Players with *Almost* 8 Seasons with One Team

[CowboyinAmerica 2,932]

 

Players with Almost 8 Seasons with One Team

 

I’ve done a lot of things over my VHL career, but there is one distinct but surprising hole: I’ve never spent my entire career with one team. Both goalies Xavier Booberry and Hans Wingate hopped around to three different teams, forward Gabriel McAllister went Seattle-Davos-Seattle, and defenseman Lance Flowers left New York in free agency when the team decided to rebuild in favor of greener D.C. pastures.

 

But there was one time I got close, and it was with my first player. Karsten Olsen was the second pick of the S33 Draft to the Seattle Bears, and for a long time, it seemed like he would be a Bears lifer. Especially after switching from defenseman to forward before S37, Olsen was a key member of a team that would repeatedly get very close to the summit, only to have a Toronto or New York or Quebec City standing in their way in the North American conference.

 

Olsen did think he was going to end his career in Seattle. But between a mini inactive spell due to real life issues and Seattle beginning to retool for a rebuild, the Bears decided to deal Olsen to the Cologne Express at the S40 trade deadline - 17 games short of a full VHL career with one team.

 

So the theme Trade Deadline in mind, that got me thinking: Am I the only person that’s happened to? How many players have gotten so close to finishing their eight (or nine) career with one team, only to be dealt in their final season? I decided to do a quick, non-exhaustive investigation that means looking at each current VHL team in the portal, going to games played in the player stats, and seeing which ones are somewhere between roughly 530 and 560 games - just short of the 576 that would indicate eight seasons with one team.

 

I wasn’t particularly surprised that it hasn’t happened too often, but enough that I’m not alone in the almost-eight-seasons club. But a few of the names on the list were particularly surprising to me.

 

S24 C Felix Peters - Seattle Bears, traded to HC Davos Dynamo

 

But I wasn’t the first player to be on the Seattle Bears for most of my career, only to be traded at the end. Hall of Famer Felix Peters was the player from Bears GM gregreg, and true to form, he made an instant impact on the Bears. In each of his third through fifth seasons Peters topped 100 points for the Bears, and in S28, Peters would win the Kanou en route to his only Seattle title. But before Peters’ final season, a new GM in Noah would take over the team. Wanting to restock the cupboard, Peters was shipped to Davos at the trade deadline for two youngsters and two late draft picks. This would work out well for Peters, however, who fit seamlessly into the Dynamo roster. His 120 points in his final season would be a career high, and Peters would win his second title with the S31 Davos team.

 

S32 C Jakub Kjellburg - Toronto Legion, traded to Riga Reign

 

There’s a trend that’s starting to emerge for these players that didn’t quite make it eight seasons: former GM players that get shipped off by new leadership. In this case, Kjellburg was the GM player for Toronto GM Sandro, and while he wasn’t a player on Peters’ level, he did solid enough to the tune of three 80+ point seasons and a Virkkunen Trophy for sportsmanship in S35. But Sandro would leave GMing after S36, and following the retirement of longtime Hall of Fame goalie Remy Lebeau at the end of S38, the Legion decided to retool at the S39 deadline. Kjellberg and a 2nd would go to Riga for a S41 1st and a 2nd. Riga would win the S40 title, however, leaving that pick moot.

 

S32 D Jack Sound - Toronto Legion, traded to Vasteras Iron Eagles

 

What about the same rebuild, but the reverse of the GM trade? In this one, it’s Toronto’s new GM that traded his player, as Edgar shipped his own Jack Sound to Vasteras following a solid, but unspectacular career fronting Lebeau in goal. Vasteras would lose in the European conference finals to Davos, but what’s interesting to me is the difference in compensation Toronto would get back - Sound and forward Chico Salmon combined were only worth a second in return to Toronto. This would prompt Victor to write in the trade thread: “You know you fucked up when Vasteras' trades are sane in comparison ("cough"Riga"cough").”

 

S33 RW Karsten Olsen - Seattle Bears, traded to Cologne Express

 

I covered myself earlier, but there are two points I didn’t remember that I find very interesting. The first is the low price - my aging corpse was traded for just a future third, ouch. The second, though, is how well that turned out for Cologne, since Olsen had an incredible 39 points in 21 games, despite having just 39 points in the 51 games before that with Seattle. Olsen meshed well with then-rookie and future Hall of Famer Thomas O’Malley, but that connection wouldn’t extend to the playoffs where Cologne got swept.

 

S65 D Brady Stropko Jr. - Calgary Wranglers, traded to Vancouver Wolves

 

The final player from long-standing Calgary GM Bushito, Stropko Jr. was a fixture on the blue line for almost seven seasons. Although he didn’t win any awards, Stropko put up a fairly consistent 50-65 points over the prime of his career, en route to 1300+ TPE. However, S72 would Stropko Jr.’s last season in the league and the one where Bushito himself would go inactive - an inactivity that continues to this day. Wanting to recoup some value, new GM Jubis made a play to ship off the soon-to-be-retiring Stropko Jr. And in his place, the Wranglers picked up Hall of Famer Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen, also in his final season, for the stretch run.

 

S69 RW Guy Lesieur - D.C. Dragons, signed with London but traded back to D.C.

 

So I’m not sure this one particularly counts, but I’m including it because it’s an interesting story. Lesieur started off on a nascent D.C. team, helping grow them as one of the team’s first cornerstone players. But when the London United entered the league in S73, they selected Lesieur with the ninth pick of the expansion draft. That stint lasted for 32 games, but then the United traded him right back to D.C. for the Dragons’ S74 first, where Lesieur would play the rest of his career. So, Lesieur would be the odd player who would play almost a whole career with one team, but with a small stop in the middle.

 

S73 D Jeffrey Pines - Los Angeles Stars, traded to Vancouver Wolves

 

The Stars entered the VHL in Season 73, and often, expansion teams don’t find their footing with their roster for multiple seasons. But one player from that inaugural team lasted almost all eight seasons with the franchise: Rory’s Jeffrey Pines. Pines would be a mainstay on the rising team, finishing with three seasons of 80+ points and eventually becoming the first retired number in team history. But with Los Angeles getting off to a slow start and the team needing some draft picks, Pines was shipped off to the Vancouver juggernaut in exchange for a second round pick. It’d work out well for Pines, capturing a Continental Cup in his final season while on the Wolves.

 

S80 LW Kyle Peace - Toronto Legion, traded to Vancouver Wolves

 

Not quite a trade deadline deal, but close enough to where I’m counting it. Peace was expected to be centerpiece of a new Legion team following the stacked S80 Draft, and for a while he was, going from 74 to 89 to 103 points in his first three seasons. But an unfortunate suspension would stall his upward traction, and he’d never top 64 points for the rest of his career. With Toronto looking to reload a little before halfway of the S88 season, Peace would be shipped to Vancouver in exchange for a second round pick. Peace would help Vancouver go on a playoff run, scoring 7 points in 11 games, but the team would fall short and Peace would end his VHL career without a title.

 

S88 D Bobby Bob - Toronto Legion, traded to Calgary Wranglers

 

The newest member of the club actually happened just last season. Bobby Bob was a centerpiece of the Toronto resurgence, which yielded both team honors (a Continental Cup in S91) and personal honors (a Beketov Trophy for most assists in S94). But with the Legion looking for traction in a tough North American conference last season, it was time for the team to shift its focus. In a rare almost one-for-one intra-conference trade, Bob was shipped to Calgary for forward and fellow final year player Snu*bed Analfist. Both players had hopes of being able to capture a title with their new team in their final season, but it wasn’t meant to be as Vancouver came out of the North American Conference to win the title.

 

Final Thoughts

 

In a way, these teams are a bit saddening. You could read this as players with so much investment in one franchise, cast aside right at the end of their careers for a draft pick or two. But on the other hand, you could also read these deals as one last chance at glory for aging players - and indeed, both Peters and Pines would win titles with their new franchises in their final season.

 

I expect these kinds of trades to continue as long as the VHL stays as competitive as it is. But especially with so much player movement and so many teams as options compared to older days, even getting to an eighth season with one franchise can be rare. So here’s a glass raised to the long-timers - even if the trade deadline looms as one last chance for them to leave the team.

 

[CowboyinAmerica 2,932]

Have a multi-week claim finishing this week, but wanted to get this up on Theme Week and will be claiming this 1500+ word piece for the next three weeks.

 

Weeks ending:

2/2

2/9

2/16