Claimed: Smarch Agency=Terrible Agency

[Smarch 3,100]

As we sit in the thick of the VHLs celebration into the tenth anniversary of the league opening back in July, 2007, we tried to come up with a unique idea to write about to help celebrate the unique occasion. Unfortunately we aren’t really that creative and couldn’t come up with anything original and exciting, so we decided to borrow from a media spot posted earlier in the week. So for this week’s historical or themed point task, I’ll take a very unexciting look at some of the worst players to ever grace the VHL, of course we are talking about players that were represented by the Smarch agency.

 

Season Two: Tommy Brown: Drafted Second Round, Fifteenth Overall

Unknown TPE at Draft, Finished with 123 TPE

 

Browns official VHL career didn’t start until Season Two, but by that time I had already had a VHL championship under my belt. Brown was a consistent under-achiever during his during his four season VHL career, spent between Vasteras and Calgary. Brown was my first taste of the VHL experience after trying my hand at other various hockey sim leagues a few years prior, something I would grow to enjoy over the course of the next ten years.

 

Season Six: Max Weinstein: Drafted Third Round, Twenty-First Overall

Unknown TPE at Draft; Finished with 396 TPE

 

This player was named after the great Family Guy episode that got the show cancelled for a few years, a show at the time I quite enjoyed. After being a ghost during the past four seasons with Brown, Weinstein was never looked at as a serious VHL goaltender leading up to the draft, and even after being drafted and thrown to the wolves by the New York Americans. Hamilton had drafted their goaltender of the future and future Hall of Famer Alex Gegeny in Season Five, which meant Weinstein, was never brought into Hamilton to truly make an impact, something at the time General Manager Robbie Zimmers was decent enough to let Weinstein know days after being drafted. Zimmers kept his promise to Weinstein and traded the young goaltender the next year when Gegeny was ready to take over, and this move really kick started both goalies careers. Weinstein and Gegeny would go onto win one Continental Cup each during their time in the league, with Weinstein’s surprise retirement coming as the Wranglers needed desperate cap relief heading into Season Nine.

 

Season Ten: Baron Von Jonsson: Drafted Second Round, Eleventh Overall

65 TPE at Draft, Finished with 488 TPE

 

Von Jonsson at the time was my favorite VHL player that I had grace the league. Von Jonsson was basically made to go head to head with enforcer Da’Brickashaw O’Neal, as enforcers in hockey have always had a soft spot in my heart. My greatest accomplishment with Von Jonsson outside the two cup wins in Season Fourteen and Seventeen would have to be, the first and possibly only player to beat O’Neal in a VHL fight. I had tons of fun with Von Jonsson once I was shipped out of Avangard/Davos, switching to defense from right-wing during his career as well. I thought at the time I retired Von Jonsson that I could possibly put more effort forth in the VHL and make a decent player, but I couldn’t be farther from the truth with that statement.

 

Season Eighteen: Robin Big Snake: Drafted Fourth Round, Twenty-Ninth Overall

0 TPE at Draft, Finished with 200 TPE

 

After the success I had with Von Jonsson, I felt that I had a renewed work ethic for the VHL. Well we all know sometimes life gets in the way of the best intentions we have, and this could be chalked up in this case. Robin Big Snake was a Western Hockey League player that played a few games for my hometown team back when I was in high school, a player that didn’t have much business being on an ice surface. Funny thing is, his VHL doppelganger also had no business being on a VHL ice surface. Apparently VHL GMs didn’t get that memo as Big Snake went on to appear in 360 games during his VHL career, putting up forty-seven goals and ninety-one assists during his five year VHL career. Big Snake also happened to be the second player in my VHL career to go the distance in terms of eligible years, a trend that looked to continue in the coming years.

 

Season Twenty-Six: Abraham Sander: Drafted First Round, Eighth Overall

52 TPE at Draft, Finished with 461 TPE

 

This is where my current VHL journey gets started. Sander was my highest drafted player in the VHL, although that was in large part to being in a piss poor draft. Sander would head to Davos and again I would head my way to stage left and exit the VHL. It wasn’t until Season Thirty-One in the VHL and I checked my e-mails before heading off to bed. It’s there I would see a message in my inbox from the VHL, one that after investigation would be sent by my newest General Manager in the league Kendrick. Sander was selected in the Season Thirty-one VHL Expansion draft by the Kendrick run Cologne Express, and being part of a new VHL franchise gave Sander the will power to get back to practise. After three seasons in Davos, Sander knew he was brought into Cologne to help the new guys get accustomed to the VHL style of play. Sander would play his best hockey of his career in Cologne during his two and a half season in the German city before ending his career with the Toronto Legion, but during those three seasons with Sander I really saw the VHL as something I could really be a part of.

 

Season Thirty-Five: Conner Low: Drafted First Round, Sixth Overall

142 TPE at Draft, Finished with 1,166 TPE

 

After five mediocre to poor players in the VHL there was no early indication that Low would be any different from those that came from the agency before him, but as I hung around the boards and specifically the Saskatoon Wild locker-room things were feeling different this go around. My real motivation for the drive I had with Low came from an incident steaming from the Season Thirty-Five VHLM Dispersal Draft. After being a waiver pick up by the Wild and being one of two active members of the team, the Wild decided not to bring me back in the draft the following season. I never looked back with Low after this, even though it may seem trivial it made me want to go out and prove everyone wrong about the type of member I could be and player I could produce. The VHL draft helped grow that fire underneath me as well, as three teams picked players I initially thought I  had a greater ceiling then, and that proved to be the truth in the long-run. Low won two cups during his tenure in New York, as well as became one of the best defenseman to grace the VHL. With my first HOF player finally in my grasp, I had the drive to keep making quality players.

 

Season Forty-Five: Ariel Weinstein: Drafted First Round, Third Overall

239 TPE at Draft, Finished with 1,039 TPE

 

After seeing so much personal and team success with Low, Weinstein was a definite letdown during his eight year VHL career, which was especially frustrating as he was my best pre-draft player to date. After being selected the highest I had ever gone in any VHL or VHLM draft, I had very high expectations for my first goalie since retiring the elder Weinstein in Season Nine. Weinstein was drafted by a club that has no other assets at the time, something that kept the Meute from fully rebuilding during his time there. The Meute rebuild was kick-started by traded Weinstein to the Vikings, which was the only season in the VHL that Weinstein could taste success in front of him. Unfortunately for Weinstein he wasn’t able to see any real playoff success during his eight year VHL career, leaving as the only member of the top six draftees from the Season Forty-Five draft without a cup win. Although Weinstein left my future in doubt in the league with the lack of fun I was experiencing, I decided to stick it out for another player.

 

*For Snatch*

[boubabi 4,725]

Glad people commemorate the name that is Robin Big Snake, the ECHL legend

[Kendrick 4,741]

@Smarch You will remember this. But my neighbours used to be the billet family for Robin Big Snake. He would never be home in time for curfew but they didn't care because they were afraid of him.

[Beketov 8,944]

Weinstein (the 2nd) was honestly pretty decent, I definitely deemed her as major competition to Holik when I was hitting my prime. I think the main thing that was unfortunate is that you were directly competing with the Clegane's and they were on stronger teams most of the time so it was tough to deal with.

[eaglesfan036 4,595]

yes you suck, that was lots of words to say that

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

If you have a terrible agency, mine must be horrible.

[Smarch 3,100]

31 minutes ago, eaglesfan036 said:

yes you suck, that was lots of words to say that

ctrl+f Smarch in HOF

ctrl+f eaglesfan in HOF

[STZ 5,339]

Conner Low, tho