(S59 Class) Aleksi Koponen [1/2]

[McWolf 3,111]

Aleksi Koponen

Class of S59

 

Position: C
Birthplace: Helsinki, Finland
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 180 lbs
Jersey Number: 21
Drafted: Automatically drafted via GM Rule by Helsinki Titans
Username: @Will

 

Aleksi Koponen joined the Helsinki Titans in the Season 44 offseason as a GM player. He was not the best individual player of his generation and doesn’t have enough hardware to justify his place in the Hall of Fame on its own, but he was a dominant team-first player throughout his career and was part of the mid-40’s Helsinki dynasty that captured two straight Continental Cups in Season 45 and Season 46. Koponen is one of the players that had to wait the longest between the moment he retired and the moment he finally got inducted in the VHL Hall of Fame, only being awarded a spot among the stars in the Hall of Fame in his sixth season of eligibility. He did however receive at least a vote in each of his first five seasons of eligibility.

 

Awards

S45 Continental Cup - VHL Champions (HSK)
S46 Continental Cup - VHL Champions (HSK)
S51 Mike Szatkowski Trophy - Top Scorer

 

Season 45 Statistics

Regular Season
S45(HSK) 72GP | 28G - 69A -  97P | +49 | 327SHT |  5GWG |  23HIT |  32SB | 51.1FO%
Playoff
S45(HSK) 12GP |  5G -  5A -  10P |  +2 |  29SHT |  1GWG |   2HIT |   2SB | 47.2FO%

Following a short rebuild process where they missed the playoffs for two straight seasons, the Helsinki Titans came back strong in Season 45, thanks to an eventful offseason. They traded for both Thomas O’Malley and Brady Stropko and they made a couple of important picks in the Entry Draft. Among the players they selected, 1st overall pick Phil Hamilton, 2nd overall pick Greg Clegane and GM player Aleksi Koponen were the only ones to make the jump to the team on the first year. Koponen found himself centering the second line, behind Thomas O’Malley, for the majority of the year. He finished the season ranked 4th in the league in assists and 11th in points in his rookie season. He continued his strong play in the playoffs, when he scored 10 points, en route to the first Helsinki Titans Continental Cup since Season 34, after they disposed of the Calgary Wranglers in 7 games. Despite his 97-point performance, Koponen only got a single vote for the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy, awarded to the VHL’s rookie of the year, as voters felt Titans goaltender and future Hall of Famer Greg Clegane was more deserving of the award, following his insane rookie campaign in which he led Helsinki to a first place finish in the regular season and to a Continental Cup.

 

Season 46 Statistics

Regular Season
S46(HSK) 72GP | 24G - 56A -  80P | +43 | 360SHT |  1GWG | 105HIT |  34SB | 55.4FO%
Playoff
S46(HSK) 10GP |  4G -  8A -  12P |  +5 |  30SHT |  1GWG |   2HIT |   8SB | 50.6FO%

There has been close to no movement from Helsinki in the offseason. They lost 2 forwards in captain Thomas Duddy and Brady Stopko, but they replaced them by veteran Jackson Miller and rookie Giovanni Reuel. As the reigning champions, a lot was expected from the team as a whole, but also from the 3 players on their sophomore seasons. Phil Hamilton filled big shoes as he replaced Duddy as the team’s captain, while Clegane continued his dominance in front of the net. Koponen followed on his strong rookie campaign with a very small regression to his offensive performance, dropping from 97 to 80 points. 80 points isn’t bad per se, as it still was good enough for 27th in the league, though it was his worst offensive season at this point in his short career and it ended up being his worst point total throughout the rest of his career as well. Koponen had worked on his faceoff skills since the last season and it showed, upgrading his win percentage from 51.1% to 55.4%. For a second straight season, Helsinki finished first overall in the regular season and, for a second straight season, they capped it off by beating the Calgary Wranglers in the finals to win the Continental Cup, becoming the first team since the HC Davos Dynamo in Season 24 and 25 to accomplish this feat. Koponen was Helsinki’s top scorer in the playoffs, but finished 2nd behind Milos Denis of the Wrangles in voting for the Daisuke Kanou Trophy.

 

Season 47 Statistics

Regular Season
S47(HSK) 72GP | 41G - 46A -  87P | +27 | 423SHT |  8GWG |  56HIT | 30SB | 58.9FO%
Playoff
S47(HSK)  6GP |  3G -  4A -   7P |  +2 |  26SHT |  0GWG |   4HIT |  5SB | 55.7FO%

After winning two straight Continental Cups, Helsinki lost hopes of completing the surreal three-peat, when they lost Thomas O’Malley, Christoph Klose and Giovanni Reuel to free agency. They did snag free agent Bismarck Koenig, though, in hopes he could replace O’Malley as the first center on the team. This pushed Koponen back to second line duty again, but only for a couple of games, as he was eventually moved to the left of Koenig on the first line. Having an elite playmaker center him helped him score a personal best of 41 goals, good for 8th in the league, while his 87 points ranked him at the 11th on the scoring ladder. He also finished the season just short of a 60% faceoff win percentage, once again raising from the previous season. For a third straight year, the Titans found themselves at the top of the European Conference, this time finishing 2nd in the league. However, the loss of the 3 veterans before the season started was felt in the playoffs as their path was stopped when they lost to the Stockholm Vikings in 6 games in the semi-finals.

 

Season 48 Statistics

Regular Season
S48(HSK) 72GP | 46G - 52A -  98P | +33 | 441SHT | 13GWG |  75HIT | 31SB | 61.4FO%
Playoff
S48(HSK) 11GP |  3G -  8A -  11P |  -6 |  54SHT |  1GWG |  11HIT |  6SB | 54.2FO%

After Season 47, Bismarck Koenig decided the hang his skates, giving Aleksi Koponen his first chance as the team’s top line center. He did well, hitting new career bests with 46 goals, 98 points, ranking him 6th in the league in both stats, and breaking the 60% faceoff win percentage for the first time in his career. The Titans clinched their fourth straight European Conference regular season title. They took their revenge on the Vikings from Season 47, beating them in the European semi-finals in 6 games, before facing the Toronto Legion in the Continental Cup finals. The team’s lack of depth proved to be a problem, as the Legion went on to win their first of three straight Continental Cups. This defeat marked the end of an era for the Helsinki Titans. In four seasons, they finish atop the European Conference four times, reached the finals three times, winning the VHL championship twice. After this season, they would start a new rebuilding process, as they would trade the 3 team’s stars away. Phil Hamilton was dealt to the Cologne Express, while Aleksi Koponen and Greg Clegane were sent to the Quebec City Meute in the same deal.

 

Season 49 Statistics

Regular Season
S49(QUE) 72GP | 55G - 77A - 132P | +97 | 524SHT |  7GWG | 298HIT | 30SB | 68.0FO%
Playoff
S49(QUE)  5GP |  4G -  3A -   7P |  +2 |  28SHT |  1GWG |  21HIT |  2SB | 54.0FO%

The change of scenery proved effective for Koponen, as he reached new high grounds with his new team. His 55 goals, 77 assists, 132 points, +97 differential, 524 shots, 298 hits and 68.0 faceoff winning percentage were all new career best for him. He finished the season with the 2nd most points in the league, trailing Legion’s Max Moholt by 13. As a team, the Meute did well, claiming the regular season championship. They traded for Wolfgang Strauss, Pablo Escobar, Severin von Karma and Jeff Hamilton during the season, to help with the quest for the Cup, while bringing a friendly face around in Strauss and Escobar, two former Titans. This proved to not be quite enough to dispose of the Meute’s Canadian rivals, the Toronto Legion, who beat them in 5 games in the semi-finals, before going on to win a second of three straight Continental Cups. In the offseason, Koponen was nominated for the Scott Boulet Trophy, awarded to the league’s best two-way forward, and for the Scotty Campbell Trophy, awarded to the league’s most valuable player. He left the awards ceremony empty-handed, but still proved how valuable he was to his team by these accolades.

 

Season 50 Statistics

Regular Season
S50(QUE) 72GP | 40G - 60A - 100P | +33 | 496SHT |  7GWG | 189HIT | 43SB | 67.0FO%
Playoff
S50(QUE) 10GP |  6G -  9A -  15P |  +5 |  55SHT |  1GWG |  20HIT |  6SB | 62.6FO%

Season 50 was marked by an offensive regression throughout the whole league. Koponen followed on his previous season’s outstanding performances with a little drop, down to 100 points. This was, however, good for 3rd in the league, behind teammates Tom Lincoln and Unassisted. Season 50 also marked the first time in Koponen’s career his team didn’t finish at the top of its Conference, as the Meute trailed the Legion by 9 points, ending the season in the North American Conference runner-up spot. Finishing the season in second place meant they had to play in the quarter-finals first, in which they beat the Wranglers in 4 games, before they faced with the Legion again. This was the third straight season Koponen’s team was eliminated from the Continental Cup playoffs by a Cup-winning Legion team. He still scored an impressive 15 points in 10 playoff games, despite not even reaching the finals. Following this crushing defeat, Quebec City sold good players to competing teams and let some others walk to free agency in an attempt to start a rebuilding process. Aleksi Koponen became a free agent for the first time in his career and deciding to sign a one-year deal with the Calgary Wranglers.

 

Season 51 Statistics

Regular Season
S51(CGY) 72GP | 60G - 75A - 135P | +94 | 573SHT | 15GWG | 177HIT | 23SB | 69.7FO%
Playoff
S51(CGY)  5GP |  1G -  1A -   2P |  -3 |  17SHT |  0GWG |  14HIT |  2SB | 64.8FO%

As was the case following his move to Quebec, the change of scenery was nice for Koponen. The Wranglers had a young roster filled with improving rookies a year prior and added Koponen, Unassisted, Black Velvet and Tyson Kohler from free agency. The mix of proven veterans and young guns worked wonders as the team finished first in the league, breaking a 18-year record for most points in a season with 132. For the first time in his whole career, Koponen finished the season 1st in points with 135. He also finished 2nd in goals with 60, a new career high. His 69.7% win percentage from the faceoff circle is also the best percentage he collected throughout his career. Unfortunately, the Wranglers faced up the Toronto Legion in the North American Conference semi-final and were eventually eliminated from playoffs contention following a 5-game series. For the first time in his career, Koponen left the VHL Award Ceremony with some hardware to be proud of, as he claimed the Mike Szatkowski Trophy, awarded to the league’s top scorer.

 

Season 52 Statistics

Regular Season
S52(CGY) 72GP | 44G - 54A -  98P | +48 | 487SHT |  8GWG | 101HIT | 25SB | 67.6FO%
Playoff
S52(CGY)  7GP |  4G -  8A -  12P |  +2 |  37SHT |  2GWG |   2HIT |  1SB | 50.6FO%

It was in Season 52 that age finally caught up on Aleksi Koponen. He scored below 60 assists and 100 points for the first time since leaving Helsinki following Season 48. The Wranglers lost Unassisted in the free agent market and couldn’t find anyone to cover for his big loss. The team ended the season in the 3rd spot in the North American conference, marking the worst position by any team that had Koponen on its roster throughout his career. The Wranglers season and, at the same time, Aleksi Koponen’s career came to an end when the team lost to the 2nd placed New York Americans in the opening round of the playoffs. The Finnish center gave all he had in his final games, gathering 12 points in the 7-game series.

 

Career Statistics

Regular Season
576GP | 338G - 489A - 827P | +424 | 3631SHT | 64GWG | 1024HIT | 248SB | 62.3FO%
Playoff
 6GP |  30G -  46A -  76P |   +9 |  276SHT |  7GWG |   76HIT |  3SB          

Aleksi Koponen retired as the 14th best scorer in the history of the league. He was also ranked 19th on the assists leaderboard and 4th in the plus-minus category. He only won a scoring title once, but finished most seasons in the top 10 for either goals, assists or points, if not all of them. Early in his career, he served in more or a support role to the elite veterans of a stacked Titans team that won two straight Cups, but was never able to be the star that led the Meute or the Wranglers to a similar finale, as he found himself on the losing end of series against the Legion dynasty 4 times in a row. He had to wait for a while before finally getting his name amongst the greats in the VHL Hall of Fame, probably because he lacked the individual awards to make him go before other players that got inducted before him, like his Titans teammates Greg Clegane and Phil Hamilton, but also because he couldn’t recreate the success of his youth during his peak. However, when all was said and done, his place in the Hall of Fame was well deserved. His career totals of 827 points, +424 and 62.3% of faceoff wins along with 76 playoff points and strong performances leading to two straight Continental Cups made for a strong case and led to him finally being immortalized in the Hall of Fame in the class of Season 59.

 

 

 

---

 

Thanks @Victor for the infos. Thanks @Quik for the stats tables I shamelessly stole. Thanks as a whole for the opportunity to write about one of the better players. I like backtracking the history of the league. And congrats again @Will on Koponen's career.

 

 

 

It's 4 in the morning here. I'll probably not mess with the formatting right now, but I'm guessing it will be horrible, as it usually always is when I copy-paste from Word directly. If it's not too bad, I might edit it out directly, though. But worst case, I'll come back tomorrow. EDIT: It's readable, so here goes.

 

 

Off-article fact; Koponen was top 10 in Hits Taken during 7 of his 8 seasons. Not sure what to do with that, as I’m not sure it helps the narrative of how he deserved his spot in the HOF, but I couldn’t just not talk about it either, so I’m just throwing that out here.

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2018 by McWolf

[McWolf 3,111]

today I learned that the word s n u b b e d
was autocorrected as FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

while writing a HOF article

good thing I proofread my texts sometimes

[diamond_ace 3,106]

58 minutes ago, McWolf said:

today I learned that the word s n u b b e d
was autocorrected as FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

while writing a HOF article

good thing I proofread my texts sometimes

You can blame your friendly neighborhood commissioner @.sniffuM for that particular correction...

[Beketov 8,642]

2 hours ago, McWolf said:

today I learned that the word s n u b b e d
was autocorrected as FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

while writing a HOF article

good thing I proofread my texts sometimes

That’s been in for longer than I can remember, always fun the first time people find it haha

[Will 4,604]

Thanks a lot and excellent job! This was really well done for not being around at the time of his career, I have to say. 

[Enorama 1,980]

4 hours ago, McWolf said:

It's 4 in the morning here. I'll probably not mess with the formatting right now, but I'm guessing it will be horrible, as it usually always is when I copy-paste from Word directly. If it's not too bad, I might edit it out directly, though. But worst case, I'll come back tomorrow. EDIT: It's readable, so here goes.

 

I've noticed that all the current articles have the stats written in code format 

like this

not sure why, and not sure if that helps you out at all, but there it is.

[Cornflakers 73]

man, you're going ham w/ the hof articles ... 

[.sniffuM 1,741]

4 hours ago, diamond_ace said:

You can blame your friendly neighborhood commissioner @.sniffuM for that particular correction...

 

And yet where's my builder induction D=<

 

On the real though someone should edit the whole FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY fiasco into Slobo's builder article.

Edited August 23, 2018 by .sniffuM

[McWolf 3,111]

1 hour ago, Enorama said:

 

I've noticed that all the current articles have the stats written in code format 

like this

not sure why, and not sure if that helps you out at all, but there it is.

 

Code format was part of the issue, but typically it's just the paragraphs and the line jumps or however you call them that get lost or doubled. I'll figure it out someday.

 

1 hour ago, Will said:

Thanks a lot and excellent job! This was really well done for not being around at the time of his career, I have to say. 

 

Thanks @Will ! Glad to know you like it !

 

59 minutes ago, Cornflakers said:

man, you're going ham w/ the hof articles ... 

 

What? I only did one, and I'm not doing anymore, until I can do it for someone I actually saw play

[Cornflakers 73]

45 minutes ago, McWolf said:

 

Code format was part of the issue, but typically it's just the paragraphs and the line jumps or however you call them that get lost or doubled. I'll figure it out someday.

 

 

Thanks @Will ! Glad to know you like it !

 

 

What? I only did one, and I'm not doing anymore, until I can do it for someone I actually saw play

no I mean @Enorama , for some unknown reason I thought he wrote this one too.

 

Also, holy fuck it's hard to follow the forum AND work ... how the hell do y'all read every post!

Edited August 23, 2018 by Cornflakers

[Enorama 1,980]

1 hour ago, Cornflakers said:

man, you're going ham w/ the hof articles ... 

psh only 3 

[Victor 10,536]

This is actually really well researched. The FA moves and everything, well done.

 

@Will getting spoiled here and I haven't even dropped my builder article for him yet.

[eaglesfan036 4,583]

FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

[McWolf 3,111]

28 minutes ago, Victor said:

This is actually really well researched. The FA moves and everything, well done.

 

At one point I had about 20 tabs open, between the trade, FA, award forums, the different indexes and all.

[Victor 10,536]

20 minutes ago, McWolf said:

 

At one point I had about 20 tabs open, between the trade, FA, award forums, the different indexes and all.

This is the commitment we like to see!

[Victor 10,536]

On 8/23/2018 at 9:39 AM, McWolf said:

Off-article fact; Koponen was top 10 in Hits Taken during 7 of his 8 seasons. Not sure what to do with that, as I’m not sure it helps the narrative of how he deserved his spot in the HOF, but I couldn’t just not talk about it either, so I’m just throwing that out here.

Belated response to this - it probably actually helps his case because the sim loves to make the best players the most targeted in terms of hits (especially if they're not huge hitters themselves).

 

Although completely fine to leave out - hits taken is a silly stat.

[McWolf 3,111]

19 minutes ago, Victor said:

Belated response to this - it probably actually helps his case because the sim loves to make the best players the most targeted in terms of hits (especially if they're not huge hitters themselves).

 

Although completely fine to leave out - hits taken is a silly stat.

 

Well, glad I left it out then, but also glad I mentionned it. Seems like he was targeted a lot, even when he played with stacked teams

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Review:

HoF articles take a lot of effort, so kudos to you.

Koponen, I'm glad to have been able to witness his whole career. What a great player!