(S35) D - Conner Low (S43 Class) [Reviewed]

[Phil 5,016]

D/RW - Conner Low

Birthplace: USA

Height: 6'2" 

Weight: 225lbs

Jersey Number: 34

Drafted: S35 NYA (1/6)

Username: Smarch

 

    You see before you arguably the best defenseman the VHL has ever known. Conner Low is the epitome of the phrase VHL defenseman. There was never a season where he played defense that he did not win Top Defenseman. Playing his entire career for New York, season after season he demonstrated that there was no one in the league that could better do what he did. He holds the most Labatte Trophies of any player, and this is with a 7-season career and switching to forward for the last 2. He was one of the players that GM Chris Miller built his dynasty around and having the support that he had around him definitely helped him rise to the levels he did, but without the innate talent to be able to stand, he would have never been able to achieve what he did.  

Career Awards:

S35 Prime Minister Cup (with Ottawa)
S35 Founders Cup (with Ottawa)
S35 Bourque Trophy 

S39 Continental Cup (with New York)
S41 Continental Cup (with New York)
S38 Victory Cup (with New York)
S39 Victory Cup (with New York)
S40 Victory Cup (with New York)
S41 Victory Cup (with New York)
S39 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy (with New York)
S40 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy (with New York)
S41 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy (with New York)

S36 Stolzschweiger Trophy 
S36 Grimm Jonsson Trophy 
S36 Labatte Trophy 
S37 Labatte Trophy 
S38 Labatte Trophy
S39 Labatte Trophy
S40 Labatte Trophy 
S37 Beketov Trophy 
S39 Beketov Trophy
S40 Beketov Trophy 

 

Season 35 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S35(OTT)  72GP | 33G - 76A - 109P | +43 | 226SHT | 6GWG| 106PIM | 140HIT | 127SB
Playoffs:
S35(OTT) 9GP | 4G - 19A - 23P | +10 | 44SHT | 0GWG | 25PIM| 44HIT | 15SB

Usually I would not ever bring up the VHLM part of careers because my mother always told me to never sweat the small stuff, but I believe that his one extra season in the VHLM set the tone for the rest of his hockey career. After being drafted by the Americans with their first pick of the S35 draft at 6th overall, he was sent down to play on a stacked Ottawa Lynx team with the likes of Tom Slaughter, Brennan McQueen, Robin and Robert Gow, Ron World Peace, and none of those, including Low, was the Lynx top scorer. Low finished the regular season with 109 points, good for 4th highest scorer on the team but pair his offensive talents with his hard work at the defensive end and you wind up winning The Ray Bourque Trophy for VHLM top defenseman. The Lynx finished with 124 points, allowing them to lift the Prime Minister Cup and head into the playoff unrivalled. It only took them 9 games to dispose of their opponents, sweeping Oslo Storm in the finals for another lopsided tale in VHLM history. Low was truly their stand out player, earning 8 more points than any of his teammates as well as having the second most hits and most blocked shots on the team. Despite this, he didn't win the playoff MVP, as that honour went to Xin Xie Xiao of Saskatoon, who got dismantled in the semi finals in 5 games by the Lynx. Low could have felt hard done by for this however, turns out it's not like his trophy case needed to be filled up any more.

 

  Season 36 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S36(NYA) 72GP | 19G - 64A - 83P | +11 | 291SHT | 1GWG | 188PIM | 288HIT | 178SB

The New York Americans entered Season 36 with a fresh, new look about them. Their roster featured five rookies, among them Low, Xin Xie Xiao (XxX), and Brick Wahl. Expectations from these players were very high for the future, but carried no weight for the first couple of seasons, however, Conner Low had other plans. He recorded 19 goals and 64 assists with a total of 83 points to lead all rookie scoring, 9 points ahead of his former teammate Robert Gow III, now sporting a Riga Jersey.  XxX and Lucas Smith, two other New York rookies, added 72 and 70 points each, respectively, as New York drove towards a playoff spot, desperately trying to chase the Bears down. They managed a surprisingly high 221 goals for, 41 more than the Bears, however in the end, Brick Wahl and the New York discipline was too young to cope with the league’s highly-powered offense and conceded 243, as they fell 5 points short of the post-season. Low had the league’s third most assists and along with his impressively high (but expected, as New York were a weaker team) number of blocked shots of 178, he accumulated 288 hits to earn himself not only the Stozlschweiger Trophy but also the Labatte Trophy. 

 

Season 37 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S37(NYA) 72GP | 27G - 79A - 106P | +28 | 370SHT | 2GWG | 201PIM | 292HIT | 141SB

The next season was the season that really started scaring the league, North America in particular. To go along with the 4 rookie stars of last season, GM Chris Miller brought in future Americans legend Odin Tordahl, future Hall of Famer Tom Slaughter in his rookie year, and promising rookie Logan Laich. The Legion once again dominated North America while Davos dominated Europe. The Americans improved their point tally from last season by 21 points however, the Bears squeaked past the Americans with one point to spare, finishing with 84. Missing the playoffs with 83 points would be a disappointment to any team but everyone in the VHL community knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Americans exploded to the top of the league. Conner Low improved his play from his rookie season, finishing with 27 goals and a league high 79 assists for a grand total of 106 points. He had 141 shots blocked and increased his hits total to 292, earning himself a Beketov and the Labatte Trophy once more. 

 

Season 38 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S38(NYA) 72GP | 26G - 66A -  92P | +41 | 258SHT | 9GWG | 145PIM | 243HIT | 134SB
Playoffs:
S38(NYA)  6GP | 1G - 1A -  2P |  -3 | 29SHT | 0GWG | 14PIM | 20HIT | 13SB

Season 38 was clearly on the same track with regards to the Americans’ development. The team improved, scoring more goals (239) and giving up fewer (129), tallying more points (116), and for the first time in this generation of players, winning some team hardware. Those 116 points were good enough to best Davos, earning them the Victory Cup and thereby by-passing the first round of the playoffs. Tordahl was torrid this season, scoring 129 points, while XxX, Slaughter, and Low, were all in the 90s for points. Low finished with 26 goals (9 of them game winners) and 66 assists for 92 points, good enough for 3rd highest amongst defensemen. Rising star and future Hall of Famer Matt Bentley took the honours away with 100 points while the unexpected Yumalatopinto from the Wranglers organization notched 92 points. They met the Legion in the Conference Finals for what was the vast majority of New York players’ first playoff experience. It was a hard-fought series that ended in six games, with the outcome not going the way of the Americans.  Conner Low failed to shine, having one of the worst plus/minus ratings and highest penalty minutes on his team. However, it was playoff experience that would come to be essential further down the road. There was a silver lining though (perhaps even gold). Despite finishing as the 3rd highest scoring defenseman, his defensive stats more than made up for it and he was awarded his third consecutive Labatte Trophy, now just one away from equaling Sterling Labatte himself, with 4 seasons of his VHL career to play.

 

Season 39 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S39(NYA) 72GP | 16G - 76A -  92P | +43 | 184SHT | 4GWG | 134PIM | 179HIT |  86SB
Playoffs:
S39(NYA)  10GP | 6G - 5A - 11P | +10 | 27SHT | 4GWG | 24PIM | 32HIT | 14SB  

With some playoff experience under their belts, New York Americans set to dominate the league once more. Davos finished first in Europe for the 4th straight time but could not take the Victory Cup from New York’s grasp, as they finished with 114 points, 10 more than their European rivals. Miller managed to pick up Wesley Kellinger in the off-season, a move that would seem to work with Tordahl. The two of them combined for a shocking 248 points, with Tordahl getting 127 and Kellinger 121. Low helped out 76 times and had 16 goals to equal his last season’s point tally of 92. New York scored 29 more times that Davos (and had the most in the league) and their high-octane offense was a match for no one. Low regained his lead atop the assists leader board as well as the defenseman scoring board, beating Bentley to the punch. The rest while they waited for the Bears to beat the Wranglers did not break the stride of their Cup run, as they dispatched them in just 5 games before blowing the helmets off Davos in the Finals to earn them their first Continental Cup of the generation. Low scored the most goals on the team with 6 and had 11 points in their 10 games, but the MVP of the playoffs was undoubtedly Brick Wahl, who showed the VHL the true meaning of his name, with a save percentage of 0.943 and a goals against average of 1.30 with 2 shutouts. However, Low took home his fourth straight Labatte and the Americans looked forward to next season for a repeat run. 

 

Season 40 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S40(NYA) 72GP | 18G - 83A - 101P | +49 | 226SHT | 4GWG | 116PIM | 206HIT | 119SB
Playoffs:
S40(NYA)  10GP | 3G - 7A - 10P |  -5 | 31SHT | 0GWG | 26PIM | 27HIT | 16SB

Season 40 brought more success to this already established dynasty. They had a league best 121 points for another Victory Cup, 21 points clear of 2nd place Cologne Express. They scored the most goals (254) and let in the fewest (139). Tordahl, Slaughter, XxX, Bennett Wahl, and Low all had more than a hundred points, with Tordahl at 115 and Low at 101. Low had a career-high 83 assists, good enough to earn him his third Beketov Trophy. He also again finished first in defensive scoring, besting Matt Bentley by 8. They stormed through the Wranglers in 5 games, who had just finished upsetting Quebec City, only to be stopped in their tracks by a team that finished 27 points back of them – Riga Reign, who won the Cup in just 5 games. Low still put up solid post-season numbers, averaging a point per game, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Still, he made history at the awards ceremony, where he collected his fifth straight Labatte Trophy, surpassing Sterling Labatte’s benchmark with still 2 seasons to go in his career. 

 

Season 41 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S41(NYA) 72GP | 55G - 57A - 112P | +59 | 565SHT | 9GWG | 155PIM | 180HIT |  28SB
Playoffs:
S41(NYA)  9GP | 4G - 6A - 10P |  -1 | 77SHT | 1GWG | 25PIM | 29HIT |  4SB

Odin Tordahl had retired and New York needed something to fill that gaping hole left by him. The first move made was an odd one, when New York acquired the second best defenseman in the league – Matt Bentley. More shockingly, however, was who they got to fill Tordahl’s shoes, and that player was Conner Low. He decided to switch to a Right Winger and let Bentley handle things alone in the back. This had a very similar feel to what Hall of Famer Matt Bailey did. Regardless, it seemed to work and the transition was basically flawless.  They easily captured another Victory Cup with 121 points. Low finished behind just Bruno Wolf in goals, with 55 to Bruno’s 62. He had a career high in points with 112 and led the league in shots with a staggering 565.  In the playoffs they outplayed Quebec en route to another final with Riga. The series went to seven and it was tied heading into the final three minutes of the games when Bentley slip the puck across to Slaughter who wired it home, giving the Americans their second Cup in Low’s career.
 

Season 42 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S42(NYA) 72GP| 54G - 66A - 120P | +54 | 517SHT | 8GWG |  68PIM | 208HIT |  39SB

Entering his final season of his career, Low didn’t look to slow down. He recorded another season fo +50 goals and a career high 120 points. The aging New York replaced some of their old pieces for young budding stars such as Christoph Klose and Jody 3 Moons, but this year, the Meute was too strong and for the first time in his career, Low would have to play a first-round playoff series. They got rid of the Legion quite easily, however Low’s career was put to an abrupt halt by Bruno Wolf and the Meute and Low had no choice but to hang up the skates.

 

Career Totals:
 
Regular Season:

504GP | 215G - 491A - 706P | +285 | 2411SHT | 37GWG | 1007PIM | 1596HIT | 725SB

Playoffs:

35GP | 14G - 19A - 33P | +1 | 174SHT | 5GWG | 89PIM | 108HIT | 47SB

In the end, looking at his accolades, Conner Low is the best defenseman the league has ever seen. As a defenseman, he did not go a season without winning a Labatte, despite co-winning it with Yumalatopinto in S38. One could argue both sides of this, Labatte started on even footing with everyone in the VHL, whereas Low didn't have much competition (he was the only HoF defenseman from his draft class other than Bentley, and the first since S30, and there hasn't been one since as of S47). But he still had to outperformance Bentley for 5 years straight and put up very consistently high numbers. The two years Low switched to forward, Bentley took over the Labatte, which just shows how potent of a defender Low really was. It would have been interesting (or scary) to see what would have happened if he hadn't switched. Truth of it is, we will probably never see a better defenseman in the VHL. 
 

 

@Smarch <3

Edited February 24, 2016 by Phil

[Smarch 2,945]

Thank you!

[Victor 10,547]

Fucking Smarch. Higgins thought he had it hard against Braxton, well how the hell do you compete against perfection?

 

Weird moment reading the S41 part when you mentioned Matt Bentley and Matt Bailey in quick succession.

 

Anyway, #connerlowtho

[Baozi 1,635]

That Low!

[sterling 1,990]

Good work Fhil

[FacePuncher 1,343]

Wouldn't this belong in the Hall of Fame section?