Vintage CGY All-Stars vs S80s CGY All-Stars

[Daniel Janser 2,169]

A little trivia in advance: In Europe All Star Games are much less common than they are in North America. 

 

Switzerland only introduced an All Star Game in 1996 after a tragic accident by Pat Schafhauser, a Minnesota born skater. Schafhauser together with his brother Bill played for my team, the EV Zug, before he moved on to Lugano. During a match for his new team, Pat was at the receiving end of a clean check. Unfortunately, he crashed into the boards and was not able to get up again on his own. He was flown into a special clinic where they diagnosed that he will never be able to skate again as he suffered irreversible damage to his vertebrae and will remain a paraplegic.

 

To his honour and to help him out financially, the All Star Games were born and some of the proceeds go to a foundation in his name, which helps out people who share Pat's fate.

 

So much for trivia and I wish it was more cheerful.

 

To now build a bridge to VHL relevant topics, I decided boringly and very umimaginatively to name my two CGY All Star teams from the past and from the last decade. To avoid any bias I will neither name me nor my brother for such team.

 

The Past:

 

On the Left Wing I already got into a problem. Who to pick? Rybak? The Ukrainian Dynamo is a Calgary lifer and leads the franchise in points and goals, despite Janser's recent efforts to break this records. Or Boulet? The Swiss has the trophy for the best two-way forward named after him and a ship load of trophies to his name. Or Bunclewirth? The Saskatoon native is also a Wranglers lifer but with a shorter VHL career, who not only played for Red-White-and-Black but simultaneously managed them. A very tough choice, but I went for the low hanging fruit and pick Boulet. I think you cannot go wrong with any of them.

 

On the Center, I nominate Donetsk native Alexander Chershenko. To this day the Ukrainian holds the franchise record for game winners, despite having played two seasons for the Americans.

 

On the Right Wing, I go with Brett Slobodzian. Also a Saskatoon native and despite a shortened VHL career of five seasons (all for CGY), he is considered one of the greatest to grace the ice. With a whole cabinet full of individual awards, it is no surprise that the trophy for the Most Outstanding Player is named after him.

 

On the defence, everyone not picking Labatte as one of the two to hold down the fort is a fool in my eyes. Another Saskatoonie, he is second in franchise scoring as a back. An other compulsive trophy hoarder, the award for the best defence man in the league is named in his honour.

 

Who will support Labatte, though? Sauve, Kendrick and Sullivan are all good options. I finally decided for Alexander Sauvé as the Bernese defender collected most of his silverware during his two stints with Calgary. 

 

Who's on first in net? A valid question as I did my choice based on retired numbers and it appears the only position where there is none is goalkeeper. I go with Red Deer native Norris Stopko. As he played a lot of games for the franchise and had some individual and team success as a member of the Wranglers (and his commute must have been very short).

 

Now on to the S80s All stars:

 

On the Left Wing I name Landon Wolanin. A very clutch player, never scoring below ppg with the exception of his rookie season. Twice at the brink on having a three digit season with Calgary, but Janser was just not good enough to convert the one pass missing.

 

On the Center I name Saku Kotkakoivu. It was a split decision between him and Gonçalves, Saku gets the nod for the best season in the hybrid era where he had almost zero support from a rebuilding Calgary team.

 

On the Right Wing it is the gritty Scouser Phil The Rock Johnson who provided the Wranglers with some sand paper in their game and valuable secondary scoring. Dude still holds the franchise record for hits.

 

On the back end I name Phil Strasmore and AirRig GoodBrandSun, as they were a staple in the Wranglers' defence during the eighties.

 

In net I decided for Oscar Lindbergh who helped Calgary to make the final push in the playoffs. Honourable mentions go out to Klamasteris and Dahl who were solid tendies but could not bring the Albertan team that success the franchise was looking for.

 

Who would win this encounter? That is indeed difficult two say, as it is almost impossible to compare different eras against each other to start with. Then add the hybrid attributes to the mix and you have a brainfuck par excellence at your hands. I leave that up to your, dear reader's, imagination. I would also be interested on different opinions on my CGY All Star selections.

 

Spoiler

@Victor @JardyB10 @jacobcarson877 @leandrofg @DollarAndADream @Phil @Rhynex Entertainment @Doomsday @hedgehog337 @Ben

 

 

 

Edited February 5 by Daniel Janser

[Victor 10,940]

We wipe the floor with you I'm afraid.

[Daniel Janser 2,169]

11 hours ago, Victor said:

We wipe the floor with you I'm afraid.

I do not know whether they do walkers with skates on them, though...

 

Edited February 1 by Daniel Janser

[STZ 5,360]

Those are some names