​​​​​​​15: Thomas Landry II's VHL Career

[Doomsday 4,143]

15: Thomas Landry II's VHL Career

 

Lifting his head from scouting the increasingly deeper draft class of the Season 85 VHL Entry Draft, Thomas Landry II came to a sudden, yet thematically appropriate realization:

 

Fifteen years… it's been fifteen years in the VHL.

 

Indeed, it's been fifteen seasons since Thomas Landry II entered the VHL world by officially entering the VHLM at the Season 69 (nice) trade deadline. Fifteen seasons since the wide-eyed prospect signed with the Halifax 21st to begin his playing career, and today finding himself behind his desk in his office at the Ricoh Arena, the General Manager of the Toronto Legion. A lot has changed in those fifteen years, hardly surprising for a place that doesn't stand still like the VHL hasn't for 84 seasons.

 

It all began back with being signed by @fonziGG and @JeffD to the Halifax 21st, far from the top team (which to be fair wound up being quite possibly the best team ever in the VHLM), but a team that Landry II felt he was best able to jump in and help with. Along with another waiver signing, future stud goaltender Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745, Halifax made their way into the playoffs, and even made some waves in the playoffs by defeating the Philadelphia Reapers in the first round. However, they ran into the aforementioned best team in VHLM history, the Saskatoon Wild, who quickly dispatched the 21st on their way to winning the Founder's Cup.

 

 

After making a name for himself as a waiver signing, Thomas Landry II worked his way into becoming a first round pick, selected 9th overall by Zack Gagnon @InstantRockstar and the San Diego Marlins. Becoming part of a loaded roster that included Kyl Oferson @Nykonax, Roque Davis @Josh, and Uhtred @leafsman, the Marlins were a team to be feared in Season 70. Landry II had a remarkable season, scoring 60 goals, recording 85 assists, a total of 145 points that, combined with 372 hits, made him the Matt Bentz Trophy winner as the top two-way forward in the VHLM. However, a shocking exit in the second round against the Ottawa Lynx ended his dominant season, and led Landry II to his next crossroads: the Season 71 VHL Entry Draft.

 

 

His San Diego teammates, Kyl Oferson and Roque Davis, were the consensus top two selections, but an old friend ensured that three members of that Season 70 Marlins team would be top five picks in the draft when Jason Glasser @diamond_ace and the Prague Phantoms selected Thomas Landry II with the fifth overall pick. Although he had played for two VHLM teams, the Phantoms were the only VHL team that Landry II would call home, playing all 576 of his career games with Prague, becoming the second player in team history after Wolf Stansson Jr @Cornholio . His rookie season, however, was a massive dose of reality for Landry II: he was no longer a big fish in a small pond, and he struggled to consistently produce as a rookie, scoring 39 points in his first season. However, in spite of his difficult season, Landry II meshed well with his new team, and thanks to what eventually was a Scotty Cambell Trophy-winning season from Brick Wahl II @BladeMaiden, Prague was unable to get past the Riga Reign in spite of a 2-0 series lead.

 

The next two seasons were rough for the Phantoms, who struggled to replace the quality goaltending provided by the retired Wahl II, and Prague went two straight seasons missing the playoffs. Despite setting Prague's single season record for goals in a season with 34 in Season 72, he remained under a point per game in Season 72 and 73. With his entry level contract set to expire following Season 73, Landry II was at a crossroads in his career: re-sign with Prague, or test free agency. While his first three seasons with the Phantoms had been frustrating, he had come to find that he felt he belonged there. Developing chemistry with Ondrej Ohradka @animal74 on and off the ice, and along with Cinnamon Block @omgitshim, Wolf Stansson Jr, Seabass Perrin @Seabass, and Alex Pearson @Jayrad28, Landry II simply felt that this was the type of belonging his father described with Victor Alfredsson’s @Victor Davos teams in the 30’s, and re-signed with Prague for five more seasons.

 

 

Although Season 75 ended in frustration again for Prague, missing the playoffs for the third time in Landry II’s career, it was the best season of his career so far. Scoring 35 goals and recording 47 assists, his 82 points marked the first time of his career that he averaged over a point per game, something he would do for the rest of his career. Season 76, however, was a boon for the Phantoms. The additions of Jungkok @Baozi and Grekkark Gyrfalcon @Shark in goal, along with the production of rookies Dominic Gobeil @Dom and Robert Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito propelled Prague back into the playoffs with a 45-26-1 record, good for the third seed in the European Conference. For Landry II, the newly-minted captain of Prague, it was a career-best season, scoring 38 goals and 67 assists for 105 points, making him a finalist for the Scotty Campbell Trophy as the VHL’s most valuable player, and he was named to the All-VHL Second Team. Facing the rival Riga Reign in the first round, Prague took the series 3-1, with Landry II scoring the go-ahead goal in Game Four that proved to be the game and series winning goal. However, despite a strong series against the Moscow Menace, Prague would fall in overtime in Game Seven, with Moscow winning Games Six and Seven in overtime to move on to the Conference Finals.

 

Season 77 saw another strong season for Prague, aided by a career-high 45 goals from Landry II, who finished with 95 points. The Phantoms’ 39-27-6 record was good for fourth, and they geared up for another playoff run. They proceeded to sweep the Malmo Nighthawks 3-0, advancing them to the next round against the Warsaw Predators, the defending conference champions. However, in the middle of the series, it was announced that Prague had violated the Keaton Louth Rule by not starting their backup goaltender, Michael Fletcher @DragonFire420, eight times during the season. Ideally, this would have been enforced upon the beginning of the playoffs, but instead it was announced after Prague’s 4-0 loss in Game Four to put them down 3-1 in the series. Despite a valiant effort by Fletcher in Game Five, making 25 saves on 27 shots, Warsaw won the game 2-1 and advanced, while the Phantoms were left frustrated yet again. For Landry II’s final season, Prague was again a contender, finishing with a 39-25-8 record, finishing third in the European Conference. Landry II tallied 37 goals and 49 assists to lead the Phantoms with 86 points, and Prague was poised to go on a run to send Landry II out on top with the franchise’s first Continental Cup. After dispatching the London United 4-1 in their first series, advancing to the Conference Finals against Warsaw. After the first four games, Prague and Warsaw were tied at two games each, but the Predators proceeded to win the next two games, ending Prague’s season and Landry II’s playing career in the VHL.

 

 

In eight full seasons, or 576 games, all with the Prague Phantoms, Thomas Landry II scored a franchise record, 265 goals, 335 assists, and a franchise record of 600 career points. In 40 career playoff games, Landry II scored 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points, among the franchise leaders in those categories as well. Although he did not lift the Continental Cup as a VHL champion, his final VHL game came in the Season 78 World Cup, in which his Team USA won the gold medal, officially ending his playing career as a victor. Prague, however, decided to bestow upon him a greater honor, announcing in an off-season ceremony that the numbers of Seabass Perrin, Alex Pearson, Cinnamon Block, and Thomas Landry II would be officially retired. The emotional ceremony marked the end of his time as a player, but the VHL career of Thomas Landry II was not concluded.

 

 

In Season 82, Thomas Landry II was introduced as the new Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Legion by Rylan Peace @Peace, a role in which he enthusiastically embraced. By the end of the season, however, Peace announced he would be stepping down for the role, taking Landry II by surprise. He continued to perform his duties as AGM, including continuing to scout and prepare for the next season despite not knowing whether or not he would remain in his position. He was, ultimately, named the next General Manager of the Toronto Legion, and was able to proceed in his vision of continuing to build upon the core of the team, rather than seeing someone new come in and begin a rebuild on what he felt was good enough to win. Adding Paul Atreides @Mr_Hatter and Aurelien Moreau @Frank to supplement a core including Matty Fire @MattyFired, Kyle Peace, Jannik Nylen @DreMin15, Armani Calamari @WildfireMicro, and Oskar Lindbergh, Toronto finished second in the North American Conference in Landry’s first season as General Manager, coming just short of reaching the Continental Cup Finals after a 4-2 loss to Seattle in the Conference Finals. Season 84 has seen the Toronto Legion continue to be a strong team, in the thick of the hunt in the North American Conference as the trade deadline nears.

 

Fifteen seasons can feel like a lifetime in the VHL, yet it is just a blip on the history of the league as a whole. While he was a franchise player for the Prague Phantoms, setting several franchise records and having his number retired by the team, it wasn’t enough to earn a place in the VHL Hall of Fame. Time will ultimately determine whether Thomas Landry II can earn immortality as a General Manager, rather than a player. But for now… there are games to win, decisions to be made, goals to be achieved, and ultimately… a drought to be ended.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Doomsday

[Victor 11,022]

Squeeze in a Davos shoutout at all costs, captain.

[ROOKIE745 607]

Hey don't sell us short on that fight with the Wild, we actually managed to beat them once! Glad to be mentioned on here though, hard to believe it's been 15 seasons now since I made Hexy.

[WildfireMicro 425]

Good shit dude

[animal74 1,855]

#Phamily

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