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Calgary Wranglers

Victor

By Victor
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Victor

Victor 10,550

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The Calgary Wranglers’ franchise best roster will be as follows: Mikka Virkkunen will be the center(re) with Jardy Bunclewirth and Scott Boulet on his wings. The blue line will be manned by Sterling Labatte and Alexander Sauve, with Max Weinstein in goal.

Mikka Virkkunen was easily one of the best centremen to ever don the Wranglers jersey. Playing in Calgary for 6 seasons, he was as dominant as you could expect a superstar to be in the league. A 7 time All-Star, he was a great asset that any team would have loved to have. He is known as one of the best two-way players ever and collected a plethora of awards. He won the Continental Cup 2 times in his career, both being with Calgary. At the time of his retirement, he was 5th all-time in goals, assists and points, definitely something to be proud of for any player. As a Wrangler, his team had its fair share of ups and downs while trying to struggle through their rebuild but they came out on top when it mattered. Whether the team was doing well or not, Virkkunen was always a prominent scorer in the league. One could simply tell from the start of his career that he would eventually become a Hall of Famer and one of the best forwards the Calgary Wranglers have ever had.

It’s better to burn brightly and briefly than to make a mark only by longevity, or at least that’s true of Scott Boulet. A Calgary lifer, he only spent six seasons in the league as opposed to the now-standard eight, but each of those seasons were true representations of the capabilities of Boulet. A star at both ends of the ice, Boulet’s statistics speak to a talented scorer, but for those sitting in the stands at the peak of his career, that statement would only speak half the truth. He was always a defensively-minded guy, never straying too far forward until the puck was firmly secured and advanced up ice. This has become so synonymous with Boulet that the two-way forward trophy for the league has been named after him. Players like David Smalling and Miles Larsson have been striving to win Boulets, and this guy is the Boulet behind the name.

Jardy Bunclewirth spent his entire career with the Calgary Wranglers and for a large portion of his career his agent was also managing the team. If one were to ask a VHL fan what the first thing is that comes to mind from the words Calgary Wranglers, it would be unsurprising if Bunclewirth was the answer. He had an inauspicious start to his career, falling to the third round of his draft class and taking some extra time to make the bigs, but once he caught fire there was no stopping him. He stormed out of the gate with a 132 point season as a rookie, taking home the Stolzschweiger for his efforts. While his on-ice performance was spectacular, it’s Bunclewirth’s off-ice persona that lent itself to becoming a household name in Calgary. From his indelible mentorship spawned the careers of Mathias Chouinard, Evgeni Fyodorov, Lars Intranquilo, Roman Andreev, and last but not least, current GM Jason Glasser.

Who is Alexander Sauve? That’s what a lot of people were wondering when he was elected to the hall of fame. Most players end their careers then within a few seasons, they are either inducted to the hall or never make it in. Sauve, breaking that mold, was given the honor in season 34, after retiring fifteen seasons earlier after season 19. He holds the record for the longest time between retirement and induction into the prestigious club, and looking at his statistics, the question is less why he was inducted and more why it took so long. The answer is probably that he only really had one phenomenal season. In season 18 he put up 130 points, combined with a +62, 134 hits, and 110 shot blocks. While his other seasons were a long way from that mark, he was consistent throughout his career and that ultimately lent itself to his inclusion on this team.

The name of the trophy for the best defenseman is the Sterling Labatte trophy (despite movements by biased parties to change it). Given that, it should stand to reason that Sterling Labatte must have been an outstanding defenseman, if he has the trophy named after him. Well, the verdict is in, and that verdict is guilty on all counts. Labatte was phenomenal. His list of career awards does not fit on a single computer screen. Statistically, he was a godsend for the Wranglers, and if naming the top players of all time, Labatte might only fall after Scotty Campbell. When the task was created to pick an all-time Wranglers roster, many of the other choices had to be thoroughly researched, as there are a lot of similar cases to be made. Not so with Labatte. The question was never “which two defensemen” as it was “which of Sauve or Bailey should go next to Labatte” and his name was instantly etched into the team.

With all the history Calgary has as a team, the one position that might be said to lack a little bit of punch comparatively is goalie. Sure, there were guys like Adrian McCreath who passed through Calgary briefly, but the other team with a similarly full and rich history (Davos) has had legends like Benoit Devereux and Daisuke Kanou. Calgary has built its legend despite, not because of, its goaltending. With that, does this list go with McCreath? Demetrjusz Dudek, with the team throughout much of the success of the late teen years but quit on them most unceremoniously? Perhaps Joey Clarence, who spent a greater portion of his career in Calgary (also some in New York) but was in the Shaw and Kanou era and wasn’t Shaw or Kanou? No, the team will look far back into its history and produce Max Weinstein. Weinstein is the only Wrangler goalie to produce two seasons good enough for the top 25 list all time of save percentage in a season. He recorded a .937 in season 9 and a .932 in season 8, both topping the .930 mark and both phenomenal seasons at the position.

Calgary could fill nearly an entire second team with just the honorable mentions, which made this list nearly impossible to fill. Ultimately, many of the players had either one fatal flaw keeping them from the roster or just lost out to better players. Matt Bailey, winner of two awards named after players on this list and arguably the most successful position switch player in VHL history, lost out due to only spending one season with the Wranglers. Matt Bentz and Brett Slobodzian had short careers, which was more common early on in the league but it was ultimately enough to place them behind Bunclewirth, and Boulet who also had a shortened career was just that little bit better. J.D. Stormwall was another possible choice but it took his career some time to really warm up, and he was kind of another Boulet with just a little less success. Additionally, given the goalie class, Joey Clarence would have to have been close to being on the list as well, but Calgary is not the type of team who likes to appear “almost as good” in any category so Clarence’s era, and the strength of others therein, keeps him out.

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Devise

Devise 4,475

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Yeah with all the different unique approaches you are seeing by several other teams, this is really a pathetic attempt. Props for doing the effort from a writing perspective, but for all the history and flare Calgary is supposed to have in this league it's hard not to wish you guys did more. 

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