught the down part of the Americans' rebuild, and therefore has a disappointing lack of playoff experience. They still were rock solid in the regular season, twice breaching point per game and even scoring 26 goals in their sophomore season. In S81, their 63 assists and 82 points set a career high, although we may see that broken after this season. They were awarded the Jake Wylde award in S80, and won the Founder's Cup with the Waiver Warriors of Miami in S74. Now with the Warsaw Predators, Wing looks to help the Preds make a push for the playoffs in their retirement run.

 

Isau DaMoose is listed here as a defenceman, because I didn't want to just give him an honourable mention. He deserves better! The forward has had an exciting career, riding it out with the Riga Reign for all seven seasons. He largely suffered the same fate as Lose, Zetterstrom, and McJake, as somehow that Reign team never got their feet on the ground. Despite all of that voodoo, DaMoose still managed to gather 40 goals 3 times and 100 points once, and is on pace for another big season as he leads the young Reign forward group into what we hope is finally a successful playoff run. DaMoose is familiar with those, winning the S75 Founder's Cup with the Reapers as teammates with Bouchard. In S80 he had an exceptional run with the Mercs in the World Cup, with 19 points in 11 games. He will finish with comfortably more than 1300 TPE.

 

Kunibuni UnGuri is the final player and goalie on this dream team. It breaks my heart not to include Klam and Tretiak, but there are only two spots. UnGuri has been the backbone of the HC Davos Dynamo for his entire career, and despite a sometimes dismal defensive core in front of him, never let his save percentage dip below .910, which I think is pretty damn good. Of course, Davos has never been super successful in the playoffs, so UnGuri has had to settle for 19 total games of postseason experience. He made a mind-blowing 15 thousand saves throughout his career, which is something probably not many other goalies can attest to. As is common knowledge, goalies are voodoo, and UnGuri drew the short straw when it came to STHS luck. His career is still something to be proud of.

 

 

Well, that pretty much sums it up. From the beginning, even after the retirements of Kaberle, Gobeil, Muffbeav, and McLaren, the S75 draft class still managed to churn out at least twelve successful VHL careers. I remember always thinking to myself, wow, this is truly an exceptional draft class. There is so much depth even beyond these twelve players, and it is hard to believe that our journey together is coming to a close. I, and as I imagine some of you mentioned in the article, are planning on retiring and creating a new player next Monday. If so, this is my farewell. It has been a wild ride, one that has lasted, like, a year and a half. Frankly, I'm going to miss Linus. I've dedicated so much of my free time to advancing him through his career, and although the results were mixed, it was a super fun time. Cheers to y'all, and here's to making S84 the best draft class the VHL has ever seen!

 

 

2053 words, claiming for 4 weeks

 

Mentions: @tinafrombobsburgers @Gustav @youloser1337 @Gaikoku-hito @DMaximus  @MMFLEX @chikn @Eynhallow @Berocka

[Gustav 6,418]

I debated doing a S75 article but you beat me to it.

 

I find it amusing that Taro still gets classified as underrated, but I guess I get it. I'm good at being good and have been just about this whole time but generally haven't been top-tier.

[tinafrombobsburgers 367]

Great read!!! 

[thadthrasher 1,692]

Love the article! But, you forgot to tag me

[Ledge 1,131]

On 2/22/2022 at 11:14 PM, thadthrasher said:

Love the article! But, you forgot to tag me

crap, my bad! Consider yourself tagged

 

 

Also, claim 2/4

[Ledge 1,131]

Claim 3/4

[Ledge 1,131]

Claim 4/4

 

Oh no I have to do a new PT next week