Too much love for defencemen?

[Victor 11,009]

Quik and I once had a brief conversation about defencemen being underappreciated in the VHL. It would have been at some point around S63 or S64 when he was assessing the legacy of Mats Johnsson, and although Johnsson, as the clear best defenceman of his generation, had no issue getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, there was a point to be made about the position being under-represented in the Hall overall. Purely based on the proportion of players on a VHL team, you'd expect around 50% of inductees to be forwards, 30-35% to be defencemen, and the rest goaltenders. At the time of this conversation, the split was 66/27/19, massively skewed towards forwards with goalies a lot closer to defencemen than you'd expect. It was also true that unlike goalies, defencemen hardly ever featured in MVP conversations (getting a bit more, but not frequent, love in the playoffs) and with the Sterling Labatte Trophy only just having been split up, they spent most of VHL history fighting it out for one award per season (and a decent chance at leading the league in assists).

 

The tide has turned in the last 30 seasons. As mentioned, the Labatte was split into two, then quickly reinstated alongside the Valiq and Wylde Trophies, meaning defencemen now compete for three of their own trophies every season. Even if 2 and sometimes all 3 awards go to the same player, it is still added recognition, and further accolades are available in the form of All-VHL teams, introduced in S62, meaning you don't have to be the absolute best in a given season to make it into the history books.

 

Including Johnsson, 20 defencemen (21 including Pierre Emile Bouchard) have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since then, nearly doubling their amount, compared to just 8 goaltenders (9 with Lachlan Summers) and 24 forwards, a much more even ratio. The ballot after the upcoming HOF induction will have 6 players, half of whom are defencemen, and they will be an outright majority with Skor McFleury's addition next season. Tellingly the competition is in the form of Beketov's latest goalie stuck in HOF purgatory, Papa Emeritus, and two of the nine-season career flagbearers, Nico Pearce and The Frenchman, making it very possible the next two players inducted are also blue-liners. We've gone back in time to induct Voittu Jannula who retired in S21 (and to a lesser extent Erik Killinger who had to wait about a decade), as well as inducting defencemen with very few individual accolades like Matty Socks and Hulk Hogan. Although the recognition of consistency is admirable, it's a luxury rarely afforded to forwards or especially goaltenders, who generally have to be at the peak of their position to have a chance at the Hall.

 

So have we now gone too far to the other extreme? Of course, there's still only been one defenceman to be crowned MVP (Alex Letang) in the last 30 seasons and just three Brett Slobodzian Trophy winners (Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen, Condor Adrienne, and Brian Kowalski). There's been a recent spike in Kanou Trophy winners with four since S86 but it's still a trophy historically dominated by goaltenders. However, in terms of eternal recognition in the form of a Hall of Fame induction, defencemen increasingly have the league in a chokehold. The increase in trophies available has certainly helped, as has the less volatile competition at the top end, where 2-4 big names tend to feature prominently for 4-5 seasons at a time. Forwards' careers have tended to fluctuate more and more in the increased parity of the league, meaning players often end up with "just" a Brooks or Szatkowski Trophy to their name. While you could argue there are more trophies on offer to forwards like the Scott Boulet, that is often dominated by one player for several seasons at a time, and consistent runner-ups usually get forgotten.

 

Perhaps it's time to recalibrate what it means to be a Hall of Fame forward in the modern, 16-team VHL. Maybe that's true of goalies as well. And perhaps we have been too kind to defencemen in an effort to make up for years of historical injustice. Or maybe we truly have just gone through an all-time great era for defencemen and should cherish it while it lasts.

[Spartan 4,530]

17 minutes ago, Victor said:

Of course, there's still only been one defenceman to be crowned MVP (Alex Letang)

[scoop 3,447]

Whoa, hey let's wait like five seasons before we start to reconsider our standards for defenders. I'd like to at least be able to pretend I have a shot for a little bit.

[Beketov 9,095]

4 hours ago, Victor said:

Perhaps it's time to recalibrate what it means to be a Hall of Fame forward in the modern, 16-team VHL. Maybe that's true of goalies as well.

I’ll gladly trade Calaway’s eligibility to get Papa in.

 

Sure Calaway won’t even likely make the ballot but that’s beyond the point.

[Victor 11,009]

20 minutes ago, scoop said:

Whoa, hey let's wait like five seasons before we start to reconsider our standards for defenders. I'd like to at least be able to pretend I have a shot for a little bit.

More of a shot than Calaway tbh  

 

5 minutes ago, Beketov said:

I’ll gladly trade Calaway’s eligibility to get Papa in.

 

What if I offered you.... neither?

[Beketov 9,095]

4 minutes ago, Victor said:

More of a shot than Calaway tbh

You say that as if I would think Calaway belongs on the ballot haha.

 

4 minutes ago, Victor said:

What if I offered you.... neither?

[scoop 3,447]

31 minutes ago, Victor said:

More of a shot than Calaway tbh

The S88 draft class as a whole had bad careers. If nothing else, I'll go down as the highest TPE player not in the HOF. Ultimately, though, I think Kastelic's career is still a little more tragic in that regard considering how much of an outlier he was in TPE.

Edited October 7 by scoop

[Gustav 6,468]

I can’t believe you drop this when I’m building Holmes after you wrote the one about how goalie numbers were inflated when I still had Vandelay. I think you’re just jealous of my ability to build pretty good players who still kind of suck. 

[jacobcarson877 2,559]

On 10/7/2024 at 6:20 PM, scoop said:

The S88 draft class as a whole had bad careers. If nothing else, I'll go down as the highest TPE player not in the HOF. Ultimately, though, I think Kastelic's career is still a little more tragic in that regard considering how much of an outlier he was in TPE.

I wanna see 2207TPE out of you!

[Victor 11,009]

17 hours ago, Gustav said:

I can’t believe you drop this when I’m building Holmes after you wrote the one about how goalie numbers were inflated when I still had Vandelay. I think you’re just jealous of my ability to build pretty good players who still kind of suck. 

You're just constantly chasing trends mate while I'm setting them