Claimed: The Big 4 of the Season 46 Draft

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

With the playoffs underway in Season 53, this will be the last time we see players from the Season 46 draft play in the VHL. There was a total of 35 players selected but only 4 have made a big impact in terms of longevity in the VHL and you can certainly make an argument for a 5th player. Right now though I want to talk about one Zach Parechkin who was drafted 1st overall by the Toronto Legion. Let us take a look back at one of the best to lace up a pair of skates in the history of the Victory Hockey League.

 

Awards

S45 Mitch Higgins Trophy Winner
S45 Ethan Osbourne Trophy Winner
S45 Alexander Chersenko Trophy Winner
S45 Matt Bentz Trophy Winner
S45 Named To Top Prospects Game
S46 VHL All-Star
S46 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy Winner
S47 VHL All-Star
S48 VHL All-Star
S48 Continental Cup Winner with Toronto Legion
S48 Victory Cup Winner with Toronto Legion
S48 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy Winner with Toronto Legion
S48 Grimm Jonsson Trophy Winner
S49 VHL All-Star
S49 Continental Cup Winner with Toronto Legion
S49 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy Winner with Tortoto Legion
S49 Daisuke Kanou Trophy Winner
S49 Scott Boulet Trophy Winner
S49 Grimm Jonsson Trophy Winner
S50 VHL All-Star
S50 Continetal Cup Winner with Toronto Legion
S50 Victory Cup Winner with Toronto Legion
S50 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy Winner with Toronto Legion
S51 VHL All-Star
S51 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy Winner with Toronto Legion
S51 Brett Slobodzian Trophy Winner
S51 Kevin Brooks Trophy Winner
S51 Scott Boulet Trophy Winner
S51 Grimm Jonsson Trophy Winner
S52 VHL All-Star
S52 Grimm Jonsson Trophy Winner

 

Season 44 - Brampton Blades

Regular Season:
S44 (BRM) - 22 GP | 18 G | 21 A | 39 P | +10 | 10 PIM | 44 HIT | 193 S | 8 SB | 5 GWG 

Playoffs:
S44 (BRM) - 6 GP | 1 G | 1 A | 2 P | -4 | 6 PIM | 14 H | 40 SH | 0 SB | 0 GWG

Zach Parechkin started his career with the Brampton Blades in the VHLM after being claimed off waivers. He played in 22 games to start his VHLM journey and finished 5th in team scoring despite the limited number of games played. He scored 18 goals and assisted on 21 goals for 39 points while being a +10 and accumulating 193 shots as well. He had a tough side to his game too with 44 hits or 2 per game.  

 

The Blades ended up finishing 3rd in their conference which led to a date with the Yukon Rush. The Rush wasted no time coming out to a 2-0 series lead before Brampton won a game at home but lost game 4 the very next night. In game 5, Brampton stole a game in OT in Yukon before falling in a 6th game in OT at home. Parechkin only had 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 poitns in the 6 game series as he was a true rookie in the VHLM, so he was exposed trying to do to much as it seemed.

 

Season 45 - Bern Royals

Regular Season:
S45 (BER) - 72 GP | 78 G | 85 A | 163 P | +79 | 71 PIM | 202 HIT | 271 S | 20 SB | 13 GWG 

Playoffs:
S45 (BER) - 10 GP | 4 G | 9 A | 13 P | +4 | 8 PIM | 19 H | 53 SH | 1 SB | 0 GWG

During the off-season the VHLM had its annual draft to see where newly minted VHL prospects would spend their season honing their skills before embarking on their VHL journey. Zach Parechkin went 1st overall to the Bern Royals and he responded very well to the 1st overall status with a 78 goal and 85 assists campaign for 163 points. He scored more than 1 goal and 1 assist per game for the entire regular season, talk about an offensive dynamo. He was also a +79 with 202 hits and 20 shots blocked so he was also adept at coming back to help in his own zone. He fired in 13 game winning goals as well. The Bern Royals though finished 2nd in the European with 117 points but this was just behind the Moscow Red Wolves who had 124 points on the season.

 

The 2nd place finish meant they had to play the Oslo Storm who had a very great team themselves as they finished with 96 points which would have been 1st in the North American Conference. After a hard fought 6 game series in which Bern fell 2-1 down in the series the Bern Royals and Moscow Red Wolves met in the Conference Finals as a heavyweight matchup that everyone wanted to see. However in a surprising turn of events the Red Wolves swept the Bern Royals and thus ending Zach's VHLM Career as he was moving on to bigger and better things.

 

He cleaned up at the VHLM award ceremony though as he picked up the Mitch Higgins Trophy as VHLM MVP, Ethan Osbourne Trophy as VHLM Points Leader, Alexander Chersenko Trophy as VHLM Leading Goal Scorer and Matt Benz Trophy Winner as Top Two Way Forward. Quite the haul for the young forward who has yet to play in the VHL. 

 

Season 46 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S46 (TOR) - 72 GP | 36 G | 45 A | 81 P | +13 | 106 PIM | 303 HIT | 378 S | 65 SB | 3 GWG 

Playoffs:
S46 (TOR) - 4 GP | 1 G | 0 A | 1 P | -8 | 12 PIM | 15 H | 17 SH | 7 SB | 0 GWG

After having such a great season in S45, the Toronto Legion made the decision to take him 1st overall in the Season 46 VHL Entry Draft. He was well past the point of going back to the VHLM again so he stayed up with the Legion and finished 2nd in team scoring with 36 goals and 45 assists for 81 points. He also finished a +13 with 303 hits and 65 shots blocked. He had a very wonderful rookie season and this led him and the Legion to the playoffs. The Legion finished 3rd in the NA Conference 2 points up on the Quebec City Meute. This meant they had a date with the Calgary Wranglers who finished 46 points ahead of them in the standings.

 

It was quick and painless for the Legion in the playoffs as the Wranglers swept them in 4 games. Parechkin scored 1 goal for 1 point in the 4 playoff games. Not a good playoff showing but not much more you could expect from a team that wasn't set to compete for awhile. 

 

Zach would win the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy as leagues Top Rookie in Season 46, a good start to his career.

 

S47 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S47 (TOR) - 72 GP | 38 G | 41 A | 79 P | +1 | 107 PIM | 316 HIT | 417 S | 32 SB | 5 GWG 

Playoffs:
S47 (TOR) - N/A

After a season in which saw a surprise playoff berth, the Legion struggled in Season 47 and missed the playoffs by 35 points as the Wranglers finished 3rd. Parechkin regressed by the slightest margin it would seem as he scored 38 goals and assisted on 41 goals for 79 points. He upped his hits though to 316 while blocking on 32 this season though. However unlike the previous two years, Zach didn't win any hardware at the end of the season but he was named to a VHL All-Star.

 

S48 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S48 (TOR) - 72 GP | 47 G | 45 A | 92 P | +32 | 108 PIM | 248 HIT | 434 SH | 20 SB | 14 GWG 

Playoffs:
S48 (TOR) - 11 GP | 5 G | 6 A | 11 P | +6 | 22 PIM | 35 H | 88 SH | 3 SB | 0 GWG

Zach came broke out in a way in Season 48 after a somewhat down season in S47. He scored 47 goals and assisted on 45 goals for 85 points over the course of the season which was good enough for 3rd in team scoring. The Legion improved all the way to tops in the entire VHL after missing the playoffs in Season 47 all together. The Legion finished with 111 points which was 4 points ahead of the 2nd place New York Americans.

 

In the playoffs, the New York Americans were upset by the Seattle Bears in the playoffs which led to a matchup of the Season 46 Draft teams as Toronto and Seattle owned a majority of the picks in that draft. The series went to 6 games but Toronto prevailed and went onto the finals to face the S45 and S46 champions the Helsinki Titans. The Legion won the series in 5 games and went home with the Continental Cup as VHL Champions.

 

To go along with the Continental Cup, Parechkin picked up the Victory Cup, Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy and his first Grimm Jonsson plus he was named a VHL All-Star. Very successful season for Parechkin.

 

S49 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S49 (TOR) - 72 GP | 56 G | 59 A | 115 P | +53 | 144 PIM | 393 HIT | 560 SH | 38 SB | 10 GWG 

Playoffs:
S49 (TOR) - 16 GP | 13 G | 9 A | 22 P | +5 | 36 PIM | 65 H | 83 SH | 10 SB | 4 GWG

In Season 49, Zach managed to top his career best season that he had in Season 48 by topping the century mark in points. He scored 56 goals and assisted on 59 goals for 115 points. He managed 393 hits and blocked 38 shots while scoring 10 GWG. He had a very fine season and that helped out Toronto greatly as the North American Conference became a lot tougher this season. Despite finishing with 122 points the Legion finished 2nd, 2 points behind the Quebec City Meute who behind the acquisitions of Aleksi Koponen, the drafting of Unassisted and I think Ariel Weinstein finished 1st after missing the playoffs all together in Season 48. 

 

The 2nd place finish meant a date with a very strong 3rd place New York Americans team who finished with 115 points. They battled until Toronto prevailed in a 6 game series which set up a clash with the 1st place Quebec City Meute. This series didn't seem like much as the Legion won in 5 games but 2 of their wins came in Overtime. The Legion moved onto the finals to play the Cologne Express who simply seemed like the team from the European Conference who was the best of the sacrificial lambs. The Express did manage one win but overall lost the series in 5 games. Toronto won Back to Back Continental Cups which was the first since S45 and S46 and before that we had to go back to S18 and S19 when Calgary had won back to back.

 

Zach cleaned up at the award ceremony as he got a Cup Ring, won the Marlow-Marta Trophy as a member of the Legion, won the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as Playoff MVP, won the Scott Boulet Trophy as Top Two way Player and finally won the Grimm Jonsson Trophy as Top Leader. Not a bad showing in Season 49 for Zach.

 

S50 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S50 (TOR) - 72 GP | 35 G | 43 A | 78 P | +35 | 112 PIM | 363 HIT | 407 SH | 41 SB | 12 GWG 

Playoffs:
S50 (TOR) - 13 GP | 6 G | 5 A | 11 P | -4 | 18 PIM | 66 H | 89 SH | 5 SB | 2 GWG

After breaking the 100 point barrier for the first time in his career, Zach regressed to 35 goals and 43 assists for just 78 points. This is still a good amount of points that anyone would be happy with but for Zach and the year he had in S49 it was considered a down season. For the Legion though it was still business as usual as they finished 1st in the VHL with 117 points which was 9 points ahead of Quebec City. Zach still manageed 363 hits and 41 shots blocked so his defensive game didn't suffer this season and he managed double digit GWG. 

 

Toronto awaited the winner of Quebec and Calgary and we all knew Quebec was going to come out on top so this set up another Toronto/Quebec semi final match up for the 2nd straight season. Toronto won the series in 6 games where 3 games were won in OT. That is how close it was for Toronto as the hockey gods smiled down on them. They moved onto the finals to face the HC Davos Dynamo who made some moves to try and contend in Season 50. This series went down to the wire as Game 7 went to double OT where Zach Parechkin scored the winner to send the Toronto Legion home with a third straight Continental Cup which was the first in VHL history. 

 

Zach took home no hardware other than the usual team awards he has been taking home the past three seasons.

 

Season 51 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S51 (TOR) - 72 GP | 65 G | 66 A | 131 P | +83 | 92 PIM | 434 HIT | 529 SH | 39 SB | 17 GWG 

Playoffs:
S51 (TOR) - 18 GP | 7 G | 14 A | 21 P | +5 | 36 PIM | 100 H | 120 SH | 9 SB | 4 GWG

In season 51, when some team decide to call it a day and say you know we had a good run winning three straight and all, but not the Toronto Legion, no they decided to go for it again. They kept the aging core together and thought why not just for shits and giggles. After a season in which, Zach had possibly his worst season, he responded with possibly his best season in his career. Zach scored 65 goals and assisted on 66 goals for 131 points while dishing out 434 hits and scoring 17 GWG. It was quite the season for Zach. The Legion though, finished 2nd in the NA Conference with 106 points, 26 points behind the Calgary Wranglers who signed free agents on their way to the top. 

 

This just meant more games for the Legion which, in my opinion, the Legion minded at all. They beat the Seattle Bears in a hard fought 6 game before moving on to play the 64-4-4 Calgary Wranglers. In a strange turn of events, the Wranglers fell in 5 games to the Legion. 4 games were decided by 1 goal so it easily could have went the other way. The Legion moved onto a 4th straight Continental Cup Final appearance where they met up with the Riga Reign. After falling behind 2-0 in the series the Legion battled back and won 3 straight before losing the last two and watched the Riga Reign celebrate the Cup, which after three straight season, I'm sure Toronto thought was surely there's.

 

Zach cleaned up the award ceremony again as he won the Marlow-Marta Trophy as a member of the Legion, won the Brett Slobodzian Trophy as MVP voted on by the league, Kevin Brooks Trophy as VHL Top Goal Scorer, Scott Boulet Trophy as Top Two Way Forward and the Grimm Jonsson as Top Leader. I am sure though he would have traded it all away for a 4th straight cup.

 

S52 - Toronto Legion

Regular Season:
S52 (TOR) - 72 GP | 50 G | 48 A | 98 P | +41 | 124 PIM | 362 HIT | 512 SH | 33 SB | 11 GWG 

Playoffs:
S52 (TOR) - N/A

After an unlikely run to the finals in S51, you would have to think the Toronto Legion would finally call it a day and give themselves a pat on the back and say we did good. That was not the case in S52 as GM Molholt decided to go for it once more and make it 5 straight trips to the finals and 4 cups in 5 seasons. The team signed Phil and Jeff Hamilton while also acquiring a goaltender in the form of Greg Clegane, back in S47-S50 when these guys were in their primes that would be very scary however at this point they were kind of showing their age but it was still an impressive team. Parechkin finished 3rd in team scoring (was really 2nd, Sleeman had more points but not all were with Toronto) with 50 goals and 48 assists for 98 points. However the Legion finished with 99 points which was surprisingly not good enough to make the playoffs as Calgary was the 3rd seed with 106 points. It is unfortunate because those 99 points would have been good enough to finish 2nd in the European Conference by 13 points.

 

Just like that, the great Toronto dynasty was over, Zach picked up the Grimm Jonsson Trophy once more in his final season in Toronto, although some would argue if he really deserved it, but for a guy like Zach, there is never a question of a player who leads his team more than him.

 

S53 - Seattle Bears

Regular Season:
S53 (SEA) - 72 GP | 51 G | 62 A | 113 P | +76 | 119 PIM | 350 H | 529 SH | 35 SB | 10 GWG 

Playoffs:
S53 (SEA) - 4 GP | 2 G | 3 A | 5 P | -2 | 4 PIM | 18 H | 29 S | 1 SB | 0 GWG

Zach was traded by the Toronto Legion in the off-season to the Seattle Bears. No one really expected the Zach Parechkin of old to come in his final season but he didn't disappoint the Seattle faithful who probably had a small dislike for him over the season. This season though, he showed them what they were missing with a 51 goal, 62 assist season for 113 points as his parting gift to Seattle and the VHL. Seattle finished 1st in the entire league and Parechkin will add another Victory Cup to his resume. 

 

The Bears earned a by to the 2nd round and will play the New York Americans who beat the Quebec City Meute. It is not looking very good for Zach and the Bears as they are down 3-1 in the series but it is much closer as most of the games have went to OT. In these 4 games played so far, Zach has scored 2 goals and assisted on 3 for 5 points. He is trying out there to extend the Bears season one game at a time now. If this is the end by Game 5, we will lose a great player perhaps one the greatest and a future Hall of Famer. 

 

Career

Regular Season:
S44 (BRM) - 22 GP | 18 G | 21 A |  39 P | +10 |  10 PIM |  44 H | 193 SH |  8 SB |  5 GWG
S45 (BER) - 72 GP | 78 G | 85 A | 163 P | +79 |  71 PIM | 202 H | 271 SH | 20 SB | 13 GWG 
S46 (TOR) - 72 GP | 36 G | 45 A |  81 P | +13 | 106 PIM | 303 H | 378 SH | 65 SB |  3 GWG
S47 (TOR) - 72 GP | 38 G | 41 A |  79 P |  +1 | 107 PIM | 316 H | 417 SH | 32 SB |  5 GWG
S48 (TOR) - 72 GP | 47 G | 45 A |  92 P | +32 | 108 PIM | 248 H | 434 SH | 20 SB | 14 GWG
S49 (TOR) - 72 GP | 56 G | 59 A | 115 P | +53 | 144 PIM | 393 H | 560 SH | 38 SB | 10 GWG
S50 (TOR) - 72 GP | 35 G | 43 A |  78 P | +35 | 112 PIM | 363 H | 407 SH | 41 SB | 12 GWG
S51 (TOR) - 72 GP | 65 G | 66 A | 131 P | +83 |  92 PIM | 434 H | 529 SH | 39 SB | 17 GWG 
S52 (TOR) - 72 GP | 50 G | 48 A |  98 P | +41 | 124 PIM | 362 H | 512 SH | 33 SB | 11 GWG
S53 (SEA) - 72 GP | 51 G | 62 A | 113 P | +76 | 119 PIM | 350 H | 529 SH | 35 SB | 10 GWG

VHLM TOTAL: 94 GP |  96 G | 106 A | 202 P |  +89 |  81 PIM |  246 H |  464 SH |  28 SB | 18 GWG
VHL TOTAL: 576 GP | 378 G | 409 A | 787 P | +334 | 912 PIM | 2769 H | 3766 SH | 303 SB | 82 GWG

Playoffs:
S44 (BRM) -  6 GP |  1 G |  1 A |  2 P | -4 |  6 PIM |  14 H |  40 SH |  0 SB | 0 GWG
S45 (BER) - 10 GP |  4 G |  9 A | 13 P | +4 |  8 PIM |  19 H |  53 SH |  1 SB | 0 GWG
S46 (TOR) -  4 GP |  1 G |  0 A |  1 P | -8 | 12 PIM |  15 H |  17 SH |  7 SB | 0 GWG
S48 (TOR) - 11 GP |  5 G |  6 A | 11 P | +6 | 22 PIM |  35 H |  88 SH |  3 SB | 0 GWG
S49 (TOR) - 16 GP | 13 G |  9 A | 22 P | +5 | 36 PIM |  65 H |  83 SH | 10 SB | 4 GWG
S50 (TOR) - 13 GP |  6 G |  5 A | 11 P | -4 | 18 PIM |  66 H |  89 SH |  5 SB | 2 GWG
S51 (TOR) - 18 GP |  7 G | 14 A | 21 P | +5 | 36 PIM | 100 H | 120 SH |  9 SB | 4 GWG
S53 (SEA) -  4 GP |  2 G |  3 A |  5 P | -2 |  4 PIM |  18 H |  29 SH |  1 SB | 0 GWG 

VHLM TOTAL: 16 GP |  5 G | 10 A | 15 P |  0 |  14 PIM |  33 H |  93 SH |  1 SB |  0 GWG
VHL TOTAL : 66 GP | 34 G | 37 A | 71 P | +2 | 128 PIM | 299 H | 426 SH | 35 SB | 10 GWG

Putting all the numbers together this is very impressive, Parechkin ranks 15th in all time goal scoring ahead of Bruno Wolf but just behind Thomas O'Malley. His 787 points rank him 25th all time in VHL scoring, just ahead of XXX and just behind Kameron Taylor. So you as you can see his is very high up there in goals and points and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame one day. 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

for gretz

 

@DollarAndADream

[DollarAndADream 3,357]

Thank you sir. Stellar article. Parechkin has been a dream.