Claimed:Wall Done [Final: 6/6]

[Hybrid1486 577]

A Farewell to Brock Waldron

With a 5-2 loss to the HC Davos Dynamo in game 358 of the 45th VHL season, having already been eliminated from the playoffs, the long career of Brock Waldron came to a merciful end. Waldron will be remembered as a decent goaltender who could help his team get close to a championship, but could never quite make it over the hump.

Waldron played seven seasons in the VHL, and over that time he was on a number of successful teams in the regular season. That, along with his fairly decent performances in-season, led him to a respectable finish on a few of the notable career stat lists for goaltenders. Here's a quick look at where he ended up when the final whistle blew.

Games Played
Start of S45: 372 (26th Place)
End of S45: 436 (19th Place)

Minutes
Start of S45: 22,278 (25th)
End of S45: 26,164 (19th)

Waldron was a full-time starter for six seasons, and spent one season as a part-time starter when the Meuter acquired retiring goaltender Lennox Moher at the trade deadline. Waldron started three more games than Martin Brookside did, but for various reasons finished fourteen minutes behind him on the all-time list. There have been over 120 goaltenders to suit up over the VHL's lifespan, so finishing in the top twenty counts for something.

Wins
Start of S45: 225 (20th)
End of S45: 257 (13th)

Losses
Start of S45: 114 (t-40th)
End of S45: 134 (t-29th)

Overtime Losses
Start of S45: 30 (t-14th)
End of S45: 42 (2nd)

I didn't realize until writing this up exactly how many overtime and shootout losses Waldron was on the wrong side of over the years. I knew it was a lot, but only Alexander Labatte lost more games after sixty minutes in VHL history. Waldron always had a fairly decent record, and his 32-20-12 mark this season was his worst since losing 51 games as a rookie on a rebuilding Meute squad. Waldron usually did his part to help his teams make it to the postseason, and I think that most goalies would be happy to retire with that kind of record, although a few less overtime losses wouldn't hurt.

Shutouts
Start of S45: 29 (24th)
End of S45: 33 (t-21st)

The goose egg was something that seemed to elude Waldron even when he was on his game. He showed a lot of similarity to the NHL's Ryan Miller in this regard, in that he could dominate a game for 55 minutes and then let in one fluke goal that wouldn't factor into the outcome except to prevent him from recording a shutout. It was a pretty frustrating thing to watch over his career, but even with that he managed to make it up to twenty-first place on the shutouts list, tied with Steven Smyl.

Goals Against
Start of S45: 825 (41st)
End of S45: 986 (27th)

It's probably a good thing that Waldron is lower on the all-time goals against list than he is on the all-time games played list. I'm not recalculating save percentages or goals against averages (he started the season tied for thirtieth and tied for fourteenth in those categories, respectively), but allowing so few goals relative to career length is something that goaltenders should strive for.

 

In the end, Brock Waldron was a fairly decent goaltender, but I won't miss him. He was terribly frustrating, but to be fair he was a welfare player for the bulk of his career. If I had put in more effort, he might have been higher on the positive lists and might have finished with a championship or three. I suppose we'll never know.

Shout-out to whoever made the graphics. Either I don't remember or I never knew, but thanks.

[Hybrid1486 577]

Also, I though the spoiler tool was a heading tool, so if you want to see what I titled this article (and what kind of font I used) click the spoiler.

[Da Trifecta 1,899]

Great final season brother

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

way to make me look like a genius picking you in the 1st round of the super cup until you blew it in the playoffs

[Denver 198]

[Phil 5,119]

Nice write up

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Content: 3/3 - Great write-up on Waldron. He's always been a star in my eyes. Playing with Waldron in the net throughout most of my retired Boychuk's career brings good memories.

Grammar: 2/2 - Just one little thing.

"when the Meuter acquired" - Meute

Appearance: 1/1 - Looks good.

Overall: 6/6

[Kendrick 4,741]

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