The WSH Project: A Semi-Realistic Mearger of the VHL and SHL Part 3: European Teams

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0Welcome back to this article series that unites sim league hockey into a super league that is theoretically plausible but practically impossible. Last week, the two thirds of the WSH in North America was sorted out and arranged. Today, the European Conference will be explored as well as my plans for the VHLE. While all the teams in Europe come entirely from the VHL, I did pull from SHL history to name many of the teams. So this does unite both leagues as much as the pervious articles in this series. With that being said, it is time to see what the Old World has for hockey clubs.

A Hop Across the Pond

 

With the worst of the work finished with the conclusion of the North American teams, It was time to deal with the eight teams of the VHL's European Conference. Those teams are listed below.

 

HC Davos Dynamo (Switzerland)
Helsinki Titans
London United
Malmo Nighthawks (Sweden)
Prague Phantoms
Riga Reign (Baltic States)
Warsaw Predators

 

With no team from the SHL and needing even divisions, three expansion teams were needed. A similar look back in VHL history would be enough to find worthy cities and names. The WSH European Conference is listed below.

 

Berlin Steel
HC Davos Dynamo
Helsinki Titans
London United
Madrid Thunder
Malmo Mammoths
Moscow Menace
Paris Revolution
Prague Phantoms
Riga Reign
Warsaw Predators

 

The Berlin Steel and Paris Revolution were set to be inaugural clubs in the VHLE but were swaped out at the last minute during to potential copyright issues. (more on that league later) The branding has been mainstays in the Junior Showcase Tournament, but these franchises were ment to be so much more. Including them in this expansion restores what was taken away better than if they remained a part of the VHLE. The Madrid Thunder were a short lived VHL brand that some have asked for to return. The WSH would welcome the revival of the Thunder with a logo and color to recall the Buffalo Thunder, a similarly short term brand from the SHL. Thus the teams is a perfect fusion of both leagues, which is the point of this whole project. Malmo was rebranded because of the Hamilton Steelhawks as per Rule 5. I thought about rebranding Hamilton instead, but with a name perviously attach to Colorado that I believe works better than what I thought up for Hamilton, the Malmo Mammoths were born. Thus the major clubs were completed but my work was not done yet.

 

Changing The E

 

With the finish line in site, there was only one more league to work on. The Victory Hockey League Europe is an optional middle league between the VHLM and the VHL. It started with six teams quickly expanded to eight taking two franchise from the VHLM only to later contract back down to six where it stands today. At the highest of it's power the VHLE had the following teams.

 

Bratislava Watchmen 
Cologne Express
Geneva Rush
Istanbul Red Wolves
Oslo Storm
Rome Gladiators
Stockholm Vikings 
Vasteras Iron Eagles 

 

This league like the awkward middle child that doesn't get the love of it's younger or older siblings. Because I can relate, I expanded the E to fourteen teams under the new name World Simulation Hockey Minors (WSHM). The franchise of this league are listed below.

 

WSHM 

North Division 

 

Amstel Admiraal
Cologne Express
Glasgow Highlanders
Gothenburg War Boars
Oslo Storm
Stockholm Vikings
Vasteras Iron Eagles

 

South Division

 

Bern Royals
Bratislava Watchmen
Geneva Peace Keepers
Istanbul Inferno
Rome Gladiators
Syracuse Hydras
Toledo Scorpions

 

Each of the teams locations for the new teams are franchise that did exist in the in the VHL or VHLM except for Glasgow. Speaking of Glasgow, what better way to honor Scotland's proud military history than in Scotland itself. This team is why the Ottawa Lynx kept their name. Amsterdam had a team in the VHL's inaugural season. They were the Amstel Tijgers and being based on a real team is what killed the team. But remembering Dutch's history as a great naval power and invoking the memory of the SHL's Portland Admirals while keeping the Dutch spelling in tribute to the original team results in a perfect revival of a classic club. Gothenburg, Sweden had an early and brief VHLM franchise called the Eagles. With a simple revival out of the question due to nearby Vasteras having a too similar brand, I chose a brand based on Gulinbusti, a mystical boar from Nordic myth. It also gives the three Swedish teams a land, sea, and air synergy going on. The Bern Royals were a long standing VHLM team and current JST brand that was somehow forgotten when the VHLE began. Peace Keepers were a suggestion of my own for a rebrand of the Geneva Rush. With the Rush name back in Yukon where it belongs, this solid name is a tip of the had to one of the biggest employers in Geneva, the United Nations. And we finally have the Swiss rivalry that always should have existed in the VHLE at the start. The Istanbul Red Wolves was one of contracted teams I mentioned earlier.  (The other one was the Geneva Rush) Adding an alliterated name cast off from Atlanta to produce a brand that works, given the history of fires in that city.The Toledo Scorpions are a straight revival of an early VHLM team.The Syracuse Wolfpack were a brief VHLM franchise, that unfortunately for me shared a name with the SHL's New England Wolfpack. So it was only fitting that I pulled from New England's history as the Hartford Hydras to fix this problem. This name brings to mind the great myths build around the Mediterranean Sea, of which Syracuse is a port city on.

 

Conclusion

 

I am thankful the the SHL has a rich history of team name to pull from. It made my life a whole lot easier especiallyin this part of the project. I would like to personally thank the individuals in both leagues who archive this history. It truly makes projects like this possible. Up next week is the full revised list of all the team in this project as it stands. But that might not be the conclusion of this series after all. With two expansion teams in the WSHJ and three in the WSH, I could do six team divisions within conferences in both leagues. So I did just that. I will be set to explain both the expansion franchises and the new divisions in part 5 of this series. But with that, this article is at an end. Let's get a conversation going about the project so far so I can make changes for next week. I appreciate you for taking the time to read these ravings of a madman. Goodbye until next week. Cheers.