A look at the VHLM careers of my players

[ROOKIE745 604]

Hello one and all, with the theme week being VHLM focused I thought it'd be fitting to recount the careers of my players during their time in the M, none of them spent more than one full season in the M. With three players under my belt (one who is still playing of course) it's about four seasons worth to look at since there are two half seasons in there. As I feel I've been mentioning a lot though recently, all three of my players have had a very deep run in the playoffs, going all the way to finals and in two of those cases, winning it. I feel sometime that I am just retelling old stories but there's always new people to read and learn about theme plus with this post I'll be looking to go a little more in depth.

 

Jaxx Hextall

S69: Halifax 21st

Jaxx Hextall joined the league about halfway through the Season 69 season, he signed with the Halifax 21st. I can't fully recall at the time but I'm pretty sure I chose to join them because I knew I'd get a lot of playtime, pretty sure I played the last 32 games, and because they were a Canadian team. Playoffs weren't out of the realm of possibility too, Hextall would go 15-14-3 in the 32 games he got into, posting a .864 save percentage, 2.94 goals against average and 3 shutouts. Halifax's overall record was 35-32-6 for 74 points that season. Halifax did indeed make the playoffs and in that first round they took out the Philadelphia Reapers in six games. In the second round they'd run into the juggernaut that was the Saskatoon Wild, a team that went 68-4-0 in the regular season and had swept Yukon Rush in the first round. The 21st would managed to take one game off of the Wild would win the series in five, the one win was the only game Hextall didn't face 40 plus shots, he saved 20 out of 22 in a 4-2 win. Hextall was 5-5-1 in those playoffs, posting a .879 save percentage, 3.74 goals against average and getting one shutout, he faced 365 shots in 11 games. That series would also be the start of his rivalry with net minder Jacques Lafontaine.

 

S70: Minnesota Storm

Coming in the VHLM draft of S70 many GM's seemed to think Hextall would go up to play for his VHL team, Davos had drafted him but he was then traded for by Toronto. It's possible most GM's at the time also had their goalie set so a goaltender was not in hot demand, even as one as talented as Hextall was. Minnesota, who already had a pretty stacked roster, was able to improve their goaltending even more when they got Jaxx Hextall at 32nd overall, the second last pick of the third round at the time. At the time of selection Jaxx had 191 TPE and I was able to get him to the them cap of 250 TPE before the season started. So the Minnesota Storm basically got a maxed out goalie at 32nd overall, think that will ever happen again? I imagine some GM's were biting themselves as the Storm took control of season 70, going 61-8-3 for 125 points with Hexy playing every game. Hextall had a .899 save percentage, 2.09 goals against average, and 10 shutouts, he also set many Minnesota Storm single season goalie records that season from what I remember. Minnesota's control only grew stronger in the playoffs, going 12-0-2 to win the Founder's Cup, sweeping the Aces and Bulls and beating the Lynx in six. The zero regulation loses is something the Wild were not able to to do last season and I think it speaks for just how good that S70 Storm team was, a team that comprised of many former Halifax players for a fun fact. Hextall of course played every game, posted a .907 save percentage, 2.22 goals against average, and 3 shutouts. In those 14 games he faced just 344 shots, 21 less with 3 extra games played compared to his S69 run. Hextall would win his only awards that season, winning the Cup of course but also the Benoit Devereux Trophy and the Skylar Rift Trophy for the best goalie in the VHLM and MVP of the of the playoffs respectively. Hextall would go on to spend his entire career with the Toronto Legion, making the playoffs three times and retiring after the S77 playoffs.

 

Jonathan Ori

S78: Minnesota Storm

I returned to the VHLM in S78 with my next player, being drafted by a familiar franchise in the Minnesota Storm, the same GM and AGM were still there. Ori's career in the M would be the shortest as he just had the one full season. In the regular season he scored 4 goals, had 32 assists for 40 points, I recall I ended up being bang with a prediction for Ori to hit 40 points (granted in that prediction I think I said around 40 but still, I'll take what I can get.) Most of his points came in the second half of the season. The Storm were third that season 111 points and a record of 53-14-5. In the post season the Storm had a run all the way to the finals, taking out the Wild in a sweep, they'd do the same to the Houston Bulls. They would meet the first place Yukon Rush in the finals where the Rush managed to get the better of them and win it in six. For Ori's efforts he was nearly a point per game in that run with 3 goals and 9 assists for 12 points. Ori was drafted by the Helsinki Titans who had the GM of the Storm take over, Ori would spend five seasons there with no playoffs to show, he then went to the Seattle Bears for two seasons and made the playoffs in both seasons, including a run to the finals, and in his last season he played for the Dragons and made the playoffs that season. He retired after the S86 playoffs.

 

Toby Kadachi

S89: Houston Bulls

Getting to my most recent and current player, Toby Kadachi much like Jaxx Hextall spent part of a season the M before playing a full one. I decided to sign with the Houston Bulls as a number of the players on the roster were people I knew and the team was a pretty good one at that, finishing second overall at 48-14-10 for 106 points. Kadachi only posted one goal and four points in the 22 games he got into. The playoffs would be a sad end however as they were outed in five games from the Ottawa Lynx, a team that finished seventh overall. Kadachi put up a single assist in that series. 

 

S90: Houston Bulls - Mississauga Hounds

After season 89 Kadachi was of course in the draft and in strange turn of events would end being signed by the Houston Bulls, the team had a new general manager that I don't believe knew that Kadachi had just played for the team. Houston of course though had just gone for a all in push last season and while they were able to get some good players it was clear early on in the season the team would be selling it's few good players to prepare for next season or the one after. Playing top line minutes during his short stay with the Bull for S90, he put up 10 goals, 11 assists for 21 points in 18 games, above a point per game. For the first time in my VHL career I would be traded during a season and play for two teams, the Hounds traded for my players rights and it would be a pretty good fit. Kadachi probably wasn't playing top line minutes anymore but he still put up 21 goals, 20 assists for 41 points, 7 of his goals were on the power play unit for the Hounds. that's 31 goals, 31 assists for 62 points in 72 games at the end of the season, not bad at all. The Hounds that season were 54-16-2 for second overall. In the post season they would take out the Kings in the first round in five, the Wild in five as well, and in the finals they met the Miami Marauders, a team that Hounds had always seemed to loose against. It would be a very very close series but the Hounds would pull it out in seven games to win the Founders Cup (and a second time for me). In those 17 games Kadachi recorded two goals, six assists for eight points. Kadachi may have not been the most productive in that run but I also know he was playing some very hard minutes against some of the best players, so him keeping them at bay, I'm happy with that. In the S91 draft Kadachi would be selected by the Seattle Bears, a team that at the time of this writing he still plays with and has won a Cup with.

 

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[ROOKIE745 604]

claiming for second time June 30th.

[ROOKIE745 604]

Claiming for third time July 7th