Dil's HoF Article (builder)

[tcookie 902]

Dylan Wallace (@Dil)
Joined: October 10, 2018
Roles Held: VHLM GM, VHLE GM, VHL GM, BoG, Recruitment Team, Portal Developer

Inducted S88

Dylan Wallace, better known as Dil, came to the VHL in late 2018. Throughout a relatively (by Hall-of-Fame builder standards, at least) brief time in the league so far, he has been an incredibly versatile member who has accomplished a lot while filling a wide variety of roles.

As you would expect of a Builder inductee, Dil has brought some very successful players to the league. When his third player (defenseman Hari Singh Nalwa) retired at the end of S88, Dil had completed three full careers with players well eclipsing the 1000 TPE mark - all top-10 picks in their respective drafts (including S71 third overall pick Ola Vikingstad) and all of whom experienced success on both individual and team levels. As individual hardware goes, Dil's first player, Diljodh Starload, earned a Chershenko, Beketov, and Valiq award in his career and Nalwa captured a Kanou Trophy - but more importantly, all of his players were key contributors on some very successful teams. Across their careers, they won a Founders Cup, five Victory Cups, and a remarkable six Continental Cups.

Of course, his contributions to the league went far beyond just three very good players. Between S70 and S87, Dil spent twelve seasons as a General Manager across all three of the VHL's leagues. He began his management career with a six-year stint at the helm of the VHLM's Halifax 21st. In a notoriously cyclical league, the 21st had begun to establish a consistent pattern of getting into the playoffs and not being much of a threat. In S67, S68, and S69 they were a middle-of-the-road team that went to the second round of the playoffs and in all three seasons, were not much of a match once they got there. When Dil took over, the team was on the edge of collapse, with little behind them in the way of playoff success yet little left in the way of future assets. And so Dil's tenure began guiding the 21st through some lean years, but in S74, they had the squad. The S74 Halifax 21st were an absolute powerhouse. They went 64-7-1 and outscored opponents 316-119 over the course of the regular season, with their 129 point total not being equalled again until S80. Unfortunately for the 21st, they ran into the Miami Marauders, a team that authored a famous Cinderella story and eliminated the 21st in the first round.

Still, Dil's work as a general manager was well respected and while his tenure with Halifax ended in S75, he resurfaced as a VHLE GM, taking the reigns of Vasteras in S82. Taking over a team on the heels of a 25-45-2 season, it again looked like Dil would have to maneuver his squad through some lean years and his first season at the helm brought a 23-41-8 campaign. But Dil made a slew of moves over the course of that S82 season, positioning his team to make a run in S83. He acquired several S83 draft picks while also bringing in Bob Vladovechsenkchushkin, Christopher Young, and Maxwell Mathias who would all stay on the team across S82 into S83. Vasteras made the top two picks in the S83 VHLE draft, selecting Leandro Goncalves and Ivan Retoslav. Then, they stormed through the VHLE in S83 to the tune of a 54-15-3 record. Vasteras swept their opening-round matchup before a surprising upset at the hands of the Bratislava Watchmen, but Dil earned the S83 VHLE Top GM Award for his work - and then, a promotion to the VHL when a job opening with the London United arose. Dil stayed with the United until S87, and made two more playoff appearances at the helm of the United.

It's not just the hockey-related side of things that Dil has become known for; his behind-the-scenes efforts have also bolstered his resume. Dil served a couple of stints with the recruitment team, and he joined the league BoG in 2021 while also working together with Josh as a league portal developer. Dil's contributions to the portal are perhaps what he has become best known for, helping with several major updates in recent years. To mention some of the very impactful portal changes that Dil was involved in: he helped with the VHL's conversion from standard STHS attributes to hybrid attributes, worked to develop a new iOS/Android league app that included sim notifications, and developed an integration allowing the trivia point task to be done through the portal. Dil was also involved in the behind-the-scenes work to support the league's new VHLM waivers system that helps new players get onto a team quicker and to more easily see accurate information about teams they were considering.

The VHL has been around for more than 16 years now, and Dil has been a part of it for a little less than five. Compared to a lot of builder inductees, it's a relatively short time; yet he is a member who has created three very successful players, who has GMed at every level and earned a Top GM award, who has served on the BoG, who has helped the league in its recruitment efforts, and who has helped strengthen user experience by working on portal improvements. Dil is a very deserving addition to the list of prominent VHL members enshrined as builders in the VHL Hall of Fame.

 

---

 

It was a bit of a challenge writing a builder article as a relatively inexperienced member - thanks to those who I reached out to and were able to help provide any extra insight, and thanks as well to those responsible for how well documented the league's history is overall - I did a lot of digging for this one, but it was generally pretty easy to do research for thanks to that!

[Dil 1,760]

I shed a tear

[eagle_3450 278]

I got mentioned, I see this as an absolute win