Merica 69 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) A History Of Mediocrity, With Redemption In Mind Retired goaltender Sam LaFluer of the Toronto Legion. Few people may know this, but Bern Royals forward Josh Merica is sponsored by an old, probably long forgotten VHL player, a goalie who began his career with the Toronto Legion in Season 1 and spent four seasons there. That player would be Sam LaFluer. While he wasn’t very successful, well, as a GM that is, LaFluer actually took over as GM for Toronto in season 2 or 3 (if my memory serves me correct, it’s been a long time) and by the time he had left, he was the proud owner of the worst record in VHL history, which I am not sure whether or not still stands today. As a player, however, LaFluer was very respectable, and posted a career record of 120-63, which included back-to-back seasons of 50 and 49 wins. While he never reached the finals, LaFluer was solid, talented goaltender that unfortunately cut his career short. Merica isn’t the first client of Sam LaFluer, who also sponsored Dany Ribody, who came into the league after LaFluer retired and put all his time into management, as he tried to get Toronto out of the gutter, which at this point was a lost cause, as no one was buying into what LaFluer was preaching. Ribody has probably been the most successful, and once LaFluer stepped down, things began to change for the better in Toronto and they eventually won the S9 Continental Cup, with Ribody being a solid depth player on a team loaded with hall of famers and earned himself the Francis Trophy. Ribody was never a superstar, but he did his part well enough. After Ribody hung up the skates, LaFluer signed another forward in Erich Heidt, who came into the VHL with a lot of hype and expectations, after all he was related to Layken Heidt, the protégé of legend Brett Slobodozian. Heidt, however, fizzled out shortly after his arrival and turned out to be a bust. After the failed Heidt experiment, LaFluer seemed to disappear from the VHL, and was unheard from for nearly 30 seasons, before he resurfaced again with the aforementioned Josh Merica this past season. Asked why he decided to suddenly reappear, Lafluer had this to say ”I kind of left with things unfinished, I never really liked how I went out. I pretty much failed as a GM, I was young and inexperienced, but I learned a lot from that time, and then other than Ribody’s little bit of success, I’ve just been mediocre at everything. So I wanted to come back with a fresh start and I found that with Josh, he is a polarizing person and really has all the tools to be successful. You could call this my attempt at redemption. I’d like to be able to say I did something good for this league. A lot has changed since I left, very few of the original group of members are still around, so I kinda feel a relic.” Josh Merica will likely be Lafluer’s last attempt at VHL glory, but who knows, perhaps if he is successful, it could end up keeping him around. But for now, he is entirely focused on turning Josh Merica into a superstar and putting a positive stamp on the VHL. Edited March 30, 2015 by Merica DollarAndADream, Phil and eaglesfan036 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglesfan036 4,585 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm confused were you here in season 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merica 69 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 (edited) I'm confused were you here in season 1? Yep! From S1-S15 ish and went active. Oh shit, I found some of LaFluer's stats, he wasn't so bad lol. 50-16-3 in S2, 49-19 S3....120-63 career. Fuck I remembered incorrectly. I just cut his career short. Updated it. Edited March 30, 2015 by Merica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,577 Posted March 30, 2015 Admin Share Posted March 30, 2015 Shit, how are you getting S2 and S3 stats. I need that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merica 69 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Shit, how are you getting S2 and S3 stats. I need that. I went back on the old site and I had his career stats saved. So I didn't see check the indexes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,577 Posted March 30, 2015 Admin Share Posted March 30, 2015 yeah indexes are dead up to and including S17. Darn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merica 69 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 yeah indexes are dead up to and including S17. Darn. oh damn howd that happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,577 Posted March 30, 2015 Admin Share Posted March 30, 2015 they were on webs, account wasn't used/expired, they dead. S18-S19 were uploaded to some shit called freeoda and then we got vhlsim.net so everything from S20 is safe. It's a pain. Fortunately HOF articles and career stats cover most of everything which matters in the slightest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarch 2,951 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Making scrub/fringe players was more fun than a decent player in my experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 5,021 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Fantastic read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Victor 10,577 Posted March 30, 2015 Admin Share Posted March 30, 2015 Making scrub/fringe players was more fun than a decent player in my experienceslet's swap Bentley and Low Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 708 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Holy fuck I didn't realize it was you. I remember all those players Ribody the most as you helped me and the Legion win a cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merica 69 Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Holy fuck I didn't realize it was you. I remember all those players Ribody the most as you helped me and the Legion win a cup. Yup! Good to see you still around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollarAndADream 3,356 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Content: 3/3 - Great article. I enjoy reading about the history here quiet a bit, so it's nice to read an article like this one. Hopefully Merica gets you to stick around.Grammar: 2/2 - "LaFluer was solid, talented goaltender" - was A solid, talented goaltender Appearance: 1/1 - Good.Overall: 6/6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendrick 4,724 Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Claimed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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