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Welcome to the S48 VHL Hall of Fame Induction! As is the norm, we have two players and a Builder to induct today.

 

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First up, a living VHL legend. Some called Remy LeBeau "LeGod", but what does that make Thomas O'Malley? His trophy case is quite remarkable and he is for good reason considered by many as the first player to have a serious case to be the best forward in VHL history since Scotty Campbell. There are so many things to say here that it would be easiest to list them off in bullet point form:

 

  • O'Malley played for 3 VHL teams - Cologne, Helsinki, and New York - winning at least one Continental Cup with each of them.
  • Only two other players won four championships and only one (Leeroy Jenkins) won more with five
  • He never missed the playoffs and only was eliminated before the finals twice - in his rookie (S40) and sophomore (S41) seasons.
  • O'Malley was league MVP three times: a feat matched only by Scotty Campbell (retired in S8) and Grimm Jonsson (retired in S17)
  • He was the first player to win the Brett Slobodzian Trophy 4 times. No one has won it more than twice before.
  • O'Malley has won all 3 attacking trophies (top scorer, top goal-scorer, most assists) and even combined the three in S44, matching Campbell, Jonsson, Kevin Brooks' and Odin Tordahl's feats
  • Only Campbell was top scorer more than O'Malley's four times
  • Only Campbell, Alexander Chershenko, and Martin Brookside had previously been crowned VHL MVP both in the regular season and the playoffs, which O'Malley achieved in S45

 

and you might think that O'Malley did this because of a weaker playing field but no, the very opposite is true. Despite it being so much harder to be successful now than even 20 seasons ago, O'Malley became the first player since Brooks retired in S13 to reach the 900 points mark. Only Campbell, Mike Szatkowski, and Brooks had more points.

 

C - Thomas O'Malley, S40-S47 :col::hel::nya:
576 GP, 381 G, 532 A, 913 P, +400, 82 PIM, 50 HIT, 233 SB, 70 GW, 63.80 FO%
 
S40 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

S41 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy

S43 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

S43 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

S43 Kevin Brooks Trophy

S44 Scotty Campbell Trophy

S44 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

S44 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

S44 Kevin Brooks Trophy

S44 Alexander Beketov Trophy

S45 Scotty Campbell Trophy

S45 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

S45 Daisuke Kanou Trophy

S45 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

S46 Scotty Campbell Trophy

S46 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

S46 Mike Szatkowski Trophy
Four Continental Cups (S42, S45, S46, S47)

 

Congratulations @Green!

 

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It is hard to top O'Malley but @Advantage has done his best this season.

 

First, it's been a longer wait than might have been expected but Brick Wahl has been inducted into the Hall of Fame! The New York Americans legend was a key player for the S38-S42 dynasty which won a record 4 straight Victory Cups and added 2 Continental Cups in the playoffs, where Wahl was twice crowned MVP. That's a difficult enough feat on its own - the only goalie to do it before Wahl was Daisuke Kanou with three, and the award is named after him for a reason. Hans Wingate has now matched Wahl's achievement so it remains quite stellar company for the Brick.

 

He may not have won any regular season individual awards, but Wahl's stats match up nicely to earlier Hall of Fame goalies. Overall, he was a dependable goalie who probably sacrificed greater acclaim for the Americans' good.

 

G - Brick Wahl, S36-S43 :nya::sto:
443 GP, 296 W, 120 L, 27 OTL, 2.18 GAA, .918%, 48 SO
 
S39 Daisuke Kanou Trophy
S41 Daisuke Kanou Trophy
Two Continental Cups (S39, S41)

 

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Player vote:

Thomas O'Malley - 14/14

Brick Wahl - 7/14

Felix Peters - 3/14

Bismarck Koening - 1/14

 

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But that's not the only good news for Advantage/Chris Miller, as he is being inducted into the Hall of Fame as Builder too!

 

From humble beginnings as S18 draftee Michael Angelo, a dependable career Titans defenceman, Advantage has gone from strength to strength since. Ryan Sullivan and now Wahl has his Hall of Fame players, while his tenure as New York Americans GM (S33-S46), a period in which the Americans won two championships, four straight Victory Cups, and missed the playoffs just four times. Miller became the second GM ever to win 3 David Knight Trophies as the VHL's best GM.

 

Aside from the STHS side of things, Advantage has been a key member of a Board of Governors for around 20 seasons, being a proponent of many of the major changes implemented in the VHL in that time. He's been an advocate of the VHLM and its reform, going back to his time as Kolari Panthers GM before joining New York and a constant source of ideas and discussion. In the public eye, Chris has always made his views interactive by being a constant feature on the VHL's podcasts, from the long-running Pajodcast series to solo entries. There will of course be other things I can't all mention here but you can read them in his Builder article.

 

 

 

Congratulations Green and Advantage! :cheers::vhl:

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    Wow, I knew O'Malley's career was impressive, but reading it like this puts it in a whole different spotlight.

     

    Congrats Chris, both a player and builder in the same year, impressive feat!

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    S40 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

    S41 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy

    S43 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S43 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S43 Kevin Brooks Trophy

    S44 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S44 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S44 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S44 Kevin Brooks Trophy

    S44 Alexander Beketov Trophy

    S45 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S45 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S45 Daisuke Kanou Trophy

    S45 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S46 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S46 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S46 Mike Szatkowski Trophy
    Four Continental Cups (S42, S45, S46, S47)

     

    how

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    Was looking at Wahl's playoff stats when finding out Wingate's and was confused how he wasn't in the HoF already. Most shutouts and best playoff GAA among goalies with a decent amount of games. Congrats to both!

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    11 minutes ago, brovy said:

    S40 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

    S41 Mikka Virkkunen Trophy

    S43 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S43 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S43 Kevin Brooks Trophy

    S44 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S44 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S44 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S44 Kevin Brooks Trophy

    S44 Alexander Beketov Trophy

    S45 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S45 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S45 Daisuke Kanou Trophy

    S45 Mike Szatkowski Trophy

    S46 Scotty Campbell Trophy

    S46 Brett Slobodzian Trophy

    S46 Mike Szatkowski Trophy
    Four Continental Cups (S42, S45, S46, S47)

     

    how

    Just cruisin'

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    We were all pretty much in agreement it would have been ideal to be able to vote in both goalies but it doesn't look like there will ever be a season without an impressive skater too.

     

    Mike Jr. should get his chance soon though. Like Peters...

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    Also congratulations to everyone. I had unique experiences with all inducted. Was a genuine honour to GM Green with his legend of a player. Made my GM tenure with Cologne far easier than it could have been.

     

    Advantage finally gets Wahl in. In terms of builder it's about time! You were already ahead of Jericho and I when it came to VHLM GMing and have been a huge contributor overall in the league. Well deserved. 

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    1 hour ago, Victor said:

    We were all pretty much in agreement it would have been ideal to be able to vote in both goalies but it doesn't look like there will ever be a season without an impressive skater too.

     

    Mike Jr. should get his chance soon though. Like Peters...

     

    Peter's man. I feel like we all say he should be in at some point in debates and then it just never ends up happening. One day, the shoe has to drop eventually.

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