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VSN Presents: 10-Season VHLE Overview Part 1


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@leandrofg

Welcome everyone, 

We can all agree that the VHLE is a very “controversial” league, but regardless of what all the haters are saying about the E, the league is already ten seasons old. A lot of things happened in the last ten seasons and in this VSN article, we are going to look at the most important moments of the life of the VHLE. 

 

1.  The first VHLE entry draft in S80 

 

At the time, there were only 6 teams in the league and the draft was in a snake format so the order of the selections for the 7-12 picks were the opposite of the order of the selections for the 1-6 picks. For the S80 draft, there were 16 rounds with 6 picks each for a total of 96 drafted players. The Cologne Express had the first overall pick and they selected Darth Kaprizov @Darth Kaprizov to be the first player of the VHLE’s history. A lot of hidden gems were found in this draft, but the biggest is without a doubt the 82nd overall pick of the Bratislava Watchmen in the 14th round, Orion D H Chiester IX @Donno100. Chiester IX played for the Watchmen for seven seasons from S80 to S86 and he won the trophy for the best goaltender of the regular season, that was later named after him, three seasons in a row from S83 to S85.

 

2. The arrival of Oslo and Geneva in the VHLE 

 

After only one season with six teams, the commissioners decided that it was not enough and that the league needed two more teams. This is when the Yukon Rush and the Minnesota Storm left the VHLM to become the Geneva Rush and the Oslo Storm in the VHLE. The Oslo Storm will become one of the best franchises in the history of the VHLE while Geneva will not have the same prestige that the Yukon Rush had in the VHLM. 

 

3. Three finals in a row for the Rome Gladiators 

 

After losing the series 4-3 to the Vasteras Iron Eagles in the first ever final of the Renaissance Cup in S80, the Rome Gladiators also made it into the final of the playoffs in S81 and S82 to make it into three finals appearances in a row. This sequence is the second longest in the league’s history after the Storm’s sequence between S85 and S88. The Rome Gladiators lost the S81 final to the Stockholm Vikings in four little games and it is only in their third final appearances in S82 that they won their first Renaissance Cup in franchise history. To win the Cup, the Gladiators defeated the Cologne Express 4-3 after losing the first three games of the series. 

 

4. Oslo’s domination 

 

After Rome in the early 80s, the mid-late 80s were Oslo’s domination time. Indeed, the Oslo Storm made the playoffs from S85 to S89, and they also reached the final from S85 to S88. From these appearances, they won three of them, in S85, S86 and S88. Year after year, Oslo had a competitive team and even if they were not the best team on paper, they always managed to play well together and be the best team on the ice. We also must give credit to @JB123 for his incredible work as Oslo’s GM since he joined the team in S83. He managed to keep his player on the team for a long time and this is how the team built his chemistry. The best example is Brodie Landry III @Brodie_Landry who played with Oslo from S85 to S87 and was a really important piece to win the Cup in S85 and S86.

 

5. The departure of Istanbul and Geneva 

 

After nine seasons with eight teams in the VHLE, the commissioners decided that there was not enough active player in the league to keep that many teams. Since Geneva and Istanbul are not the franchises with the biggest history in the league, it was logical that it was these two teams that had to go. Indeed, Geneva never won the Renaissance Cup, and they never even made the final. For their part, Istanbul won the Renaissance Cup once in S84 and made the final again in S89. The departure of the two franchises means that the VHLE will only count six teams and four of them will make the playoffs each season. The 1st team in the standings will play against the 4th team and the 2nd against the 3rd in a best of 7 series and the winners of each series will face each other in the final of the Renaissance Cup in a best of 7 series.

 

6. The individual trophies

 

From S80 to S84, the trophies in the VHLE did not have a name and were called by what they were, like best goalie, playoffs MVP, etc. However, in S85 the league decided that it would be time to give the trophies some names. The six trophies that were awarded in S84 have been named after former players that best represent the reason they are given. We will start with the Ronan Lavelle @Arce Trophy who is awarded to the most valuable player of the regular season. Lavelle won the trophy in S82 with 49 goals and 101 points with the Geneva Rush. After, there is the Florida Man @zepheter Trophy who is awarded to the player deemed to be the most valuable player in the playoffs. Man won it in S81 after scoring 9 goals and 20 points in only 9 games with the Stockholm Vikings. Then, the Orion D H Chiester IX @Donno100 Trophy is awarded to the top goalie in the VHLE. Chiester IX won this trophy three times in a row in S83, S84 and S85 all with the Bratislava Watchmen. Subsequently, the Jake Thunder @Thunder Trophy is given to the top defenseman of the regular season. Thunder won it in S83 after blocking 216 shots and recording 197 hits with the Oslo Storm. The last player individual trophy is the Aldwin Craig @Eldredman Trophy who is awarded to the best two-way forward in the VHLE. Craig won it in S82 with the Stockholm Vikings after scoring 70 points and recording 450 hits in only one season. Finally, we have the Thadius Sales @thadthrasher Trophy who is awarded to the best GM in the league. Sales won it twice with the Stockholm Vikings in S80 and S81, but without taking away any of his credit, I believe that another GM would deserve to have his name on this trophy, and it is @JB123 who also won it twice (S85, S87), but this is a subject for the next article 

 

Thanks everyone for reading, it is all for me, I hope you liked it and see you next time for part II. 

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