VSN Presents: The Man Behind It All

[Baby Boomer 728]

@Zetterberg

Welcome everyone,

 

In the history of the VHLE, we saw a lot of great GM that were able to assemble good team and lead them to the Renaissance Cup, but there is one of them that we can say did it better than everybody else. You guest it, I am talking about @JB123. He was hired as the third VHLE GM of the Oslo Storm in S83 and he resigned form his position at the end of S89.

 

When JB was hired at the start of S83, the Oslo Storm were a rebuilding team and there was not a lot of things he could have done to change that immediately. Indeed, Oslo only had five forwards, one defenseman and one goalie on their roster. They finished the regular season second to last in the league with a record of 21 wins, 43 losses and 8 losses in overtime for a total of 50 points in 72 games.

 

In S84, the Oslo Storm once again had a really bad season and this time they finished the regular season last in the league with 25 wins, 40 losses and 7 losses in overtime for a total of 57 points in 72 games. Unlike the previous season, JB completed a lot of trade in S84. Indeed, one of them was a trade with the Istanbul Red Wolves where he acquired Brodie Landry III @Brodie_Landryand three picks that were used to draft Chip Stone @DoktorFunk, Lorenzo Cobberson @Hendrix Cobbersonand Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide. Landry III, Cobberson and Kauppi each won at least one Renaissance Cup with Oslo in S85 or S86. In total, JB123 completed three trades in S84, acquiring eleven assets (players or picks) and eight of them have become champions of the Renaissance Cup with the Oslo Storm in S85 or S86.

 

S85 was the first time the Oslo Storm made the playoffs in their VHLE history. They had a really good regular season, and they finished first in the league with a record of 48 wins, 19 losses and 5 overtime losses for a total of 101 points in 72 points. At the trade deadline, JB acquired two defensemen that would win a total of three Cups with the Storm. Indeed, Quinn Clark @axtronwon the Renaissance Cup in S85 and in S86 and Babushka @BrutalBoostwon it in S85. When we interviewed the former Oslo GM, he mentioned that he believes it was his best move, because « it solidified [their] defense that season while providing [them] a cornerstone on defense in Clark for the future ». In the playoffs, the Oslo Storm faced the Vasteras Iron Eagles in the first round and won the series in six games to participate in their first VHLE playoffs final. In the final, the Storm won the series and their first Renaissance Cup in their history against the Cologne Express in six games. In addition, JB won his first Thadius Sales Trophy awarded to the best general manager.

 

Unlike in S85, in S86 the Oslo Storm did not dominate the regular season and they finished fourth in the standings with 40 wins, 25 losses, 7 losses in overtime and a total of 87 points in 72 games. At the beginning of the season, the Storm made the acquisition of Sunglasses Joyo @JetsGoalie101, who ended up being a really important player for the entire S86, for only a 3^rd round pick. At the trade deadline, JB acquired Rhys Trenton @DeeGoatand Vinny Lecavalier @Spartakiller2that both played their part in the S86 conquest of the Renaissance Cup. Since the team finished fourth in the regular season, they had to play a best of 3 against the Istanbul Red Wolves to decide which team would play in the first round. Oslo finally won the series in two little games. However, the first round was not going to be an easy one, because the Storm faced the team that had the best regular season record in the history of the VHLE, the Cologne Express. It was supposed to be a walk in the park for Cologne, but after only six games, the Oslo Storm caused one of the biggest surprises ever seen in the VHLE and defeated the winners of the King’s Cup. In the final, after being down 3-1 in the series against the Rome Gladiators, the Oslo Storm caused another surprise and defeated Rome 4-3 to become the first team to win two Renaissance Cup in their VHLE history. When we questioned JB about his favorite Renaissance Cup, he said that even if they were all special, he had to go with S86, because they « started that season off at the bottom of the league and won three playoffs rounds, including one against the best VHLE team ever ».

 

Once again, the Oslo Storm made the playoffs in S87, but this time they finished second in the league with 49 wins, 21 losses and 2 overtime losses for a total of 100 points in 72 games. Just like the last three seasons, JB made some big acquisitions like Halvar Torbjorn @Rayzor_7and Nicholas Blue @lidzthat help the team in S87. He also traded for players like Keno Akara @Keno, Braeden Panarella @ThatCasualand Rip Wheeler @ScottyPthat were part of the team that won the Renaissance Cup in S88. For a third season in a row, the Oslo Storm made it to the final after defeating the Stockholm Vikings in seven games. However, they did not win a third Renaissance Cup in a row, and they lost to the Cologne Express in seven games. Even if they did not win the Cup, JB won his second Thadius Sales Trophy.

 

S88 was yet again another successful season for the Oslo Storm as they finished third in the standings with a record of 42 wins, 22 losses and 8 losses in overtime for a total of 92 points in 72 games. At the trade deadline, JB made a trade with the Vasteras Iron Eagles to acquire three players that were a big part of the S88 Renaissance Cup victory, Alexander Stroheim @Stroheim, Nagy AL @bigALand Wiley Blanchette @Wiley. In the playoffs, the Oslo Storm made the final of the Renaissance Cup for the fourth time in a row after defeating the Cologne Express 4-3 in the first round and they also won their third Cup in four years after winning the final series 4-2 to the Rome Gladiators.

 

For a fifth season in a row, Oslo made the playoffs in the VHLE thanks to their fourth place in the standings and their record of 44 wins, 23 losses and 5 overtime losses for a total of 93 points in 72 games. However, this time it was not a long run as they lost in three games to the Rome Gladiators in the best of 3 series. This was also the last season of JB as the GM of the Oslo Storm. During his time with the Storm, JB123 won three Renaissance Cup in S85, S86 and S88, and he won two Thadius Sales Trophy for the top general manager in S85 and S87.

 

We had the chance to interview JB a couple of days ago and when we asked him about how he felt about being one of the best GM in the history of the VHLE, he said that « there’s been a number of great GMs throughout the history of the VHLE and to be considered as one of them is an honor ». JB also mentioned that the best thing he did was, with the help of @KRZY, to install a winning culture and to turn the team around even if it took a couple seasons. In addition, JB wanted to say that even if there were still a lot of anti-VHLE sentiments in the VHL, he is always going to believe that with the GM and the right people working together, the league can succeed. Finally, when we asked him if there was a chance that we would see him again in a GM position, he clearly said that he would like to return to GMing and that he wants to make the transition to the VHL.

 

That’s all for me. I would like to personally thanks JB for the interview and for everything he did for the VHLE. Also, thanks for reading and see you in another article.

[rory 1,916]

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