S97 Moscow Menace Jersey Retirements

[Spartan 4,654]

 

Cheers folks, hope everyone is having a lovely day so far! It's been over 10 seasons since Moscow last retired jerseys for players, but there's a long overdue retirement and a very fresh retirement to celebrate. I'd fully intended on waiting to induct one of these candidates once they made the HOF, but since our other nominee had a meteoric rise to a stellar career on Moscow, it became difficult to simply retire one while holding off on the other.

 

Let's get into it!

 

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The last and only goaltender to have their jersey retired for Moscow was Raymond Bernard, a HOF netminder who helped secure Moscow their first ever Continental Cup. With such a stellar career, it was hard to imagine that a franchise netminder would return to tend the pipes in Moscow, but Papa Emeritus rose to the challenge and beyond. The Moscow netminder from S79-S86, Papa managed to unseat Bernard in franchise wins with 262, posting a career record of 262-121-33 with a 0.924 SV%, 2.65 GAA and 25 shutouts in just 412 starts. In the playoffs, Papa oftentimes became an insurmountable beast, leading Moscow to 5 cup finals (we don't talk about the results). Posting a playoff record of 50-31-8, with a 0.928 SV%, a 2.9 GAA and 4 shutouts in 80 games played, Papa was oftentimes the reason Moscow appeared in as many finals as we did.

 

Funnily enough, shortly after his retirement, Bek approached me with his jersey retirement banner already made. In a bit of stubbornness on my own part at his boldness, I told him that I'd only retire his jersey when he made the Hall of Fame. While he's continuously appeared on the final ballot and oftentimes picked up a vote or two, Papa hasn't quite yet made it into the fabled Hall due to the plethora of capable candidates since his retirement, along with the resurgence of older players receiving proper bids for the Hall of Fame. I'm still confident that Papa will eventually land in the HOF, but it was amusing to see the "so you've given up on Papa's HOF" from Bek when I formally submitted Papa's jersey retirement on the portal. Despite Bek's desire to continue to play for new VHL teams and his prior stint on Moscow with legendary Mikko Lahtinen, he was willing to join the Menace and become our franchise netminder. While losing 5 cups is a blemish that I've put on his legacy, I still firmly believe that his time on the Menace was one of the best eras that I've GM'd, as his arrival in Moscow created the infamous "KGB" in Moscow and made the team much better than I could have hoped. I'll leave further praise to his future HOF article, so for now, please congratulate @Beketov on his second player's jersey rising to the rafters in Moscow!

 

G - Papa Emeritus - @Beketov

 

 

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Our second retirement might be the most underrated player in the VHL during his time in the league. As a VHLM player, he was drafted to Houston but promptly cut for being inactive, then found a home with the Philadelphia Reapers where he won the Founder's Cup and the Prime Minister's Cup in successive seasons. Despite his success in the VHLM, he was never offered a contract after being drafted 22oa to the Helsinki Titans in S89, and ended up in free agency at the start of the season. As Moscow was prone to do, we signed him to a contract in the hopes that he'd eventually earn enough to be worth some value to some other team in a trade. As was often for a clicker, he spent both S89 and S90 in the M, slowly earning his way up, and earned a call-up in S91 to fill a depth forward role for the oft-cap strapped Menace roster. From there, his roster spot was almost always in jeopardy - as a late blooming prospect on a highly competitive Moscow roster, there was never a guarantee that the team would have a spot for him in any given season. Facing this challenge, he stepped up his game and committed to earning more, speeding up his development and earning his spot on the Menace roster. Despite his late start, he remained a mainstay on the Menace and helped Moscow to a Victory Cup in S95 and S96, winning the Victory Cup in S95 along with the Dustin Funk, Kevin Brooks, Mike Szatkowski, and revered Brett Slobodzian Trophy. At the conclusion of his career, David Rashford ranks 5th all time in Moscow points, 4th in goals, 7th in assists and 5th in playoff goals.

 

While I'm sure VSN will cover his career in more depth than I've mentioned here, it's hard to not have nothing but praise for one of the most special stories I've witnessed in the VHL. Knight was a returning member after a legendary career as a GM during the earlier seasons of the VHL's history, but seemingly not as engaged as he may have been in the past as a welfare earner. As mentioned, with the constant threat that his lower earning may end up getting him traded, he really stepped up and blew away all expectations, winning numerous awards and being a crucial factor in my first ever Continental Cup win. One of the few captains who was never traded away from the team, he was also a trusted advisor within Moscow's management team and was a constant positive force in both the team locker room and his frequent podcasts posted in the community. One of the greatest praises you can get as a VHL GM is from the user the GMotY trophy is named after, and his comments after some of our trades were more than enough motivation to continue striving to be my best for the team. I can't say enough nice things about @Knight, and I'll be eternally grateful and in awe of his contributions to the team. Please congratulate him on his ascent to the Moscow rafters!

 

LW - David Rashford - @Knight

 

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Please congratulate both of our amazing retirees for their fantastic contributions to the Menace and for their success on the ice as members of our league!

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Spartan

[Triller 1,723]

Congrats Knight!  It is still one of my favorites that I did!

 

[jRuutu 2,509]