Ronan Lavelle - Hall of Fame Article

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Ronan Lavelle - Class of S91
Position: Left Wing
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 190 lbs.
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
VHL Draft: S82 - 1st round (7th overall) - DC Dragons
Username: @Arce

 

Career Awards
Dustin Funk Trophy (Most Improved Player) S84
Daisuke Kanou Trophy (Playoff MVP): S85
Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Most Points): S88, S89
Brett Slobodzian Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): S88
Kevin Brooks Trophy (Most Goals): S89
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Continental Cup: S85 - DC
Victory Cup: S89 - MOS
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First Team All-VHL: S88, S89
Second Team All-VHL: S84, S85, S90

 

The S82 VHL draft was loaded with talent. It was a deep draft at the time, and it still is when you look back on it: 10 of the first-round picks in S82 eclipsed the 1000 TPE mark, several of those by a huge margin. Not only was it full of talented players, it was loaded with players brought to the VHL by well-known agencies. Ronan Lavelle was a return to the VHL for @Arce  after quite a bit of time away from the league. On draft day, he was ranked 15th in the class in TPE. The DC Dragons took the plunge with the #7 pick in the draft, and here, ten seasons later, do they ever look like geniuses for doing so.

 

Growing up a two-sport athlete in Dublin, Lavelle played both soccer and hockey early in his career. He was a bit of a prodigy in hockey, leading to his family moving to Canada seeking a higher level of competition. Lavelle’s career flourished with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires before he committed to the VHL and signed with the Mexico City Kings. What followed next was history.

 

S81 - VHLM (Mexico City)
72 GP | 42 G | 41 A | 83 PTS | 38 PIM | -35 | 345 SOG | 127 HIT | 38 SB
Playoffs: 4 GP | 0 G | 4 A | 4 PTS | 2 PIM | -3 | 28 SOG | 8 HIT | 1 SB

 

Lavelle acclimatized quickly to the VHLM, stepping into a big role with the Kings. They weren’t a particularly great team, but Lavelle gave them a chance to win every night with his dynamic offensive play and certainly caught the eyes of VHL scouts. Lavelle finished the season with 42 goals (8th in the VHLM) and 83 points (18th), far and away leading his team in both categories. The Kings finished the season 23-47-2, however, and while they claimed the last playoff spot, they were swept aside quickly by the league’s best team and eventual champion Ottawa Lynx. Lavelle put up 4 points in 4 playoff games, and he would go on to be selected 7th overall by the DC Dragons in the VHL Draft.

 

S82 - VHLE (Geneva)
72 GP | 49 G | 52 A | 101 PTS | 34 PIM | +23 | 483 SOG | 72 HIT | 21 SB
Playoffs: Did Not Qualify

 

Lavelle was also selected 9th overall by the Geneva Rush in the VHLE Draft, and headed off to Switzerland to spend a year in the relatively new European league. Here, he gave everyone a glimpse of what was to come, taking his game to even another level over what he showed in Mexico. Lavelle was the best player on the ice most nights and led the E in goals (49), points (101), and shots on goal (483) in a dominant season that saw him capture the league’s MVP award - an award which today bears his own name, the Ronan Lavelle Trophy. Somehow, despite Lavelle’s best efforts, the Rush failed to qualify for the playoffs as their 34-35-3 record came up 13 points short… but Lavelle’s status as a high-end VHL prospect was firmly cemented.

 

S83 - DC Dragons
72 GP | 13 G | 27 A | 40 PTS | 15 PIM | +6 | 206 SOG | 46 HIT | 13 SB
Playoffs: 3 GP | 2 G | 1 A | 3 PTS | 0 PIM | -3 | 7 SOG | 1 HIT | 0 SB

 

As a lot of the S82 draft class moved up to the big leagues for S83, Lavelle hoped to hit the ground running with DC. The Dragons were a middling team with a lot of good young talent but little depth, and they offered plenty of opportunity for a young Lavelle, who played all year on the team’s first line and averaged more than 29:30 of ice time per game. However, the success didn’t come immediately and Lavelle struggled his way to a 13 goal, 40 point rookie campaign. Rookie scoring leader The Board Game Clue on Skates more than doubled up on Lavelle’s point total. Then, the Dragons were swept out of the North American Conference wildcard round by the Chicago Phoenix. It was a bit of a rough start to his career, but one that would quickly be erased.

 

S84 - DC Dragons
72 GP | 38 G | 60 A | 98 PTS | 19 PIM | +41 | 447 SOG | 40 HIT | 20 SB
Playoffs: 9 GP | 4 G | 6 A | 10 PTS | 0 PIM | -3 | 41 SOG | 7 HIT | 4 SB

 

With another year of improvement from Lavelle, Tui Sova, Bubbles Utonium, and the seismic addition of Duncan Idaho over the off-season, the DC Dragons were a new team in S84, and Lavelle announced himself to the VHL in a big way. Idaho would lead the VHL in scoring in S84 with 122 points, and playing alongside him, Lavelle jumped from 40 points to 98, capturing the Dustin Funk Trophy as the VHL’s Most Improved Player and landing himself inside the league’s top-10 in scoring - a position he would find himself getting used to throughout his career. The Dragons improved from a wildcard team to leading the NA with a 48-19-5 record. Unfortunately, after making quick work of Calgary in the first round, they ran into a Seattle Bears team that had all the answers and went out in five games in the NA Conference Finals. However, the foundation had been laid for success in DC.

 

S85 - DC Dragons
72 GP | 46 G | 52 A | 98 PTS | 96 PIM | +30 | 512 SOG | 275 HIT | 34 SB
Playoffs: 18 GP | 12 G | 14 A | 26 PTS | 22 PIM | +9 | 134 SOG | 83 HIT | 12 SB

 

With Idaho gone in S85, Lavelle was officially the star of the show in DC and he came through with another top-10 finish in league scoring (6th), posting his second-straight 98-point season and reaching a career high in goals with 46. Lavelle further incorporated a more physical side to his game - something he had shied away from a bit in his early years - and tallied 275 hits to go along with that offensive production. The Dragons, with a weaker roster and worse regular season record, entered the playoffs as underdogs. But the experience their core players had gained shone through. With Lavelle leading the charge, the Dragons marched through the Vancouver Wolves and Chicago Phoenix to find themselves head-to-head with the Moscow Menace in the finals. They dispatched Moscow in five games, earning Lavelle his first Continental Cup, and the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as Playoff MVP along with it.

 

S86 - DC Dragons
72 GP | 51 G | 43 A | 94 PTS | 121 PIM | +6 | 558 SOG | 304 HIT | 34 SB
Playoffs: 7 GP | 9 G | 5 A | 14 PTS | 22 PIM | -2 | 65 SOG | 28 HIT | 3 SB

 

The Dragons found themselves down another superstar in S86 as defenseman Tui Sova would move on, and it left a significant hole on the blueline, but the Dragons found themselves in the mix in the North American Conference once again. Establishing a new career high with 51 goals while adding 304 hits, eclipsing the 90-point mark for a third-straight season, Lavelle did everything in his power to keep the Dragons competitive. He dug in and attempted to drag the Dragons through the first round with a 9-goal, 14-point effort in their playoff series against the Chicago Phoenix, but it wasn’t meant to be; the Phoenix lost in seven games. Despite only playing 7 games, Lavelle finished eighth in the league in playoff goals. With their competitive window seemingly behind them, the Dragons made the difficult decision to move on from their franchise player and start a rebuild. Lavelle was traded to the Moscow Menace for Robert Wilk and a draft pick.

 

S87 - Moscow
72 GP | 40 G | 50 A | 90 PTS | 120 PIM | +6 | 582 SOG | 202 HIT | 48 SB
Playoffs: 6 GP | 4 G | 3 A | 7 PTS | 2 PIM | -2 | 41 SOG | 11 HIT | 2 SB

 

Lavelle stepped onto a stacked team in Moscow that featured the likes of Nico Pearce, Tomas Sogaard, Hammar Voss, and AK92 Wit da Hoodie. Unfortunately for them, Lavelle experienced a bit of a lull in production, at least by his own lofty standards. Though he did put up a fourth-straight 90-point season, S87 would mark the second-lowest scoring season of Lavelle’s career. Though favoured on paper heading into a playoff series against Malmo, the Menace couldn’t get on track and were eliminated in six games. Even though the start of the Ronan Lavelle era in Moscow didn’t go quite as planned, there were very good things in store…

 

S88 - Moscow
72 GP | 38 G | 71 A | 109 PTS | 101 PIM | +29 | 497 SOG | 199 HIT | 41 SB
Playoffs: 7 GP | 4 G | 7 A | 11 PTS | 2 PIM | -2 | 60 SOG | 18 HIT | 2 SB

 

S88 marked the season where Lavelle would go from one of the best offensive players in the VHL to the best offensive player in the VHL. Playing the role of playmaker to teammate Tomas Sogaard’s sniper, Lavelle reached career highs in assist (71) and points (109), finishing third in assists and capturing the Mike Szatkowski Trophy as the league’s scoring champ. Lavelle was one of just three players to eclipse the 100-point mark, and he helped Sogaard become the league’s only 50-goal scorer (51) on the season. Lavelle would also add the Brett Slobodzian Trophy as the league’s Most Outstanding Player to his trophy case following the season. The Menace entered the post-season eager to wipe last season’s disappointment off the map. Alas, despite 11 points in 7 games from Lavelle, the HC Davos Dynamo would send Moscow to a second-straight early exit.

 

S89 - Moscow
72 GP | 56 G | 59 A | 115 PTS | 125 PIM | +31 | 616 SOG | 202 HIT | 60 SB
Playoffs: 6 GP | 4 G | 4 A | 8 PTS | 8 PIM | +0 | 41 SOG | 18 HIT | 7 SB

 

Entering S89, it was now-or-never for the Menace. With two seasons left in Lavelle’s career and the additions of Jason up front, Deron Nesbitt on the blueline, and Clueless Wallob in net, the Menace were loaded up. Lavelle delivered the finest season of a Hall-of-Fame career, setting career highs with 56 goals and 11    5 points. That earned him back-to-back Szatkowski Trophies while also earning him the Kevin Brooks Trophy for leading the league in goals. Although he narrowly missed out on adding Campbell and Szatkowski Trophies to his resume in the brilliant campaign, Lavelle was clearly driving the bus for the VHL’s best team. Moscow went 50-18-4 to capture the Victory Cup, entering the playoffs as heavy favourites against Prague. But the unthinkable happened: the Menace held a 2-1 series lead before seeing the Phantoms win three straight to take series. Moscow outscored Prague 17-16 in the series, but were unable to take home the win. Lavelle put up a team-high 8 points in the series, but it wasn’t enough. After another disappointing post-season, the Menace decided to enter a rebuild of their own, and Lavelle was shipped alongside Sogaard to the Toronto Legion in exchange for Alexander Stroheim, Timothy Swearingen, and three draft picks.

 

S90 - Toronto
72 GP | 40 G | 55 A | 95 PTS | 89 PIM | +26 | 510 SOG | 205 HIT | 53 SB
Playoffs: 14 GP | 5 G | 11 A | 16 PTS | 37 PIM | +0 | 74 SOG | 46 HIT | 5 SB

 

Lavelle delivered all that you would expect of him in his final VHL season, bringing every bit of that veteran leadership and high-scoring talent to his new team in Toronto. With 40 goals and 95 points, Lavelle racked up another top-10 finish in the scoring race and a seventh-straight 90-point campaign, something unheard of in recent VHL history. The Legion completed a worst-to-first turnaround in the North American Conference, going from 26-37-9 in S89 to 45-14-13 in S90, and Lavelle led the way as he so often did - he leading his team in scoring for the fifth time in his career. The Legion took a back-and-forth series with the Vancouver Wolves in seven games to book a ticket to the North American Conference finals, where another back-and-forth series with the Los Angeles Stars would see the Legion sent home, ending Lavelle’s historic career. Lavelle led the Legion in playoff scoring, too, adding 16 points in their 14-game playoff run. It was another remarkable accomplishment: Lavelle’s team’s made the playoffs every year of his career, and he never finished a post-season with less than a point-per-game scoring average. It wasn’t a Continental Cup. But Lavelle’s career was, nevertheless, an incredible ride.

 

Career Totals
576 GP | 322 G | 417 A | 739 PTS | 686 PIM | +175 | 3928 SOG | 1473 HIT | 303 SB
Playoffs: 70 GP | 44 G | 51 A | 95 PTS | 93 PIM | -3 | 463 SOG | 212 HIT | 37 SB

 

Throughout his career, Lavelle was a dominant offensive force. It’s not to say he wasn’t great at both ends - he certainly was - but his calling card was being a highly consistent, highly productive scoring machine. After a slow rookie season, Lavelle never scored below 38 goals or 90 points in a season. He finishes his career second all-time in points in the VHL’s hybrid attribute era. Lavelle was an immediate sensation in the VHLM and VHLE and quickly became one at the VHL level, too. Although at times his teams failed to get it done in the playoffs, it’s through no fault of Lavelle’s, who can lay claim to a playoff streak spanning his entire career, in which he scored 95 points in 70 games and never had a single post-season run below a point-per-game. He captured 6 individual awards and won back-to-back scoring titles. Lavelle has a legitimate argument for being the greatest player of the VHL’s hybrid era, and his truly brilliant career is now capped off with a very deserving induction into the Hall of Fame.

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Nice read. Well done. Great player and an even better user. Congratulations @Arce