Halifax is a joke and it's not even their fault. (Part 1)

[Plate 386]

The Halifax 21st has been, for the most part, a story of disappointment over the past ten seasons. They are 19-32 in playoff appearances and have never made it past the 6th game of the 2nd round. Of course, one of the most significant ways to influence the trajectory of your team is through trades. They are a fundamental part of how GMs influence their teams and wrestle with others for a position in the standings.
 

In this article, we will be looking at all of the trades from the past ten seasons. Assessing if Halifax won, lost, or drew in an attempt to figure out what went wrong for this team. And no, I will not be trade treeing every deal, as that would take far too long. I am doing it from trade to trade, no further journalism. 

 

Season 73

The season 73 roster for the 21st was more or less a wash. It was a hectic year for Halifax management as they totaled seven different moves. Let’s get into it.

 

 

This is a nothing trade. Halifax wouldn’t see the service of any of these players, and Mississauga wouldn’t get any meaningful production or growth from any of the players selected with these picks. There will be a lot of these; fair warning.

 

 

Another draw is that neither of these teams sees any value in their selections. Halifax’s selections didn’t stay in the minors, and Yukon never saw play from their picks.

 

 

Halifax suffers their first loss as the pick they give to Ottawa turns into Jackson Philliefan. Philliefan would get 49 points in his inaugural season with Ottawa and then turn it up a notch and score 88 points the next with an astounding 15 points in 7 games of the S74 playoffs.

Our friends in Halifax would see no service from Chris Folley and only 11 games from The Great in a throwaway trade much later on in S75. 

 

 

Philly would use their picks in this trade as trade pieces later on, and Halifax would draft Chicken Wing but move on from him at a future date. For now, this is an easy draw.

 

 

Our first win for Halifax comes from legendary goaltender Kevin Malone. Who’s 4th all-time in terms of goalie wins in franchise history. Malone was a crucial piece in the insane regular season Halifax had in S74 before losing in a Game 7 that year in the playoffs.
 

 

Now this trade was hard to place. Halifax receives the pick that would be Kasey Tamm, a solid player that would cap out and then retire shortly after S74. Tamm would score 55 points in 72 games and fall into the disappointing playoff run the following season.

On the other hand, Ottawa would get a goalie in Sirkants Klamasteris with a sub-3 GAA and near .9 SV%. This is impressive considering that the Ottawa team wasn’t particularly great, and Klamasteris would give them a chance to the playoffs, where the Lynx would lose in seven. Games.

Overall, this trade is a draw. Both players had matching contributions, and the throw-in 5th and 6th round pick added no value. 

 

 

One could argue this is a win for Halifax, as they get Janiina Juutila for free and somehow get an entire season's worth of production out of him. Not only that, but he ends up being Halifax’s top point producer with 38 points in S73.

Even though Halifax got a season out of a player, which I know is a lot in the VHLM, it was in a tank year. Had Juutila stayed as a piece of Halifax for the upcoming season, this would be an easy win. But unfortunately, I feel as though what both sides got was inconsequential. So this is a draw.
 

Season 74

 

Season 74 is when the Halifax 21st would go for it and give up a lot of picks to see an incredibly successful regular season—followed by the disappointing game seven loss to the eventual champions, the Miami Marauders. 

 

 

This trade somehow becomes a loss for Halifax. And it isn’t even because of the 2nd round pick. Shawty Nananana would be a rental for the 21st, scoring 65 points and having an incredible +/-. This falls short when you consider the disappointing performance of the S74 playoffs, only scoring four points and allowing nine goals while on the ice.

Houston, however, would move on from the S74 MIN 4th, which would become Victory and Founder cup winner Pekko Viitanen, so there’s no value from that piece of the trade here. On the other hand, Paul Webber would play 170 games for the Bulls. And scored a career 176 points, with a career-high 95 in S76. Webber would score 20 points in a deep 16-game playoff run with the Bulls in S76. The S76 HFX 2nd would be traded later.

 

 

Halifax is the clear winner of the trade here. Clinton Giftopoulos would become one of the best defensive pieces for Halifax in S74 and carry the team on the backend with almost a point per game and a +10 rating. Giftopoulos would even score 30 goals and 62 points the following season. 

 

Can someone explain why Yukon passed with the S74 HOU 2nd round pick? Maybe there was a team violation, but otherwise, Chase Crosby and Kjell Nilsson would have successful careers in Las Vegas and Philadelphia, respectfully.

 

 

Yet another loss for Halifax. Halifax would move on from the S76 MEX 3rd pick in a draft two days later. The pick that they give Mexico turns into Chris Foley. But Plate, I hear you say, why is this a bad trade? I mean, it’s a one-for-one in the third round. Indeed Halifax couldn’t have screwed this one up.

Chris Foley was a franchise player for the Mexico Kings, with the following franchise records.

1st in Games Played (288)

1st in Points (262)

1st in Assists (183)

1st in Playoff Assists (29)

2nd in Playoff Points (34)

5th in Hits (316)

 

Foley would also be part of the Kings team to win the Founder’s Cup in S76. It is Halifax’s luck that some random 3rd round pick would turn into a franchise-level player that would also win the Founder’s Cup. 

 

 

Thankfully this trade is a draw. While some big names are involved, like Riley Couture and Jolly Greene Giant, it would be the tack on 3rds that even the score.

Riley Couture would have an enormous impact on S74 for Halifax, scoring 90 points and having a point per game in the playoffs that season. Kyle Glass would also pan out to be a solid player in Halifax’s S77 cup run, where they would lose in the 2nd round. Glass would have a 43-goal season and put up 147 points in 144 games in the 21st sweater.

Saskatoon gets the S75 PHI 1st but would trade it later on the other end of the deal. This leaves the two 3rds to contend with the compensation they get from this deal. Steve Esso would have a similar career to Kyle Glass in that Eso would put up 141 points in 144 games for the Saskatoon Wild. Gabriel Johnson is currently 11th on the all-time Wild point list. He had a 216-game career with them, putting up 214 points. 

 

 

For those of you reading this article, you would have remembered this Chicken Wing player coming up now and then, as it was a selection Halifax got in an earlier trade using Philadelphia’s third-rounder. Halifax versus Miami was their first-round pairing of the S74 VHLM playoffs. 

 

Not only did Miami beat Halifax in 7 games, but they also would go on to win the Founder’s Cup that year. And guess who was on that roster? Yes, you guessed it, Chicken Wing. The wing would put up 11 points in 18 games and have 144 points in two full seasons for Miami. 

 

Eeli Rantanen, to his credit, would have an incredible 91-point season in S76 for Halifax. The key difference here is Halifax never made the playoffs that year; in contrast, Chicken Wing won the Founder’s Cup. This is an easy win for Miami and a loss for Halifax. 

 

 

Theodore James St Louis is the Jaromir Jagr of the VHLM. St Louis played 338 games in the VHLM across five different teams, for those who don't know. He would never win an award as a player but probably holds a couple of VHLM records.

Theodore would go on to have 142 points in Halifax. He was pushing them into the playoffs in both S74 and S75. Unfortunately, both of them were first-round exists. He would not be resigned in Halifax and would move on to San Diego and elsewhere later on.

Ottawa would receive three picks in return. Two of them, the 4th and 6th rounder, would be traded. They were leaving Waldorf Tassletoff, who played an entire season with Ottawa, before being replaced by more active members. Tassletoff did nothing. This is a win for Halifax.

HFX/MIN - Sep 16, 2020
 

 

I’m going to be on the safe side and call this a draw. There are many moving parts, and this trade could be a .com on its own, so I’ll try not to spend too much time on it.

Halifax acquires Micheal Hall, former Founder’s Cup and Alexander Chershenko Trophy winner Micheal Hall. He would put up an impressive 106 points and 53 goals for Halifax in his final season in the minors.

For their troubles, Minnesota gets one first-rounder, one-second, two-thirds, and a throw-in fifth. From the top-down, Minnesota would not see the service of Javad Kamkar, Tom Eagles, or Tanky, which means that for this trade, Micheal Hall was traded for a 3rd and a 5th. 

 

Gary Tarantino II would go on to have an elite career with Minnesota. They are putting up 174 points in 216 games. And would also be a key piece to a Founder’s Cup final run in S78, putting up 12 points, but would ultimately fall short in game 6. Tater Tot would be an okay starter in S75 but completely turn it up in S76 with a 2.86 GAA and .898 SV%. 

 

Season 75

 

Our Halifax friends in S75 would stay relatively quiet after a disappointing S74 run. This season, the 21st would still make the playoffs, but losing in 5 games to the Mexico City Kings would then lose in game 6 of the Founder’s Cup final. However, Halifax would do well in the minimal trades this season.

 

 

 

I have no idea what Saskatoon was thinking here. Halifax gets an incredible return for a top 6 forward in Rock Osman. This is an easy call and an easy with for the 21st.

Halifax would receive a 2nd and a 3rd, becoming Philip Stein and Mr. Duk. Philip Stein would only appear in one season for Halifax but put up 88 points and promptly move onto the VHL. Mr. Duk would play for Halifax in two full seasons before getting the call up to the VHL and then moving down to the VHLE. Duk would be part of the playoff run in S77 and S78 for Halifax, again as a depth piece.

Rick Osman would have 0.25 PPG and a minus rating in both the regular season and the playoffs for the Wild. You can call it a disappointing performance from Osman, a scam for Halifax, but I call it a win for Halifax. 

 

 

Halifax trades a top 4 defenseman for a future Alexander Chershenko, Ethan Osborne, and Mitch Higgins trophy winner. Willy Myers wouldn’t win any of those trophies with Halifax; he would win them with Houston. Why Halifax released him is beyond me.

Kate Upton would have virtually no impact on the Marlins roster of playoff chances in S75. The winner of this trade is Halifax. 

 

Season 76

 

Halifax will fall into another rebuild this season, as per the typical three-year cycle of the VHLM. And while Halifax adds a few picks and a couple of depth pieces to their roster, fundamental changes won’t come until another couple of seasons in the future.
 

 

Now, this is an exciting trade. Two seasons ago, Clinton Giftopoulos was acquired by the Halifax 21st in a steal against Saskatoon. And the hilarious thing about the trade is that it’s not close because of Sven Heikkinen. This is a battle between the value of Tyler Steel and Clinton Giftopoulos.

We’ll start with Steel. Steel would serve for three years in Halifax and win the Matt Bentz Trophy. Tyler put up 161 points, 110 of those being in S78. Except that isn’t good enough to win this trade.

 

Clinton Giftopoulos would win the Founder’s Cup in S76 with Mexico and be awarded the Skylar Rift Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. I’m going to argue that Mexico won this trade. When the point is to win the Founder’s Cup, and you won as a direct result of a trade, you win that trade no matter what you gave up. Halifax loses this one.

 

 

This is just a draw. I’m not going to get into it, but the quick rundown is that both teams saw equal parts service from what they acquired in this trade. The only difference is that Halifax didn’t make the playoffs with either of the assets picked up in this trade, and San Diego did. It’s not enough to warrant a swing in the win or loss category.

 

 

So… if anyone knows anything about the history of the 21st, you would know this is a historic trade. And probably the best trade they’ve ever made in franchise history. And it wasn’t even a bad trade for Mexico either. This is a win for Halifax.

 

Fun fact about this trade, in particular, Bryn Yrwy played for Mexico City before Halifax drafted him. Yrwy, on top of that, also won the Founder’s Cup with Mexico and could have potentially been on their roster had this trade not happened.

With that piece of trivia out of the way, Bryn leads the Halifax 21st in franchise history for points, even though he has the 2nd most games played in franchise history. Grey would also win five individual trophies with Halifax, including the VHLM top goal scorer twice. 

 

This is without mentioning the historic 142-point season that Kikko Moskinen had with the 21st in S78, where Moskinen would also win two individual Trophies. Kikko is also 7th all-time for points in Halifax history. 

 

On the other hand, Mexico City gets two depth players for their eventual Founder’s Cup win this season. This may be the only time I make an exception to a trade being a win for the team that directly won a Founder’s Cup due to the assets acquired. 

 

 

Just going to call this what it is - a draw. Both pieces are depth options for both teams and don’t develop into anything special.

Part Two
 

Thanks for reading up until this point. As you can tell, I put a lot of work into this, and this is not even half of it. It would be awesome if you could support content like this and react to the post. Any discussion or disputes about my opinions on trade winners/losers is appreciated, and I hope you'll show your displeasure in the comments. The link to the second part of this post will be available here by the time I write and correctly format it for everyone. That will be short. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for the next post. Click the link below for the second part of this series. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Plate

[rory 1,945]

most of your questions are explained by "because they were inactive"

[Plate 386]

They aren't questions, but the next part should help with some of why I wrote this.

 

[Plate 386]

Claim 2/4

[Plate 386]

Claim 3/4

[Plate 386]

Claim 4/4