Funkless in Seattle: Big Bummer For Big Boga

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Funkless in Seattle: Big Bummer For Big Boga

Yaroslav Bogatyrev is a player who always has had big expectations for himself, which made his early years in the VHL that much more difficult on him. The flashes of brilliance were there, there was no denying that, but it just seemed like things just weren’t clicking consistently for Bogatyrev. That all changed, however, in Season 88, when Bogatyrev enjoyed a breakout season for the ages. Posting vast improvements across his entire game and skill set, it seemed as if Bogatyrev was destined to receive the Dustin Funk Trophy. Readers, at least ideally, are fully aware of not only the title of this article, but the topic of Theme Week this season, meaning that a far different story will be told instead. What was shaping out to be Big Boga’s first big break in the VHL instead became a big bummer.

Blake Campbell was done with waiting around for the Seattle Bears’ next Continental Cup, making a big trade with the HC Davos Dynamo to acquire future VHL Hall of Fame goaltender Xavier Booberry for his final season before retirement. On top of getting elite goal-tending, the Bears also received a massive boost from third-year winger Yaroslav Bogatyrev, who made the jump from young tag-along to a key player for the Bears. He set a career-high at the time with 26 goals, up five from his previous season, and jumped from 23 assists in Season 87 to 51 in Season 88, or 28 more assists than his previous career high. This led to him scoring over a point-per-game with 77 points, an increase of 33 points from a season before. That alone would make him an excellent candidate for the Dustin Funk Trophy, but that was only half of the major improvements made by Bogatyrev in Season 88.

 

As great as his steps forward offensively were, Yaroslav Bogatyrev may have made even bigger gains defensively. He became a physical presence for the Bears with 207 hits, more than doubling his total from the season before. He also nearly doubled his total of blocked shots, keeping 42 shots from reaching Xavier Booberry. His plus/minus rating also massively increased, going from -23 to +18, the first time in his career that he had a positive rating. On top of flourishing on offense, Bogatyrev had become a complete player, capable of making a difference on both sides of the ice.

However, when the winner of the Dustin Funk Trophy was announced at the Season 88 VHL Awards Show, the winner was instead revealed to be Tomas Sogaard of the Moscow Menace. He had posted 51 goals, 21 more than the prior season, and had won the Kevin Brooks Trophy as the league leader in goals. His 105 points was an improvement of 28 points from the season before, and his transition into elite production swayed just enough voters, with four votes securing the Dustin Funk Trophy over Yaroslav Bogatyrev’s three votes. Daryl Dixon and Deron Nesbitt also each received two votes each to round out the process.
This is not, of course, inferring that Tomas Sogaard did not deserve to be recognized as the Dustin Funk Trophy winner, because he absolutely did. However, I personally believed that Bogatyrev’s bigger jump in production offensively, along with posting a massive jump in defensive numbers as compared to a decline in hits and blocked shots from Sogaard, just made Bogatyrev more deserving. It was an unfortunate circumstance of defense being looked over yet again in favor of offensive numbers, especially considering Sogaard was coming off of a season in which he had underachieved, compared to Bogatyrev setting career marks while continually improving and growing into a star player. His glory, however, will have to wait.

 

Yaroslav Bogatyrev has grown into a star in his own right, and he’s on pace to post career bests in goals and points once again, as he has continuously since he entered the VHL. Perhaps he’ll even have a shot at winning some hardware, maybe even the trophy that eluded him back in Season 88. Big things are ahead for Big Boga, as he continues to get better and better every season.
 

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