VHL Insider Trading

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

After last season, about 14 free agents hit the market. Some of the VHL's biggest names became free agents commanding big paydays and or chasing Continental Cup glory. 4 centers, 3 right wingers, 2 left wingers, 3 defenseman and 2 goalies have either signed new deals or found new places to call home for Season 46. Let's look at the biggest names and see how they are faring so far in this early season edition of Transactions Central.

Blake Campbell (512 TPE) - Stockholm Vikings ---> New York Americans

In one of the ugliest breakups in recent memories, goaltender Blake Campbell moved from Stockholm, Sweden across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, New York. Blake's decision to move Continents took a very long time, this led to him missing out on a pre-season game against the Wranglers. Calgary demolished the Americans 6-1 as a result. That didn't seem to slow him down for the Regular Season though as through 8 games, Blake as a 5-3 record. He holds a 0.924 save percentage and a 1.73 G.A.A with 2 shutout. Blake is tied for 2nd in the categories of SV% and G.A.A just behind Davos goalie Callum Sinclair. It looks to be that Blake might get his wish of a Continental Cup this year, but he only has one season to do it because New York has Atticus von Broxton IV in the wings waiting to take over the number 1 spot. 

Bismarck Koenig (851 TPE) - Calgary Wranglers ---> HC Davos Dynamo 

One of the biggest names for what it seems every off-season, Bismarck Koenig is calling Davos his home again. It's been said that Koenig left Calgary because it was just a bit to queer for him. Someone should have told him only steers and queers come from Calgary. Anyways, in his return during the pre-season Koenig scored 1 goal in a loss to the hated Helsinki Titans. Through 8 games during the regular season, Koenig is leading the Dynamo with 7 goals and 6 assists for 13 points. Surprisingly, he is only 3rd in center scoring behind Joseph Roy III and Gifford Shock. Considering 2nd in team scoring is depth defenseman Mason Richardson with 10 points, Koenig hopes the Finnisher Simon Valmont and goon Freedom McJustice pick up their scoring to match his output. If they can't it would almost be a wash year for Koenig who will more than likely move on after this year.

James Faraday (990 TPE) - HC Davos Dynamo ---> Riga Reign

In a surprising turn of events, James Faraday of the Dynamo decided to leve the only team he has ever known. Faraday and GM Reilly didn't have a messy breakup like Campbell and Stockholm, which both parties must have enjoyed. That of course is different circumstance as it would be easier to replace a top notch forward with another one (Bismarck Koenig) than a number 1 goalie (STO G). Anyways, in his 1 pre-season game, Faraday scored 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points in a 5-2 win for Riga over rivals Cologne. So far in his 8 game Riga career, Faraday is leading his new team in scoring. He has 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points. The scoring depth is great for Riga as they are tied for 1st place in the European Conference. 

So there we have it folks, the 3 biggest free agents of the S45 off-season and how they are doing in their new digs this season. Next season, when I do this again, I'll bet my salary that Koenig lands with a new team, fingers crossed it will be with the Seattle Bears.

[BOOM 8,807]

Pretty safe bet

[eaglesfan036 4,604]

so far Koenig has been on Cologne when they lose the cup and Calgary when they lose the cup. I hope for Boom's sake this doesn't turn true, but I bet Riga loses the cup this season :3

[BOOM 8,807]

I hope Riga loses the cup too!

[eaglesfan036 4,604]

I hope Riga loses the cup too!

oh lol I confused you and higgins

[BOOM 8,807]

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

266

Tanking in Season 47

Looking at this group of draft eligible which currently sits at 13 which makes many think is it really a good draft to tank in? Many GM's this year have a clear cut number 1 pick and that is a player from the "Frank" agency. John Sleeman is the consensus number 1 draft pick in the draft. With the draft class being so weak the only real winner will be the one who gets 1st overall. Seattle and Stockholm are currently in the running for 1st overall as last I checked have a combined record of 5-29-4. At the moment Seattle is in last with 7 points. Stockholm has 7 points also but has 1 more win at 3 compared to Seattle's 2. 

The loser of the tank wars will not come out a winner like Edmonton and Buffalo last year with 2nd overall being Jack Eichel going to the loser in Buffalo. The loser will have to choose between Sir William Covington III, David Hamilton and Vincent Virtanen. These three players come from the "Robbie" agency, the "Knight" agency and the "Lunaro" agency. These agencies are very respected in the VHL world and have brought some great players. Niklas Karlsson is the last player in the "Lunaro" agency and had a very respectable career. Virtanen should be the front runner in the 2nd overall running since Knight's last player was David Blind who was a very underwhelming goaltender. As I just mentioned Knight's last player was David Blind. Blind was a goaltender who toiled around in the minors and was a goalie for teams who needed a warm body to tend the net. Robbie is an interesting case because if I remember correctly he didn't make a player last time he came back. It's been so long since I've seen him here as well so I can't remember his last player. I think it was a goalie, Carlos Vasquez, who like Blind was an underwhelming goalie in his time. 

Ranking for 2nd Overall:
1. Vincent Virtanen
2. Sir William Covington III
3. David Hamilton

Lunaro seems dead set in making Virtanen a better player than Karlsson. Robbie seems like he wants to prove the doubters wrong in saying he is just here to troll. Knight seems like he wants to prove to the younger generation that he isn't just a name and wants people to know he is capable of players like David Henman and David Walcott again. Overall it should be interesting who is chosen 2nd overall and more interesting to see if that person can stay active and live up to the billing. 

Edited November 19, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[BOOM 8,807]

John Sleeman is the consensus number 1 draft pick

[eaglesfan036 4,604]

@boom should recreate and join this draft to see if he would be #1

[BOOM 8,807]

@ss91, I just didn't want any of the leagues actual grammar nazi's saying something on the public board to you.

 

@eagles, ummm no

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

267

All-Time Draft Team Part 1

Hello all, Welcome back to another edition of Transactions Central. This week we will do an All-Time Draft team for each team starting way back in Season 1. Well without further adieu here is the Calgary All-Time Draft team starting in S1. *it will start out slow as we will do it one team and one draft at a time. **also Season 1 Supplmentary Draft will not be included.


(S1) Scott Boulet - (S1) Brad Janssen - (S1) Cody Banks
LW - (S1) Reg Vaillancourt - RW
(S1) Shawn Howard - (S1) Lucas Smith
(S1) Jeremy Lambourghini - D
(S1) Drew Barclay

Season 1, Round 1, 6th Overall: Left Wing Scott Boulet

What more needs to be said about Scott Boulet. He is a Hall of Fame Left Winger and is one of the greatest forwards ever to lace up the skates in the Victory Hockey League. He has a trophy named after him that is awarded to the top two-way foward in the VHL as he won it 4 times in the 6 years he was in the league. Boulet was a very decorated player during his time in the league. He won the aforementioned Alex Delvechhio Trophy 4 times, Wayne Gretzky Trophy (now Scotty Campbell Trophy) as league MVP, 2 time Continental Cup Champion (Playoff Champion), 2 time Victory Cup Champion (Regular Season Champion), 4 time All-Star and a Bronze Medal with Team Central Europe. That is quite the list of accomplishments. Now match that list of accomplishments with his 432 games played, 349 goals, 388 assists, 737 points, 772 hits and 174 shots blocked. You might think that is impressive but that is just his regular season stats. His playoff stat line is pretty impressive as well, 50 games played, 29 goals, 39 assists, 68 points, 90 hits and 13 shots blocked. Now that's what I call a warrior and and champion. He was the 1st player drafted by the Franchise and I believe he will be on this list still as we go through the all the drafts. 

Season 1, Round 2, 11th Overall: Goaltender Drew Barclay

Drew Barclay was very good in the 1st VHL season. How good? well he went 69-3-0 in Season 1 of the VHL. Other than that he also led the Wranglers to their 1st ever Continental Cup in Season 2 before being moved out as the early success starting getting to him and he stopped practising. Despite his practice short comings he was a very decent goalie in the VHL. He has a career record of 101-17-4 in 134 career games. He also has a 0.898 save percentage and a 2.64 G.A.A. Despite winning 101 games in his career he only managed 6 shutouts which shows he was a decent goalie but was more of a product of his team. He does have 1 Continental Cup to his name and that came in Season 2. He was also an all-star in Season 1. His playoff record is 12-4-1 in 19 games. His save percentage and G.A.A pretty much line up with his regular season averages (0.897 SV%, 3.11 G.A.A). He had a really good situation, to bad he couldn't stay active. Drew Barclay was traded after the magical season to the Stockholm Rams.

Season 1, Round 3, 17th Overall: Center Brad Janssen

How this man is not in the VHL Hall of Fame is criminal. We have players like Matthew Pogge, Maxim Desny and Petr Shirokov in the Hall of Fame but not Janssen who has way better numbers and has Continental Cup. Desny and Shirokov cannot say that. Janssen also has a Gold and Bronze Medal to his name. He has a career total of 579 games played, 282 goals, 421 assists and 703 points. Shirokov doesn't even have as much points as Janssen has assists. Brad also played in 51 playoff games and managed to score 16 goals and 26 assists got 46 points. Janssen did bounce around his career going to Avangard than Toronto before ending it back in Avangard. Come on HoF committee, it's long overdue, let's get Brad Janssen into the Hall of Fame. 

Season 1, Round 4, 32nd Overall: Defenseman Lucas Smith

Lucas Smith had a very underrated career. In his career he managed to go 7 seasons playing in 504 games. In his 7 seasons he put up, 123 goals and 234 assists for 357 points. He managed to win a Continental Cup with the Wranglers in Season 2 like most on this list so far. In his playoff career he 34 games and scored 6 goals and assisted on 20 goals for 26 points. After the championship season he left as a free agent and signed with the rival Vasteras IK. Other than that he had a very solid depth player career.

Season 1, Round 5, 40th Overall: Defenseman Shawn Howard

Now here is another depth player who turned out to have a very decent career. Shawn Howard never played a game for the Wranglers franchise as he was released after being drafted. He toiled around the VHL, going to Amstel, Seattle, Toronto and Helsinki during his short 6 year career. In 433 games, Shawn scored 56 goals and assisted on 239 goals for 295 points. He also played in 36 playoff games scoring 3 goals and assisting on 11 for 14 points. He also had 737 shots blocked in his relatively short career. He won a Continental Cup in Season 6 with the Helsinki Titans. 

Season 1, Round 6, 41st Overall: Right Wing Cody Banks
 

The Wranglers have had a very good draft so far. They didn't strike gold with Banks, but he was one of those depth plyers you like to find late in drafts. I mean you can't making every pick a home run right? you just hope to find a few singles and maybe a double after round 5. He played in 430 games scoring 118 goals while assisting on 173 goals for 291 points. He played in 16 playoff games scoring 6 goals but only assisting on 1 for 7 points. He never won a major award or was named an all-star but he was a part of one of the biggest trades in history. He signed with the Seattle Everblades as a free agent but was later traded with Mike Szatkowski, Brannan Anthony and a 1st for Scotty Cambell and Matt Defosse. 

Season 1, Round 6, 48th Overall: Center Reg Vaillancourt

Reg Vaillancourt was a pretty nice 6th round pick up. He only played in 2 seasons but he did score 26 goals while assisting on 85 for 111 points in 144 games. He played in 2 playoffs making it to the finals both times. He played in 21 games scoring 2 goals and assisting on 10 for 12 points. He left the VHL as a Continental Cup champion.

Season 1, Round 7, 49th Overall: Defenseman Jeremy Lambourghini

Jeremy Lambourghini played nearly 3 season in his career. 2 with the Wranglers. He took a year off inbetween his championship winning season in Season 2. He returned in Season 4 with Hamilton playing in just 27 games. He later played in Season 5 with Avangard playing 43 games. In total he played 214 games, scoring 27 goals and assisting on 102 for 129 points. In the playoffs he played in 21 games scoring 2 goals and assisting on 6 for 8 points. He was another depth defenseman trying to keep dreams of playing professional hockey alive.  

Overview

Every player the Wrangler drafted seemed to turn to gold. They all played more than 2 years in the VHL which is pretty impressive and all of the put up at least 111 points and played in at least 134 games. What a very solid 1st draft in the VHL, and this just proves how good of a GM Brett Slobodzian was. 

Edited November 27, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

278

All-Time Draft Team Pt.2

(S1) Scott Boulet - (S1) Brad Janssen - (S2) Edward Eldred 1
LW - (S1) Reg Vaillancourt - (S1) Cody Banks

(S2) Sterling Labatte - (S1) Shawn Howard 
(S1) Lucas Smith - (S2) Tommy Brown
(S1) Jeremy Lambourghini 

(S1) Drew Barclay
(S2) Joseph Baker
*bold indicates new draftee* 

Season 2, Round 1, 7th Overall: Defenseman Sterling Labatte

Question, who is the greatest VHL defenseman of all-time? Many would argue over a question such as this. Really though, there can only be one right? My answer is simple. Sterling Labatte is the greatest defenceman in VHL history. How could he not be the answer? VHL brass named the best defenceman trophy after him. Just look at his career stats. He played in 648 games which is tied for 2nd all time. He scored 210 goals which is 2nd all-time for defenceman who played defence their whole career. He assisted on 562 goals which is 2nd all-time. He has 772 career points which leads all defenceman in VHL history. He is also the only defenseman to crack the top 23 all-time in the history of the VHL. He played in 9 wonderful seasons which is a record. His accolades include 3 Continental Cups, 1 Gold Medal, 2 Bronze Medals, 4 Victory Cups, 3 Bobby Orr Trophies (now Sterling Labatte Trophy), 2 Gordon Howe Trophies (now Daisuke Kanou Trophy), 1 Mark Messier Trophy (now Grimm Jonsson Trophy) and 4 time all-star. Whew did you get all that? that is quite the mouthful isn't it. That is just a little blerb on why Sterling Labatte may be the best defenseman in VHL History, if you're sill not sold, go look at his Hall of Fame article. He is a Season 10 inductee. 

Season 2, Round 2, 15th Overall: Defenseman Tommy Brown

Tommy Brown was the 2nd defenceman taken in this draft by the Wranglers. He had a solid albeit short career that spanned 192 games in which he scored 27 goals and assisted on 114 goals for 141 points. He played on  championship winning teams for the Wranglers before calling it a career at the end of Season 3. Solid depth defenseman that makes good teams great.

Season 2, Round 3, 20th Overall: Goaltender Joseph Baker

"JoBa" came into the VHL like someone lit a fire under his ass. Yet, he stopped practising after awhile like the fire blew out. He has a solid career record of 62-16-2 but he has  a less than impressive 0.884 save percentage. He also has a career 2.56 goals against average. He only played parts of 2 seasons as a starter/spot starter but he was part of the Season 2 Continental Cup winning squad. 

Season 2, Round 5, 39th Overall: Right Wing Edward Eldred 1

Edward Eldred had a very solid career for a 5th round draft pick. He played 5 seasons in the VHL which totaled 360 games. In those 360 games he scored 145 goals while assisting on 218 goals for a total of 363 points. Not too shabby for someone who was picked next to last in the draft. He also won 2 Continental Cups while playing for the Wranglers. He also has a Bronze Medal hanging up somewhere in his house from Season 2. Edward is a running joke though, because Kendrick likes to say the sore loser on the site should get an award for well being a sore loser.

Edited December 3, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

@Molholt could ya put this in the new mag? 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

269

 

Welcome to a very eventful edition of Insider Trading. Molholt has been to busy playing WWE 2K16 to realize that he missed my last writing and didnt put it in so we get 2 in this edition! My other writing was an All-Time Draft edition so this part will be looking at a trade that happened before this deadline. Enjoy.

 

To Calgary:

Bernie Gow

Season 48 Riga 1st Round Draft Pick

Griffon Simmons

 

To Riga:

Hans Wingate

 

Summary

Well this is a trade no one at all saw coming. Wingate was the backbone of many Wrangler teams since being drafted by the franchise back in Season 43. Hell he led the to the cup in Season 44 and all the way back to the finals in Season 45. So to say this caught many off guard is an under statement. So far in Season 46, Wingate just keeps on trucking along proving he will go down in history as one of the best goalies in VHL History. He has a record of 18-7-1 with a 0.924 save percentage and a 1.85 G.A.A with the Reign. Combine that with a record of 31-13-2 and a 0.923 save percentage with a 2.17 G.A.A he had with Calgary you get a very fine season. His season totals were 49-20-3, 0.923 save percentage and a 2.05 G.A.A with 11 shutouts and 7 assists you get a very fine season. Riga is definitely going or it this year and you should expect Wingate to be the backbone of any success they have.

 

Calgary on the other hand received a goaltender who is struggling. He works hard at every practice to it's quite odd it doesn't translate to games. Before the trade he was 32-11-3 with a 0.909 save percentage and a 2.03 G.A.A. After the trade he was 13-7-3 and a 0.915 save percentage and a 2.15 G.A.A. Pretty odd that his save percentage increases but his stats decrease. That would leave one to believe that he is facing more shots which he likes but the team in front of him isn't that polished defensively. As it stands Wingate > Gow. However, there is more to the trade than these 2 goalies. Calgary also got Griffon Simmons who is putting up 4 goals and 1 assists for 5 points in 26 games. He provides great depth on a team that was lacking. But wait there's more! Calgary also acquired a Season 48 Riga 1st Round Draft Pick. If this trade happened last season and it was a Season 47 pick this would be a terrible deal for the Wranglers, but since it is a S48 pick, we will have to wait and see wht happens, but that draft really is turning out to be a good one.

 

As it stands, Hans Wingate > Bernie Gow + Griffon Simmons, the wildcard is the Season 48 Pick, if it turns out to be good, Calgary very well might win this trade. 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

270

 

Hello everyone, welcome back to another edition of Insider Trading. This week we will look at the Season 3 draft of the Wranglers! The 1st 2 drafts brought the Wranglers 2 Hall of famers in Scott Boulet and Sterling Labatte, could the Wranglers make it 3 HoF'ers in 3 drafts? Let's find out.

 

In Season 3, Calgary was gearing up for a run at their 2nd straight Continental Cup so they traded away a few of their picks in the Season 3 draft. In fact they didn't have a pick in the first 2 rounds and only had 2 3rd round picks. So no they didn't make draft another hall of famer. 

 

(S1) Scott Boulet - (S1) Brad Janssen - (S3) Edward Holm
LW - (S1) Reg Vaillancourt - (S2) Edward Eldred 1

LW - (S3) Roger Rainville - (S1) Cody Banks

(S2) Sterling Labatte - (S1) Shawn Howard 
(S1) Lucas Smith - (S2) Tommy Brown
(S1) Jeremy Lambourghini 

(S1) Drew Barclay
(S2) Joseph Baker
*bold indicates new draftee*  

 

Season 3, 3rd Round, 19th Overall - Right Wing Edward Holm

 

Wait what? Edward Holm is the best RW on the Calgary Wranglers through 3 drafts? Well yes that is correct. He was such a steal in the 3rd round of the Season 3 VHL Entry Draft. Outside of a few players selected in the 1st round, the draft was pretty weak overall. Holm though went out and proved to be one of the best Wranglers of all time. He played in 441 games, he scored 142 goals while assisting on 312 for 454 points. Up to Season 22 he was one of 12 players in Wranglers history to break 400 points. Holm also played in an impressive 58 playoff games proving his worth by scoring 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists). He was very underrated during his career and is one of the forgotten Wrangler greats. 

 

Season 3, 3rd Round, 21st Overall - Center Roger Rainville

 

Roger Rainville never ended up playing in the VHL and proved sometimes there are two very different types of late round picks in drafts as we see here. Holm is a very underrated Wrangler while Rainville didn't even suit up for the franchise.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Since this article is very small and I haven't made an article in a while, I will give you another article this time on trades. I have done one about trades before talking about trades from Pre-Season 1. There were 3 trades we went over and both included the Calgary Wranglers and the Amstel Tigers. Brett Slobodzian and JJ Krever liked dealing with eachother in the early days. Both in my opinion lost a trade and won a trade with eachother. Another trade happened and it involved 2nd overall. Hamilton Canucks traded away 2nd overall to Vasteras for 7th overall and a S2 2nd Rounder. Let's just say Vasteras GM Lucas Tannahill won this trade over counterpart Brett Noiles. So far in my books, this is how trading 'records' stand:

Lucas Tannahill (Vasteras) - 1-0

Brett Slobodzian (Calgary) - 1-1

JJ Krever (Amstel) - 1-1

Brett Noiles (Hamilton) - 0-1

 

Now let us look at more trades that pre-date the VHL's 1st Season.

 

To 

500,000

 

To 

Season 1 Vasteras 7th Round Draft Pick

 

The Result: Very straight forward here you would think right? 500K is such a small amount of money that the team who got the player would win right? Well you are incorrect about that assumption. That 7th rounder turned into Nick Ovechkin who never even suited up for Amstel. In fact, he didn't even play in the VHL after the draft. 

 

The Verdict: Vasteras wins this trade but really, it is not a worthwhile trade and might be one of those trades that will be forgotten. Except when I bring it up, like right now.

 

To 

Alex McNeil

 

To 

Ron Mexico

Season 2 Toronto 4th Round Draft Pick

 

The Result: Well, how about this trade. Toronto just got a Hall of Fame player while Helsinki received a player that played 1 season albeit a decent one but no where near what McNeil did. Alex McNeil turned into one of the best VHL'ers of the first decade. He played in 438 games while scoring 238 goals and 396 assists for 634 points. He has his name on a plaque in the VHL Hall of Fame and will never be forgotten. Ron Mexico on the other hand played 1 season for Helsinki and put up 40 points. Hardly the comparison right? Oh wait maybe the 4th round pick will change the tides! No not really. Kyle Kane was the man picked with that 4th rounder and he 17 points in his only season with the Titans. 

 

The Verdict: In one of the worst trades in VHL history, Helsinki loses in a landslide. They gave up a future hall of famer for 2 players who didn't play more that 1 season with the franchise. 

 

Updated GM Records:

Lucas Tannahill (Vasteras) - 2-0

Aiden Alexander (Toronto) - 1-0

Brett Slobodzian (Calgary) - 1-1

JJ Krever (Amstel) - 1-2

Brett Noiles (Hamilton) - 0-1

Jay Bris (Helsinki) - 0-1

Edited January 16, 2016 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

@Molholt finally got my shit together. heres an article 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Well here we go again, we continue off with the Season 4 draftees for the Calgary Wranglers to see who will make their all time draft team. As well look closer at the draftees though you may notice one thing... THE WRANGLERS HAVE NO PICKS IN SEASON 4. So now we skip ahead to the Season 5 Victory Hockey League Entry Draft. To catch up, they Wranglers were the 3 time defending North American Champions. Going to the finals in Season 1, 2 and 3 before the wheels fell off in Season 4. Brett Slobodzian prematurely retired and I believe the Wranglers may have been penalized with their draft picks and half of Slobo's TPE. After 3 years of domination the Wranglers now weren't the powerhouse team and fell off in Season 4 leading them to have their highest draft pick in their history at 4th overall.

 

(S1) Scott Boulet - (S1) Brad Janssen - (S5) Devon Marlow-Marta
LW - (S5) Miroslav Ladic - (S5) Ace Lightning

LW - (S1) Reg Vaillancourt - (S3) Edward Holm

LW - (S3) Roger Rainville - (S2) Edward Eldred 1

(S2) Sterling Labatte - (S1) Shawn Howard 
(S1) Lucas Smith - (S2) Tommy Brown
(S1) Jeremy Lambourghini - (S5) Andrew Ferrin 

(S1) Drew Barclay
(S2) Joseph Baker
*bold indicates new draftee*  

**Didn't Make The List This Year: Christoph Walser* & Raul Thundercat*

***Off The List: RW (S1) Cody Banks

 

Season 5, 1st Round, 4th Overall: Right Wing Devon Marlow-Marta

 

Well look what the cat dragged in. If you recognize this name that's because he has an award named after him in the Victory Hockey League as well as his name on a plaque in the Hall of Fame. He only played in 6 seasons and he never lit up the scoresheet, he just played strong fundamental hockey. He won just one major individual award that being the Ron Francis Trophy (later renamed the Mikka Virkkunen Trophy) awarded for being the most sportsmanlike. Over his 6 seasons he played in 432 games, he scored 265 goals and assisted on 350 assists for 615 points. The award is named after him is for the team/players who win the North American Conference. In his 6 seasons, he played or won the Conference Finals 5 times. He is one of the first players to be inducted to the Hall of Fame as a fundamentally sound player. He was a one time Continental Cup winner. Devon Marlow-Marta takes over top spot on Right Wing as the best drafted RW by the Wranglers. He jumps over 2 Edwards in Holm and Eldred 1. 

 

Season 5, 2nd Round, 12th Overall: Center Miroslav Ladic

 

Miroslav Ladic played just as long as Marlow-Marta but was not as polished defensively. He was a great 2nd line center as well as being well liked by teammates. He was just a all around great guy. He played in 432 games, scored 191 goals and assisted on 245 for a total of 436 points. Just over a point per game. He won the Continental Cup in Season 8, 3 seasons after being drafted. This was his major accomplishment in his career. Ladic takes over number 2 spot on the all-time draft list taking over from Reg Vaillaincourt who held the spot since Season 1.

 

Season 5, 3rd Round, 20th Overall: Defenseman Christoph Walser

 

Walser played in 2 season with the Wranglers playing in 144 games scoring 30 goals and assisting on 73 for a total of 103 points. He was a depth piece before retiring in Season 7 just before the Wranglers won the Cup in Season 8. Since Lambourghini won a Cup in Season 1, I believe he was the better pick so Walser is behind him for now as the 6th defenseman. 

 

Seasons 5, 3rd Round, 21st Overall: Defenseman Andrew Ferrin

 

Oops spoke too soon, Ferrin looks to take over Walser as the 6th defenseman on the all time draft team. He played in 288 games scoring 28 goals and assisting on 95 for 122 points. He was a great defensive defenseman as he was a +292 in his career. He also blocked 790 shots in his career proving that defensive defenseman will always have a place in the game as he played 4 seasons. Just think of the numbers that could have been if he played longer. 

 

Season 5, 3rd Round, 23rd Overall: Right Wing Ace Lightning

 

The Wranglers had a very strong 3rd round in Season 5. The 23rd overall pick happened to be the 2nd best RW of in Wranglers history so far. Lightning and Marlow-Marta formed a solid 1-2 punch at RW during their years together. He played in 504 games scoring 235 goals and assisting on 358 for a total of 593 points. It was a toss up for me to put Lightning as number 1 or at number 2. My thought process was that Lightning did win 2 cups, 1 with Wranglers and 1 with Riga. So the fact he didn't play his whole career with Calgary and that he didn't put up more points than Marta had me put him in at number 2. With Lightning now entering the RW scene, Cody Banks is off the list. 

 

Season 5, 4th Round, 36th Overall: Goaltender Raul Thundercat

 

On a list of the best names in VHL history, Thundercat deserves his fair share of credit because that's a pretty cool name. He never played in a VHL game though but is a VHLM legend. He doesn't make the list though as like I said never played a game. 

Edited February 14, 2016 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Updated GM Records:

Lucas Tannahill (Vasteras) - 2-0

Aiden Alexander (Toronto) - 1-0

Brett Slobodzian (Calgary) - 1-1

JJ Krever (Amstel) - 1-2

Brett Noiles (Hamilton) - 0-1

Jay Bris (Helsinki) - 0-1

 

As we see from the last article talking about trades, we see Vasteras GM Lucas Tannahill (PensFan) is undefeated in trading so far in his trading career. Aiden Alexander is also 1-0. JJ Krever though is 1-2 proving the more trades you make the more hit and miss you become. Nolies and Bris are 0-1 as well. 

 

To 

C - Yaroslav Mikaiholavich

 

To 

C - Franz Lindemann

 

The Result: It was a straight up one for one center deal that worked out great for one team while it didn't for another. Franz Lindemann had a very solid career as a 2nd line center for the most part of his career. He played 3 seasons, all with the Amstel Tigers. He played 216 games scoring 32 goals and assisting on 112 goals for 144 points. He was good for a point every 3rd game. He also played in 19 playoffs games scoring 3 goals and assisting on 10 for 13 points. He never won a individual award nor did he win a championship but he was very serviceable. Yaroslav on the other hand played one season with Toronto before going back to his native Russia where he is nearing the end of his career. In his one season in Toronto, he scored 9 goals and assisting on 32 for 41 points. Toronto didn't make the playoffs in Season 1. 

 

The Verdict: Well, neither led their teams to championships, neither one a major award. One player did play more than one season though and that was Franz, so that is the deciding factor in my opinion here as Amstel wins this trade.

 

To

D - Juan de la Martinez

 

To 

Season 1 Helsinki Supplementary 1st Round Pick

Season 2 Helsinki 2nd Round Pick 

 

The Result: The picks turned out to be goaltender Chris Orosz and forward Shawn Crowley. The Orosz pick didn't make sense to me as Amstel already had a goaltender in Robert Sharpe, although he had a ban he was still a great goalie with a high amount of tpe. Orosz played in one season as all supplementary picks did. I couldn't tell you what he did in his one season with Amstel. Crowley on the other hand had a very great career. He played in 576 games scoring 204 goals and assisting on 397 for 601 points in his career. Wow, that's some production for a 2nd round pick, some early 1st rounders don't reach 600 career points. Oh and Juan Martinez? He played 1 year for Helsinki scoring one paltry goal and assisted on 16 for just 17 points. Talk about one sided. 

 

The Verdict: Well its a no brainer. Crowley scored more goals than Martinez played in games. It's not even close, Amstel wins this by a country mile.

 

To 

Season 1 Amstel Supplementary 1st Round Pick

 

To 

Season 1 Hamilton Supplementary 1st Round Pick

Season 2 Hamilton 2nd Round Pick

 

The Result: Hamilton wanted to move up in the draft while Amstel wanted to move down, simple as that. However, Amstel was able to squeeze out a 2nd round pick for moving down. The 1st rounder Hamilton received was 3rd overall while Amstel was drafting 7th overall after the trade. Hamilton drafted Jon Church with the pick and he was a very fine player in his day. It just sucks that I couldn't tell you exactly what he did in his one season. Amstel on the other hand drafted Michael Chabot with their pick. He played in just one season in his career as he retired from the VHL after Season 1. He scored 10 goals and assisted on 26 for 36 points. That 2nd round pick though may be the deciding factor in this trade. That pick turned out to be one of the classiest and respected members of the early years. Doug Schneider could be described as boom before their was boom. He bounced around a lot and no one could really be mad about it because he was classy and was just a great guy to be around. Schneider played in 538 games scoring 118 goals, assisting on 412 goals for 530 points. That right there seems to be the deciding factor to me.

 

The Verdict: From what I know for a fact, Church > Chabot but Schneider >> 1 season of Church. So Amstel wins this trade in my opinion.

 

Updated GM Records:

JJ Krever (Amstel) - 3-2

Lucas Tannahill (Vasteras) - 2-0

Petr Shirokov (Amstel) - 1-0

Aiden Alexander (Toronto) - 1-1

Brett Slobodzian (Calgary) - 1-1

Brett Noiles (Hamilton) - 0-2

Jay Bris (Helsinki) - 0-2

 

After these last 3 trades, it brings an end to the trading period that happened before Season 1 got underway. Amstel was very busy making 3 trades and winning all 3. However you notice that Petr Shirokov is now a GM. JJ Krevor disappeared for a while after so Shirokov stepped in. Alexander takes his 1st loss while Noiles and Bris keep taking it on the chin out there.