Career Highlights of my players

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

Raimo Tuominen has just come off an amazing season in the VHL. In my opinion, it has been the best regular season any of my players has had and has highlighted his career so far. It probably isn’t a surprise that despite the fact it didn’t end the way we wanted it to end, the 50 goal and 100 point markers (heck, add the 110 and 120 point markers) have been the highlight of his career. I have never hit either 50 goals or 100 points in a single season ever with any of my previous players. (Yes, much to my surprise, Jacques Lafontaine has never hit those marks in a single season.) That got me thinking. What do I believe were the biggest highlights of my player’s careers? It was fun to revisit and relive these moments through the careers of Petrenko, Crimson, and Lafontaine. I have really enjoyed my tenure here in the VHL and hope to make many more memories and moments. Here are what I believe are the best of the best.

 

Raimo Tuominen - 50 Goals and 100 Points

Yeah, I’ve already covered this. Excellent season, great teammates, and a promising future. I won’t cover any more. I don’t intend on letting this remain the greatest highlight of Raimo’s career.

 

Ryuu Crimson - The Cup (and the Kanou)

Okay, this one is probably really obvious but winning the Continental Cup is always a highlight for me. Spoiler alert, Sigard Petrenko’s highlight is also winning the cup. This was a really special one though. Coming into the league with my first ever player, I was curious to see how this would shake out. I decided to play it safe with a winger and wanted to develop a deadly goal scorer. While he certainly was no slouch, he wasn’t deadly. He has been sent to the All-Star game before but he really was just a player who at best was a GOOD option for a first line winger. If anything, he was an overachieving second liner.

 

Winning the cup in my rookie season (and with my first ever player) didn’t really hit me then but it does now that I’ve had a few tries with other players. I mean, the S63 Reign team was STACKED. I still remember a good handful of their names. Ryan Kastelic (iirc, first to hit the 2000 TPE threshold), Shawn Glade, Podrick Cast, Leph Twinger, Edwin Preencarnacion, Kallis Kriketers… it was a hell of a run. And not only that but my player became the first to be awarded Daisuke Kanou as a rookie.

 

Sigard Petrenko - (Obviously) The Cup Again

I mean, I already said it in the previous section so I might as well do it now. Hands down winning the Continental Cup with the Seattle Bears. Vinny Detroit, Hulk Hogan 2, MDM, Em Em Flex, my boy AJ Williams (still miss Randy), Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems, Zeedayno Chara, Mikhail Kovalchuk, Sven Eightnine, Max Torq, so many great players that came together to win it. A fun group of guys and a great team season. Of course, now being a Wrangler (the best NA Conference team) I must say that I heavily detest all forms of Bear imagery… but a part of me will always be a part of this team.

 

Sigard Petrenko had a solid season (interestingly enough, his BEST season as an individual was the season before) but the playoffs were where he was really able to shine. 23 points in 18 games (only to outdo himself a season later with 24 in 18… just with a less happy ending) on route to the cup. Not bad. Also just noticed that both cup wins I’ve been a part of end in 3. Food for thought. Though, I hope to break that pattern with Raimo Tuominen. I have some unfinished business as a Calgary Wrangler. Speaking of which, let’s talk about…

 

Jacques Lafontaine - The Rivalry

I am not talking about the Wranglers/Bears rivalry in the playoffs (as awesome as those series were in terms of pure fun) because we unfortunately usually got edged out. I mean, Rayz Funk really stole the spotlight as THE goalie and the Bears stole the spotlight as THE team. As awesome as those moments were, I’m going with the rivalry with ROOKIE745’s Jaxx Hextall AND DarkSpyro’s Jimmy Spyro. Spyro, Lafontaine, Hextall, all spent their careers with a Canadian team. It was always fun chiding each other or even just talking about each other’s players. If you were to ask me how I’d rank the three, it’d be Hextall, Spyro, and then myself. I mean from the beginning Hextall was a stunner, shocking myself and everyone else. Jimmy was a late bloomer (especially having to spend two seasons as a backup before breaking out) but was still really solid in those seasons and blossomed into a bonafide starter. He’s also the only one with a Continental Cup but shhh we don’t need to talk about that. Love those two forever and always.

 

(Also, quick shoutout to Sigard Gunnar… the reason why Petrenko’s first name was also Sigard.)

 

In Conclusion

Of course, I treasure my time with all three of these players dearly. And all three had different kinds of success. Ryuu Crimson found success early as a playoff MVP in his rookie season and then tapered off as the season went by to become a solid 2LW. Jacques Lafontaine was certainly the most consistent, being a great starter behind a consistently great Wranglers team, however, was heavily overshadowed by never getting a cup and not ever being THE goalie of the league. Sigard Petrenko was certainly the most stable and well-rounded of the bunch, showing winning prowess with the S83 Bears team, as well as being a very good player in general. I am hoping that Raimo Tuominen can be as explosive and dynamic throughout his career as he was in the past season. I am hoping for an even better moment to celebrate. (And I’m thinking of Raimo with two hands on the Continental Cup, lifting it up for all of Calgary to see.)

[Banackock 8,068]

Bearz

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

Claiming week ending July 28 (2/2)