The newest hockey empire

[VattghernCZ 896]

Greenland is the world's largest island (863,330 square miles), and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark located in North America. Despite its population being just very modest 56,600 inhabitants, ice hockey – particularly within the VHL and its affiliated leagues – is becoming more and more popular there. The Arctic climate is surely a big influence, but the biggest reason for the recent boom is definitely the Reingaard family and their Greenland Youth Academy turning raw hockey talent into polished gems.

The first Greenlandic influence in the modern era of the VHL came in S70 VHL entry draft, which saw two forward – Lewis Dawson and Aleelee Kiak joining the VHL organisations, being drafted 7^th and 15^th overall respectively. Both enjoyed respectable VHL careers, Kiak with 287 games between Moscow, Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago (287GP 102G 136A 238P), winning the Victory Cup and the Continental Cup with Seattle in S73; Dawson with 432 games between Malmö, Calgary, D.C. And Davos (432GP 142G 254A 296P), picking up the S75 Victory Cup with Calgary along the way.

S73 saw the first Greenlandic goaltender paving the way, as Malmö drafted 6'8“ Grekkark Gyrfalcon 6^th overall. In 8 VHL season with Malmö and Prague he logged 518 games with 272-203-36 record, 0.915 SV%, 3.19 GAA and 8 shutouts, winning the S75 Continental Cup with Malmö as well as claimin the S77 Aidan Shaw Trophy awarded to the league's best goaltender.

While S75 entry draft included two Greenlandic players, neither of them has played a VHL games. The true breakout for Greenland came in the S77 entry draft with FIVE Greenlanders being selected. Let's start from the back end with the 25^th overall selection Innunguaq Kiak, a 6'8“ defender who hasn't really made a name for himself in the top league, playing just 144 games for Seattle, scoring 9 assists. Defenseman Joe Madison, drafted 14^th overall, played 360 games for Calgary, Los Angeles and Vancouver, scoring 64 goals and 166 asists for 230 points and had his name engraved in both the Victory Cup and the Continental Cup in S82 along with his Vancouver teammates. The remaining 3 players – Asher Reinhart (6^th overall), Zeedayno Chara (4^th overall) and Reylynn Reinhart (2^nd overall) – all enjoyed 576 games long careers. A. Reingaard started the career in Toronto, moved to Prague (where he switched position from forward to defenseman) and spent the last season in Calgary, scoring 237 goals and 344 assists for 581 points, including two 50-goal 100-point seasons, but wasn't lucky in the awards department. With 194 goals and 425 assists for 619 points accumulated in New York, Seattle and Davos, Chara is one of the more successful set-up men in the VHL history, and a one-time Continental Cup champion with the S83 Bears squad. Individually, R. Reingaard was individually the most succesfull of the bunch, scoring 253 goals and 412 assists for 665 points, of which 106 goals and and 263 assists (369 points) were scored in 360 games as a Davos defenseman, earning the Sterling Labatte and Jake Wylde trophies in S80, the rest as a forward in Calgary, Prague and Helsinki – including one 50-goal 100-point season.

S78 draft class sported Jlloyoid Blloyoiderson (40^th overall), who didn't make it in the VHL, as well as another Reingaard – this time Tobias, a goaltender drafted 32^nd overall. Reingaard spent his whole career in Riga, serving 5 seasons as their starter, logging 332 games with 179-117-24 record, .918 SV% and 2.84 GAA, without any success in the awards department.

The S79 class brought yet another two Reingaards – Jerome (3^rd overall) and Tyler (2^nd overall), both drafted by Vancouver Wolves and both being a part of the objectively not biased at all absolutely factually the best dynasty the VHL has ever seen. With Vancouver, they both won three Victory Cups and three Continental Cups (S80, S81, S82). In the S83-S84 offseason, they were both traded to New York, Jerome was then traded to Riga in S84, then spent last two season of his career (S85-86) in London, Tyler joined Riga for S85 and retired after the season. Jerome ended up with career totals of 578GP 292G 492A 784P, starting the season as a forward, winning the Christian Stolzschweiger trophy in S79, later after switching position to defenseman, he won the Alexander Valiw trophy in S85 with London, also picking the Daisuke Kanou trophy in S81 and Scotty Campbell trophy in S85. Tyler's career was shorter 504 games played, but equally as impressive with 242 goals and 272 assists for 514 points, picking up the Kevin Brooks trophy and the Dustin Funk trophy in S80.

For a long time, we haven't seen any Greenlander joining the VHL. The only one drafted between S79 and S90 was Kiak Jr in S88, who – while technically an active player – doesn't currently play for any team.

So how does the current Greenlandic situation look? Better than ever! There are currently FIFTEEN active players hailing from Greenland, not counting Kiak Jr. S90 brought two high-end centers Severus Targaryen (Seattle Bears) and the S91 Christian Stolzschweiger trophy winner Axle Gunner (Moscow Menace). S91 has been the biggest draft class in Greenlandic history, with TEN Greenlanders (including four Reingaards), with four players already in the VHL (Lionel Collberg, defenseman, Chicago; Dalkr Vidarsson, goaltender, Vancouver; Thor Reingaard, right wing, Warsaw; Leif Reingaard, defenseman, Moscow), three in the VHLE (Hezeus Ohmontegue-Steinhardt X, defenseman, Västerås; Behrens Minion, left wing, Rome; Theo Allard, center, Cologne) and three steadily growing in the VHLM (free agent defenseman Thickums Mcgillacutty; Aanarsi Reingaard, left wing, Halifax; Dietrich Reingaard, right wing, San Diego).

The only Greenlander selected in the S92 entry draft was Vanellope von Schweetz, an undersized defender who's now developing in Cologne.

Alagsantere Grønvold, S96 draft class, Greenland Youth Academy Team Red

And how about the future? It's as bright as ever. Jorgen Lovstrom is shutting it down in the Reapers' net, and Trimiskez Artav is one of the most dominant forwards in the VHLM, killing it for Houston. Both are poised to be first round selections in the upcoming S93 VHL entry draft. Also worth mentioning are two standouts currently in the Greenland Youth Academy – S95 eligible prospect Eric the Red, and S96 eligible shutdown defenseman Alagsantere Grønvold. Greenland is already on the track to become the most dominant country in hockey in the upcoming 10 seasons.

(1000+ words, claiming 2x6 TPE)

[VattghernCZ 896]

2/4 claim

[Daniel Janser 2,120]

Nice research Vattghern. A little note to avoid confusion the pre-90's Greenland wave S75-79 were called 'Reinhart' not to be confused with the 'Reingaard' dynasty of the S90's.

 

[VattghernCZ 896]

7 hours ago, Daniel Janser said:

Nice research Vattghern. A little note to avoid confusion the pre-90's Greenland wave S75-79 were called 'Reinhart' not to be confused with the 'Reingaard' dynasty of the S90's.

 

Doesn't help that my autocorrect kept changing Reingaard to Reinhart, which made the whole thing extra confusing, I'm sure these two are mixed up somewhere

[UghSike 221]

Well dang! Lots of history and facts to make this feel real and informative! I liked the introduction with the statistics behind the island itself. Clearly you put a lot of time and thought into this submission. Even going as far as to post a photo with a description laid out properly underneath of it. An enjoyable read and I hope to see more!