Claimed: Brick Wahl - Hall of Fame Article [1/2]

[Advantage 2,920]

 

G- Brick Wahl
Birthplace: Red Deer, AB
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 210 lbs
Jersey Number: 31
Drafted: Signed to NY via GM Rule
Username: Advantage

 

Brick Wahl in some ways was the luckiest goalie to ever play in the Victory Hockey League, and in other ways the unluckiest.  When he stepped onto the ice in Season 36 for the New York Americans, many felt that a new era had begun with Wahl backstopping a team including future Hall of Famers Conner Low and Xin Xie Xiao.  What would follow was one of the best dynasties the league has ever seen, and while in some cases Wahl was overshadowed, in others he shined when it mattered the most.  This is the story of the playoff beast and eventual Hall of Fame goaltender in the class of Season 48, Brick Wahl.

 

Career Awards:

S38 Victory Cup - Regular Season Champions (NYA)
S39 Continental Cup - Playoff Champions (NYA)
S39 Daisuke Kanou Trophy - Playoff MVP
S39 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy - North American Playoff Champions (NYA)
S39 Victory Cup - Regular Season Champions (NYA)
S40 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy - North American Playoff Champions (NYA)
S40 Victory Cup - Regular Season Champions (NYA)
S41 Continental Cup - Playoff Champions (NYA)
S41 Daisuke Kanou Trophy - Playoff MVP
S41 Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy - North American Playoff Champions (NYA)
S41 Victory Cup - Regular Season Champions (NYA)
S43 Victory Cup - Regular Season Champions (STO)

 

Season 36 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S36(NYA) - 64 GP / 25-34-5 / .911 SV% / 3.23 GAA / 2 SO

Brick Wahl’s rookie year went as well as you could expect it.  The New York Americans were exiting a rebuild and were building around a core of Low, Xiao and Wahl with a couple more first round picks coming in the upcoming draft.  The Americans were led by Low who would go on to win his first of five straight Labatte Trophy’s, and by Simon Tremblay who posted an impressive forty-five goal season.  Wahl, on the other hand, struggled at times with the high shot count but managed to post a respectable 25-34-5 record and a .911 save percentage and 3.23 GAA.  While these numbers hardly solidified him as anything more than an average starter, he did take solace in the fact that he finished just five points off of being top five in the VHL in save percentage.  The first season was a learning season but Wahl knew that there was room to grow and the potential was there.

 

Season 37 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S37(NYA) - 64 GP / 33-26-5 / .919 SV% / 2.28 GAA / 5 SO

 

The New York Americans would undergo a complete overhaul going into Season 37.  The team drafted Tom Slaughter and Logan Laich, who would both start for the team that season.  They traded for the rights to Odin Tordahl in a controversial deal that saw a disgruntled Odin get moved for a first round pick.  Additionally, other players like Tony Stark, Giygas and Andrey Zadorov joined the team to help improve the depth of the club.  The result was a 33-26-5 record for Wahl to go along with a very competitive and respectable .919 save percentage and 2.28 GAA.  This was a significant improvement from his rookie year and a good sign of his continued effort to develop.  Unfortunately for Wahl and the Americans, the club lost to the Seattle Bears in the final game of the regular season with the winner of the game determining who would go to the playoffs.  The Bears would beat the Americans 2-1 in a closely contested affair.  While New York did not reach their goal of the playoffs, Wahl and the rest of the club showed consistent improvement and seemed well on track to becoming one of the league’s most formidable contenders.

 

Season 38 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S38(NYA): 8 GP / 6-2-0 / .880 SV% / 2.51 GAA / 0 SO

 

Entering the Season 38 season there was a lot of hype about the Americans and their continued growth, including with goaltender Brick Wahl.  Unfortunately for Wahl, the team had other plans in net and decided to make a bold offer to Tuomas Tukio in order to have him come in and start games for the Americans.  This would lead to a league best 56-12-4 record with Tukio winning the Scotty Campbell Trophy with a .937 save percentage and 1.63 GAA.  Wahl only played eight games that season, and while he would go 6-2-0, he struggled with a .880 save percentage and 2.50 GAA.  One has to assume that he was quite rusty when he did have to come in, but this seemed like a step back for the Canadian netminder, who just a season before had comparable numbers to some of the better goalies in the league.  The Americans would fall short of their Continental Cup hopes with the Legion dashing their chances in six games led by Jakub Kjellberg and Remy LeBeau.  All of a sudden, there was a lot of talk of New York perhaps moving on from the goalie if he didn’t come out strong next training camp and show why he is the guy to lead the charge between the pipes.

 

Season 39 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S39(NYA) - 64 GP / 47-12-5 / .912 SV% / 2.06 GAA / 6 SO

Playoffs:
S39(NYA) - 10 GP / 8-2-0 / .943 SV% / 1.30 GAA / 4 SO

 

Brick Wahl did not improve on the numbers he posted in the Season 37 Regular Season, but his team certainly continued to improve.  The Americans would go on to a league best 54-12-6 record with Odin Tordahl and Wesley Kellinger combining for 248 points.  Conner Low would win his fourth consecutive Labatte Trophy and Tom Slaughter and Xin Xie Xiao continued their stellar All-Star caliber play as leaders of the team.  Brick Wahl posted a mediocre .912 save percentage to go along with a 2.06 GAA that was mainly influenced by the quality of his team.  The biggest question mark going into the playoffs was about Wahl, who to this point had never played in a VHL Playoff Game.  Those questions would be answered quickly though as Wahl looked like a whole different beast from game one on.   After receiving a bye into the NA Conference Finals, the Americans would dispose of the Bears in five before running all over the Dynamo in five to win the Continental Cup, the team’s first under the leadership of Christopher Miller.  The team’s success was easily due to the incredible play of Wahl who made up for the fact that just three players recorded a point-per-game and for the fact that the team averaged just 2.5 goals per game.  Wahl recorded a 8-2 record with an absolutely mind-boggling .943 save percentage and 1.30 GAA to go along with 3 shutouts.  Brick was a unanimous choice for the Daisuke Kanou, which is awarded every year to the Playoff MVP, and had made a name for himself as a clutch goaltender.  This was seen as a break out moment for the netminder who was now entering his prime, and expectations had risen in anticipation for a title defense in Season 40.

 

Season 40 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S40(NYA) - 64 GP / 53-10-1 / .926 SV% / 1.80 GAA / 8 SO

Playoffs:
S40(NYA) - 10 GP / 5-4-1 / .938 SV%, 1.96 GAA / 2 SO

 

Season 40 saw the best play of Brick Wahl’s career, but also perhaps some of the unluckiest moments at the same time.  The Americans once again cruised to their third straight Victory Cup with a 60-11-1 record, their best to date.  Five members of the team (Odin Tordahl, Tom Slaughter, Xin Xie Xiao, Bennett Wahl and Conner Low) all recorded at least 100 points during the regular season.  Meanwhile, Brick Wahl finished with a career best 53-10-1 record, .926 save percentage and 1.80 GAA.  His numbers league wide only fell behind Lennox Moher who rode a crappy team for the majority of the season to a .939 save percentage.  After being traded to a good team in Quebec, his numbers seemed to fall back to earth given that he was now facing a normal amount of shots, as he recorded a .924 save percentage over his time with Quebec.  The Americans were easily the favourite to win the Continental Cup for the second year in a row, and they made that clear when they absolutely decimated the Wranglers in five games during the North American Conference Championships.  However, the Riga Reign caught fire during the playoffs and just outclassed the Americans in every single way, winning the Continental Cup in five games.  Once again, the scoring of the Americans let the team down with just 2.7 Goals-Per-Game during the playoffs and 2.2 versus the Reign.  Wahl would fall short of a second straight Continental Cup despite his best efforts, as the netminder recorded a 5-4-1 record, .938 save percentage 1.96 GAA during their ten game run.  During the Shaw Trophy voting that off-season, controversy struck as Lennox Moher would win by one vote (5-4) after the Legion’s GM, Edgar, voted for Szatkowski over Wahl due to having more shutouts and ignoring the fact that Wahl had the Reign netminder beat in every other category.  To many, that should have been a shared trophy but with Wahl’s luck, or lack thereof, it was solely won by Moher.  Nevertheless, Wahl had started putting together some consistency with that inspirational playoff run followed by the best season of his career and another solid playoff run.

 

Season 41 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S41(NYA) - 64 GP / 52-10-2 / .923 SV% / 1.90 GAA / 11 SO

Playoffs:
S41(NYA) - 10 GP / 8-2-0 / .934 SV% / 1.89 GAA / 2 SO

Season 41 would see some of the future Americans emerge, with Jody 3 Moons and Christoph Klose entering the fray.  The Americans also moved Conner Low up front, after five straight Labatte Trophy’s, and traded for Matt Bentley to replace his defensive prowess.  The result was pretty effective.  The Americans would once again have five players finish with over 100 points, including rookie Jody 3 Moons.  Brick Wahl finished with great numbers once again with a 52-10-2 record, .923 save percentage and 1.90 GAA.  The Americans themselves would win their fourth consecutive Victory Cup, breaking the record which was held by a few teams, finishing with a 59-10-3 record.  This playoff run was another chance for Wahl to lockdown his legacy, and he would most certainly take advantage of it.  The Americans defeat Quebec City in just five games before narrowly winning a tight series with the Riga Reign, in seven.  Matt Bentley had a really solid playoff run recording seventeen assists in twelve games, and six others found themselves in double digits.  However, once again it was Wahl who led the charge posting a 8-2-2 record, .934 save percentage and 1.89 GAA.  For the third straight year, Wahl proved to be an absolute monster in the playoffs and had earned the reputation of someone who raised his game in the playoffs.  Wahl would win his second Daisuke Kanou Trophy, becoming just the second goaltender along with Kanou, to win the award twice.  More importantly, Wahl had earned his second Continental Cup and the Americans had gotten the job done against their arch rivals.

 

Season 42 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S42(NYA) - 64 GP / 43-15-6 / .922 SV% / 2.05 GAA / 3 SO

Playoffs:
S42 (NYA) - 12 GP / 7-4-1 / .935 SV% / 1.76 GAA / 4 SO

 

There was really no reason for the New York Americans to take a step back in Season 42.  Their entire core got better including phenom Jody 3 Moons, and they added some cheaper depth so that they could keep paying their core.  However, Wahl and the Americans would take a step back as they failed to capture a fifth straight Victory Cup.  The team still had a great season but the Quebec City Meute, who had quietly been getting more and more developed, were finally ready to take over and did so.  Wahl finished with a very respectable .922 save percentage and 2.05 GAA but he knew that having to now beat Toronto in the first round before taking on the Meute, was going to be a tough challenge even with how clutch Wahl had been up to that point in his VHL career.  Unfortunately for Wahl, the Meute narrowly defeated the Americans and moved on to the finals, the first real blow to the New York dynasty that saw the team win four straight Victory Cup’s and two Continental Cup’s.  Wahl still managed solid playoff numbers with a .935 save percentage and 1.76 GAA, but the team nearly finished with less than two goals-per-game and simply couldn’t crack the surprisingly strong Brock Waldron.

 

Season 43 Statistics:

Regular Season:
S43(STO) - 51 GP / 37-11-3 / .920 SV% / 1.80 GAA / 13 SO

Playoffs:
S43(STO) - 5 GP / 1-4-0 / .890 SV% / 3.68 GAA / 0 SO

 

After the New York Americans defeat at the hands of the Meute, GM Christopher Miller decided that it was time to move on and trade assets off in order to rebuild the team back to full health and perhaps start a new dynasty then.  In quite the major deal, Brick Wahl was traded along with Tom Slaughter and Jody 3 Moons to the Stockholm Vikings, for a package that included Jax Barnstormer, Mario De Rossi and three picks including first overall in the Season 43 Draft.  They joined a team that boasted other great talents like Lord Karnage, Jack Kowalski and Lloyd Light.  Safe to say that this Vikings team was going to be a force to be reckoned with.  The Vikings would finish that year with a 56-12-4 record and Wahl had a strong year despite a slow start and only playing fifty-one games due to the young and talented Blake Campbell.  Wahl finished his last season with a .920 save percentage and 1.80 GAA and was ready for perhaps one final run to the Continental Cup Finals and perhaps one final Kanou Trophy.  Unfortunately for the Vikings, they would get destroyed by the Express in five who would eventually go on to lose in the finals to Seattle.  In his final playoff run, Wahl would finally show his age and struggled in the playoffs, recording an abysmal .890 save percentage and 3.68 GAA.  It was not how the veteran goaltender wanted to go out but he would have to accept that this was clearly a sign that his time no longer was in the present.

 

Career Totals:

Regular Season:
443 GP / 296-120-27 / .918 SV% / 2.18 GAA / 48 SO

Playoffs:
49 GP / 29-16-4 / .931 SV% / 1.93 GAA / 12 SO

 

Brick Wahl never won an Aidan Shaw Trophy.  He was never once the winner of any regular season hardware.  He sat on the BOG Hall of Fame ballot for five seasons.  His numbers don’t compare to some of the greats when it comes to the regular season.  However, Wahl was absolutely a winner in every sense of the word.  His record of 296-120-27 is remarkable regardless of his team.  While his .918 save percentage perhaps is pedestrian compared to the greatest of all-time, Wahl’s 2.18 GAA is anything but.  With that being said, Wahl’s regular season statistics are not why he is in the Hall of Fame.  Brick Wahl is is being inducted because of his big-game performances.  His two Continental Cups and two Daisuke Kanou Trophy’s are a significant reason why, but so are the other runs that were individually great even if the team fell just short.  Wahl was consistently a solid goaltender and when the playoffs were running, he was the very best the league had to offer.  For this reason, I am proud to be able to announce that Brick Wahl Is being inducted into the Season 48 VHL Hall of Fame.
 

[Advantage 2,920]

2680 Words - Claiming this for 4 week's of PT's for Lane

[Banackock 8,186]

Great write up and great career. 

 

Maybe I'll toss one out next week to finish off Federov's PT's for the month so I don't gotta write for October other than the magazine  

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4 hours ago, Banackock said:

Great write up and great career. 

 

Maybe I'll toss one out next week to finish off Federov's PT's for the month so I don't gotta write for October other than the magazine  

Let me know which if so cause I am just going to be doing all of them so we can catch up.

[Kesler 1,514]

Chris Miller the type of dude to write his own HoF article. Also sick use of that card.

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20 minutes ago, Kesler said:

Chris Miller the type of dude to write his own HoF article. Also sick use of that card.

Well we are severely outdated   And he was the one who has waited longest at this point.

[BOOM 8,848]

Congrats!

[Baozi 1,664]

Dat Wahl!

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Not hard to review a HoF article at all because whoever writes them, will do their best to do the player justice. And well if you write you own HoF article chances are you going to be extra careful with what you write  It was a well written article and flowed nicely. Congrats to Wahl and yourself for getting into the HoF in S48 and finally getting your own article